Chapter 415: , The Tilted Scale

As the saying goes, you can run away from the monk, but you can't run away from the temple.

The Rain Ninjas can abandon the Rain Village and go underground for guerrilla warfare, but some things cannot follow the Rain Ninjas to move around.

For example, the crops in the fields!

Following Mizunuki Ryosuke’s reminder, Tsunade realized the biggest flaw of the Rain Ninjas—the source of food.

The time is now approaching autumn, and it is almost time for the harvest of crops in the fields.

The Land of Rain is already poor in grain production; as long as the crops planted in the largest grain-producing area in the Land of Rain—the Rain Plain—are destroyed.

At that time, it will not only be the people of the Land of Rain who lose their food source, but also the troops of the Rain Ninjas.

Although this move may cause famine in the Land of Rain, there is a saying that kindness does not command soldiers.

Tsunade yearns for peace to better protect the people around her, not to be a saint.

Even if the civilians of the Land of Rain suffer because of the war, it is an unavoidable thing.

She could not possibly give up a winning strategy for the sake of a few civilians in the Land of Rain.

Ninjas are also people and need to eat, drink, and excrete.

Without a source of food, the morale of the Rain Ninjas will soon be shaken, and if it continues to drag on, it is very likely that they will collapse without being attacked.

This brilliant plan of drawing the firewood from under the cauldron was just proposed by Tsunade and was immediately agreed upon by Orochimaru and Jiraiya.

Therefore, the three immediately changed the plan, changing the strategy of raiding the Rain Ninja camp to raiding the Rain Plain.

Under the cooperation of the Sannin, the nearly thousand-person Leaf force did not alarm anyone.

Under Orochimaru’s snake-summoning technique, the Rain Ninja outposts along the way were all pulled out without anyone knowing.

Because Hanzo of the Salamander and the Rain Ninjas focused all their energy on the three Rain Ninja gathering areas, the Leaf’s action of heading straight to the Rain Plain was not noticed at all.

After arriving at the Rain Plain, the Leaf ninjas began to act separately.

For a time, fire and flying dust were all over the Rain Plain, and almost instantly, the originally fertile fields became a mess.

Under the effect of ninjutsu, destroying the fields on this plain was a piece of cake for the Leaf ninjas.

After succeeding, the Leaf ninjas began to evacuate along the pre-planned path, without being greedy for merit or advancing rashly.

After the Leaf ninjas had left for a while, the slow-to-react Hanzo of the Salamander led the Rain Ninjas to arrive late.

But at this moment, everything was too late.

Unless Senju Hashirama is reborn, no one can save this fertile land that has been completely destroyed.

Looking at the messy Rain Plain, Hanzo of the Salamander clenched his fists.

He had already anticipated what would happen next.

The grain reserves of the Rain Ninjas could still last for a month; originally, one month later would be the time for the harvest of grain in the Land of Rain, and the grain reserves of the Rain Ninjas would also be perfectly connected.

But now, everything has been destroyed.

Grain has now become the biggest constraint plaguing Hanzo of the Salamander.

The Land of Rain is located in the cracks between three major countries, and the road to obtain grain from neighboring countries is also completely blocked.

First of all, the Land of Fire, which is the richest and does not lack grain, is now the mortal enemy of the Rain Ninjas, so there is no need to mention it.

Another relatively rich one is the Land of Earth, and although the Rock Village and the Rain Ninjas are calm on the surface, there is no lack of filth behind the scenes.

Finally, there is the Land of Wind; the Land of Wind is resource-poor and doesn't have enough food for itself, so how can it have the energy to support the Rain Ninjas?

Thinking about it, Hanzo of the Salamander could only pin his hopes on the Mist Village, which had a secret alliance relationship.

Hoping to obtain enough grain from the trade with the Mist Village to tide over the difficulties.

The congestion in his chest made Hanzo of the Salamander want to look up to the sky and roar, but when he looked up at the sky, he finally endured it.

At this instant, the sense of powerlessness in Hanzo of the Salamander’s heart emerged again.

Let him calculate everything, but the constraints brought by the poor resources and combat power of the Land of Rain always made him fall short at critical moments.

Hanzo understood that people can move and hide.

But the crops in the fields cannot move or hide, so as long as the Leaf has the heart to attack here, sooner or later this place will be destroyed.

The main reason for the grain crisis of the Rain Ninjas is still the poverty of the Land of Rain.

It’s like this again.

In the huge Rain Ninja force, there is not a single person who can share the pressure on Hanzo of the Salamander’s shoulders.

The Rain Ninjas at this moment seem very strong, but in reality, this strength is all brought by Hanzo of the Salamander alone; once Hanzo of the Salamander falls, this Rain Ninja force will also completely fall apart.

Thinking of this, Hanzo of the Salamander’s heart was inevitably a bit tired.

Originally, he had already gained the initiative on the battlefield by relying on his strategy, but who would have thought that the Leaf would withdraw as soon as they said so, putting on a posture of "see who can consume whom."

This family business and confidence are things that Hanzo of the Salamander, who came from a small family, can never reach.

Not only that, the Leaf saw his lifeblood and directly attacked the grain-producing area of the Land of Rain, making his grain supply directly unsustainable.

But the same trick, if he chose to replicate it, would have no effect on the Leaf at all.

Because for the rich Land of Fire, even if the Rain Ninjas destroyed large areas of fields in the Land of Fire, these losses would be a drop in the bucket and would not affect the Leaf in the slightest.

If the Rain Ninjas really did this, it would instead give the Leaf an opportunity to take advantage of the situation and consume the combat power of the Rain Ninjas.

After the two separate implementations of avoiding the enemy’s edge and drawing firewood from under the cauldron by the Leaf, the scale of the war has undergone a subtle tilt under the wings of the butterfly.