Half a Year of Changes (Part 1)

In the Land of Whirlpools, within the Konoha base camp, Orochimaru was bowing his head, looking at the intelligence report in his hands.

Half a year had passed by in the blink of an eye, and during these six months, the war between Konoha and Kirigakure had become increasingly intense.

If everyone had only been skirmishing before, with only a person or two dying each day, they were now truly engaging in full-scale combat, trading heavy blows with the enemy.

The number of casualties and missing persons was increasing every single day, and grim news arrived without fail.

Kirigakure and Konoha had reached a stage where every inch of territory was fought over, and such a situation made Orochimaru feel a headache coming on.

As for the casualties, he did not particularly care.

As long as he could achieve the strategic goals he desired, he could absolutely accept the necessary losses.

This was not because he was cold-blooded, but because he understood clearly that this was inevitable; war was not child's play, and everyone had to be prepared!

However, life is truly fragile.

Sighing softly in his heart, Orochimaru put down the document, his gaze beginning to grow distant.

He had seen death far too many times, and he had originally thought he had long since become numb to it.

But in reality, when he saw the names gathered by death, listed one after another in documents, eventually turning into mere numbers, his heart was still moved.

In fact, a thought had long existed in his mind, one that had appeared when he learned of his parents' death during his childhood.

But he had always suppressed the growth of this idea because he did not want to disappoint his teacher, the current Third Hokage of Konoha.

Yet, as the power he wielded grew and he saw more and more of the dealings and methods of the Konoha high command, his mind became increasingly active.

Life is so fragile. If only I could be immortal, then I could learn all ninjutsu and master the truths of the world.

Thinking of this, Orochimaru suddenly paused, then licked his tongue and shook his head.

Now was really not the time to consider such things; he could fully research these matters after returning, after all, he had once collaborated with Danzo.

And this time, Danzo had sent him another invitation!

"Lord Orochimaru." Just then, a ninja from the Nara Clan walked in and bowed respectfully to Orochimaru.

"Shikani, is something the matter?" Orochimaru collected his thoughts and looked at the member of the Nara Clan.

Although Orochimaru was very confident, believing he could handle everything himself.

But as a frontline commander, there were simply too many things for him to deal with, and there was no need for him to do everything personally.

Moreover, he understood clearly that even if you could do certain things, you should leave them to others; this was the logic of sharing the cake.

As a candidate for the Fourth Hokage, he had to understand this principle, not to mention that this was also a way to recruit his own faction.

"Lord Orochimaru, Might Duy has come again," Nara Shikani said with some helplessness. "He still hopes to go on a mission."

"Oh, Might Duy?" Orochimaru couldn't help but nod upon hearing this name.

He knew a thing or two about Might Duy; the man was from roughly the same generation as them, but because his talent was extremely poor, he could only learn taijutsu.

Normally, such talent would have already sentenced a ninja to death, but this guy had never given up.

Even while bearing the title of Genin and being mocked by countless people every day, he still persisted in high-intensity training every day, hoping that one day he would achieve sufficient improvement.

For such a person, Orochimaru, much like Hatake Sakumo, felt great admiration, but admiration could not change the gap in talent.

"What does he want to do on a mission? He is only a Genin," Orochimaru asked with a playful tone, genuinely curious.

"I asked others about it; he wants to find his son," Nara Shikani thought for a moment and said with a shrug. "His son has been on a mission for over half a year, but there has been no news, so..."

"His son?" Orochimaru tilted his head, thought for a moment, and finally asked with a smile, "Who is his son, and is he on the front lines?"

"His son..." Nara Shikani hesitated for a moment, but finally said, "It is Might Guy from Team 6; he entered behind enemy lines half a year ago."

Hearing Nara Shikani's words, Orochimaru couldn't help but frown.

He still had some impression of Team 6, because when he was arranging the mission for Uchiha Sou, he had specifically chosen a team that had suffered losses.

He truly hadn't expected that Might Duy's son would be in this team.

And thinking about the situation behind enemy lines, Orochimaru now felt somewhat dissatisfied.

Regarding operations behind enemy lines, he had already sent quite a few teams in over the past six months.

But the result was that, so far, he hadn't seen much effect!

The purpose of sending teams behind enemy lines was to have them attack important Kirigakure facilities, especially places like supply depots.

Kirigakure was, after all, fighting across the sea; even if they were frantically squeezing the Land of Whirlpools dry, they still had to rely on sea transport for supplies.

Sea transport was time-consuming and laborious; as long as there was a disruption in the supply chain, it would definitely cause a noticeable change for Kirigakure on the battlefield.

It might not make the Mist Ninja lose their fighting spirit entirely, but at least they would be filled with anxiety.

Although they could increase their efforts and engage in unsustainable over-exploitation, ruthlessly harming the people of the Land of Whirlpools.

But even a cornered rat will bite, and quite a few resistance organizations had already appeared among the civilians of the Land of Whirlpools.

Up to this point, the situation Orochimaru hoped to see had never materialized.

Although he had to admit that the Mist Ninja seemed to be pulling back, clearly indicating some waves in their rear, such waves were completely unable to change the situation on the front lines!

"Is Lord Orochimaru worried about the situation behind enemy lines?"

Nara Shikani was truly worthy of being a member of the Nara Clan; he was clearly a sharp individual, guessing Orochimaru's concerns with just a single glance.

"I am indeed very worried." Orochimaru did not hide it; he nodded and said directly, "The current behavior of Kirigakure is too insane, and we still have to fight against Iwagakure and Kumogakure. If this continues..."

The biggest problem for Konoha right now is the shortage of manpower; fighting on multiple fronts has almost completely drained the village dry.

If it weren't for the fact that the other villages held grudges against each other and failed to unite against a common enemy, Konoha would never have lasted until now.

But even having lasted until now, they were already nearing their limit!

Otherwise, Orochimaru would not have dispatched deep-behind-enemy-lines squads to cause destruction, and in the future, it would be unlikely for the Namikaze Minato squad to appear on the battlefield in the Land of Grass to launch a surprise attack on Kannabi Bridge.

To put it bluntly, this is because Konoha has almost run out of people to use!

"Forget it, let's not talk about these disappointing matters." Orochimaru shook his head, then spoke calmly, "Since Might Duy wants to find his son, then let him go."

"Lord Orochimaru?" Nara Shikani couldn't help but be stunned upon hearing this news: "Are you saying, let him go behind enemy lines? He is only a genin, this..."

"Do not look down on any ninja." Orochimaru lightly licked his tongue: "Besides, we don't have that many people left. You may go."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru." Seeing this, Nara Shikani could only nod, and then he turned and left.

Orochimaru stood up, then slowly walked to the windowsill, looking at the bright sunshine outside, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"It seems that Danzo's mission was completed, but little brat, you have disappointed me."