Kyuushin bowed his head in thought for a long time, until the lamb leg in his hand grew cold, before he finally looked up and asked, "These Sunagakure shinobi teams can't possibly stay out for long, can they? How do they resupply?"
"Indeed." Orochimaru nodded and said, "According to our previous deductions, Sunagakure must have set up a large number of temporary outposts in the Land of Rivers to allow the raiding teams to resupply nearby.
If every team had to return to the Sunagakure front-line base for resupply each time, their efficiency wouldn't be this high."
Kyuushin's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Then do we have a way to find these outposts?"
Lord Shikaku seemed to have read Kyuushin's thoughts and shook his head, saying, "Even if we find them, it's useless. Once we invade in large numbers, these Sunagakure shinobi will quickly abandon these outposts. Anyway, there isn't much in the way of supplies, and they can afford the losses.
We previously obtained the locations of several Sunagakure outposts and tried to attack them, but the Sunagakure shinobi retreated as soon as they saw too many of us. However, if too few people went, our team would risk being ambushed.
Sakumo Hatake did successfully destroy an outpost by himself before, but later the Sunagakure shinobi also learned their lesson. When they saw that Sakumo was coming, they immediately retreated."
Seeing Lord Shikaku say this, Kyuushin couldn't help but glance at Sakumo Hatake. He hadn't expected that as the commander of this war, he would personally take such risks. Sakumo, noticing Kyuushin's gaze, uncharacteristically said, "I'm not good at strategy; I'm only good at assassination."
Kyuushin then understood. Simply put, although Sakumo Hatake was nominally the commander of this war, he generally didn't concern himself with strategic and tactical issues.
He didn't need to worry about how to fight, what plan to use, or when to fight. He only needed the two vice-commanders to discuss it and then inform him.
His only role was to kill enemies, but this was indeed Sakumo Hatake's personality. From the original work, it was clear that Sakumo Hatake was a relatively taciturn shinobi.
However, this was probably also related to his experience in Anbu. In Anbu, missions usually involved only one small team, and it was rare for multiple small squads to act together.
Therefore, Sakumo Hatake was indeed not very good at war command, but Sakumo's good point was that he had a clear understanding of himself and knew that he was not material for tactics and strategy.
So he let Orochimaru and Shikaku make the plans, and he only needed to know how to execute them.
However, this also showed Sakumo Hatake's broad-mindedness. If it were an ordinary shinobi as commander, he probably wouldn't easily delegate such decision-making power.
So when Kyuushin first heard Sakumo Hatake's words, he was a bit surprised, but upon careful thought, he felt that it was indeed Sakumo Hatake, someone who could earn the admiration of Tsunade and the others. He was truly worthy of his reputation.
However, although Lord Shikaku's words just now made sense, Kyuushin still continued to ask, "So, Lord Sakumo going alone to clear out Sunagakure outposts is still effective, right? It's just that the Sunagakure shinobi later feared Lord Sakumo, which is why they voluntarily retreated, right?"
"That's right." Lord Shikaku nodded, then asked with some surprise, "Did you really come up with a solution?"
Orochimaru and Sakumo Hatake both looked at him. Even Jiraiya, who hadn't said a word since the discussion began, cast a curious glance at Kyuushin.
Kyuushin nodded and said confidently, "Since it has been proven that a single-person breakthrough is effective, we might as well carry this tactic through to the end."
As soon as these words came out, everyone exchanged glances. Jiraiya's expression was a bit grim, and he couldn't help but say, "Kyuushin, don't joke with us. Didn't Lord Shikaku just say that the Sunagakure shinobi, upon seeing Sakumo, are like mice seeing a cat, running faster than anyone else? No matter how strong Sakumo is, how many can he kill?"
Jiraiya was quite blunt, but no one present, including Sakumo himself, showed any displeasure.
But then Kyuushin said, "I didn't say it had to be Sakumo Hatake who attacked the Sunagakure outposts."
"Then you mean us?" Jiraiya waved his hands frantically, clearly aware of his own limitations, and said anxiously, "No, no, each outpost has at least dozens of Sunagakure shinobi, and there are even jonin-level enemies among them. The damage Orochimaru and I can inflict is limited, and we might even be surrounded and killed.
I say, kid, are you overestimating our strength too much?"
"Uh..."
As soon as Jiraiya said that, a strange expression appeared on Kyuushin's face, and he didn't know how to say the rest of what he wanted to. The atmosphere suddenly fell silent.
Orochimaru stared at Kyuushin's face, as if he had thought of some possibility, and said with a slight surprise, "The person you're talking about, it wouldn't be yourself, would it?"
"How is that possible? No matter what, Kyuushin is still just a kid..."
As soon as Jiraiya heard Orochimaru's words, he immediately began to retort, but his voice grew softer and softer, because he saw a look of helplessness on Kyuushin's face.
"You're not really talking about yourself, are you?"
Jiraiya jumped up directly, his tone somewhat disbelieving, and asked with a trembling voice, "Has your strength already surpassed ours?!"
Lord Shikaku and Sakumo also understood the implications of their conversation at this point. The former looked at Kyuushin with a hint of scrutiny, while the latter showed an interested gaze.
"No, no." Kyuushin quickly waved his hands, looking at Jiraiya, who was practically bug-eyed, and quickly explained, "You all know I awakened the Ice Release kekkei genkai. I previously developed a large-scale ninjutsu technique. Although it might not necessarily kill a jonin, anyone below jonin will basically have no chance of survival.
No matter how many shinobi are in a Sunagakure outpost, most of them are chunin-level shinobi. This ninjutsu of mine is perfect for dealing with such a situation."
"That's more like it..."
Jiraiya mumbled, but was immediately interrupted by Orochimaru: "Jiraiya, stop making a fool of yourself! Can't you hear the obvious comforting tone in Kyuushin's voice?"
Compared to Jiraiya, Orochimaru appeared much calmer, at least on the surface. He continued, "Back in the Land of Rain, Kyuushin's strength was already on par with ours. If it weren't for him, Hanzo wouldn't have been so discomfited.
With his talent, it's not surprising if he's made another breakthrough during this time and now possesses strength that surpasses ours!"
"But... but..."
Jiraiya stammered, but looking at the somewhat awkward smile on Kyuushin's face, he knew that everything Orochimaru said was true.
He suddenly felt as if all the strength had been drained from his body, and he slumped down, unable to utter another word.