The stronghold defense battle had temporarily drawn to a close.
Powerless to turn the tide, the Leaf forces had no choice but to abandon their initial operational plan and execute a forced retreat.
Menma chose not to order a full pursuit to expand their victory. Beyond the strategic reasons he had already considered, the left flank commanded by Utakata desperately needed reinforcement. Utakata was holding the line with only a few hundred Waterfall shinobi. Even with Shibuki bringing an additional three to four hundred reinforcements as planned...
Their absolute maximum strength there was around a thousand men.
Mei Terumi's personal power, backed by the foundational strength of the Mist Village, commanded serious respect. Utakata and Shibuki could hold out for a while, but if the battle dragged on, they would inevitably be crushed by the sheer disparity in numbers.
Every passing minute meant more Waterfall shinobi dying.
Victory was an absolute necessity.
But built on that foundation... Menma also had to ensure his casualties remained as low as possible. The Hidden Waterfall simply couldn't compare to the Five Great Nations. Even counting every single freshly graduated kid from the Academy, the Waterfall's total active military force didn't exceed five thousand.
They had already paid a steep price in blood during the war with the Hidden Cloud.
If the casualties in this battle were even heavier... it would seriously destabilize Menma's future rule over the village. Winning a war, only to have every household wearing mourning clothes?
Just picturing that scenario sent a chill down Menma's spine.
The desires of the common people were always pure and direct; Menma understood this perfectly. He wasn't the type of person to simply use the Waterfall Village as a disposable tool and discard it. Even if his ultimate goals seemed slightly unrealistic right now—perhaps even a bit arrogant considering his current strength (at least until he acquired power rivaling Hashirama Senju)...
Menma still had a comprehensive, overarching plan.
Surviving was the absolute baseline. Built on that foundation, he would achieve his goals one by one.
To do that, the Hidden Waterfall was absolutely essential. The Hidden Grass was the same. Even viewing it through the most ruthless, utilitarian lens, Menma couldn't afford to let his Waterfall and Grass shinobi die meaningless deaths.
After halting the pursuit and leading his forces back into the stronghold...
"I'm leaving this place in your hands. I'm going to reinforce Utakata!"
Menma issued brief orders, leaving Muku and Fu behind to guard the base against any potential Leaf counterattacks.
"Yes, Lord Menma."
"Got it. Leave it to us, Menma."
Menma didn't take a single Waterfall shinobi with him.
Swish! Utilizing the Flying Thunder God, he launched himself entirely alone to reinforce Utakata on the left flank, over a hundred kilometers away. Marching an army would take too long. Besides, Menma alone was more than enough! As long as he suppressed or defeated Mei Terumi, Utakata—even if he was struggling slightly—alongside Shibuki and the remaining Waterfall forces, could absolutely sweep the rest of the Mist army.
His figure blurred with extreme speed.
Swish! Swish! He continuously ripped through space in a series of rapid jumps. In an incredibly short amount of time...
Menma arrived at the extreme edge of the mountain range on that flank.
The location the Waterfall Village had originally selected for this stronghold was the most treacherous terrain in the southeastern region of the Land of Waterfall. Any massive army invading from the east or south either had to push through this specific chokepoint or take a massive detour through the extreme north or south.
For this war, Menma had truly emptied the village.
Aside from a meager three or four hundred shinobi left behind to garrison the village and maintain critical communication lines, and excluding the wounded from the previous war, the remaining four thousand active Waterfall shinobi had all marched to the front.
The flanks had been allocated roughly six to seven hundred shinobi each, paired with either Utakata or Fu.
With a combat layout like that, even facing the main vanguard of a Great Nation, they could hold the line for a significant amount of time.
That window of time was all Menma needed to redeploy his forces.
Before Menma's arrival...
Shibuki had already made his move, bringing three to four hundred Waterfall shinobi to reinforce the white-hot brawl between the Waterfall and Mist forces. Objectively speaking, the Mist still held a distinct advantage on the field.
But as long as Utakata and Shibuki stood firmly at the front...
The battleline wouldn't collapse anytime soon. Mei Terumi understood this perfectly.
"Utakata, I know exactly what you suffered in the past. Elder Genji saw it clearly as well. I can tell you responsibly: it was all a massive misunderstanding. The issues stemmed from the inappropriate actions of the previous Mizukage. The current Mist Village is nothing like the one you left. You don't need to worry about the ghosts of the past anymore. Trust me. Come back with us now, and we can start completely fresh!"
Mei dodged a barrage of explosive bubbles from Utakata, her beautiful face dead serious as she tried to reason with him.
Subduing him by force was the absolute worst-case scenario.
From Mei's perspective, Utakata was a child of the Mist. His defection was entirely the fault of the Fourth Mizukage being manipulated, which led to a cascade of tragic accidents that made Utakata mistakenly believe the village was trying to execute him. This kind of misunderstanding could absolutely be resolved.
Based on their intelligence from the previous war and their current clash...
Utakata had achieved a relatively perfect mastery of the Six-Tails' power. A top-tier asset like him was exactly what the Mist desperately needed right now. Convincing Utakata to return willingly was infinitely more logical and cost-effective than beating him half to death to forcibly extract the Tailed Beast.
The former would instantly gift the village a Kage-level powerhouse.
The latter meant finding a suitable vessel to seal the beast, giving them time to adapt, and risking the very real possibility that they might never achieve synergy with the beast to utilize its chakra properly.
They didn't need to look far for proof; the previous Eight-Tails Jinchuriki of the Hidden Cloud was a perfect example.
Finding a truly compatible vessel for a Tailed Beast was incredibly difficult.
Physical constitution, mental fortitude, capacity, and personality—they were all critical factors. Unless absolutely necessary, no hidden village wanted to casually swap out a Jinchuriki.
Mei Terumi was ambitious; she intended to become the next Mizukage and lead her village back to prosperity. Naturally, she wanted to bolster her village's military strength through any means necessary.
Convincing Utakata to return was the first step.
It was a move that benefited the village, and by extension, benefited her ascension.
"You don't need to waste your breath, Lady Mei. The past is exactly that—the past. I choose to stay here for entirely different reasons," Utakata replied, his expression perfectly calm and his tone indifferent.