Jiraiya

It was not until the group had left that a long-haired figure in a green Konoha jonin flak jacket appeared beneath the moonlight.

"You were noticed."

Orochimaru extended a finger and watched the White Snake coil its way up his arm, a sinister smile curling across his lips.

The White Snake hissed twice at Orochimaru before slipping into his sleeve.

"That Uchiha Clan brat seems rather promising. Cautious enough, capable of Sensory Ninjutsu, and clever enough to strive for a leadership position within a team like that. He is indeed somewhat interesting."

Orochimaru seemed to be talking to himself, then turned to look elsewhere.

"What do you think, Jiraiya? That remark was not meant solely for this snake."

"Hehehe, Orochimaru, how did you know I was here?"

A young man with spiky white hair emerged from the shadows on the ground and asked Orochimaru with a hearty laugh.

"How could a toad hide from a snake's search? Jiraiya, what are you doing skulking around my place?"

"I came to bring you some news, so you would not be left in the dark out here. Things in the Land of Hot Water have improved considerably. Kumogakure is seeking peace talks with us, and an envoy may arrive before long. For now, we do not need to head to the Land of Hot Water battlefield."

Jiraiya pointed in the direction of the Land of Hot Water.

Orochimaru spoke leisurely.

"Teacher Sarutobi wants me to become a jonin instructor and lead his son. I probably will not be assigned to a squad then, at least not in the short term."

"Oh? I thought you had intended to refuse. Looks like you agreed after all?

By the way, how is that old man's kid? I heard he did fairly well at the Ninja Academy. He is only a tiny bit worse than I was back then."

Jiraiya asked with an inquisitive look.

"Heh, idiot. If he were truly worse than you were back then, that squad would be beyond saving and not worth leading."

Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya with mocking eyes.

Jiraiya was not angry. After all, Orochimaru had mocked him countless times since they were children.

Orochimaru continued.

"Still, his personality is like yours—indecisive, yet naive and reckless. Even if he has some talent, without a powerful mentor, without a teammate with a clear and rational mind who can analyze the situation and possesses greater ability to command the overall picture, you would have died on the battlefield long ago."

Jiraiya's expression fell.

"Are you insulting me or praising yourself?"

"I have no need to mock you. I am merely stating the truth."

Orochimaru crossed his arms, his tone calm, but the faint smile on his face gave him away.

Not everyone had been so cold and ruthless from the very beginning, including Orochimaru, who was only in his early twenties.

"But if you intend to keep leading this Genin squad, does that mean someone in it is as smart as you were as a child?"

Jiraiya stepped beside Orochimaru and looked at the setting sun in the distance.

"At least he knows how to make the idiots in the squad useful."

"Hey! Orochimaru!"

"What?"

"You were definitely implying that I am an idiot again, weren't you?"

"You are the one who chose to take it personally, idiot."

With a flick of his sleeve, Orochimaru drifted away, leaving Jiraiya standing there with his hands spread.

This squad truly reminded Orochimaru of the old Hiruzen Squad.

Though there were major differences, some elements of the Hiruzen Squad from over a decade ago could be found in this team.

For example, there was a high-born descendant of the Hokage; a naive idiot who was not particularly bright but had decent talent; and that idiot even liked the only girl on the team...

It was just that all those traits happened to be concentrated in that kid, Sarutobi Enju.

And there was also a gifted young genius—cautious, capable of commanding and integrating the squad.

"Uchiha Gen... With that brat around, leading this squad in the future should not be too much trouble. Still, he is far too soft-hearted.

Teacher Sarutobi, for the sake of the Scroll of Seals, I will train these children properly for you."

Orochimaru ran his tongue over his lips and turned to leave.

Uchiha Gen knew full well that Orochimaru had been watching them.

He had deliberately said those things to Sarutobi Enju.

He knew what kind of person Orochimaru was and what direction he would take in the future.

Those words had been exactly what the man needed to hear.

As for how effective they would be, that was not something Uchiha Gen could guess at present.

For now, what he needed to do was lead this squad and complete the task at hand.

Fortunately, aside from the things Orochimaru had deliberately arranged to test them, capturing these Bandits was not particularly difficult for this squad.

Any newly promoted Genin who had undergone six years of formal ninja training in the Five Great Shinobi Villages could easily kill dozens of ordinary people armed with blades. Once a ninja squad formed up, it became even more unstoppable.

Not to mention that the members of Uchiha Gen's squad were far beyond ordinary newly promoted Genin. Every one of them had been among the best Ninja Academy graduates, even exceeding the usual standards.

The real difficulty was finding and identifying these Bandits accurately.

A few days ago, Uchiha Gen might have found that quite troublesome.

But fortunately, he now had Ninja Crows for long-distance scouting and relatively reliable Sensory Ninjutsu at close range. Unless the enemy was an expert whose overall combat ability far surpassed his own, or possessed powerful counter-reconnaissance methods such as the Byakugan, his current methods were sufficient for sustained reconnaissance, searching, and tracking within a limited area.

At the very least, a group of ordinary people did not have such capabilities.

After locating several townspeople connected to the Bandits whom Utsuki Ruri's side had discovered, then sending Ninja Crows to tail them, they tracked their way to a mountain more than ten li outside the town by the following morning.

Thus, by noon, over a hundred Bandit captives had been transported to the lord's estate.

As for the tax money and supplies that were supposed to be presented to the Daimyo, only a few days had passed since they had been stolen, and the Bandits had not had time to dispose of them. Most of the supplies had therefore been preserved.

The money, on the other hand, had mostly vanished. It had likely already flowed back into the hands of the townspeople.

"Senior Orochimaru, I wonder whether you are satisfied with how we handled this?"

Uchiha Gen watched Sarutobi Enju negotiate with the Steward in the distance as he spoke to Orochimaru, who had appeared here at some unknown point.

He had not personally spoken with the Steward because Sarutobi Enju's status was more appropriate.

The Hokage's son was a very useful calling card.