On the frontal battlefield, the Cloud Village had already discovered the Konoha ninja setting up defensive positions.
Dodai quickly went to find the Third Raikage.
"Raikage-sama, Konoha's forces have arrived. We should strike them before they've fully secured their footing."
"Dodai, go ahead and proceed."
"Yes, Raikage-sama."
Dodai led over six hundred Cloud ninja, pushing a hundred large catapults to the front line, stopping about four hundred meters from Konoha's position.
Standing at the front, Dodai shouted,
"Remember how it felt during training? Now treat those Konoha bastards like practice dummies—Stone Barrage, smash them hard!"
"Roar!"
The burly men of the Cloud Village let out thunderous roars.
To be fair, while Cloud Village men might not look like much at first glance, once they take off their shirts—chocolate-toned skin, massive pectorals, bulging biceps, well-defined abs…
"Load!"
"Yes!"
Over a hundred massive chunks of hardened earth were placed onto the catapults.
"Three, two, one—launch!"
At Dodai's command, hundreds of boulders flew through the air in unison, crashing violently into the Konoha encampment ahead.
"Good. Aroi, you stay here and oversee things. Keep bombarding them for an hour. The Cloud Village may not have much, but we've got strength—and as many solid boulders as we want."
The blue-haired Cloud Village staff jōnin, Aroi, responded immediately.
"Understood, Dodai-sama."
"Good."
Dodai patted his shoulder in encouragement.
He still needed to mobilize more Cloud ninja to guard against any Konoha raid on the catapults. If time allowed, he could even set up a few traps.
Konoha… I really hope you take your time getting here. I've got some "gifts" prepared for you.
Hahaha.
...
At that moment, two hundred meters behind the battered Konoha position, a Hyūga ninja observing the battlefield shut off his Byakugan and headed into a rear tent.
Nara Shikaku was building a terrain sand table.
Jiraiya, Akimichi Chōza, and Yamanaka Inoichi… were playing cards?
Seriously, have you guys looked at the situation? Is this really appropriate?
The Hyūga ninja who entered was already used to this and walked straight up to Shikaku.
"Shikaku-sama, everything happened just as you predicted. After a brief inspection, the Cloud Village began a fierce assault on our fake position."
"Mm, as expected. Tell the acting team to get ready. In a bit, go onto the battlefield, wail a few times, spill some blood packs—make it as realistic as possible, got it?"
"Understood, Shikaku-sama."
As the Hyūga ninja left, he thought to himself:
Hiyasu-san was right—if you want to follow Shikaku-sama, the first requirement is acting skills. Bringing blood packs onto a battlefield… this is just ridiculous.
But hey, how can a great director in the ninja world not have actors?
"Jiraiya-sama."
"Yeah? What is it? I'm more than ready."
Jiraiya stood up. Finally, it was time for the great toad sage of Mount Myōboku to show his power.
"This is just a precaution. If the Cloud Village attacks after the bombardment, you'll lead thirty earth-style jōnin to intercept their advance. Remember, just harass them. I've prepared a special 'gift' for them at the real position."
"Oh, got it."
Though not the main role, it still felt like a bit of a waste of Jiraiya's talents.
But having something to do was better than nothing.
...
An hour later, the first wave of the Cloud Village's bombardment officially ended.
"Dodai-sama, should we pursue them and press the advantage?" Aroi asked.
"No. Wait for intel first," Dodai replied calmly.
"Dodai-sama! The Konoha camp is filled with severed limbs and blood everywhere. Many Konoha ninja are kneeling and crying—our attack was extremely effective!"
The scouting ninja reported excitedly.
"That's great, Dodai-sama! Let's press the attack!" Aroi shouted.
"No. Today's assault ends here. Tomorrow, we'll advance a bit and then resume bombardment."
"Dodai-sama, why? This is such a good opportunity!"
"On the battlefield, besides real enemies, there's another one people often overlook but that always exists—fear. Konoha is definitely expecting us to press the attack or launch a night raid. But we'll do the opposite. We'll rest well tonight and let our enemies spend the night in fear. Aroi, what do you think of this strategy?"
"Brilliant! Truly brilliant! Dodai-sama's calculations are unmatched!"
Ironically, this sudden idea helped the Cloud Village avoid the "big gift" Shikaku had prepared for them.
A classic case of getting the process wrong but the result right.
Though Dodai's plan seemed nearly perfect—using psychology and enemy vigilance—he overlooked one crucial fact:
Fear comes from the unknown.
And this time, Konoha had brought the Hyūga clan.
A two-kilometer field of vision—what does that mean?
...
Night fell.
"Shikaku-sama, the Cloud Village troops have begun resting."
"Mm. Your Hyūga clan will monitor them in shifts—ten per group, rotating every two hours. Keep watch day and night without interruption. Understood?"
"Understood, Shikaku-sama."
Dodai's perfect psychological strategy officially collapsed.
...
The next day, at dawn, as the sky began to brighten—
Three kilometers behind the Cloud Village camp, a group of white-eyed figures appeared.
It was Hyūga Hiyasu's elite unit, which had successfully infiltrated the previous day—along with Minato Namikaze.
"Minato, has your technique recovered? Otherwise I don't feel confident making a move."
"No problem. After a night's rest, everything is ready."
"Good."
Hyūga Hiyasu patted his chest in relief and let out a long breath.
Without Minato's large-scale escape technique, things would feel a bit shaky.
"Hiyasu, what's our next step?" Minato asked.
"The first thing? It's morning—of course we're having breakfast."
"Breakfast? On the battlefield? Inside enemy territory?"
Minato seriously doubted his hearing.
The nearest major city to the Cloud Village camp was about fifteen kilometers behind them—twelve kilometers from Hiyasu's group.
It was called Raimeijō Village, right? A major border stronghold.
A place like that should have plenty of food… and a large stockpile of military supplies.
"Everyone, get your Explosive Tags ready. This morning, we're having breakfast—and watching fireworks."
"YES!!!"