Perhaps in the eyes of powerful ninja, Tailed Beasts are indeed strong, but they are certainly not unmanageable existences. Especially from the One-Tail to the Seven-Tails—in past Great Ninja Wars, there were several instances of them being defeated or even captured alive. A recent example is the One-Tail Jinchuriki Gaara of the Hidden Sand Village being forcefully suppressed by the Hidden Leaf Village, right?
The Six-Tails Jinchuriki Utakata also nearly lost to the elite Cloud squad led by Darui.
All these are enough to prove that the One-Tail through the Seven-Tails can still be suppressed by conventional forces. But ultimately, they are Tailed Beasts. without the siege of truly elite troops and the leadership of a powerful Kage-level existence, it is absolutely impossible for ordinary ninja troops to defeat them.
And unlike humans...
Although strictly speaking, Tailed Beast chakra isn't infinite, it is definitely not something humans can compare to.
Ordinary cannon-fodder level ninja? The Tailed Beast can kill as many as come.
Unless it's truly an endless human wave tactic, numbers don't mean much in front of a Tailed Beast. Kisame Hoshigaki is called the "Tailed Beast without a Tail," but that's only relative to other ninja. If you really compare chakra with a Tailed Beast, the gap is still obvious. If the Third Raikage back then had possessed Tailed Beast-level chakra, those ten thousand Rock ninja couldn't have truly kept him there—or at least they would have had to pay a much heavier price, or perhaps Ohnoki, Roshi, Han, and others would have had to act together to possibly suppress him.
This is the terror of Tailed Beasts.
Upon learning that his own ninja village suddenly possessed three Tailed Beasts, how could Agun not feel pleasantly surprised!?
This meant their Hidden Waterfall Village had initially acquired the qualifications and foundation to go head-to-head with the Five Great Ninja Villages!
But on second thought, realizing they might soon face accountability or even war threats from the Cloud, Leaf, and possibly other ninja villages...
Agun's expression tightened accordingly.
"Then what does Menma-kun mean by accelerating the plan? Do we need to make any preparations?"
Agun took a deep breath and looked straight at Menma, asking.
"Mhm, it's a plan to strengthen our village's power in all aspects. Persuading Utakata-san to join our side was part of the plan. Next, the intention is to find the Three-Tails, which has already broken away from the Hidden Mist Village's control. As long as we can find it smoothly and persuade the Three-Tails to join our village as well, it will greatly enhance our side's high-end combat power again. By that time, relying on just the few of us will be enough to make those ninja villages wary of taking action."
Menma paused, then continued.
Four Tailed Beasts.
Including him, the strongest Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
Even that warmonger Fourth Raikage would feel a certain degree of trouble and hesitation!
Several major ninja villages joining forces?
That, of course, is no problem.
But past events tell us that these ninja villages can never sincerely unite. Even if they could eliminate all unfavorable factors this time and truly ensure they wouldn't attack each other...
Who takes the lead is still a very serious question.
Four Tailed Beasts!
The power that can erupt from this is too much for any single major ninja village to bear. If during the joint attack, someone deliberately slacks off and lets one side charge ahead with full force, even if the Hidden Waterfall Village is successfully destroyed in the end and Menma and others are captured, the ninja village that charged at the forefront won't have a good ending either.
Maybe they'll perish together with the Hidden Waterfall Village!
This is a very serious and realistic problem.
Don't talk about other issues; this is a basic question of trust. And will there be trust between the Five Great Ninja Villages?
Talking about this is a huge joke!!
"In addition, Orochimaru is our most steadfast ally. I also reached a certain degree of tacit understanding with that Third Tsuchikage of the Hidden Stone Village before. Although that old man is obviously using us as a gun, it doesn't matter. At least we can ensure that while the situation is still very favorable to their Hidden Stone Village, that Third Tsuchikage won't attack us. The Hidden Sand Village suffered heavy losses before and hasn't recovered its vitality yet. As for the Hidden Mist Village... we can put them aside for now. Therefore, the hostile ninja village forces we truly need to face are the Leaf and the Cloud!"
Menma crossed his hands on the table, speaking softly with a calm expression.
