After Sky Ninja Village had been dealt with and the Uchiha Clan had achieved its goal, the Akaseki Squad did not head back.
Only Guan Ze of the Anbu returned to Konoha to report. Akaseki and Nonō had, in theory, joined the Special Countermeasure Force and were under Jiancheng's command.
Akaseki had thought he would report to the front with everyone else and then join the campaign against Sunagakure. But—
"Akaseki, I order you to go to the Land of Rain front. Report to Commander Jiraiya of the reserve force within ten days," Jiancheng said.
"Back to the Land of Rain front?" Akaseki froze.
Although Konoha's front line had pushed into the Land of Wind, Lingering Rain Mountain had not been taken, so skirmishes still broke out in the Land of Rain from time to time.
Fighting far from home, Konoha had to keep a reserve force in the Land of Rain to secure its route back and keep supplies flowing.
But—
"Clan Head, there won't be much fighting with the reserve force, will there?" Akaseki complained.
"Orochimaru should be joining the reserve force soon," Jiancheng said, trying to persuade him.
After Orochimaru had been removed as overall commander at the front, he had recuperated in Konoha, then cleared a backlog of S-rank missions unrelated to the battlefield.
Jiraiya had been recalled along with Orochimaru, but had returned to the front first to command the reserve force.
"Do I really need to go find Orochimaru so soon?" Akaseki was still unhappy. As an Uchiha, he could never satisfy his Sharingan's hunger for battle. He wanted to go where the fighting was fiercest.
Jiancheng's face hardened. "It isn't a question of urgency. Even without that, I was going to send you to the reserve supply force."
"What? Orochimaru and Teacher Jiraiya