Chapter 462

"I agree too!"

"Yes, yes, I also..."

For a time, voices of agreement were endless; only the opposing opinions raised by a few of Chiyo’s die-hard supporters were drowned out by the clamor of those agreeing.

"Sister..."

Ebizo looked at Chiyo beside him, his expression worried.

After all, he knew very well how big a blow the death of Sasori’s parents had been to Chiyo.

If they just stopped here, how could Chiyo be willing?

"It’s fine."

Regarding Ebizo’s inquiry, Chiyo finally just shook her head, feigning indifference, but Ebizo, who knew Chiyo well, clearly saw that Chiyo’s complexion had darkened a few shades.

"Since that’s the case, then everyone get ready."

"The responsibility for the war’s failure lies with me; I will take responsibility for my own actions, and I will personally go to the Konoha camp to seek peace talks."

Chiyo took a deep breath and slowly stood up; her body, no longer young, looked somewhat hunched.

"Sister, let me go instead."

Ebizo grabbed Chiyo’s hand, trying to stop Chiyo’s behavior.

"No, Ebizo."

"Let me go."

Chiyo slowly removed Ebizo’s hand from her body; her movements were slow, but exceptionally firm.

In the end, Ebizo did not insist on going against Chiyo’s wishes.

After some time, the Sand Village’s Great Elder Chiyo walked out of the Sand Village camp alone.

By the time Tsunade returned to the Konoha camp, the high-ranking officials of the Konoha troops fighting the Rain Village had already arrived, and the other two commanders were also waiting here for a long time.

Tsunade lifted the curtain of the tent and stepped into the tent where many high-level Konoha ninjas were gathered.

In an instant, dozens of eyes shifted to Tsunade, which made Tsunade’s expression somewhat embarrassed.

After all, being late for so long and making everyone wait for such a long time was indeed somewhat embarrassing.

But regarding this, not a single person had any objections.

Because everyone knew that last night, Tsunade had been busy saving the wounded until dawn; Tsunade was not an iron man, after all, so it was understandable that she had rested too much and arrived late.

Seeing this, Tsunade did not delay any longer and came to her seat.

Orochimaru, who was presiding over the meeting, saw Tsunade arrive and also rose unhurriedly, preparing to start the meeting.

It was just that at this moment, Orochimaru’s expression looked exceptionally serious, as if something major had happened.

"Everyone, before discussing the battle from last night..."

"I have two urgent matters to announce."

Orochimaru’s face was serious and stern, and his usually hoarse and gloomy voice carried a rare hint of solemnity.

Seeing this, everyone became serious, waiting to listen attentively.

"News just arrived this morning that on the Sand Village side, the battlefield for which Commander Hatake is responsible has made breakthrough progress."

"It won't be long before good news comes from the Sand Village side."

As Orochimaru’s voice entered everyone’s ears, everyone showed joy.

Konoha achieving victory in the war against the Sand Village was also rare good news for them; this meant that soon Konoha would be able to free up its hands, and there would be a steady stream of reinforcements rushing here from the Land of Wind battlefield to support them.

One move affects the whole situation; the victory in the Land of Wind war would inevitably further influence the situation on the Land of Rain battlefield.

Hearing this good news, coupled with the victory of last night’s battle, the double happiness made the Konoha ninjas feel joyful.

"There is one more thing, also news that just arrived."

Orochimaru paused in his tone and spoke again.

"News came from the Land of Lightning."

"The Mist Village has sent troops to intervene in the war between the Stone Village and the Cloud Village; the Stone Village has already been defeated and retreated."

"It is said that the Fourth Mizukage of the Mist Village took action personally and defeated the Stone Village."

Compared to the previous piece of news, the Konoha ninjas clearly had little interest in this one.

After all, this matter happening thousands of miles away had nothing to do with them; even if these three major ninja villages broke each other’s heads, it was none of their business.

Of course, except for one person.

When she heard the words "Mist Village" from Orochimaru’s mouth, Tsunade had already pricked up her ears, fearing she would miss even a shred of the news.

When she heard that the Mist Village had defeated the Stone Village, and that it was Mizunuki Ryosuke who had taken action personally, Tsunade felt that something was not quite right.

