Naruto: Promotion is my Ninja Way

There was a significant difference between serving as a Supreme Commander and being an ordinary jōnin. Regular jōnin were expected to fight on the front lines, while the Supreme Commander—unless facing truly unexpected circumstances—needed to remain in the command center to coordinate and oversee the entire battlefield situation.

"Current supplies are holding steady, and the field hospital is operating smoothly..." Shihouin Naraku muttered as he reviewed the constant stream of intelligence reports flowing back from the front lines. Some of the information was reliable, while other reports were clearly false or misleading. He had to carefully analyze each piece of intelligence himself, determining what deserved his attention and what could be safely ignored.

"Darui has led Kumogakure's forces to establish a strong foothold in the Land of Hot Water, but our Konoha shinobi have also secured many crucial strategic positions and successfully blocked the enemy advance."

"Kumogakure's surprise assault has definitely failed. Now the question is whether they plan to continue their attack or retreat back to their own territory."

If Konoha had failed to detect Kumogakure's movements early enough, allowing the enemy to occupy the Land of Hot Water first, their surprise attack might very well have succeeded. However, Konoha had reacted with impressive speed and quickly halted Kumogakure's advance within the Land of Hot Water, causing their surprise assault to fail completely.

"Knowing the personality of those hot-headed muscle-brains from Kumogakure, they won't retreat even after their surprise attack failed. That means there's still plenty of room for this war to escalate."

Shihouin Naraku's eyes focused intently on the map of the Land of Hot Water spread before him, searching for strategies to break the current stalemate. This war had to be concluded in the shortest possible time. Tsunade had only recently taken office as the Fifth Hokage, and if this conflict dragged on for too long, it would not bode well for her leadership or the village's stability.

Not only could the duration not be too lengthy, but the number of ninja casualties also had to be kept to an absolute minimum!

Soon, Shihouin Naraku began implementing his carefully developed plan. He mobilized the ninja forces at his disposal and launched a forceful campaign to suppress Kumogakure's vanguard units, attempting to drive them completely out of the Land of Hot Water.

While it was true that the Kumogakure troops led by Darui were exceptionally strong, the Konoha shinobi that Shihouin Naraku had deployed were equally elite fighters. As their numbers continued to increase on the battlefield, the pressure on Kumogakure's vanguard forces grew steadily more intense.

Darui was an extraordinarily powerful jōnin who possessed not only superb swordsmanship skills but also wielded the rare kekkei genkai known as Storm Release.

Under normal circumstances, if an ordinary jōnin faced Darui in single combat, they would stand virtually no chance of victory.

However, as the number of Konoha shinobi on the battlefield increased, they began employing coordinated siege tactics against him. They refused to engage him in direct one-on-one combat, instead relying on hidden weapons, carefully placed traps, deadly poisons, and whatever other methods proved most effective and ruthless.

After all, this was war—a life-or-death struggle where only one side could emerge victorious. Ninja were trained to be efficient tools of warfare, which meant there were no moral boundaries when it came to achieving victory.

Since this small-scale conflict had begun, the group that suffered the most devastating casualties was neither Konohagakure nor Kumogakure, but rather the innocent civilians of the Land of Hot Water!

The ongoing war had caused enormous casualties among the people of the Land of Hot Water. Even though the country's government had sent diplomatic envoys to negotiate peace, both Darui and Shihouin Naraku pretended not to hear their desperate pleas.

The diplomatic representatives from the Land of Hot Water had now traveled to both Konohagakure and Kumogakure, hoping to convince the leaders of each village to halt the destructive war. However, once warfare begins, it becomes extremely difficult to bring to an end.

Shihouin Naraku paid no attention whatsoever to these diplomatic efforts. His mission was crystal clear: completely repel Kumogakure's ninja forces!

As Naraku deployed the majority of his available forces to the front lines, the situation within the Land of Hot Water shifted dramatically. The Kumogakure forces led by Darui were steadily pushed back, step by step, and were on the verge of losing all their established positions within the Land of Hot Water.

Kumogakure suddenly found itself in an increasingly passive and disadvantageous position. At the same time, Shihouin Naraku's headquarters became dangerously vulnerable as most of his ninja had been sent to the active front lines.

"Move out!" Darui commanded with authority.

"Yes, sir!" came the unified response.

Darui, accompanied by Yugito Nii (the Two-Tails jinchūriki) and two full ninja teams—forming a total of ten specialized infiltration squads—began carefully circumventing the areas where the most intense fighting in the Land of Hot Water was taking place. Their objective was to reach Shihouin Naraku's headquarters and the field hospital undetected.

