They met Sakumo at nine o'clock the next morning, when the three of them arrived at the Hidden Leaf Village camp on the front lines of the Land of Fire.
The place was largely unchanged from before, but if there was a change, it was that the atmosphere here was even more tense than before.
However, the previous mission to cut off the Sand Village's supply, although 'failed' by Shiraishi and his team due to the Root's interference, Sakumo completed the mission beautifully.
He alone destroyed the Sand Village's important supply point, causing the Sand Village's offensive strength to decline recently.
"In other words, as long as we survive this winter, the Sand Village will collapse on its own?" Shiraishi asked.
It was already early October, and the weather was gradually getting colder, especially in December, when the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers would enter a severely cold winter.
If the Sand Village ninjas did not have sufficient supplies to survive this winter, by early spring of next year, the situation would become extremely unfavorable for the Sand Village.
"That's generally correct, but whether the Sand Village will truly retreat, we are not sure; we can only say that the possibility is very high," Sakumo nodded.
Launching one last fierce attack to open a breach into the Land of Fire, despite insufficient supplies, was also a way out for the Sand Village.
After all, the Third Kazekage was leading this charge, so they had to be fully prepared.
Especially at such times, they had to be extra vigilant and not give the Sand ninjas any opportunities.
"So what is our squad's assigned mission?"
"It's still the same as before: find and eliminate isolated Sand ninja units to indirectly relieve pressure on the main battlefield," Sakumo replied.
He was well aware of his limits as a ninja; he didn't have any large-scale ninjutsu attacks, and all his strength came from taijutsu and kenjutsu.
Therefore, he would find enemies with large-area ninjutsu attacks troublesome, but on the other hand, his taijutsu, body flicker, and kenjutsu were all perfected.
If one couldn't match his speed and lacked defensive means against the White Fang's short sword, for him, killing an enemy was only a matter of one or a few slashes.
Shiraishi and his two teammates were also very clear about this.
He was a ninja with very obvious strengths and weaknesses.
He was suitable for small-scale squad combat; in large-scale battles, his strength would be restricted.
Because on the main battlefield, he had more things to consider, such as dodging kunai and explosive tags flying from unknown directions, and if he encountered many comrades in danger, whether to save them or not was also a question that deserved serious consideration.
In this way, his sword skills would become hesitant and sluggish, unable to exert 100% of their power.
Sakumo had no complaints about this.
Ninjas are assigned suitable tasks based on their different abilities and personalities.
He was only suited for this type of operational combat; for example, the Sannin could not do his work, and he could not do the Sannin's work.
"You've just arrived today, so rest here for a day. We'll start the mission tomorrow morning."
"Yes."
Before Sakumo left, he said to Shiraishi, "Oh, I forgot to mention, if you have nothing to do, Shiraishi, you can go to the medical camp. Medical ninjas are still in short supply on the front lines here. Even if it's only for a day, it can relieve some of the pressure there."
"I understand." Shiraishi nodded and walked towards the medical camp.
Relieving the pressure on the medical unit was true, but Shiraishi knew that how much pressure could be relieved was just Sakumo's comforting words.
After all, treating patients was the medical ninja's duty, and Shiraishi had no reason to refuse.
However, in Shiraishi's opinion, the Hidden Leaf Village's current deficiency in the number of medical ninjas was entirely due to problems with their own understanding and execution strategies, which led to this result.
The Hidden Leaf Village's emphasis on medical education was also due to the medical reforms proposed by Tsunade a few years ago, which led to the training of medical ninjas.
But in fact, at the very beginning, the Hidden Leaf Village did not pay too much attention to medical reform.
In their eyes, instead of allocating resources to medical ninjas with weak combat power, it was better to train more powerful ninjas and strengthen the village's combat power.
However, after experiencing the extremely tragic War in the Land of Rain, they realized that allocating resources to powerful ninjas resulted in high mortality rates, and only then did they begin to forcibly implement medical ninjutsu courses at the Ninja Academy.
Shiraishi was one of the first batch of medical ninja experimental class members of the medical reform, and he was very aware of how negligent the Hidden Leaf Village was in training medical ninjas.
If Tsunade had not proposed this reform... perhaps the Hidden Leaf Village would not have paid attention to the profession of medical ninja even now.
