Konoha border.
"Teacher Orochimaru, the mission is complete."
Inside the command tent, Orochimaru rubbed his tired brow as he looked over various intelligence reports. After all, he still served openly as the commander-in-chief on the front lines, especially now that the somewhat turbulent border greatly increased his workload, not to mention the various secret scientific experiments he conducted behind the scenes. Truly, he was a genuine master of time management.
At that moment, seeing his disciple Mitaraishi Anko's adoring expression alongside Uchiha Yoru's clearly feigned look of admiration beside her, Orochimaru raised his head and flashed the pair his signature smile.
If any enemy were to see this smile, they would likely feel only terror. It had to be said that Orochimaru still possessed a certain charismatic appeal; otherwise, he could never have become a formidable contender for the Fourth Hokage.
Anko handed over the mission intelligence while Uchiha Yoru stood nearby, casually shrugging to indicate she should speak. Anko immediately wore a smug, I know you know what's good for you expression.
"Teacher Orochimaru, this time we discovered four illegal border-crossing shinobi. Among them, three were Genin—two are dead and one is crippled. The remaining Chunin has already been brought to the Interrogation Department. This is the intel they compiled."
As the front-line commander-in-chief, Orochimaru did not need to handle every little task personally. For missions like this, once they captured live prisoners, they handed them over to the Interrogation Department. After an interrogation, the department would output the mission results for them to review.
In this way, the so-called commander-in-chief only needed to see what kind of motives or conspiracies the enemy harbored, saving him from wasting time on idle guesswork.
Anko slowly and proudly recounted the course of the mission and the results produced by the Interrogation Department, while Orochimaru listened with immense patience. At that moment, he felt just like a fine mentor.
When Anko finished speaking, she struck a proud pose, as if saying, Go on, praise me.
"Hehe, Anko, you did quite well. But this strategy must have been thought up by Lord Yoru, right?"
With Orochimaru's eerie smile, far from feeling offended, Anko instead curled her lip at her nearby teammate with a proud, haughty huff. Though she desperately wanted to claim she could have won even if she faced them alone, she knew better that if the enemy chose to flee, she could never stop them, let alone complete the battle so swiftly, cleanly, and without injury.
"Hehe, Anko, you did a great job."
Beneath his trademark raspy smile, Orochimaru first encouraged his disciple before turning his gaze toward Uchiha Yoru, letting out another eerie grin.
"Lord Yoru, your talent in ninjutsu and swordsmanship far exceeds my expectations. It seems that calling you and Anko a genius team is not an exaggeration at all."
Faced with Orochimaru's praise, Uchiha Yoru feigned a shy smile while inwardly muttering, What genius? I just paid-to-win for all of this.
Clearly, mastering the Chidori in such a short time was enough in Orochimaru's eyes to earn him the label of a genius. This was all part of Uchiha Yoru's plan, especially since he was now hitching a ride on Orochimaru's coattails.
If one asked whose teaching standards were highest in Konoha, it was certainly Jiraiya and Orochimaru of the Sannin. Yet Jiraiya was completely out of reach for him, whereas Orochimaru's style of instruction possessed a very distinct character.
Naturally, he needed to display his talent in order to trade it for the maximum amount of resources.
"Teacher Orochimaru, you flatter me."
Uchiha Yoru spoke with a shy smile, while Anko curled her lip at the sight.
What kind of person was Orochimaru? He was one of the Sannin and instantly perceived that Uchiha Yoru had something to discuss. Without missing a beat, he turned his raspy smile toward Anko.
"Anko, there are no missions for a while. You should head out and properly practice the ninjutsu I taught you."
Naturally, Anko—currently deep in blind adoration—obediently nodded upon hearing her teacher's command. "Don't worry, Teacher Orochimaru, Anko won't hold you back."
Anko was clearly a genius herself; otherwise, she never would have caught Orochimaru's eye.
"Hehe, Lord Yoru is doing well too. Anko, you may withdraw first. Since I am Lord Yoru's teacher, it is about time I taught him a few things."
Filled with excitement, Anko turned to leave, but upon hearing those final words, she cast a disgruntled glance at Uchiha Yoru. Her gaze carried a sharp warning, as if communicating: Teacher Orochimaru is already exhausted, don't give him a hard time.
Under Anko's warning glare, Uchiha Yoru offered a wry smile. Once Anko departed and the tent grew quiet again, he met Orochimaru's deeply meaningful smile, which seemed to say: What is the Uchiha faction representing you bringing me this time?
Seeing Orochimaru's expression, Uchiha Yoru took a deep breath. He knew this was his moment to shine; he had to secure a rapid rise to power before Orochimaru defected, or else such an opportunity would never come again.
"Teacher Orochimaru, this is the funding provided to the teacher by the Uchiha Clan."
Uchiha Yoru slowly retrieved a scroll from his robe. The moment he unsealed it, a blinding sea of gold flashed before their eyes. Upon seeing this, a clear trace of surprise flickered in Orochimaru's eyes.
Gold bricks—piled into a miniature mountain—were then resealed inside the scroll as Uchiha Yoru respectfully stepped forward to hand it over.
At this sight, Orochimaru's raspy chuckle clearly carried a note of delight. Although he was a scientist, so-called research was a bottomless pit, and the consumption of resources was completely endless.
Clearly, this struck the right chord. When Uchiha Yoru heard the unmistakable hint of relief and joy in Orochimaru's laugh, he let out an inward sigh of relief. His prediction had been spot-on.
With Konoha having just endured the Nine-Tails' Rampage and the borders remaining unstable, Danzo—Orochimaru's partner—would undoubtedly slash his allocated resources several times over. Especially since Orochimaru was a strong contender for the Fifth Hokage, expecting Danzo to continue extending a helping hand was pure fantasy.
At a time like this, Orochimaru was bound to be short on cash! Short on all kinds of resources!
"Hehe, it seems Lord Yoru's ambitions are not small."
Orochimaru licked his lips as he looked at the acquired funds, a smile spreading across his face. He naturally wanted the money, and the Uchiha Clan seemed quite useful as well.
"Teacher, the Uchiha Clan will provide full assistance to the Fifth Hokage, Teacher Orochimaru."
Uchiha Yoru smiled, conveying the clear message: You are the Fifth Hokage in our eyes, and our Uchiha Clan is willing to serve you in all matters. He placed heavy emphasis on the word Teacher.
Orochimaru naturally caught the subtext in those words and smiled.
"Teacher Orochimaru, the Uchiha Clan knows that your research into ninjutsu requires massive amounts of funds. This is just the initial capital; later on, the Uchiha Clan will continue to provide more. Should Teacher Orochimaru require any research materials, the Uchiha Clan will also do everything in our power to supply them."
At that moment, Uchiha Yoru laid his cards completely on the table, his expression resolute.
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