Still Stuck with Cannon Fodder Missions

Only a few of the Jonin on that side were persuaded by Orochimaru. They left with their squads to prepare for the next stage of the battle. Most of the Jonin were still hesitating. One of them, a trusted subordinate of the commander, was arguing fiercely with Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru, you're only the deputy commander. How can you issue orders over the commander's head? This is insubordination!"

"I'm being farsighted and decisive."

"You're too young. In a crisis this serious, the commander naturally has more experience and can make the right judgment."

"I have serious objections to that. What are the commander's orders?"

"Hold our ground!"

"And then?"

"What? What do you mean, and then?"

Orochimaru rubbed his forehead with a sigh and asked helplessly, "Whether the order to hold our ground is right or not, how long do we hold out? Under what circumstances can we retreat? Where do we retreat to? What is the signal for the next wave of orders? There can't be no follow-up arrangements at all, can there?"

"..."

Every ninja who heard this was filled with disappointment. So there really was no follow-up plan. That meant the order had probably been made on the spot. It was unreliable.

Everyone turned their eyes back to Orochimaru. The pale, androgynous young man lowered his right hand to cover his eyes, then lowered it again after a long while.

Orochimaru said, "Listen to my orders. Continue the retreat. If anything goes wrong, I'll take responsibility..."

Boom! Purple poisonous fog billowed up from the northern part of the camp. Even from a kilometer away, even in the dim darkness of night, the dense mist stood out against the night.

"Ibuse Hanzo!!"

No one hesitated any longer. Even the Jonin sent by the commander obeyed Orochimaru's orders, organizing the retreat and defenses. Once everyone was united, their actions became orderly and swift.

The commander's trusted Jonin pleaded with Orochimaru to send someone to relay the situation to the commander. Orochimaru agreed and snapped the fingers of his right hand.

Aburame Tetsumaru screamed MMP inside, but his body moved briskly as he used the Body Flicker Technique to appear at Orochimaru's right.

Without even turning his head, Orochimaru gave the order. "You go."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru." Aburame Tetsumaru cooperatively put on a performance, then set off toward the center of the camp against the flow of people, taking his two bewildered subordinates with him.

This scene made everyone present see Orochimaru in a new light. He had such high-quality trusted men, which meant he had quietly built up his own power—and it was no small force. That was no trivial matter.

All three of the Hokage's disciples were outstanding Elite Jonin, but Orochimaru ranked last in reputation.

The most prestigious was Princess Tsunade, the First's granddaughter and the Daimyo's maternal granddaughter. Her family background was unparalleled. On top of that, she had attained the highest achievements in medical ninjutsu, and no one could compare to her in prestige.

Next was Jiraiya. He was the strongest, free-spirited and unconcerned with trifles. He could get along with people from every walk of life and was highly respected among lower-ranking ninjas.

Orochimaru's only titles were the Hokage's disciple and Elite Jonin. He was also introverted and liked conducting research alone. Few people knew him, so he had the least reputation.

The performance by Orochimaru and Tetsumaru had been quite shocking. When several Jonin accepted Orochimaru's orders afterward, they all began addressing him as "my lord."

Orochimaru showed nothing on his face, but inwardly he was very satisfied. He had finally decided to accept Aburame Tetsumaru as his subordinate.

As he moved quickly through the camp, Aburame Tetsumaru said to his two stunned subordinates, "Stop spacing out. I'll explain later. Focus now, or you'll die."

Then Aburame Tetsumaru took out three sets of anti-poison gear he had prepared beforehand and distributed them to his subordinates.

Joining Orochimaru had not been a spur-of-the-moment decision. It was the result of careful consideration. To achieve that goal, he had to do even dangerous cannon fodder missions well.

No matter how much he had thought or prepared before first stepping onto the battlefield, Aburame Tetsumaru had still been a rookie who knew nothing. Fortunately, he had met a captain blessed by luck and been carried through the beginner stage.

Over the past year, three things had left the deepest impression on him: the imposing Jinchuriki, the mysterious Sea of Souls, and that bastard Shimura Danzō.

Especially under Shimura Danzō's reckless command, he had repeatedly entered enemy territory with despair in his heart, repeatedly faced the danger of death, and suffered the frustration of being suppressed. The misery of having no patron had been carved into his bones.

So he needed a patron. A reliable patron.

Choosing a patron required knowing that helping someone in their darkest hour was better than adding flowers to their success. Those who had already formed their own factions were not only hard to attach himself to, but even if he succeeded, it would not be stable. He could easily be discarded.

In Year 32 of Konoha, there were only six ninjas in Konoha who had not yet formed factions but were capable of establishing their own: Hatake Sakumo, the Hokage's three disciples, Uchiha Fugaku, and Hyuga Hiashi.

