The Seventh Swordsman

Surgical Strike

(Kumogakure)

For the first time during the entire Second Great Ninja War, the Third Raikage found himself hard pressed on multiple fronts within his very homeland.

A week ago, the invading army from Kirigakure had landed upon their shores with nearly 12,000 warriors led by the Fourth Mizukage himself. Already he had lost more than two dozen smaller villages and cities on their Northern flank, the city garrison and small militias in the territory no match for what his advisors were now calling as The Blitz tactic where the enemy despite their size had seized vast swathes of their territory with unmatchable speed combined with great striking power.

If that wasn't enough, an entire legionary fleet called the 99th Legion led by Kiri's Anbu Commander and Jinpachi of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were launching multiple raids along his coasts and fleeing away before the reinforcements sent by the Raikage could confront them in battle.

The damage was already too severe.

Contrary to the past Mizukage's who were known for their brutality, The Fourth Mizukage was different.

Not a single case of plundering, rape or murder of innocents took place in every city or village that fell upon the Northern flank. All combatants that fought against Kiri were eliminated but also given full military burials at the hands of their own countrymen under the watch of their conquerors. It only drove home the message that resistance was futile but also that their invaders were not barbarians, contrary to what their rulers were telling them- the ones who abandoned them to the Mizukage's army in the first place. To reinforce this perception, the Mizukage spared any warrior willing to surrender and join his ranks even going so far as recruiting any civilian strong enough to fight within his army.

With winter approaching, he didn't ransack any villages or cities of their crucial food stores or essentials to feed his army, having brought enough logistics to last for a year. Instead he helped the people he conquered by sharing part of food, clothes, other essentials and even helped the countrymen solidify their homes for the oncoming harsh winter while solidifying the bases of his own army.

Even the raids being launched on the coasts didn't involve butchering of innocents but only combatants, with tales of the magnanimous treatment being offered to their breatheren up north spreading across the coastal areas like wildfire. If not for the reinforcements he had sent to hold those very coastal places, the Raikage feared the people's heart would have started to change.

He had begged the Daimyo to spare troops he had confiscated for the feudal Capital's defense, warning the new lord that their enemy was trying to win the loyalty of their subjects without attacking strongholds he simply didn't have the power to conquer just yet.

"What of our allies?" asked the Raikage outloud, making his advisors look at him.

"Iwa has sent a 5,000 strong force led by Ohnoki as our reinforcements. They should be here in three weeks" reported his Anbu Commander swiftly,

"A token! Mu insults us!" decried one of the ninja clan heads,

On the contrary, the Raikage knew the Second Tsuchikage was being extremely cautious having sent an equal number of reinforcements under his own son to Suna's aid, while keeping his 20,000 strong main army for the defense of his own nation. This way he could say he didn't discriminate between both of his allies while also keeping enough reserves for himself to defend his own nation should they fall.

"The Leaf has launched a similar Invasion into the Land of Wind. The Sand has already lost critical zones including a water dam, the same Blitz strategy seems to be play on that front as well" pointed Dodai, bringing everyone's attention back to the invaders within their own lands.