Arrangements elaborated step by step, along with some important intelligence.
Followed by an analysis of the enemy and friendly forces item by item.
It couldn't be said to be 100% accurate.
But it still had significant reference value.
And Menma wasn't just talking nonsense.
Whether Agun or Shibuki.
After hearing Menma's words, their suspended hearts relaxed slightly. Especially Agun—upon hearing that the famous Orochimaru and the Third Tsuchikage of the Hidden Stone Village had reached a certain degree of alliance tacit understanding with Menma, a faint look of strangeness appeared in his eyes.
Because Menma was clearly just a boy less than 13 years old.
But why did he feel like a very reliable adult?
The impact brought by the visual effect and perceptual effect was really a bit obvious.
"Cloud and Leaf, huh? Then we need to focus our defense on the eastern side of the village..."
Shibuki nodded while speaking with a look of contemplation.
Although the Hidden Waterfall Village had weakened a lot—previously having no particularly reliable high-end combat power besides Fu...
Even as the leader, Shibuki was just an ordinary Jonin, barely an Elite Jonin. The overall ninja quality of the entire Hidden Waterfall Village wasn't particularly high, but the quantity was considerable. Over the years, it had maintained a number of over four thousand. They might not play a strong role in frontal combat, but they could still be used as peripheral control forces.
"Mhm, the key is to guard against sneak attacks. During this period, we should also build as many forward reconnaissance strongholds as possible. I will also lead people to set up defensive barriers in some necessary locations as key reliances for blocking enemies. Don't expect them to have too much effect, but at least they should give us more time to prepare and react!"
Menma nodded lightly.
In Menma's plan, he never thought of relying on these ordinary ninja of the Hidden Waterfall Village to face the enemy. First, because most of these Waterfall ninja were unreliable; second, because of the first reason, he didn't want to see large casualties among the Waterfall ninja.
The village's strength can be improved slowly.
But prestige is easily ruined in a day.
Even if they won a war, if the Waterfall ninja suffered heavy casualties, Menma could foresee that not only him, but even Shibuki, the designated leader, would be overthrown. The people of any world are the same.
Leaders must bring them benefits and peace.
War must not only be won but won with few deaths.
With the ninja base of the Hidden Waterfall Village, if casualties easily exceeded a thousand, complaints would inevitably arise in the village.
That is absolutely unfeasible.
Therefore, in Menma's initial plan, the Waterfall ninja's biggest role was reconnaissance and security. The rest was at most to bolster the scene and then join in sweeping the battlefield. For the main combat, he actually had to "protect" these Waterfall ninja to a certain extent.
It sounds a bit nonsensical.
But this is the reality Menma needs to face.
Very difficult, but must be overcome.
After exposure, as long as they survive the first round of assault, subsequent problems will be easier to handle. The game between great nations is very complex.
Want to kill with one blow?
That depends on whether they have that ability!
"Mhm, in this regard, Agun-san, I leave it to you. Arrange it according to Menma-kun's words."
Shibuki nodded and looked at Agun beside him.
"I understand, but is the west really going to be undefended? The Hidden Stone Village might really be trustworthy for now, but the Hidden Sand Village... seems to have restored its alliance with the Leaf, right? It's one of the Five Great Nations after all. If there's no deployment at all, once the Hidden Sand Village takes action, we'll have a hard time reacting, right?"
Agun nodded in agreement first, then asked with a hint of doubt.
No matter how weak the Hidden Sand Village was, that was relative to the Five Great Ninja Villages. Menma could indeed disregard the Hidden Sand Village, but Agun couldn't. The shadow of the threat from the Five Great Nations was, logically speaking, still very heavy in the eyes of ninja from these small and medium nations.
Even if a very few individuals kept clamoring to surpass the Five Great Nations, and some even arrogantly called themselves "Kage"!
But the more they did so, the more it showed a lack of confidence.
Agun wasn't that afraid of the Five Great Ninja Villages, but his basic mentality was consistent.