Hatake Sakumo was an idealist, too slow and naive politically. Uchiha Fugaku was a pig captain even more terrifying than pig teammates—he would not choose him even if he had gone mad. Hyuga Hiashi was shortsighted and saw nothing beyond his clan. Jiraiya and Tsunade had no intention of establishing factions.

What else was there to say? Orochimaru was the only choice. Before his campaign to become the Yondaime, he would be especially dependable—at the very least, he could serve as a patron for ten years.

The three of them swallowed anti-poison medicine, put on their gas masks, and charged into the purple toxic fog.

Ibuse Hanzo's deadly poison had long been famous throughout the Shinobi World. Even with maximum protection, they could not endure for ten minutes. They had to leave in advance to survive.

Fortunately, after Tetsumaru's insects sealed their spiracles, they entered hibernation and could last fifteen minutes without dying. Otherwise, he would have had to go through enormous trouble to remove every insect from his body, which would have greatly weakened his ability to protect himself.

The moment they entered the toxic fog, they ran into a group of Rain Ninja. Relying on the beetles' defenses, Aburame Tetsumaru ignored the Senbon flying at him and crashed directly into them, disrupting their formation.

Their formation broken, the Rain Ninja panicked and each used ninjutsu to counterattack. The rapid movement of Chakra gave the two Genjutsu experts an opening. With perfect coordination, they cast two Genjutsu and controlled four Rain Ninja.

"Time is short. Leave no survivors," Aburame Tetsumaru ordered, then continued forward without looking back.

Uchiha Kei silently threw four Shuriken into the throats of the four Rain Ninja, then followed the captain onward with Kurama Yun.

Only because Genjutsu had such decisive effects could it break away from ninjutsu and become an independent major category.

The principle of Genjutsu was to disrupt an enemy's Chakra, but under normal circumstances, such disruption would inevitably be noticed. A casual dispelling technique could free the target.

The caster needed sufficiently sharp perception to seize the rhythm of the enemy's natural Chakra fluctuations and skillfully disrupt it, causing the enemy to fall into Genjutsu without realizing it.

Thus, Genjutsu ninjas were sharply polarized. Those without enough skill did not dare use Genjutsu at all, afraid that a failed illusion would get them killed instead. Those with superb skill succeeded every time, killing gods in their way and Buddhas in their path.

Unless someone covered for the Genjutsu ninja, forcing the enemy's Chakra into violent fluctuations and creating the most suitable opportunity for Genjutsu.

But in the Shinobi World, strength determined status. Ninjas poor at Genjutsu naturally held low positions and were usually ordered to cover for others. Whether appropriate or not, they had to forcibly use ninjutsu, force the opponent to dispel Genjutsu, and create openings for others.

Aburame Tetsumaru's willingness to charge ahead and create opportunities for his subordinates to cast Genjutsu ran contrary to common sense in the Shinobi World. It was also an important reason why Uchiha Kei and Kurama Yun were becoming increasingly convinced by him.

Leading by example and saying "follow me" were the only methods Tetsumaru knew for gaining authority. Their effects remained incomparably powerful even across worlds.

Within three minutes of entering the poisonous fog, the three-man squad dealt with three groups of Rain Ninja in succession. After real combat, their Genjutsu techniques became increasingly adept. By the third group, the two Genjutsu experts directly controlled the Rain Ninja and made them use ninjutsu to slaughter one another until they were wiped out.

In the fourth minute, Aburame Tetsumaru finally found the commander. He was fighting Hanzo, the leader of the Rain Ninja. With his strength greatly weakened in the toxic fog, he was being pressed relentlessly by Hanzo and had no ability to fight back.

The commander used his Ninja Blade to block the sickle on Hanzo's kusarigama, but Hanzo's brute strength suppressed him. He could no longer withstand the weapon's follow-up attacks and was viciously struck in the back by the hammer at the other end of the chain.

The blow made him spit blood. He could not hold back several gasps, and his face immediately turned blue-purple from the poison. Veins bulged across his body before he stiffened and collapsed.

Seeing this, the commander's guards rushed forward as one, disregarding their lives to rescue him. In the blink of an eye, Hanzo had slaughtered most of them. Fortunately, at a terrible cost, they completed their mission and dragged the commander to safety.

Several antidotes were poured into him in succession, followed by an injection of a high-grade antidote personally formulated by Tsunade. The commander finally recovered somewhat, and Aburame Tetsumaru took the opportunity to relay Orochimaru's situation and arrangements.

"Damn it. Hiruzen taught his disciple well. He really knows how to profit from a crisis."

"My lord, what do we do?"

"What do we do? Who knew Hanzo would be this strong? In my condition, I can't continue fighting. Do whatever Orochimaru arranges."

The commander judged that he no longer had the strength to stop Hanzo. Orochimaru's arrangement was the best option, so he did not agonize over it and immediately admitted his failure.

"Send the signal. Have everyone retreat east and obey Orochimaru's orders."

