"Are we really going to do this, Lord Orochimaru?"
The intelligence ninja kneeling on one knee looked at Orochimaru, who had regained his composure, hesitated for a moment, then could not help speaking up.
"That's right."
Hearing the intelligence ninja's words, Orochimaru slowly sat down behind the pile of documents and nodded in confirmation.
"But... the Third Hokage's order was for us to hold our ground to the death. Isn't this too risky?"
The intelligence ninja hesitated again before carefully voicing his concern.
"Don't worry."
By then, Orochimaru had fully seated himself. He rolled up the half-written scroll and casually set it aside, then spread open another scroll covered with detailed maps marked with Iwa, Konoha, and even Kumogakure symbols. After giving it a glance, he immediately began drawing arrows across it with his brush as he responded.
"This..."
Hearing the commander-in-chief's somewhat dismissive reply, the intelligence ninja frowned slightly, yet he remained hesitant.
If this had only concerned his own safety, then so be it. Death was death. On this battlefield, they had long been prepared to lay down their lives to defend their homeland and drive out the enemy.
But the current situation was no longer merely a matter of personal safety. The entire village might be driven into defeat because of it. Losing the Ninja World War was not something that could be resolved with a simple peace negotiation. After the talks came a whole series of measures detrimental to the village. After all, peace negotiations might sound pleasant, but in the end, they were merely the victorious nation extorting the defeated one.
Thus, although as a ninja tasked with relaying intelligence, he should not have questioned his commander, the circumstances left him no choice but to hesitate and doubt. It was not that he did not