Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

"According to the latest intel from headquarters, Sunagakure seems to have temporarily suspended its offensive against Iwagakure due to logistics issues."

"Wait, Iwagakure made a move?" someone asked.

Nara Suiwa shook his head.

Everyone looked puzzled.

"If it wasn't Iwagakure, then who else would be interested in disrupting Sunagakure's supply lines?"

"No one made a move," Nara Suiwa replied calmly.

"What do you mean?"

Confusion spread throughout the room.

Suiwa patiently explained:

"I mean exactly what I said. No one attacked Sunagakure's logistics—it simply collapsed on its own.

They're not just suspending the attack on Iwagakure. Even the western front, where they'd been clashing fiercely with us just a while ago, has seen a noticeable decrease in activity these past few days.

I'm afraid… Sunagakure is really at its limit in this war."

"What?!"

The crowd was stunned—deep disbelief spread through the room.

None of them had imagined that one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages could be forced into a retreat simply because of logistics.

Sure, everyone knew that wars are ultimately won through supply chains, but shinobi warfare is different from conventional war. In battles between ordinary people, logistics might be everything. But in ninja wars, manpower remains the real deciding factor.

Supplies matter, yes, but usually only as a tipping point.

If your troops are strong and numerous enough, even if the supply chain breaks down, you can always raid enemy territory for resources and continue the fight.

Only when manpower becomes insufficient does the logistics issue become a critical threat.

But Sunagakure… was supposed to still have a decent number of reserves.

Even though it's the smallest of the Five Great Villages in terms of numbers, its average combat power is high, and thanks to the Puppet Masters, it had suffered the least casualties in the two-year war.

So, relatively speaking, Sunagakure should still have ample reinforcements.

If despite that, logistics were enough to influence their decision-making, there could be only one explanation:

Their logistics situation must have deteriorated to an absolutely abysmal state.

Quantity had transformed into quality—the final straw had broken the camel's back. It became a key factor in their military decisions.

Everyone here was a Jonin, no fools among them. They quickly pieced things together.

But Haruki thought even further.

If Sunagakure's logistics had really deteriorated this badly, then…

The village's betrayal of the hero Pakura of the Scorch Release, in order to reconcile with Kirigakure, was not just Rasa purging political threats. It meant that Sunagakure truly couldn't continue the war, and was forced to yield to Kirigakure's demands.

There was a piece of indirect evidence to support this:

The Ino-Shika-Cho trio, representing Konoha, had once traveled to the tri-border area to present a peace treaty to Iwagakure. At that time, some of the more aggressive factions within Iwagakure tried to sabotage the negotiation.

But then Rasa suddenly showed up with his people, claiming that the land belonged to the Land of Wind and that he wouldn't allow fighting to break out there.

As a result, the Iwa extremists were forced to back down.

That peace treaty between Iwagakure and Konoha was successfully signed.

This alone showed that Sunagakure was the one most eager to end the war among all five nations.

Otherwise, why interfere at all?

The more Haruki thought about it, the more it made sense.

Since arriving in this world, this was the first time he had sensed that the war might actually be approaching its end.

But of course—

The darkest moment always comes before dawn.

And the calm before a storm… is never true peace.

If this war was going to end, it wouldn't be without a few more brutal battles.

So no—it was too early to celebrate.

Haruki refocused his thoughts and looked to Nara Suiwa.

"Even if Sunagakure is slowing down its offensive… isn't Kumogakure still in the fight?

Wouldn't Iwagakure prioritize sending troops there instead?"

That snapped everyone out of their thoughts.

"Yeah! Compared to Kumogakure's ferocious attacks, we're nothing.

I doubt we even register on their radar.

If Iwagakure had forces to spare, shouldn't they be dealing with Kumo first? Why suddenly turn their attention to us?"

All eyes turned to Nara Suiwa for an answer.

With a helpless expression, Suiwa said:

"According to the latest intel, Kumogakure is currently in chaos.

The battle over who will become the Fourth Raikage has reached a boiling point.

The frontline units are completely distracted, and their war with Iwagakure has more or less ground to a halt."

Everyone went silent for a moment.

Now it made sense—why Iwagakure suddenly shifted its focus toward them.

And likely not just toward their outpost, but Konoha as a whole.

Suiwa continued:

"Ten minutes ago, HQ sent out an urgent message—

Our base wasn't the only one attacked. Several other outposts have also come under assault.

Some are still holding out.

Others have already fallen."

A Jonin exhaled sharply.

"So Iwagakure is trying to make us cough up everything we gained over the past month."

Indeed.

For over a month, they had taken advantage of Iwagakure's slow response and pushed forward, seizing large swaths of territory.

Now, with Kumo distracted and Suna crippled, Iwagakure finally had the capacity to retaliate—and they weren't wasting any time.

"If you ask me," someone said, "those captured territories… we can give them up.

This counteroffensive, even if it didn't meet all of HQ's goals, was still successful overall.

We should pull back to our former outposts and prepare for a long fight from there."

"Yeah," someone else chimed in.

"If we retreat, the supply lines will be closer too.

Honestly, now that we know Sunagakure had to pause their attack due to logistics, I'm getting a little worried about our supply chain too.

If Iwagakure bypasses us and cuts off the rear, we're screwed.

Don't forget—this land originally belonged to them. They know every inch of it.

Slipping past our surveillance wouldn't be hard.

So yeah, I think a retreat makes sense."

As with any debate—where there is support, there is also opposition.

Soon the room was as loud as a fish market.

Finally, Nara Suiwa raised his voice:

"That's enough!

These are not decisions we get to make.

Strategic adjustments are up to Lord Third and Lord Orochimaru.

Our job is to execute the orders."

Everyone fell silent.

They lingered and chatted among themselves for a few more minutes. When Suiwa finally declared the meeting over, the Jonin rose from their seats and began to leave.

Haruki didn't say a word. He walked straight out of the room, activated a Body Flicker Technique, and vanished on the spot.

The others glanced at each other, unsure what he was rushing off to do.

What was he doing?

Of course—training.

Haruki still hadn't finished today's practice schedule, and he had zero interest in wasting time standing around.