Konoha and Kumogakure reignited the war, but the greatest impact was not on the citizens of the two great nations, Land of Fire and Land of Lightning, but on the two small countries sandwiched in between.
Looking at the map, the Land of Lightning's terrain resembles a slender-necked bottle lying on its side.
If its narrow southwestern region is considered the bottleneck, then the Land of Frost, which is the only country bordering it, becomes the cork blocking the bottle's mouth, and also Kumogakure's only connection to the entire continent.
As for the Land of Hot Springs, which is adjacent to the Land of Fire, its terrain is equally delicate, like a thick shield, firmly protecting the entire northeastern region of the Land of Fire, directly facing Kumogakure's military might on behalf of Konoha.
It can be said that the locations of these two small countries, Land of Frost and Land of Hot Springs, are practically natural battlefields.
Just as Nagato said in the future—"Great nations never care about the suffering of small nations."
After war breaks out, the decision-makers of great nations only consider how to prevent the war from spreading to their homeland and how to minimize the damage to their own citizens.
As for the feelings of small nations?
Who cares?
Senju Mori did the same; out of rational consideration, he would never choose to wage war within the Land of Fire's borders.
He personally led his main forces, unhesitatingly crossing the Land of Fire's border and turning the Land of Hot Springs into Konoha's frontline position.
All indirect losses caused by the war would be entirely transferred to the weak Land of Hot Springs... A few days later,
In the northeastern part of the Land of Hot Springs, an entire temporary camp rose from the ground.
This was originally a country known for its hot springs and beautiful scenery, but under the atmosphere of war, a grim and murderous aura permeated everywhere.
The once dense forest was cleared to make large open spaces, hundreds of tents were quickly erected within a day, and at the core were several wooden structures built with local materials.
The Land of Hot Springs is adjacent to the Land of Fire. Although it has its own Hidden Hot Water Village, due to the small number of Ninja and their weak strength, most of its daily missions are transferred to Konoha.
As the war broke out, this small Ninja Village, which couldn't even secure its own national mission quota, naturally could only cower in a corner pretending to be dead, allowing the Land of Hot Springs to become a battlefield for the great nations.
And although the Land of Hot Springs's Daimyo issued a diplomatic note to the Land of Fire, strongly protesting Konoha's barbaric actions, he was met with blatant disregard by the Land of Fire's Daimyo.
Facts proved that discrimination against the weak exists not only among Ninja Villages but also among nobles and Daimyo.
Since there was no need for multi-front warfare, Senju Mori had ample troops at his disposal.
In addition to the more than a thousand Ninja he brought from the village, there were also several hundred Ninja from the original northeastern border defense force, totaling about 1,400 people.
This was only the force prepared for a localized conflict; if Kumogakure intended to further escalate the war, Senju Mori could continue to mobilize Ninja from the village.
In a one-on-one situation, Konoha's biggest asset was its people.
In conventional Ninja World wars, the position of Jonin as core elites was naturally unshakable, but the main forces were mostly composed of Chunin and experienced Genin.
Unless absolutely necessary, no Ninja Village would be foolish enough to send newly graduated students to the battlefield.
A group of children who generally only mastered the Three Body Technique could offer no help to the war between the two Ninja Villages, other than making the casualty figures look worse... "Hokage-sama, a large number of Kumogakure Ninja have appeared within the Land of Frost. Several squads have crossed the border and engaged our forces..."
Inside the temporary command post made of tents, a Jonin was reporting the latest intelligence to Senju Mori.
Besides Senju Mori himself, there were several Ninja from the Nara Clan and Senju Clan in the tent, assisting him in analyzing the latest intelligence and processing documents sent from various places.
Just as Senju Mori expected, the Third Raikage could not agree to the harsh conditions he proposed. After the delegation returned, he directly mobilized a large number of Ninja troops and declared war on Konoha without warning.
And because the other party also did not want his own country to become a battlefield, he led Kumogakure's main forces out of the Land of Lightning and extensively deployed them into the adjacent Land of Frost.
Unlike straightforward samurai, the wars of Ninja are more complex and precise.
At the beginning of a war, it is never a direct clash between two Ninja armies, simply and brutally exchanging Ninjutsu on the battlefield, but rather a covert confrontation and mutual probing by individual Ninja squads.
Infiltration, assassination, intelligence gathering, road destruction, supply line interception... Ninja use their special combat methods to weaken the opponent as much as possible on non-frontal battlefields, and even directly win victories through these special methods.
More than twenty years later, the "Kannabi Bridge Battle" that broke out between Konoha and Iwagakure is the most classic example.
Only when this form of squad-based confrontation has progressed to a certain extent, and both sides remain evenly matched, will the intensity of the war further escalate, moving towards the final decisive battle... Compared to the Third Raikage, who was eager to gain benefits and prestige from the war, Senju Mori had already initially solidified his position as Hokage, and could very well fight a long-term, attrition war with Kumogakure.
Therefore, for him, there was even less urgency to set up formations with Kumogakure and engage in the final decisive battle early.
Not only that, but upon arriving at the front line, Senju Mori immediately issued orders to construct defensive lines.
Using the temporary camp where Konoha's main forces were located, large-scale defensive works were built with Earth Release, and barriers and traps were extensively deployed in the forests along the borders of the Land of Hot Springs and Land of Frost...
At the same time, elite squads composed of Jonin or Special Jonin infiltrated the Land of Frost to gather intelligence on Kumogakure.
Among the squads undertaking this arduous task was the "Special Tactics Unit" led by Danzo.
Senju Mori would not deliberately use false intelligence to harm Danzo, but the other party would undoubtedly receive the most dangerous and difficult missions in this war.
As for most of the other Jonin, they formed regular combat teams of four to eight people with their Chunin, responsible for continuing to set traps and intercepting Kumogakure Ninja who infiltrated the Land of Hot Springs.
Konoha has the Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan, the insects of the Aburame Clan, the Ninja dogs and various secret techniques of the Inuzuka Clan... In terms of sensory abilities, they far surpassed the Kumogakure Ninja, whose combat system was singular.
And Kumogakure, constrained by its terrain, if it did not want to risk its logistics being cut off and forcibly fight across the sea, had to break through directly from the borders of the Land of Frost and Land of Hot Springs; there was no third path.
While Senju Mori was deploying troops in the temporary command post, he also prepared to personally engage the Third Raikage.
He wanted to see how Kumogakure would break the stalemate under such circumstances and continue this war against Konoha.