(PS: I remember it seemed to be mentioned in the original work that when Tsunade proposed medical reform, all the higher-ups and jonin, including the Third Hokage, were not interested in Tsunade's proposal. Only Dan Kato supported Tsunade, possibly because he was attracted to Tsunade...)
Arriving at the medical unit's camp, he could hear the painful cries and wails of the wounded, and the smell of disinfectant and blood mixed together, piercing Shiraishi's nostrils.
In addition, the camp area was limited, and some of the wounded could only lie outside, receiving rudimentary treatment.
Prioritizing the rescue of seriously injured ninjas, and then treating those with moderate to minor injuries, was the regulation of the Hidden Leaf Village's medical unit.
Here, Shiraishi also saw Tsunade, but he didn't go over to reminisce. Tsunade was performing medical ninjutsu to treat the wounded.
Shiraishi explained his purpose to the deputy commander here, who was very pleased. At this time, one more medical ninja meant that several more injured people could be rescued.
Especially since the other party was the medical ninja exclusively assigned to Sakumo's squad, and was one of the first batch of medical experimental class students from the Ninja Academy, his medical ninjutsu couldn't be too bad.
So, he immediately assigned Shiraishi more than a dozen moderately and mildly injured people, as well as some medical supplies, and told him to get to work quickly.
Shiraishi walked to an open space where futons were laid out, and many injured Hidden Leaf ninjas were lying there, about dozens of them.
With Shiraishi were three other medical ninjas, the oldest in his thirties, and the youngest a few years older than Shiraishi.
Even though they were all medical ninjas, there was no communication, or rather, no time for it.
Shiraishi focused on using healing jutsu, skillfully and methodically treating the wounds of these injured people.
During the treatment process, Shiraishi would also communicate with the injured to alleviate their mental pressure and treat them better.
"You're all set. Now you just need to rest well for two days."
"I know you. You're a member of Jonin Sakumo's squad, aren't you? What impressive medical ninjutsu."
The healed Hidden Leaf ninja praised Shiraishi in a kind tone.
"No, compared to my seniors, I still have many shortcomings."
Shiraishi just smiled modestly at the compliment.
After all, compared to medical ninjas of Tsunade's caliber, there was indeed a lot of room for him to improve.
Shiraishi only finished his medical work from morning until dusk.
Because most of the tents were requisitioned by the medical unit, even so, some of the injured were not assigned tents, so when Shiraishi returned to reunite with Ruri and Ayane, they were only allocated an open space to rest.
At five o'clock the next morning, when it was still dark, Shiraishi and his two teammates were already awake.
Some Hidden Leaf ninjas were still sleeping, and many others were patrolling the outer perimeter of the camp, mainly sensory ninjas and ninjas from the Hyuga clan.
When Sakumo came to find them, Shiraishi and his two teammates were fully prepared, equipped with military rations, antidotes, kunai, explosive tags, sealed scrolls, medical kits, and so on, not missing a single item.
As the only auxiliary medical personnel in the team, Shiraishi's assigned task was to equip as many supplies as possible, so he also packed emergency food and water in his backpack.
Sakumo's squad's upcoming mission could also be said to have no specific mission content.
Eliminate enemies when encountered, provide support to comrades, and if by chance they encountered a Sand ninja transport convoy, they would destroy it.
It was just like how the Sand Village had previously dispatched elite units to cause trouble within the Land of Fire to distract the Hidden Leaf Village and even make the Hidden Leaf ninjas on the front lines afraid to move rashly.
Sakumo's squad's mission this time was also similar.
They were to penetrate deep into the Land of Rivers, and even into the Land of Wind, to carry out sabotage behind enemy lines, allowing Sakumo's squad to adapt and handle situations as they arose based on the on-site conditions.
The higher-ups granted Sakumo's squad considerable freedom, which also meant that this mission carried a high degree of danger.
Not to mention Shiraishi and Ayane, Ruri was already eager to get started.
After the last battle, her ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu had all grown significantly, and her Sharingan had even evolved to the three-tomoe stage.
This growth was evident, and Sakumo was very satisfied with it, believing that he could no longer take the current Ruri lightly.
◎
Mid-November.
