While Kirigakure was playing its game of "guess what I'm thinking," Uchiha Sou was feeling a little troubled at his own camp.
It wasn't the battle situation that troubled him. On the contrary, things were going so well that even he could hardly believe it.
Once this full-scale operation had begun, the damage Kirigakure suffered was unimaginable.
But damage was just damage. They were up against ninja, and any kind of damage could be repaired with ninjutsu.
The problem was that Kirigakure simply didn't have enough people to deal with all of it. As a result, their room to maneuver had been squeezed to the absolute limit!
If this kept up, Sou thought, Kirigakure might even try to contact him in secret.
They might suggest taking a careful look at the current situation: Kirigakure probably couldn't launch a counterattack, but if they holed up inside a major city, a bunch of scattered fighters like his wouldn't be able to wipe them out either.
And while their regular forces could defeat Kirigakure, doing so wouldn't actually benefit him much.
For instance, he'd lose his current authority, wouldn't he? And what he was doing now probably wasn't part of a mission assigned by Konoha, was it?
So, how about working together?
Of course, that was only something Sou was imagining. If he ran into Mist Ninja, there was a much better chance they'd attack him outright.
After all, it was impossible to overstate the trouble his actions in the rear had caused Kirigakure's front lines!
What was troubling him now was that people in the other "war zones" had used the Summoning Technique to inform them that Orochimaru had sent in a special squad, whose mission was to find him!
"Could they be here to hold me accountable?"
Sou felt uncertain and wary. He knew perfectly well that this operation had absolutely nothing to do with either Konoha or Orochimaru!
If they really had come to hold him accountable, that wouldn't be good news for him.
Still, he'd been through enough to become ruthless. If they pushed him too far, he could always make the whole group disappear!
It was wartime, and they were still in territory controlled by Kirigakure. People going missing here and there was perfectly normal, wasn't it?
"Captain, they're here." Just as Sou was worrying, Shiranui Genma entered the room and spoke quietly.
He seemed a little concerned, too. After all, he knew exactly how the mission had ended up like this.
After a moment's thought, he asked quietly, "Will it be all right, Captain?"
"It's fine. Don't worry." Sou nodded, though he thought that if anything went wrong, the other side would be in trouble first!
"In that case, should I let their captain in?" Shiranui Genma asked.
"Let him in. I'd like to see what they want, anyway." Sou nodded.
Shiranui Genma quickly went out to carry out the order. Before long, a young man walked in. When he saw Sou, he couldn't help frowning slightly.
But he soon regained his composure and gave Sou a small nod. "Hello. I'm Hirame Ryogen. I never expected the commander here to be so young."
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Hirame." Sou nodded in return. "I don't think age is the point. What matters is how much value we can create, don't you agree?"
"That's true. I spoke out of turn."
Hirame Ryogen smiled faintly, but soon his expression grew serious.
"Sir, we've come on the orders of Lord Orochimaru. Lord Orochimaru would also like to speak with you.
"Given what you've done, we're neither suited nor qualified to judge you. So let's leave that to Lord Orochimaru."
"Leave it to Lord Orochimaru?" Sou was puzzled. Could Orochimaru actually come here?
But when Hirame Ryogen suddenly produced a scroll and released its seal, summoning a snake in front of him, Sou thought of one of Jiraiya's techniques.
Toad Concealment Technique. In the original story, Jiraiya hid inside a toad and used it to infiltrate Amegakure.
Orochimaru was always spitting himself out, so he was probably even more skilled with techniques of that kind, right?
But Sou hadn't expected the snake to look at him, flick its tongue, and then speak!
"Ryogen, you may leave." The snake spoke in Orochimaru's voice. Hirame Ryogen immediately bowed respectfully and left the room.
Sou stared at the scene in a daze. He thought Orochimaru had developed a similar technique, but he was pretty sure that had only happened in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.
"Sou, you've certainly given me a tremendous surprise."
While Sou was still stunned, the snake turned its gaze toward him and spoke again in a hoarse voice.
"For a while, I thought you'd failed your mission and died. I never expected you to give me such a surprise."
At the Konoha camp, Orochimaru's face truly showed a hint of surprise. He'd been keeping an eye on Kirigakure's performance lately.
Their repeated retreats and the visibly low morale among the ninja on the front lines all pointed to serious trouble in Kirigakure's rear!
What was strange was that, according to reports from the Anbu Konoha had stationed in the rear of the Land of Whirlpools, none of Kirigakure's important facilities had been damaged.
The source of all this upheaval was members of the Land of Whirlpools' resistance groups, and there were likely Konoha Ninja involved as well.
Taken together, this information made Orochimaru even more curious. Who would dare to stir up such trouble behind enemy lines?
He was also increasingly eager for the people he'd sent out to find the leader of those Konoha Ninja. At the very least, he wanted to know what was going on.
Now he'd discovered that the person behind these astonishing events was none other than Uchiha Sou, the very person he'd sent out in the first place!
Orochimaru remembered Sou well. After all, he'd been given a mission connected to the boy.
He also had some thoughts about Sou, so when he'd concluded that the boy might be in trouble, Orochimaru had felt disappointed.
But now it seemed he really had underestimated him!
"Lord Orochimaru, you flatter me."
Sou had no idea what Orochimaru was thinking. He was speaking to a snake, after all, and had no chance to face Orochimaru directly, so he couldn't read anything from his expression.
Of course, even if they were face-to-face, it probably wouldn't help. It was very difficult to guess what someone like Orochimaru was thinking.
"Whether I'm flattering you or not, I know the truth, Sou."
Orochimaru gave his tongue a little lick, then tapped the table lightly. At last, he smiled through the snake and said,
"Tell me everything about this. I want more details, and I want to learn more about what you've been doing. Only then can I make the right judgment."
"I understand, Lord Orochimaru."
Sou nodded. He had records, of course, but those were meant for the Hokage, and they could be altered.
If he could get Orochimaru on the same page beforehand, changing those records would be even easier.
But as soon as Sou began to speak, Orochimaru raised his eyebrows.
"This all began when we entered the area under Kirigakure's control and met your student, Anko."
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