Until he discovered where Konoha's forces were hiding and figured out what exactly Shinichi Higashino was planning, he would rather advance more slowly than recklessly push forward and stretch his own battle lines.
Finally, the orders regarding protection from the wind and rain arrived.
Although ninjas were individuals who wielded extraordinary power, and chakra granted them destructive and survival capabilities far beyond those of ordinary people, that did not mean they could ignore nature's fury.
Aside from a handful of top-tier experts in the Shinobi World who could face natural disasters directly and evade them with ease, most ninjas were not fundamentally different from ordinary people.
They avoided what they could avoid and defended against what they could defend against.
After issuing the long string of commands, Yagura finally set aside his work.
He walked to the window and looked out at the sky.
At this moment, the dark clouds overhead were visibly pressing lower and lower.
"Shinichi Higashino, what exactly are you plotting?"
Yagura muttered softly to himself.
...
Beneath the same thunderclouds, deep within an unknown forest.
"What a fine lightning! Better even than the lightning that broke my arm when I fought the third Raikage!"
Standing atop a massive boulder with his hands behind his back, Shinichi looked up at the endless silver serpents dancing across the sky and suddenly let out a strange sigh of admiration.
A messenger ninja happened to arrive through the rain curtain at that moment.
The instant he approached, he heard those words and involuntarily paused.
A puzzled expression flashed across his face.
Lightning that had broken Captain Shinichi's arm? Then was this lightning good or bad?
He stood there with his mouth slightly open, turning the question over in his mind several times without reaching an answer.
Eventually, he decided to abandon any attempt to comprehend such a profound issue.
Stepping forward, he respectfully bowed.
"Captain Shinichi, the two elders request your presence at headquarters."
Shinichi withdrew his gaze from the sky and returned to his usual expression.
"I understand. I'll head over immediately."
After arriving at the temporary headquarters, the Konoha personnel first conducted their routine discussion regarding the current situation and the Village Hidden in the Mist's movements.
Afterward, Koharu Utatane placed a document from the village on the table and announced an important piece of news.
Konoha had officially launched its second round of wartime mobilization.
Given the increasing strain on the front lines, Konoha had finally made adjustments and begun assigning adult Genin and some underage Chunin to rear-area secondary combat units.
Under the leadership of experienced Chunin, they would undertake responsibilities such as transporting supplies, conducting rear-area patrols, performing security duties, and guarding camps.
This would free up the large number of veteran ninjas who had been handling those rear-area tasks, allowing them to reinforce the front lines.
It was a choice Konoha had made out of necessity.
Facing the sustained offensives of both the Village Hidden in the Sand and the Village Hidden in the Mist simultaneously, the manpower shortage on the front lines had become too severe to ignore.
Moreover, even the Village Hidden in the Stones had already begun deploying Genin ninjas.
Among the Five Great Ninja Villages, Konoha had actually been the last to take this step.
At the same time, orders from the Land of Fire itself were issued.
The Daimyo's government officially declared the nation to be entering a higher level of wartime status.
The government began gradually taking control of key industries.
Food, steel, medicinal materials, clothing, paper, and other resources throughout the country began to be centrally allocated by the state.
Resource distribution was shifted heavily toward the war effort.
To use the game terminology from Art Student Simulator 4, or as it was also known, War Criminal Simulator 4, a game Shinichi had greatly enjoyed in his previous life: At this point, the Land of Fire's economic policy had already begun transitioning from the partial mobilization stage of the early war toward a wartime economy.
The machinery of the state was beginning to intervene comprehensively in economic operations.
Of course, no matter how extensive the mobilization became, it would never reach the level of the total mobilization.
That would mean exhausting all of the nation's manpower and resources, compressing civilian livelihoods to the bare minimum necessary for survival, and forcibly conscripting large numbers of civilians into the military or war industries.
In this extraordinary world that possesses chakra, such an approach is neither necessary nor meaningful.
After all, the true military force of this world is the ninja.
The scale and intensity of war are not related to the number of civilians, but rather depend on the quantity and quality of ninjas.
Forcibly conscribing civilians into the army is useless on the battlefield.
Even in the military-industrial sector, civilians can only handle the forging and assembly of ordinary weapons.
After all, tools represented by items such as Explosive Tags require genuine ninjas for every step, from paper production to chakra infusion and seal storage.
Therefore, even though it is likewise a wartime economy with resources being redirected toward the war effort, the impact on the lives of ordinary citizens in the Land of Fire is far less severe than in the wars compared to his previous life.
These decrees and mobilizations would be gradually completed over the coming days. The various Konoha legions would soon receive their first batch of reinforcement personnel transferred from the rear, as well as a new shipment of supplies transported from the heartland of the Land of Fire.
Among these reinforcements, there would very likely be people of Shinichi's age, and perhaps even some of his former classmates.
After all, Konoha's Chunin exams for this year had only just concluded, and a batch of freshly promoted Chunin would likely soon be heading to battlefields across the front.
The gears of the war machine were beginning to roar with greater force and spin at even higher speeds.
...
Over the next two days, the Village Hidden in the Mist finally learned where those missing Konoha ninjas had gone.
No sooner had Yagura's orders been issued than attacks erupted simultaneously from all directions, even before the series of small outposts centered around Rinkai City had been fully established.
The various small Konoha units moved like sharks that had smelled blood, beginning an unending campaign of harassment and attacks.
These Konoha squads rarely engaged the Village Hidden in the Mist in a head-on battle; instead, they targeted weak points whenever possible.
They roamed between outposts, either harassing construction teams building fortifications, ambushing reconnaissance and communication squads traveling between bases, or taking advantage of the night to wipe out one or two unstable forward outposts.
The attacks came swiftly and retreated even faster. By the time Village Hidden in the Mist reinforcements arrived, the attackers had already vanished deep into the forests.
And whenever an arrogant or enraged Village Hidden in the Mist commander could not resist leading troops in pursuit, the result was usually the same. They would chase and chase, only to crash headlong into an ambush that Konoha had prepared long in advance. The pursuing force would often be completely annihilated, leaving not even a single survivor able to return and report what happened.
However, despite the constant harassment, Village Hidden in the Mist generally adhered strictly to Yagura's orders.
Never advance recklessly and overextend the battle line.
If an outer outpost came under harassment, they would defend it if possible. If it could not be held, they would retreat in an orderly manner, always keeping their main force within a relatively compact defensive perimeter centered around the Rinkai City.