Especially when facing those squads that were as difficult to eradicate as a gangrene, and the information channels that seemed to appear and disappear between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire.
Uchiha Tenxiu even used a miraculous tactic, like a divine army descending from the heavens, utilizing a large number of Zero fighter planes to transport elite personnel like birds flocking to a forest, air-dropping them behind the enemy's lines, like a sharp blade, mercilessly eliminating these intelligence personnel who were ready to retreat to the Land of Fire from the rear.
As a result, they were often annihilated by this sudden, tempestuous assault before they even understood what was happening.
What puzzled them, however, was that there had always been a base in River Country, composed of hundreds of elite Ninja, serving as the first line of defense, like an impregnable fortress. How could the enemy ghost past this defense and attack from behind?
"Why is this happening? Damn it, where did these enemies come from? There are hundreds of Ninja in the front as the first line of defense, so how can he attack from the rear? Could it be that Konoha has a traitor? Why is this happening?" a Jonin cried out in grief, looking at his three slain comrades and the crowd surrounding him, letting out his final cry, powerless to change the situation.
Unfortunately, what they didn't know was that.
Such a divine existence as fighter planes had appeared in the Ninja World!
Just above him.
Enemies could appear there at any time.
Even when encountering a tricky enemy, the Sand Ninja would immediately choose to stall for time, then fire a flare into the sky to attract the attention of their pilots, thereby transporting elite Ninja for air-dropped support strikes.
Under this series of combined attacks, what the opponent often considered an evenly matched battle, or even one with a slight advantage, would suddenly turn into a complete defeat due to the arrival of more enemy reinforcements.
Through this series of measures.
In the prelude to this war, the Sand Ninja minimized their own losses, achieving a terrifying battle damage ratio of 1:10.
On the other hand.
After completely annihilating the River Country garrison headquarters and all of the Land of Fire's own intelligence transmission routes, like autumn leaves swept away by the wind, the Land of Fire completely lost all control over everything within River Country, like a blind person on a runaway horse.
This made the Konoha Ninja garrison base in River Country seem shrouded in heavy fog, completely losing all perception of the outside world. They didn't even have time to send out an alarm signal before they were completely surrounded by the Sand Ninja army, like hungry tigers pouncing on their prey, falling into an inescapable predicament.
...
Inside the Konoha garrison base in River Country.
At the conference table, over a dozen high-ranking officials of the base gathered for a meeting, the atmosphere so tense that one could almost hear everyone's heartbeats.
Sarutobi Riri, the base commander, was filled with horror. His eyes wide, he screamed hysterically into the air, "Why is this happening? Why is this happening? Can anyone tell me why things have turned out this way?"
His voice echoed through the empty base, but received no response.
Whether it was Nara Ikki, the base's strategist, or Uchiha Dadi, the leader of the base's combat assault team, or other high-ranking personnel from prominent families, all fell into sorrowful silence in the face of this astonishing scene.
No one could offer a reasonable explanation, as if the problem had exceeded their cognitive limits. They looked at each other, their hearts filled with doubt and confusion.
These were all seasoned, experienced elites, but at this moment, they were like ships lost in a fog, unable to find their way. They racked their brains, trying to make sense of things, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't solve the mystery.
However, time waited for no one. While they were deep in thought, 8,000 Ninja outside had already surrounded them, forming an impenetrable encirclement.
A high-ranking Sand Ninja walked to the front with a solemn expression, his figure appearing particularly out of place within the base. He took a deep breath and shouted loudly towards the base headquarters: "Surrender now! Your treatment can still be negotiated. Look around, you are already heavily surrounded by eight thousand Ninja. This is a certain death situation, do not make any more futile resistance! I think this is your only way to survive now."
Beside him, some Konoha Ninja who had already surrendered also echoed, shouting to their comrades inside the base. Among them, a young Ninja's voice was particularly loud in the crowd: "Xiaotai, surrender with me! Don't make any more futile resistance. We have no chance of winning. Facing such a disparity in numbers, this is not something we can contend with. If we continue to resist, there is only death!"
Another Ninja named Azheng also shouted, "Asuka! There's no hope of winning! A twenty-fold difference in numbers, this is simply impossible to defeat. Surrender quickly! At least this way we can save our lives. Don't you want to see your mother?!"
And a Ninja named Yamato, his voice tinged with anxiety: "Dafu, think about your child! If you die here, he will be sent to an orphanage, and your property will be completely seized by the Sarutobi Clan. By then, your child will truly be doomed!"
The people outside were urging surrender, while those inside listened powerlessly.
Their hearts grew increasingly sorrowful.
Looking at the sealing barrier they had constructed, and the various traps and defensive fortifications they had set up, everyone's heart sank.
Facing such a desperate situation of being surrounded, despair welled up in everyone's hearts.
They knew that, given the current circumstances, there was almost no possibility of escape. The shadow of death loomed over them, making them feel an unprecedented fear and helplessness.
Although deep down they didn't want to die, reality was so cruel that they had to accept this harsh truth.
In despair, some began to pray silently, hoping for a miracle; while others simply gave up resistance, preparing to face death calmly.
At the same time, filled with doubt, they suddenly encountered unimaginable difficulties, which further intensified their suspicions.
Having no idea how the entire situation had developed to this point, they had no choice but to make a relatively less bad choice among the limited options - to find someone to vent their grievances on.
And this person happened to be a member of the Sarutobi Clan, which was now infamous in Konoha, and also the base commander, Sarutobi Riri.
Immediately, everyone stared at him intently, and before he could even react, the atmosphere had become strange.
After all, as the actions of the Sarutobi Clan in Konoha were exposed, especially through Danzo Shimura's revelations, everyone clearly understood their past behavior of retreating and preserving their own strength during the war, as well as their actions of sending others to their deaths, and various corruptions within Konoha.
In addition, they also used various means to deplete the strength of other families and secretly forced talented individuals to join their own family. In this way, they bled Konoha dry to strengthen their own family.
This series of actions all revealed that the Sarutobi Clan's so-called "fire will" was nothing more than empty rhetoric, no matter how grandly it was spoken on the surface, it was all false promises, a disgusting family.
It was a shameless, despicable family.
With this preconceived notion, everyone naturally attributed the responsibility for being encircled this time to the other party.
Otherwise, why were they able to make the Sand Ninja scream and flee in terror in the past? But now, they were so vulnerable, collapsing at the first touch!
One must know, they had never encountered such a difficult predicament before!
However, after this Sarutobi Clan member served as commander for a few years, the entire base was suddenly surrounded by the enemy.
Shouldn't all these changes be attributed to him?
Besides him, who else could be blamed?
They began to frantically imagine various possible reasons in their minds, and all the clues seemed to point to the same person - the Sarutobi commander whom they called a "dog villain."
This dog villain commander must be like his dog villain clan leader, Hiruzen Sarutobi, secretly making all sorts of mistakes, and that must be why the entire base was inexplicably surrounded.
The other high-ranking officials thought this with unwavering conviction!