Smack!
Hinata tossed the fifth pheasant skeleton to the ground and sighed inwardly, realizing she really had no appetite at all.
Hinata ate the fragrant grilled meat, she experienced for the first time what it meant to taste like nothing at all.
The whole meaning of life is—even with tears in your eyes, you must fulfill the boasts you once made.
Hinata took the sixth roasted pheasant and ate it heartily while mentally calculating the combat strength of the Otogakure.
Orochimaru, Kabuto Yakushi, and Kimimaro are all considered strong.
When the Sound Four activate their Curse Mark Stage 2, they are roughly equivalent to Elite Jonin strength.
In the Original Story, the Sound Four fought against Genma Shiranui and Namiashi Raidō, and in their Curse Mark Stage 2 form, they nearly killed them, but were also exhausted themselves.
Besides these seven, there are probably some other cannon fodder members in the Otogakure.
As for myself...
Hinata looked around.
If Naruto unleashes the Nine-Tails, then uses Sage Mode, and combines it with the Nine-Tails' Chakra...
They may not be without the ability to fight.
Moreover, Orochimaru has hundreds or even thousands of test subjects, but these test subjects have been tortured by Orochimaru for too long, and they have either become numb or completely insane.
They can create some chaos, but they can't be used as an asset.
Seeing Hinata deep in thought, Shikamaru turned to her and asked, "Hinata, what are you thinking about?"
Hinata said dejectedly, "I was calculating the difference in combat strength between the two sides!"
Knowing that Hinata knew much more about Orochimaru than he did, Shikamaru asked, "What was the result?"
Hinata really wanted to say that the few of us were actually a Teletubbies team.
But what came out of his mouth was, "Hmph! Absolutely no problem!"
"Orochimaru's side isn't that strong either. Apart from Orochimaru, the others are just weaklings. As long as Naruto doesn't encounter any unexpected events, we still have a chance to defeat Orochimaru!"
After saying that, Hinata turned her head and teared up: Being too proud can really kill you!
Kiba Inuzuka then said, "When I was hunting just now, I smelled blood nearby. There must have been a fight over there."
Shikamaru thought for a moment and said, "It must be that the people who kidnapped Sasuke encountered our Konoha ninjas!"
Naruto said urgently, "Let's hurry and catch up with Sasuke!"
Shikamaru glanced at the sky, stood up, and said, "Has everyone rested enough?"
"Let's go to the Land of Rice to gather intelligence first, and find a town to rest in while we're there. Once we find the location of the Otogakure, we'll go and bring Sasuke back!"
"Good!"
They headed towards the Land of Rice, encountering many traps along the way, but without facing any enemies.
As they left the forest, Hinata her Byakugan to survey the area and said, "There's a town ahead, but there's no strong Chakra reaction. They're probably wandering ninjas, but we can't rule out the possibility that they're spies sent by Orochimaru."
Shikamaru nodded and said, "If we are Orochimaru's informants, then we would be too conspicuous as we are."
Hinata glanced at the group and instructed, "Akamaru, go ahead and scout out the town ahead, figure out its layout. Then we'll use the Transformation Jutsu to enter the town from different directions and meet up at the designated inn."
Ya complained, "Why me?! Your Byakugan would be much more effective!"
Hinata explained, "My Byakugan is too conspicuous. Since you have a dog, you can pretend to be a homeless orphan."
Tooth. "..."
Kiba left alone, Hinata looked at Shikamaru and asked, "What are your plans for the future?"
Shikamaru took out paper and pen, gestured for everyone to sit down, and then explained, "Although Orochimaru's Otogakure is hidden in the Land of Rice, it is not easy to find the Otogakure."
"I discussed this with Hinata before; the location of the Otogakure is very likely to be top secret."
"That means that no one in the Land of Rice should know the exact location of the Otogakure."
After a pause, Shikamaru continued, "We only started the pursuit 24 hours after Sasuke left Konoha, by which time Sasuke's scent had mostly disappeared. So for us, we have to start the investigation from scratch."
Shikamaru drew a circle on the white paper and indicated, "This is the Land of Rice."
"Leaving aside towns and villages, and places that people frequently visit, the scope we need to explore is actually very small."
"And the next piece of information we need to investigate... is the terrifying legend of the Land of Rice."
Hinata's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and she gave Shikamaru a thumbs-up. "Smart!"
Naruto and Choji exchanged a glance, completely oblivious to the situation. Rock Lee, on the other hand, was single-minded and at best a henchman.
Shikamaru explained, "I once discussed Orochimaru with my dad. Orochimaru was expelled from the village by the Third because he was discovered to be conducting human experiments."
"If Orochimaru continues his experiments, then people will inevitably disappear mysteriously in Land of Rice frequently..."
"When a lot of people go missing in a place, it becomes a terrible legend among the locals!"
Hinata cautioned, "Orochimaru is a veteran ninja who has been hunted down by Konoha for many years. He might not make a move near Otogakure."
Shikamaru nodded and continued, "That's true, but there must be some terrible legends circulating in the area where Otogakure is located, to prevent people from getting close and exposing Otogakure."
Hinata thought for a moment and agreed, "Although it's a bit troublesome, it's the only way we can do it right now!"
As long as Orochimaru continues his experiments, he will need a large number of test subjects.
Over the years, many people in the Land of Rice must have gone missing.
These places, where people frequently disappear, become the subject of all sorts of terrifying legends among the common people.
Orochimaru's Otogakure might be hidden within a terrifying legend.
Of course, this is just Shikamaru and Hinata's speculation. Orochimaru is such a cunning and treacherous person that his village might not be so easily found.
After a short wait, Kiba Inuzuka returned from his intelligence gathering.
Spreading a hastily drawn, simple map on the ground, Ya explained, "There are thirteen hotels in the town. This Hot Spring Inn has the fewest guests because it's too expensive, making it a good place for us to hide our identities."
"In addition... life on the outskirts of the town is very impoverished, and there are many gangs entrenched there. To avoid revealing our identities, we should try to avoid going to these places."
As he spoke, Kiba Inuzuka drew several more circles on the map, indicating that those areas were the territory of the yakuza.
Hinata shook her head, disagreeing, "The yakuza are often the most well-informed places. Akamaru, tonight you will disguise yourself as a homeless orphan and go to the yakuza's territory to gather information and investigate several places in the Land of Rice people frequently go missing."
To be honest, Kiba disguised Akamaru as a homeless orphan, and didn't even need to use Transformation Jutsu... it was too convincing.
Shikamaru nodded and said, "That's fine then. Kiba, I'll leave it to you!"
Kiba looked at Akamaru in his arms with some frustration, and Akamaru was whimpering...
Shikamaru continued, "As for us, we'll use our Transformation Jutsu to infiltrate the town, split up to gather information, and then check into this Hot Spring Inn. You can all meet up in my room tonight!"
"Good!"
"Set off!"