This old fellow who had survived since the Warring States Period really was no simple man. Not only had he survived a battle with Hanzo, his skin was even thicker. He had already broken through from thin to thick and reached the supreme realm of thick to nonexistent.

His eyes shifted, and he pointed directly at Aburame Tetsumaru as he gave an order. "Your squad has complete combat strength. I'm assigning you an A-rank mission: remain here and block the surprise attack by Rain Ninja Hanzo."

Aburame Tetsumaru was shocked and furious. His eyes nearly popped out from behind his sunglasses, but in the end, he accepted the order resentfully.

Seeing all this, the commander was immensely satisfied. He immediately ordered his trusted ninjas to carry him away.

Once their figures disappeared into the toxic fog, Aburame Tetsumaru's expression immediately returned to normal. His anger had only been an act. There was no need to take such a lousy order seriously.

The commander had been outmaneuvered by Orochimaru. He would surely lose much of his authority afterward, and to avoid being sidelined, he had to suppress Orochimaru's forces as much as possible. This squad before him was likely made up of Orochimaru's trusted subordinates, so he casually assigned them a suicide mission. If they succeeded, fine. If not, so be it. It was only a single sentence to him.

Aburame Tetsumaru had put on an act because he worried the commander was consumed by rage. If he did not let the man vent a little, he might lose his mind and directly order his trusted ninjas to kill Tetsumaru. That would have been real trouble.

These trusted ninjas were quite strong, especially since their leader was another Jonin. Aburame Tetsumaru truly did not want to fight them.

The battle itself would not have been terribly dangerous. Even if Aburame Tetsumaru could not win, he could definitely escape intact. The problem was that fighting higher-ups, regardless of right or wrong, would be treated as his fault. There was a significant chance he would be branded a rogue ninja.

Once a fight began under those circumstances, he would have to silence them all. Aburame Tetsumaru truly could not kill a Jonin to cover his tracks. Even with his two subordinates, it would not work. The other side had four Chunin as well.

Fortunately, Aburame Tetsumaru's skin had also reached the realm of thick to nonexistent. A bit of improvisation had fooled them, and everything was fine. Now they just needed to run back to Orochimaru as quickly as possible.

But after this delay, they could not simply flee. They had to leave behind some means of blocking pursuit.

Aburame Tetsumaru formed hand seals. Secret Technique: Insect Clone.

An identical clone made entirely of Kikaichū appeared before him. Then, a large swarm of beetles awakened and flowed from Aburame Tetsumaru's body onto the Insect Clone like water.

Next came several insects responsible for sight and hearing, ensuring Aburame Tetsumaru could control the clone from afar.

Although this combination could survive at most ten minutes in this toxic fog, that was enough to buy time for the three of them to escape.

With everything prepared, Aburame Tetsumaru fled with his thoroughly dumbfounded subordinates. The two kids had had their worldview shattered repeatedly tonight and would need quite some time to rebuild it.

Only a dozen seconds after they started running, Ibuse Hanzo emerged from the toxic fog. He had followed their trail and appeared directly at the Kikaichū ambush site.

Secret Technique: Insect Sphere

Aburame Tetsumaru controlled the clone to use the secret technique, but before the Kikaichū could wrap around Hanzo's head, a breath of his thick exhalation sent them falling away.

Secret Technique: Insect Storm

Aburame Tetsumaru's Insect Clone did not lack Chakra or Kikaichū, so it could use large-scale secret techniques as well.

Just as the Kikaichū tornado storm surrounded Hanzo, a huge mouth bit through the tornado at its middle. Hanzo's Summoning Animal, Ibuse, had appeared. It took only a few bites to completely destroy the Insect Storm, while the remaining insects were poisoned to death by undiluted toxin.

Aburame Tetsumaru wanted to control the Insect Clone and launch another attack, but a flash of blade light suddenly struck its right shoulder. Hanzo had found the clone's location and charged in, launching a fatal attack with the sickle of his kusarigama.

Sparks flew everywhere. The tremendous force staggered the Insect Clone. The sickle split apart the beetles' shells, but only a few on its right shoulder. It did not even injure the clone.

Hanzo was full of disbelief. His kusarigama was forged from Chakra Metal, and he had just infused it with sufficient Chakra. What kind of armor was this Aburame ninja from Konoha wearing? Or what kind of miraculous ninjutsu was this?

Even as he thought, Hanzo's movements did not pause in the slightest. If slashing did not work, he would use blunt force. He swung the hammer of the kusarigama in a full arc and struck the Insect Clone in the back, then immediately struck its rear head and right ribs.

Three savage blows in a row completely dispersed the Insect Clone, and Aburame Tetsumaru lost control of the Clone Technique.

But it did not matter. The three of them had already escaped the toxic fog and removed their gas masks. From so far away, Hanzo could not possibly track them further.

They were safe.