Chapter 339: A Desperate Last Stand!

“Take the initiative?!”

Everyone in the conference room froze and looked at Rasa with some surprise.

Given the current situation, shouldn’t they be thinking about how to defend the village and hold out until reinforcements arrived?

However, some of them strongly agreed with Rasa’s proposal.

After all, there was one thing Rasa had said that was absolutely correct:

They could not allow the battlefield to reach the village!

Elder Chiyo spoke first.

“Evacuate the civilians first… As for taking the initiative… Konoha’s forces this time are undoubtedly elite troops, while the elites of our Sunagakure are still stationed along the various border fronts. If we take the initiative to attack, we have absolutely no chance of victory!”

Rasa frowned and patiently explained,

“Elder Chiyo, the main reason I’m proposing that we take the initiative is to push the battlefront away from the village. Otherwise, even if we evacuate the civilians, Konoha will still inflict enormous damage on us!”

“Sunagakure is poor. It wasn’t easy for us to build up what we have today!”

“I understand what you’re saying.”

Elder Chiyo still shook her head.

“But there is no defensible terrain outside Sunagakure. If we deploy too far from the village, Konoha can simply bypass our defensive line. Surely we can’t exchange human lives merely for time?”

“On the other hand, if we establish our defensive line around the village, then as long as Konoha’s shinobi can’t fly, we have a very good chance of holding the ‘One-Line Sky’!”

The terrain around Sunagakure was extremely unusual.

The village was surrounded by steep cliffs, with only a single passage connecting the interior and exterior. This passage was known as the One-Line Sky.

Sunagakure had also established extensive defensive measures around the area. Even if they couldn’t defeat Konoha’s attackers outright, they could still use the terrain to delay them for some time.

The only problem was that the defensive line was simply too close to the village.

Once the defensive line fell, the entire Sunagakure would immediately be exposed to the enemy’s advance.

And in shinobi warfare, terrain didn’t provide as much of an advantage as it did in conventional warfare.

If Konoha focused on breaking through the defenses, they could still force their way through after paying a certain price.

If that happened, Sunagakure would truly be placed in a passive position.

Even if they ultimately won the battle, their losses would probably be immeasurable.

Rasa said solemnly,

“Elder Chiyo, the risk is simply too great! What are we supposed to do if Konoha has brought a Renchūriki this time?”

“Considering that their attack completely annihilated our outpost in the Land of Rivers, the possibility is quite high!”

Elder Chiyo fell silent.

This was indeed something she had failed to consider adequately.

If Konoha had brought a Renchūriki this time, then a single Tailed Beast Ball would instantly erase Sunagakure’s defensive advantage.

The village would truly be in danger!

Seeing this, Ebizō asked,

“Then what do you intend to do if we take the initiative? There is no defensible terrain around the village. Are you planning to fight Konoha in open terrain?”

“There is no other choice!”

Rasa nodded and spoke grimly.

“We can only exchange lives for time. We establish successive defensive positions outside the village and intercept them layer by layer, delaying Konoha’s advance for as long as possible.”

After a pause, Rasa’s gaze swept across the faces of everyone in the conference room.

“Everyone, you all understand that this battle will be difficult regardless of where we fight it. But at the very least, we can choose to keep the flames of war outside our own doorstep.”

“Even if we have to pay for it with our lives!”

The moment those words were spoken, the atmosphere in the conference room became extremely heavy.

“…”

After a long silence, Elder Chiyo sighed.

She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.

That was effectively Chiyo making her position clear and handing control of the matter to the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa.

Rasa also secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

At a critical moment like this, the most dangerous thing was internal disagreement within the village.

Chiyo’s decision to relinquish authority was ultimately made for the sake of the village as a whole.

Rasa looked toward everyone in the conference room again.

“Although there is no defensible terrain immediately outside the village, that doesn’t mean the area is completely open and without obstacles.”

“Everyone, don’t forget about Sazanami Temple!”

Sazanami was called a mountain, but in reality, it was little more than a small earthen hill.

Sazanami Temple was the secluded residence and training ground of Sunagakure’s One-Tail Renchūriki, Bunpuku.

To ensure that Sunagakure retained control over its One-Tail Renchūriki while also preventing a rampaging Shukaku from affecting the village, Sazanami Temple had been established neither too close nor too far from Sunagakure.

It was roughly ten kilometers away.

Although Sazanami was only a small hill, at least it wasn’t desert. The soil there was relatively firm.

Whether in terms of distance or terrain, Sazanami Temple was indeed an excellent location for establishing a defensive line.

Rasa continued,

“The enemy is advancing directly from the border toward Sunagakure, and Sazanami Temple lies directly along their route.”

“We can use Sazanami Temple as the center of our defensive line and stop the enemy before they reach the village gates!”

There was no denying that Rasa’s plan was highly feasible—but that was under ordinary circumstances.

Elder Chiyo opened her eyes again.

“Kazekage, I have no objections to your plan. But I still want us to have an additional safeguard. We should fully fortify the One-Line Sky at the village entrance as well, just in case.”

Rasa frowned slightly and did not immediately agree.

According to Rasa’s plan, he intended to use a desperate last stand at Sazanami Temple to ignite the fighting spirit of the Sand shinobi and drive them to fight to the death.

But if they established another defensive line at the One-Line Sky, it would tell everyone that they still had a route of retreat.

In that case, the Sand shinobi at Sazanami Temple might not be willing to fight with everything they had.

And if Konoha pursued them relentlessly during their retreat, causing Sunagakure’s forces to collapse into a rout, then the situation would become completely irretrievable.

Seeing Rasa’s hesitation, Elder Chiyo explained,

“Kazekage, there’s something you don’t know. Although the village can still muster fifteen hundred shinobi, the overwhelming majority of them are genin.”

“More than five hundred of them are even fresh graduates from this year’s Shinobi Academy class!”

“Morale can certainly be useful, but the gap in actual combat strength is simply too great!”

Guarding the borders was already considered a B-rank mission. Sunagakure had deployed six thousand troops along its borders, meaning that most of the shinobi left inside the village were genin or genin squads who were not qualified to undertake missions of that level.

That was why Elder Chiyo believed that rather than allowing these shinobi to throw their lives away outside the village in exchange for a slim chance of survival, they might as well stake everything on a single decisive defense.

Rasa’s eyes flickered.

His injuries had yet to fully recover, so Chiyo and the other senior officials had handled most of the village’s affairs during the preceding period.

He had only just learned about this situation.

Under these circumstances, sending those genin to Sazanami Temple to make a last stand really wasn’t appropriate.

After thinking for a moment, Rasa said,

“Deploy those newly graduated genin at the One-Line Sky. Send everyone else to Sazanami Temple.”

After a pause, Rasa asked,

“Elder Chiyo, can Bunpuku still fight?”

Elder Chiyo shook her head.

“It would be difficult.”