Chapter 278: Konoha on the Defensive, Orochimaru Changes Strategy

Fighting against the Hidden Mist Village was far more troublesome than fighting against the Hidden Sand Village.

With the Sand Village, the battle could simply take place in the Land of Rivers. But against the Mist Village...

An endless ocean — how do you even fight there?

Currently, Konoha's main forces were stationed in the former location of Uzushiogakure. Meanwhile, the Mist Village kept sending forces to harass them at sea without launching a full-scale attack.

They were clearly taking advantage of Konoha's limited number of warships.

As much as it was frustrating, Tsunade had to admit that Yagura, that brat, was capable.

The lack of sufficient warships meant that Konoha found it challenging to engage the Mist Village at sea. Without naval support, any skirmish would inherently favor the Mist Village. Mist shinobi would love nothing more than for Konoha ninjas to take the fight to the open sea.

The most frustrating part was that on the vast ocean, the Mist Village could attack from any direction.

Konoha had positioned its forces in Uzushiogakure?

Fine. The Mist could attack from the direction of the Land of Craftsmen.

Or they could even take a longer route and attack from the direction of the Land of Rivers.

How could Konoha possibly defend against that?

The Mist Village had the advantage of the sea, meaning they could launch attacks from multiple directions while Konoha could only try to predict their moves.

To add to the problem, since declaring war, the Mist had been destroying ships everywhere, making sure Konoha couldn't gain the upper hand at sea.

The message was clear: Konoha should just prepare to get hit, and the Mist would strike from every possible direction.

"The Mist Village has the upper hand at sea. They can attack from anywhere, while Konoha struggles to defend. Even if we wanted to move the battlefield to the Land of Bears, the Mist Village wouldn't agree," Tsunade pointed out.

In wars between major powers, small countries often became battlegrounds. But the Mist Village wasn't playing by those rules.

Even if the Land of Bears avoided becoming the main battlefield, the Mist Village wouldn't make it easy.

The Mist controlled the mobility. They could attack wherever and however they wanted. Only a fool would move to the land and face Konoha in a protracted siege battle.

The Third Hokage looked troubled, and Danzo was frowning.

Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, the other two advisors, kept their mouths shut.

They had no good solutions for this situation either.

If the Mist launched a direct attack, Konoha would be ready.

But they refused. They were content to cause chaos everywhere, harass at every turn, exploiting Konoha and the Land of Fire's lack of naval power.

Harassments and constant skirmishes were more than enough to make Konoha's forces anxious and exhausted.

Orochimaru, who had initially planned to accumulate military achievements and boost his reputation, realized he had underestimated the difficulty.

The Mist Village was far trickier than the Sand Village.

If the Mist dared to launch a proper attack, Orochimaru was confident he could teach them a painful lesson.

The problem was, that they wouldn't come at them directly. Instead, they kept harassing and striking at random points.

How annoying.

Konoha could try to station forces everywhere, but how effective could that be?

They could even try to sneak attack the Mist Village, but with the limited ships the Land of Fire possessed, any attempt would be met by a water-style jutsu combo that would leave them feeding the fish.

After half a day of discussion, no real solution was found. In the end, they decided to proceed with caution, taking a wait-and-see approach until the Mist made a definitive move.

No one had expected that the war against the Mist Village would see Konoha falling into such a passive position so quickly.

"As expected, wars have a huge impact on the lives of the villagers."

Takuya walked through the streets, carrying groceries in his hand. Recently, the cost of goods in Konoha has increased significantly.

The number of visitors to the village had also decreased, with many merchants deciding to leave.

The invasion by the Sand Village a few years back had caused significant losses for many of them.

And now, only two or three years later, another war was starting. "Once bitten, twice shy" — the merchants' first reaction was to leave Konoha.

They would go somewhere without war and continue making money.

Of course, there were also some daredevils, hoping to make a fortune from the war.

After all, during wartime, prices skyrocketed, and goods transported from other places could be sold at a high profit, giving them the opportunity to make a killing.

"Uncle, same as usual — one bowl of plain ramen."

At Ichiraku Ramen, Takuya entered, set down his groceries, and called out.

Clang!

Teuchi's rolling pin clattered to the ground. After staring blankly for a few seconds, he picked it up and swung it towards Takuya.

"I told you, I'm not that old! And stop calling me 'uncle'!"

"Alright, alright, I'll change it next time," Takuya laughed.

Teuchi, who had acted like he was going to hit Takuya, put down his rolling pin and asked, "You want extra noodles?"

Of course, Teuchi wouldn't really hit him — it was just a scare tactic. Unfortunately, Takuya wasn't fazed by it at all.

"No, just the regular portion. I'm cooking at home tonight, so I want to eat light for lunch."

"Alright, give me a moment."

As Teuchi began cooking, Takuya looked around at the remodeled ramen shop, surprised.

"Teuchi, you've even got a fridge now?"

He opened it to find various drinks inside.

Teuchi answered with a grumble, "It's all because of you, complaining every time you came in about how the only thing in this place was ramen. So, I got a fridge last month. There are drinks in there — take whatever you want. Today, it's on the house."

"I thought you'd never take any suggestions."

Takuya laughed.

Teuchi could be quite stubborn, especially if someone criticized his cooking or said the portions were too small. In such cases, he wouldn't hesitate to throw his rolling pin at you.

Many shinobi couldn't dodge that rolling pin, and Nawaki had taken a few hits from it as well.

"As long as you don't complain about the taste or the portion, I'll consider other suggestions," Teuchi said, turning over the noodles.

"Besides, having only ramen in a ramen shop is a bit lacking. Guests should at least be able to have something to drink."

In the winter, it wasn't as much of an issue — a hot bowl of broth could warm the stomach. But in summer, it was different. The heat made hot soup less appealing.

"Today's ramen is on me, so eat up, alright? I remember last time you had three whole bowls..."

A familiar voice approached as Sakumo Hatake entered the shop with his son, Kakashi.

Lifting the curtain, Sakumo saw Takuya slurping down his noodles.

"Takuya!" Sakumo laughed.

Kakashi shyly looked at Takuya. After Sakumo's recent comments, he had grown more curious about him.

"Senior, what a coincidence," Kakashi greeted.

"Yes, quite a coincidence," Takuya smiled.

After seating Kakashi, Sakumo sat beside Takuya and called out to Teuchi, "Two bowls of extra-large pork ramen, and add some extra veggies."

"Got it, just a moment," Teuchi replied.

"I thought you'd be heading to the front lines with the main forces," Takuya remarked.

"Things are still uncertain, so I'll be going with the next group," Sakumo explained.

At this point, Orochimaru had stopped worrying about earning accolades or boosting his reputation. Ensuring victory in this war was the priority. The Mist Village wouldn't be easy to deal with.

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Next Bonus: 2400 Power Stones ╰ (´꒳`) ╯

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(P)(S): If you're interested, you can read up to chapter 340+ at patreon.com/ Emik01. ಥ‿ಥ

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