The situation with Sunagakure's Renchūriki wasn't based on any intelligence Uchiha Ren had obtained. Rather, Ren had deduced it from various clues and the original storyline.
Sunagakure had already decided that its next Renchūriki would be Gaara before he was even born.
And the reason for this was naturally because something had gone wrong with the previous Renchūriki, Bunpuku.
Gaara was born around the same time as Naruto Uzumaki, only a little over six months older than him. Judging from the timeline, Gaara would be born in just a few months.
In other words, the current Renchūriki of the One-Tailed Beast in Sunagakure, Bunpuku, had already reached the end of his life. He might even have already died.
Otherwise, given Sunagakure's usual way of doing things, there was no way they would have gone into the previous Battle of Kikyō Mountain without bringing their Renchūriki along.
Of course, even if Ren's deduction turned out to be wrong, it wouldn't make much difference.
Konoha might not exactly be overflowing with troops and resources right now, but when it came to top-level combat power, it was unquestionably far ahead of Sunagakure.
Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Tsunade, Uchiha Ren, Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Obito, Uchiha Fugaku, Rin Nohara...
Even without counting old-timers such as Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō, Konoha currently had more than ten shinobi with Kage-level combat strength.
Sunagakure, by comparison, had no more than four at most.
The difference between the two sides was obvious.
Minato was also quite tempted by the proposal.
However, as the leader of an entire village, he naturally couldn't make such a decision recklessly. He was still carefully considering whether the plan was truly feasible.
Homura wanted to speak up and stop him, but hesitated.
On one hand, Ren's proposal completely went against his original intentions. Homura and the others didn't want to fight this war.
On the other hand, Ren's proposal was highly feasible and was indeed a rare opportunity.
No matter what, Homura was still a Konoha elder. Although he could be accused of putting personal interests above public ones, when it came to matters of fundamental importance, his heart was still with Konoha.
Seeing this, Ren continued.
"To be honest, there's one thing I've never understood from beginning to end."
"If Konoha had suffered repeated defeats over the past few decades, then perhaps it would make sense."
"But whether it was the First Shinobi World War, the Second Shinobi World War, or the Third Shinobi World War that just ended, Konoha has always been on the winning side!"
"Logically speaking, as the victorious party, even if we couldn't become richer with every war, we should at least have been able to protect our own interests."
"So how did Konoha end up getting poorer and poorer with every war?"
"How exactly have we been fighting these wars?"
Homura's expression changed immediately.
He had a feeling that Ren was about to turn his criticism toward them again.
But Ren didn't dwell on the matter. Instead, he continued.
"Let's put the past aside for now. This time, we absolutely cannot fight a war that leaves us at a loss!"
"The most important thing about this surprise attack is catching them off guard. So speed is crucial. Quality matters more than quantity."
"I propose that we form an elite assault force of one thousand men and a logistics and transport force of another thousand—"
"Only two thousand?"
Homura couldn't help interrupting him at this point. He frowned.
"Elder Uchiha, isn't that a little too risky?"
"Let me finish."
Ren didn't bother explaining and continued.
"The thousand-man elite assault force will be composed of jōnin and elite jōnin drawn from the village, as I mentioned earlier."
"As for the logistics and transport force, only chūnin and above will be eligible to join."
"Once this force breaks through Sunagakure's border defenses, the elite assault force will split into six groups."
"Seven hundred and fifty men will head straight for Sunagakure."
"The remaining two hundred and fifty will be divided into five fifty-man teams. Each team will take two hundred members of the logistics and transport force and raid various resource sites throughout the Land of Wind."
After a pause, Ren spoke in a solemn tone.
"According to the intelligence we have, the Land of Wind is extremely poor in natural resources and has therefore largely avoided being deliberately invaded by the other villages during the previous Shinobi World Wars."
"Precisely because of this, Sunagakure has never stationed particularly strong defenses around the mining regions deep within the Land of Wind."
"So whichever resource site those five teams encounter, each two-hundred-and-fifty-man force will possess an overwhelming advantage."
"They refuse to pay war reparations?"
"Then we'll simply take what we're owed!"
"Not only will we seize their resources, we'll also destroy their various infrastructure!"
"The Land of Wind is vast and sparsely populated. We can transfer more shinobi from the Hyūga, Inuzuka, and Aburame clans to conduct reconnaissance."
"We'll use hit-and-run tactics and guerrilla warfare against Sunagakure's main forces."
"Let them chase after us and eat our dust!"
"This battle will completely cripple Sunagakure."
"We'll hit them so hard that they won't be able to recover their strength for at least ten years!"
"Hiss..."
Both Minato and Homura drew in a sharp breath at Ren's words.
Until now, they genuinely hadn't considered that a war could be fought this way.
Of course, that might also have been because Konoha had spent the past several decades primarily fighting from a defensive position.
Homura hesitated before speaking.
"Elder Uchiha, although Sunagakure has made its position clear, strictly speaking, we haven't even officially begun negotiations yet."
"To start fighting before negotiations have even begun—and to fight in this manner—isn't that somewhat inappropriate?"
"This is how we do things."
Ren answered without hesitation.
"Elder Mitokado, there's no need to worry about that. The very reason we haven't officially begun negotiations is precisely why we should fight like this."
"Only by fighting a battle like this first will the negotiations afterward proceed smoothly."
Homura didn't say anything else.
Judging from his expression, however, he was clearly tempted.
And if Homura was tempted, Minato needed even less convincing.
Don't assume that because Minato was known as Konoha's "Little Sun," he was warm and gentle toward everyone.
His warmth was reserved for his comrades.
When dealing with enemies, Minato's heart could be just as ruthless as Orochimaru's or Danzō's.
"Elder Uchiha, I personally agree with your proposal."
Minato's gaze was calm and composed.
"But the three of us reaching a consensus isn't enough to settle something this important."
"Have Shikaku Nara and the others come here immediately."
"Explain the situation to them and have everyone help identify any overlooked problems or shortcomings. Let's finalize this matter as quickly as possible."
Although Minato hadn't directly agreed to the plan, his attitude was essentially no different from agreeing.
Homura, sitting nearby, was completely dumbfounded.
When did I agree to this?
Still, Homura didn't object.
He really was tempted by the proposal.
At the same time, however, Homura was secretly cursing his luck.
He had come here with an entirely different purpose.
Yet things had now developed in a completely different direction.
Homura no longer knew how he was supposed to explain all of this to Hiruzen Sarutobi and Koharu Utatane.
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