Because with her intimate relationship with Mizunuki Ryosuke, she was completely unaware of this!

In a daze, Tsunade seemed to think of something again; was this what Mizunuki Ryosuke had been hiding from her?

But after just a little deep thought, Tsunade concluded that it was definitely not that simple.

Because if it were just this, Mizunuki Ryosuke would have no need to hide it from her.

The Fourth Mizukage of the Mist Village—this title sounded mysterious to everyone, because this Fourth Mizukage had always been obscure in the ninja world, and most people only knew that this Fourth Mizukage was not old, appearing extremely young.

It was just unexpected that the other side would not make a sound until they made a big splash, suddenly leading the Mist Village to do such a major thing.

Others might not know Mizunuki Ryosuke, but could Tsunade not know him?

She knew very well that as early as ten days ago, Mizunuki Ryosuke had already arrived in the Land of Rain.

If Orochimaru’s intelligence was correct, this meant that more than ten days ago, the war in the Land of Lightning had already settled.

Then why was this intelligence only learned by Konoha ten days later?

There was only one answer: Mizunuki Ryosuke was deliberately hiding the news of the Stone Village’s defeat and hiding his own whereabouts.

As Ryosuke’s bedfellow, Tsunade knew very well that with Mizunuki Ryosuke’s intelligence, he would never do meaningless things.

Then why did he do this?

Tsunade was absolutely certain that Mizunuki Ryosuke must be playing a big game of chess!

"Forget it, let him be."

With no results from her thinking, Tsunade simply stopped overthinking it; thinking of that handsome face that always carried a gentle smile, a trace of helplessness flashed in her heart.

Having experienced what happened yesterday, Tsunade now had nothing but trust for everything about Mizunuki Ryosuke.

And after Orochimaru finished reading these two pieces of news, he turned to talk about the battle situation from yesterday.

In general, it ended with a complete victory for Konoha.

According to post-battle statistics, Konoha achieved a record of killing nearly five thousand Rain ninjas with the loss of hundreds of ninjas.

This battle situation was enough to be called a hearty and thorough victory!

If Jiraiya had strictly implemented Tsunade’s strategy, yesterday’s record could have been increased by at least another third.

Five thousand Rain ninjas—this was a fairly large combat force; according to Konoha’s estimation of the troops in Hanzo of the Salamander’s hands, this combat force accounted for at least one-fourth of the combat power in Hanzo’s hands.

In other words, in this one battle alone, one-fourth of the Rain ninjas’ combat power was completely annihilated.

"The situation is roughly like this; next, I will state some of the main purposes for gathering everyone here."

"The form of the war situation has changed again; I propose to change the strategy again, turning defense into active offense."

After finishing the battle situation from last night, Orochimaru put forward a controversial proposal.

Hearing this, the Konoha ninjas at the table had different expressions, their faces changing one after another; even Tsunade, who was sitting beside Orochimaru, couldn't help but frown slightly.

After all, as long as one wasn't stupid, one knew that the reason Konoha could achieve the current results was inseparable from Tsunade’s "defensive" strategy.

As long as this tactic was consistently implemented, Konoha’s victory was only a matter of time; after all, no matter how powerful Hanzo of the Salamander was, he couldn't conjure food and drink.

The Rain ninjas would sooner or later be dragged down by the war; it was foreseeable that as long as Konoha did not move, active attacks like the Rain ninjas’ "moth to the flame" style from last night would not stop.

Because Hanzo of the Salamander had absolutely no other way.

So what the Rain ninjas feared now was not Konoha taking the initiative to attack, but Konoha not fighting them.

And once Konoha changed its tactics and took the initiative to attack, it would be equivalent to falling right into Hanzo of the Salamander’s trap.

Although Konoha had already gained the upper hand through two beautiful battles and had eliminated a large number of the Rain ninjas’ vital forces, taking action at this time looked like actively pursuing the victory and not giving the Rain ninjas a way to live.

But this was actually equivalent to Konoha directly abandoning the advantage it had occupied and returning to the same trenches as the Rain ninjas to fight.

In other words, this was a strategy of actively seeking consumption and accelerating the war process.

Tsunade could not understand for a moment why Orochimaru would put forward such a suggestion.