Land of Rivers, Sand Village Camp.
The Third Kazekage looked grimly at the intelligence reports delivered by his subordinates. In the past month, there had been frequent reports of Sand ninja squads on patrol missions in the Land of Rivers being annihilated by the enemy.
"Konoha's White Fang!" The Third Kazekage slammed his fist hard on the table, his eyes burning with rage.
Even without looking at the information on the report, he knew who had done such a thing.
Aside from Konoha's White Fang, among the jonin that Konoha could deploy, no one possessed such terrifying speed of annihilation.
His speed was so fast, like a tornado, leaving no blade of grass standing wherever he went, uprooting everything.
Whether it was a jonin squad, a chunin squad, or even a genin squad, all were eliminated without exception, without mercy.
Aside from the renowned White Fang, the Third Kazekage could not think of any other Konoha jonin who could achieve this.
His most trusted puppet unit, two of its elites, had also been annihilated by the squad led by the White Fang within the Land of Fire, and their bodies were still in Konoha's hands.
The strength the Sand Village could mobilize was not much higher than Konoha's. The only variable was him, the Kazekage, and the unused trump card—Shukaku.
The Sand Village's poison attack strategy was broken by Konoha ninja Tsunade.
In direct combat, he had no problem, but the overall quality of Sand ninjas was inferior to Konoha ninjas, and with the shortage of medical ninjas in the camp, the mortality rate was slightly higher than Konoha's.
Now, with the problem of the White Fang harassing their rear, Konoha's next move... Sure enough, not long after, a jonin came in to report that there was unusual activity at the Konoha camp, with nearly a thousand ninjas departing from the camp and advancing towards them from the front.
However, the Konoha thousand-man unit stopped moving the moment they crossed into the Land of Rivers, as if they had only come out for a parade.
However, the Third Kazekage understood that the Hidden Leaf Village intended to pressure the Hidden Sand Village on the front lines, creating an opportunity for the White Fang's squad to attack.
If the Hidden Sand Village desperately pursued the White Fang's squad, the Hidden Leaf's main forces would advance from the front.
"Is that guy Bunpuku still refusing?"
The Third Kazekage looked at a Hidden Sand jonin, his expression solemn.
"He disagrees. No matter how much we try to persuade him, he refuses to use Shukaku's power. He says that he hopes you, Kazekage-sama, will prioritize peace and stop the war, as that would be best for the Hidden Sand Village."
The jonin replied.
"Is stopping the war for the good of the Hidden Sand Village?"
The Third Kazekage's gaze drifted towards the Land of Fire.
The land there was more fertile than the Land of Wind, and the Hidden Leaf Village produced an endless stream of talented ninja: the White Fang, the Sannin, Kato Dan... The ninja clans included the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, as well as other prestigious clans like the Sarutobi, Shimura, Inuzuka, and Aburame.
Even more terrifying, the ninja world's most completely preserved ancient bloodline families, the Uchiha and Hyuga, were also within the Hidden Leaf Village.
Such a powerful lineup—the thought of it always weighed heavily on the Third Kazekage's mind.
If they didn't take advantage of the Hidden Leaf Village not having fully recovered from the war in the Land of Rain to plunder resources within the Land of Fire, it would be extremely difficult to gain any benefits once the Hidden Leaf Village regained its strength.
Because the Hidden Leaf Village's increasing power had already created sufficient pressure on the surrounding countries and ninja villages.
If this continued, as the Hidden Leaf Village grew stronger, the Hidden Sand Village's living space would become smaller and smaller.
They would only be able to continuously reduce military spending and the number of ninja, forced to watch as the Hidden Leaf Village's ninja numbers grew and their military funds became more abundant, making them a unique standout in the ninja world.
By then, the Hidden Sand Village would be completely at the mercy of the Hidden Leaf Village, barely clinging to survival.
The Third Kazekage did not want to see the Hidden Sand Village in such a state. Even if the Hidden Leaf Village was powerful, they had to fight.
As long as they could weaken the Hidden Leaf Village's power, the Hidden Sand Village could catch its breath and see hope for prosperity.
Without war, there wouldn't even be a glimmer of hope.