"Rest assured, Agun-san, the Hidden Sand Village is not a concern. For so many years, the Hidden Sand Village's biggest enemy has always been the Hidden Stone Village. Besides, while the Hidden Sand Village isn't as far away as the Hidden Mist Village if they want to invade our Hidden Waterfall Village, it's not something easily done. There are other countries between us and the Hidden Sand Village. The Hidden Sand Village doesn't have the confidence or qualification to launch cross-border attacks anymore. Even if they dare to do so, there are many realistic limiting factors. The Hidden Sand Village cannot dispatch too much power. I also have corresponding arrangements. Once there is a change, I can immediately take action to suppress it!"
Menma said with a light smile.
If the other three major ninja villages indeed required Menma to treat them seriously...
The Hidden Sand Village and Hidden Mist Village really didn't need to be taken too seriously.
One was the distance issue just mentioned.
The other was the intensity issue of the current military power of the two major ninja villages.
It really wasn't that Menma looked down on these two major ninja villages.
How many top-tier combat powers could the current Hidden Sand Village and Hidden Mist Village bring out!? Gaara? Or Terumi Mei!?
Just these people.
To say something arrogant...
Menma really wasn't afraid at all.
With his current strength, he could forcefully kill these two.
And the quality of Sand and Mist ninja had declined a lot over the years, completely unworthy of the status of the so-called Five Great Ninja Villages.
Menma really didn't believe these two major ninja villages dared to trouble the Hidden Waterfall Village!?
Weren't they afraid of declining further, being completely stripped from the sequence of the Five Great Ninja Villages, or even becoming objects of coveting by other ninja villages!?
Just look at the recent movements of the Hidden Mist Village.
Don't look at them seemingly dispatching certain troops to push forward to the border between the Land of Water and the Land of Fire.
But that was just for show.
From the first-hand data obtained from Orochimaru...
The number of Mist ninja was not even a thousand, and there weren't many leading Jonin. It seemed like behavior made just to cope with the situation.
It was completely different from the Hidden Cloud Village's major mobilization.
Menma could pretty much guess the mentality of the Hidden Mist Village side. After all, it involved their own village's Six-Tails Jinchuriki; not taking a stance wouldn't be justifiable. They definitely planned to wait until they recovered their vitality in the future to truly capture the two Tailed Beasts back. Therefore, they absolutely couldn't tacitly accept it; they had to show an attitude. But it was limited to an attitude. To really take action, the current Hidden Mist Village didn't have that confidence or ability.
Let alone taking action against the Hidden Leaf Village.
Menma saw this very clearly.
"Therefore, as I said before, the only ones to guard against wholeheartedly are the Leaf and the Cloud. All preparations we make now are also targeted at these two ninja villages."
Menma paused lightly, then continued.
"Mhm, since Menma-kun already has arrangements, that's good."
Agun showed a relieved expression, but internally, he vaguely felt a very strange sensation. Especially seeing his leader Shibuki frequently nodding in agreement, Agun felt a tiny bit of irritability in his heart.
Not for any other reason.
Just purely because of the current strategic layout and discussion.
Menma obviously controlled the entire situation and initiative. It didn't seem strange, but don't forget, Shibuki was the leader of the ninja village. Menma should only be qualified to make suggestions; the decision should be made by Shibuki.
But now the flavor had completely changed.
Even in the Hidden Leaf Village...
It seemed Tsunade relied on Shikaku Nara's wisdom for many decisions, but the final decision-making power was still in Tsunade's own hands. Shikaku never truly made a decision once. This was the difference.
Agun wanted to say something but finally held back.
The reason was simple: this matter seemed to be something only Menma could decide; Shibuki didn't have that ability.
"Hearing Menma-kun say this, I'm also slightly relieved. So next is to arrange basic defenses while searching for the Three-Tails' location, right?"
Shibuki asked with a slightly relaxed expression, as if unaware of anything.
"Do we need to add more personnel from our side to participate?"
"That's not necessary. I've entrusted Orochimaru-san to be responsible for that aspect. We shouldn't move lightly here, or it will attract unnecessary trouble."
Menma shook his head, then continued.
"And we have more important things to do!"
"More important things?"
Shibuki and Agun were stunned first, then their expressions synchronously became serious.