The Iwa Ninja Appear

At Jiraiya's cry of surprise, the room fell silent. Everyone's eyes turned to Yemo, who stared at Jiraiya in bewilderment.

Orochimaru looked back and forth between Yemo and Jiraiya, puzzled. He too wondered how Jiraiya knew Yemo, and why he was so surprised.

If Orochimaru was puzzled, Yemo was even more so. Though he knew of Jiraiya's great fame, he was certain he had never met him since coming to Konoha. He was also very curious how Jiraiya knew him.

"Jiraiya, do you know Yemo?" Orochimaru asked, breaking the silence.

Jiraiya nodded, then immediately shook his head. "You could say I know him, and you could say I don't."

"Speak plainly!" Orochimaru said with a frown. Who was in the mood for riddles at a time like this?

Jiraiya shrugged and explained, "I've never met Yemo in person, but I've seen his picture. That brings me to my disciple, Minato Namikaze. His house is full of pictures of Kushina, and some of them show this kid with her. I got curious and asked, and that's how I found out he was Kushina's younger brother, Yemo Uzumaki."

After hearing Jiraiya's explanation, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. Lord Jiraiya, honestly, did you have to react so strongly when you already knew him? You had us thinking something had happened and left us on edge.

Seeing that nothing was wrong, everyone returned to work, though their gazes still drifted toward Yemo. The Red Hot Habanero, Kushina, was famous; who hadn't heard of her? They just hadn't expected her to have a younger brother, and more importantly, that this "brother" had come with Lord Orochimaru. It made them very curious.

Orochimaru glanced at Jiraiya and said irritably, "You looked so surprised that I thought something had happened. You just know him. Was there any need to make such a fuss?"

Jiraiya knew he had overreacted. He scratched his head and smiled awkwardly. "You can't blame me for that. Who would have thought Yemo would turn up here with us, and with you of all people? Why else would I have been so surprised? Speaking of which, Orochimaru, I was wondering why Yemo came here with you."

"Oh, I've taken him as my disciple," Orochimaru said casually, as though it were a perfectly ordinary thing.

"What?!"

After a brief silence, everyone in the room let out a deafening cry of surprise, their wide eyes filled with disbelief.

Who was Lord Orochimaru? He had never taken a disciple before. Even when the Third Hokage tried to persuade him, Lord Orochimaru had never served as a Jonin instructor or taken on any students, let alone a disciple. Many Konoha ninja had speculated that Lord Orochimaru would probably never take a student in his lifetime.

Yet Lord Orochimaru had just said himself that he had taken Yemo as his student. How could they not be shocked? Their eyes all turned to Yemo. They were curious what was so special about this kid that Lord Orochimaru had taken him as a disciple.

Jiraiya was dumbstruck too. As Orochimaru's friend, he had once asked why Orochimaru didn't take a disciple and pass on what he had learned. Orochimaru had told him that, aside from it being too much trouble, there was no one in Konoha he considered worthy. Minato Namikaze was one exception, but unfortunately, Jiraiya had already taken him as his disciple.

Jiraiya looked Yemo up and down, his curious gaze seeming to bore right through him. He wondered what extraordinary talent the boy before him possessed for even Orochimaru to take him as a disciple.

With everyone staring at him, even someone as thick-skinned as Yemo felt uncomfortable. It was like being a monkey at the zoo, surrounded by spectators.

Fortunately, Orochimaru broke the silence. "Jiraiya, tell me about the latest developments in the war. From the way you spoke, things don't seem to be going well."

Instead of explaining himself, Jiraiya called to someone beside him. "Shikafumi Nara, tell Orochimaru about it. You know more about this than I do."

A middle-aged man beside Jiraiya stepped forward. He was Shikafumi Nara, the current head of the Nara Clan and Shikaku Nara's father. A genius of great intelligence, he served as Konoha's military strategist. As though it were hereditary, every generation of the Nara Clan produced brilliant minds, and every generation served as Konoha's strategists, assisting the successive Hokage.

Holding a long pointer, Shikafumi Nara indicated the sand table as he described the current state of the war. "Some time ago, we sent elite ninja to attack the Kumo Ninja's rear and achieved a major victory, gaining the upper hand in one stroke. But the day before yesterday, the Kumo Ninja's Eight-Tails, Blue B, appeared on the battlefield for some reason and inflicted heavy casualties on us."

"Of course, losing a single battle isn't enough to change the course of the entire war. What really put us in trouble was that the Kumo Ninja weren't the only ones in that battle. We also discovered Iwa Ninja. Jiraiya was injured when an Iwa Ninja attacked him from hiding."

At the mention of Iwa Ninja, Orochimaru could no longer remain calm. His expression changed drastically, and he said in disbelief, "How is that possible? Can you be sure Iwa Ninja appeared on the battlefield?"

Orochimaru wasn't surprised by Blue B's appearance. They were fighting the Kumo Ninja, after all, and Blue B and his companions had escaped after being ambushed by the Anbu on the outskirts of Konoha that day. It was hardly strange for him to turn up on the battlefield here.

But the appearance of Iwa Ninja was different. With Blue B there, the war was still just a fight between Kumogakure and Konoha. With Iwa Ninja involved, it would become a three-way battle among Konoha, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure. It could very well develop into an even more brutal war, perhaps even the Third Shinobi World War.

Shikafumi Nara shook his head and said gravely, "All we can say is that we found Iwa Ninja. We can't yet confirm whether they're missing-nin from Iwagakure or actual Iwa Ninja. The intelligence department is checking."

"We have to do it as soon as possible." Orochimaru looked at the relative strengths of Konoha and Kumogakure on the sand table. "We have the upper hand now. We can't let this delay us and turn the situation against us. We should press our advantage; we might even be able to bring this war to an end."

Jiraiya spoke up. "I thought the same thing, so I sent a team of elite ninja deep into the enemy's rear to investigate today. It shouldn't be long before they send back information."

Orochimaru nodded. Jiraiya had done well in that respect. Conditions on the battlefield changed constantly, so they couldn't rely solely on the intelligence department. If they could find a way to obtain the most accurate information themselves, they should do it.

"Oh, right, Yemo." Orochimaru had been so occupied asking about the war that he had forgotten Yemo was still beside him. He turned around and saw Yemo leaning over the edge of the sand table, looking at it. He didn't know what Yemo was thinking about.

At the sight, Jiraiya couldn't help wanting to laugh. You're just a little brat, and you're looking at a war table? Can you even understand it?

With that thought, Jiraiya waved over a female ninja and instructed her, "Take Yemo to rest, with that bunch of little brats."

The little brats Jiraiya meant were all children of clans whose elders had sent them to experience the cruelty of war. To keep the kids from causing trouble, Jiraiya had put them all together and let them do as they pleased.

Orochimaru said nothing more about Jiraiya's decision. He simply instructed Yemo, "Get a good rest tonight. Tomorrow I'll take you to the battlefield."

"All right, Teacher Orochimaru!" Yemo nodded, then left with the female ninja.

Watching Yemo leave, Jiraiya said in surprise, "You can't be serious, Orochimaru. You're taking him to the battlefield tomorrow? Your disciple is still just a Genin. Isn't it inappropriate to take him into battle tomorrow?"

Orochimaru understood Jiraiya's concern. He smiled and said, "Don't worry. My disciple is much stronger than you think."

"Is that so?" Jiraiya looked skeptical. "He's just a Genin. I don't believe he can be all that strong."

Orochimaru smiled again without saying anything. There would be plenty of opportunities to prove it later, and he would show Jiraiya.