Therefore, Shukaku's jinchuriki Bunpuku's philosophy of 'prioritizing peace,' while righteous from a personal perspective, held no sway between nations. There was no good or evil, only strength and weakness, only gains and losses.
"He is not suited for this ninja world. Although Shukaku is docile within him and poses no risk of rampaging unless actively provoked, it also means the Hidden Sand Village cannot use this weapon. A weapon that cannot be used is the greatest tragedy in war. It seems we need to find a new jinchuriki..."
Upon hearing the Third Kazekage's words, the jonin's face showed surprise.
"Kazekage-sama, this..."
"Don't worry, I just mentioned it casually. After all, the transfer of a Tailed Beast is a serious matter and must be decided through a high-level meeting."
The Third Kazekage said this, but it did not reassure the jonin.
"Then what should we do now?"
The jonin was very helpless.
This was the most difficult aspect for the Hidden Sand Village.
Compared to the Hidden Leaf Village, there was not only a difference in overall quality, but also in top-tier ninja, where they were far inferior to the Hidden Leaf.
Just the Hidden Leaf's White Fang alone was a huge headache for them. Allowing such a dangerous ninja to cause destruction in their rear lines kept the Hidden Sand ninja constantly on edge.
Recently, many Hidden Sand ninja dared not accept missions like patrolling the Land of Rivers.
Facing the White Fang, many Hidden Sand ninja had begun to feel fear.
"I already have a plan. This is a private letter from Onoki of the Hidden Stone Village; he will secretly assist our Hidden Sand Village."
"The Tsuchikage? To be honest, I don't recommend that you, Kazekage-sama, cooperate with him."
"This is our only chance."
The Third Kazekage said.
As he spoke, he sat down at his desk and drafted two letters.
After finishing the letters, he handed them to a trusted jonin nearby and said, "One letter to the Hidden Leaf's commander, Orochimaru, and one letter to be delivered to the Hidden Leaf's White Fang by a patrol squad."
"This is..."
The jonin looked at the Third Kazekage, puzzled.
"You may leave."
"Yes."
Despite his confusion, the jonin left to carry out the mission.
"All of this is for the sake of the Hidden Sand Village... Hidden Leaf..."
The Third Kazekage murmured softly, a sharp glint in his eyes.
◎
Western region of the Land of Rivers.
Located at the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers.
Hidden Sand ninja being sent from the Land of Wind to support the Land of Rivers would pass through this route.
Shakumo's squad of four was here to execute an annihilation strategy.
They would annihilate every Hidden Sand ninja they encountered, leaving no one behind.
After annihilating a squad, they would immediately disengage, without any hesitation, find a hidden spot to conceal themselves, and then, after some time, continue their annihilation.
Leaving aside Shakumo, a jonin of long-standing fame, Ruri and Ayane also possessed jonin-level strength and special kekkei genkai. The destructive power brought by the three of them was astonishing.
Shiraishi only needed to provide minor assistance from the back of the team, such as throwing poisoned smoke bombs or explosive tags.
When not in combat, he would gather materials on the spot to make medicines, such as military rations pills and antidotes, as the Hidden Sand Village's puppet master weapons were all highly poisonous, and even a slight graze could be dangerous.
This increased Shakumo's squad's sustained combat capability.
This morning, they eliminated another Hidden Sand ninja squad of six.
It might not seem like many, but since they began this mission over a month ago, they had been fighting every day. Hidden Sand ninja constantly died at their squad's hands, totaling over a hundred by now.
On lucky occasions, they would even encounter convoys entering the Land of Rivers from the Land of Wind, burning the Hidden Sand Village's already scarce supplies, then using their agile mobility to create chaos with Ruri's wide-range Fire Release jutsu, and swiftly escape to avoid being encircled by large forces.
If only a few people pursued them, they would be annihilated by their squad in a counter-attack.
If more ninja pursued, they would use their extremely high mobility to lead the pursuers in circles around the Land of Rivers.
Unless the Hidden Sand Village dispatched several hundred ninja at once, including over twenty jonin, they wouldn't be able to encircle them in the Land of Rivers.
If the Third Kazekage truly had such resolve, diverting so many active forces would mean the Hidden Sand Village could not hope to win against the Hidden Leaf on the main battlefield, resulting in even greater losses.
