Time rewound slightly to just before Konoha launched its attack.
Several kilometers away from Sunagakure, Konoha's surprise attack force came to a halt. Orochimaru then made the final tactical arrangements.
"Follow the original plan. Begin the attack on your own in five minutes... Yuhara, bring your squad with me. We'll start moving first."
"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."
Orochimaru left most of the force where they were for the time being, then led Yuhara, Kakashi, and Tenzo toward Sunagakure ahead of the others.
After silently dealing with several hidden sentries, the four of them climbed onto the natural cliff wall surrounding Sunagakure.
Looking down from there, they saw Sunagakure brightly lit below. Yet the lights seemed to reveal an undercurrent of anxiety... This was not the atmosphere a heavily guarded, battle-hardened great ninja village ought to display.
Simply put, after seeing this scene, many people would instinctively ask a deeply concerned, heartwarming question:
"Someone died in this family, right?"
"It seems the Fourth Kazekage really is dead. The ninjas in this village are running around like headless flies." After observing for a short while, Orochimaru said this.
Could I really lie about something like this? People should at least have some basic trust in one another.
"However, the Kazekage's death alone isn't enough to completely paralyze Sunagakure's functions. In fact, the more urgent the situation, the more efficiently certain departments will operate..." Orochimaru continued.
"Lord Orochimaru, I don't quite understand what you mean." Yuhara failed to grasp Orochimaru's point. No wonder everyone hated cryptic people—because everyone was cryptic themselves.
"What I mean is that Sunagakure's sensory barrier has definitely detected something unusual here. We need to move quickly."
"..."
Then why are you still making small talk?
"Yuhara, send me directly into Sunagakure. Your ability can certainly do it." Fortunately, Orochimaru finally