Meanwhile, Dodai led a large contingent of Kumogakure forces to maintain their position at the last remaining stronghold within the Land of Hot Water. They would pretend to launch counterattacks in order to confuse and misdirect the Konoha shinobi's attention.

If the sneak attack led by Darui and Yugito succeeded, Dodai's forces would immediately launch their own assault, repel the Konoha shinobi from their current positions, and provide crucial support to the infiltration teams.

When that happened, with Konoha's headquarters and field hospital under attack, the front-line troops would lose their will to continue fighting and would most likely be defeated at first contact.

All strategic positions within the Land of Hot Water would then fall into Kumogakure's hands.

If they were particularly fortunate, they might even be able to push their invasion into the Land of Fire itself.

Of course, this was merely the most optimistic scenario possible, and even Dodai—despite his extensive experience in warfare—wouldn't dare to have such unrealistic dreams.

However, the plan to launch a sneak attack on Konoha's headquarters and field hospital still had an excellent chance of success!

"If I remember correctly, this is Shihouin Naraku's first time serving as supreme commander, and he's clearly inexperienced in this role. How could he possibly send so many people to the front lines all at once? While we've achieved some positive results against his forces, the follow-up ninja reinforcements haven't arrived yet, and the defensive capabilities of his headquarters and field hospital are suddenly stretched to their absolute limits."

Dodai studied the battle map carefully, calculating the probable success rate of their planned sneak attack.

As a ninja who had survived many wars and conflicts, Dodai still looked down upon Shihouin Naraku's abilities. Of course, this wasn't because he questioned Naraku's individual strength, but rather because he had little respect for Naraku's skills as a supreme battlefield commander.

"It may not entirely be Shihouin Naraku's fault," Dodai reflected thoughtfully. "The Fifth Hokage has only just taken office, and the current situation in Konohagakure doesn't allow this war to continue for an extended period. Perhaps the enemy simply has no other viable options, which is why they're so eager to end this conflict decisively."

With this realization, Dodai began to understand Shihouin Naraku's strategic thinking and desperation.

Of course, Dodai was fully aware that this seemingly excellent combat opportunity could very well be an elaborate trap designed to lure them in.

But according to intelligence gathered from the front lines and information provided by their embedded spies, Konohagakure's follow-up support troops had not yet arrived at the battlefield.

In recent days, the patrol range around Konoha's command center and field hospital had been significantly reduced, and the frequency of security sweeps had also decreased accordingly.

All of these factors pointed to one clear conclusion: the number of ninja that Shihouin Naraku could deploy was indeed declining rapidly.

Meanwhile, on the war front, there were definitely large numbers of Konoha shinobi present, and Kumogakure's front line was continuously retreating under pressure, which further supported this assessment.

When combined with the recent attack on Konohagakure itself, the death of the Third Hokage in battle, and the Fifth Hokage's recent appointment, this entire series of dramatic changes could easily explain the current situation.

Therefore, Dodai, Darui, and Yugito all agreed that this represented an exceptional opportunity for a successful sneak attack.

The probability of success was extremely high!

They could win this engagement!

Besides, there was no such thing as a one-hundred-percent guarantee in warfare. The current success rate was more than sufficient for Kumogakure to justify taking this calculated risk.

Meanwhile, in the Land of Fire...

Deep within a vast forest, towering trees blocked out most of the sunlight, casting the interior of the woodland in dim, shadowy light.

This forest was located slightly east of due north from the Land of Fire's central regions and sat very close to the border. It wouldn't take long for someone to cross the border from here and enter the territory controlled by Otogakure.

The forest, which should have been peaceful and quiet, now buzzed with activity and voices.

Konoha shinobi moved swiftly through the trees and underbrush. In the camp that had been established days earlier, large numbers of ninja were making their final preparations for the upcoming battle.

In the main command tent at the center of the encampment, Nara Shikaku—wearing his distinctive jōnin vest—was engaged in intense discussions about battle strategy with his fellow staff officers.

"Sir! Lord Naraku has sent a messenger with important information!" a young chūnin announced as he burst into the command tent.

"Hand it over immediately!" Shikaku ordered.

The previously noisy strategic discussion fell silent instantly. Nara Shikaku grabbed the intelligence scroll from the messenger's hands, tore it open without hesitation, and began reading its contents with rapid, focused attention.

"Excellent! Kumogakure has taken the bait completely!" Shikaku exclaimed with satisfaction.

"Notify all units immediately—prepare to move out!"

"Yes, sir!" came the coordinated response from everyone present in the command tent.

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