Shiraishi skillfully rummaged through the corpses of the deceased Hidden Sand jonin.
Scrolls that might contain ninjutsu and information, explosive tags for combat, and military rations pills for recovery—he took everything, leaving nothing behind, until his backpack could hold no more.
Shiraishi couldn't help but marvel at how smoothly missions went when following Shakumo.
Last time, the three of them faced swarms of Hidden Sand ninja and could only flee everywhere.
Even with their current increased strength, they dared not confront the Hidden Sand Village's main forces head-on.
Now, with Shakumo leading, they would directly engage in combat with small-scale forces, as long as they didn't exceed a hundred people.
If there were more than a hundred, they would adopt a hit-and-run strategy, leading the Hidden Sand ninja in circles.
To pursue or not to pursue—that choice must have been extremely agonizing for the Hidden Sand ninja.
Pursuing them could lead to death, but not pursuing them would allow Shakumo's squad to continue their destruction, constantly attacking the Hidden Sand ninja patrol units in the Land of Rivers and their transport convoys.
And with Ayane's Byakugan, there was no need to worry about hastily forming battle formations. If they encountered a large force, they only needed to break through from the weakest point.
In terms of breakthrough capability, with Shakumo leading the charge, they could be said to come and go freely within the Land of Rivers.
"Alright, we've pretty much scavenged everything here."
Shiraishi thoroughly searched the six bodies on the ground.
There was one jonin, three chunin, and two genin.
In a single encounter, without Shakumo even needing to act, they were all wiped out by Ruri and Ayane.
Shakumo's contribution was the greatest, but without the assistance of the three of them, it would not have been so smooth, at least the problem of continuous resupply would have been a major headache.
Shakumo nodded and began to move.
Shiraishi and the other two followed closely, moving exceptionally fast.
They continued to move along the border between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Wind.
When tired, they rested, ate some dry rations, drank some water, and then continued on their way.
It was around three in the afternoon when a four-person Hidden Sand ninja squad appeared in Ayane's Byakugan vision.
Shakumo did not hesitate. Following their usual rhythm, he initiated an annihilation operation against this Hidden Sand ninja squad.
"Strange."
Ayane said.
"What's strange?"
Ruri looked at her.
"There should be a sensory ninja in this squad. He sensed our presence, but he didn't flee, nor did he prepare for battle..."
Hearing Ayane's words, the other three lightly furrowed their brows.
"It's as if they were deliberately waiting for us to come over."
Ayane said, sounding unsure.
"Are there any traps or ambushes around?" Shakumo asked.
Ayane looked carefully and shook her head.
Forget traps, these Hidden Sand ninja hadn't even channeled any chakra and had no intention of using long-range ninjutsu to attack.
Just as they were about to get close, one of the Hidden Sand ninja broke away from the squad and rushed towards them.
At Ayane's signal, Shakumo stopped, and Shiraishi and Ruri also halted.
It wasn't long before the Hidden Sand ninja appeared before them with a Body Flicker technique.
He made no other moves, simply pulling out a sealed letter from his ninja pouch.
"White Fang-dono, this is a letter from our Kazekage-sama for you. Please take a look."
The other party had a businesslike demeanor.
Ayane nodded to Shakumo. There was no poison on the letter, nor any chakra flow; it was just a normal letter.
Shakumo walked over, took the letter from the Hidden Sand ninja's hand, opened it, and quickly scanned it, his eyes slightly narrowing.
"I understand. I will personally confirm this matter."
The Hidden Sand ninja nodded and disappeared from Shakumo's sight.
"Shakumo-sensei, this letter is..."
Shiraishi and the others gathered around, curious about the content of the letter.
Shakumo didn't hide it, spreading the letter open for Shiraishi and the others to see.
At the very top of the letter were only three words—"Peace Treaty."
This was a signal from the Third Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village, indicating his readiness to stop the war with the Hidden Leaf Village.
"Is this letter highly credible?"
"I don't know. We'll see what Orochimaru says. If he agrees, the war ends here. If he doesn't, we continue our mission. Until we receive formal orders, the mission is temporarily suspended; we don't need to attack Hidden Sand ninja anymore."
Shakumo finished speaking, his deep gaze fixed on the distance.