Simple Methods

"We're going to kill Nawaki Senju?"

Kawadera Uchiha wanted to persuade Shiro Uchiha to calm down and stop rushing to his death.

But on second thought, that did not fit his persona, so he hurriedly said:

"That's great! Senior, just make the arrangements! I've wanted to pull off something big for a long time!

My death will surely make the Uchiha Clan even greater!"

"That's the spirit!" Shiro Uchiha said. "No wonder Ishiya thinks so highly of you!

This will be far more difficult than you imagine. You're too weak, so the clan's true experts will personally kill Nawaki Senju.

You don't need to worry about anything else. Aren't you protecting Nawaki Senju in Seigetsu Senju's squad? Just confirm Nawaki Senju's location and direction of travel at the end."

Hearing that he would not be required to act personally, Kawadera Uchiha felt somewhat out of control.

"No problem. I'll definitely complete the mission perfectly!"

After seeing Shiro Uchiha off, Kawadera Uchiha frowned. He had underestimated the Uchiha Clan's lunatics.

Nawaki Senju had died to Explosive Tags. Asking him to scout the route meant they were probably planning to set an Explosive Tag trap.

The Uchiha Clan excelled at Fire Release, and many Uchiha ninja skilled in sealing techniques could make their own Explosive Tags.

Explosive Tags were one of the Uchiha Clan's signature tools.

The Uchiha Clan's Explosive Tags were far superior in quality to the Sarutobi Clan's and had an excellent reputation throughout Konoha.

Kawadera Uchiha could make Explosive Tags as well. He was fairly proficient with Fire Release chakra and the Fire Sealing Method, and he still had more than ten Explosive Tags in his ninja tool pouch.

Shiro Uchiha was a fairly strong Jonin, but could he really deal with Orochimaru?

Shiro Uchiha and Orochimaru were both Jonin only because Jonin was the highest rank in Konoha's ninja ranking system.

The gap between one Jonin and another could sometimes be greater than the gap between a Jonin and a Genin.

He wondered what other cards Shiro Uchiha had up his sleeve.

The next day, Seigetsu Senju gathered the rest of the squad.

"Tomorrow, Nawaki will leave the main camp for a reconnaissance mission. Stay sharp.

After all this time scouting, we may finally get results from this operation."

Kawadera Uchiha thought to himself that Shiro Uchiha's information network was even better than Seigetsu Senju's. It seemed Shiro Uchiha really did have something up his sleeve.

Another day passed, and the Orochimaru Squad stood at the camp entrance.

Nawaki Senju was full of high spirits. "Teacher is too busy as the deputy commander. He never has time to take us on combat missions! We train hard every day, but life is too comfortable. Where's even a hint of the tension of the battlefield?"

Orochimaru glanced at the wall to the right of the gate, sensing Seigetsu Senju's squad behind it. Contempt flashed through his eyes.

A needless extra precaution.

Orochimaru lowered his head and smiled at Nawaki. "Nawaki, once you turn fifteen, I'll teach you how to use your brain to serve the village.

Konoha ninja don't just carry out combat missions for the village. They must also understand how to handle complicated affairs and deal with complicated human hearts."

Behind the wall, Kawadera Uchiha watched Orochimaru's lips and guessed at what he was saying.

He had not expected Orochimaru at this point in time to have such a gentle side.

Orochimaru had not yet gone dark and patiently taught Nawaki Senju.

Kawadera Uchiha stared at Orochimaru's eyes. Orochimaru had snake-like vertical pupils.

Snakes were all nearsighted. The special structure of their vertical pupils determined that their vision was rather poor.

When Orochimaru destroyed Konoha, he said he liked things that moved and found still things boring. Perhaps that preference was determined by his snake-like vertical pupils.

In the original work, Orochimaru had been obsessed with the Sharingan. Perhaps it was because his vision was like a snake's, and after witnessing the Sharingan's power, he desperately wanted a pair of special eyes.

Other than his eyes, what did Orochimaru use for sensing?

As Konoha's inheritor of Ryūchi Cave, Orochimaru had long since modified his body. According to Seigetsu Senju, Orochimaru had displayed the ability to liquefy his body.

In other words, Orochimaru at this time was somewhat like a snake.

Snakes had three methods of perception.

One was scent detection, using forked tongues to detect odor molecules and determine a prey's direction and distance.

Another was infrared heat detection. Some snakes had pit organs that could sense tiny temperature differences and receive infrared radiation.

The last was vibration detection, using their well-developed inner ears to sense vibrations caused by prey moving.

He could not obtain Orochimaru's intelligence, so he could only make wild guesses that Orochimaru might have combined chakra with special snake abilities such as scent detection, infrared heat detection, and vibration detection to form a unique sensing ability.

Orochimaru protected his intelligence well. No one knew what his sensing technique was.

Following that line of thought, if the enemy hid beside the trap early and remained completely still, vibration detection would be useless.

What if... what if the enemy could hide his scent and block infrared heat as well?

Kawadera Uchiha glanced at Kureya Inuzuka. With her and Akamaru the ninja hound present, it would be difficult for an assassin to avoid both snake-like scent detection and a ninja hound's sense of smell.

Based on Kawadera Uchiha's wild guesses, only infrared heat detection remained.

The Orochimaru Squad set out, leaving the main camp.

Kawadera Uchiha left behind a special signal, marking Nawaki Senju's direction so Shiro Uchiha could determine the plan.

Like other Senju ninja, Nawaki Senju loved charging at the very front.

The squad's formation was a strange diamond shape. Nawaki Senju was the sharp arrowhead, with two teammates at his sides and Orochimaru at the rear.

At the first battle they encountered, Kawadera Uchiha instantly grew tense.

However, Nawaki Senju defeated the Cloud Ninja squad with his formidable strength.

Orochimaru remained silent throughout, observing Nawaki's judgment and responses.

Abundant energy, astonishing chakra reserves, solid taijutsu, and Earth Release ninjutsu used with extremely precise timing allowed Nawaki Senju to handle the battle with ease.

That level of strength absolutely should not have been simply blown to death by Explosive Tags.

Several hours later, Nawaki Senju encountered a second battle.

This time, the enemy was somewhat troublesome. A Jonin was leading them.

Orochimaru used the Body Flicker Technique to appear in front of Nawaki.

Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!

Kawadera Uchiha suddenly froze. He seemed to have seen this scene in the original work!

He hurriedly activated his Sharingan and looked ahead.

In the forest ahead stood a cliff face. The rock wall was utterly ordinary, no different from the scenery elsewhere in the forest.

The Hidden Shadow Snake Hands killed the Cloud Ninja Jonin. Nawaki Senju led his two teammates past Orochimaru at high speed and charged toward the cliff face.

Orochimaru was still admiring him, his face full of approval as he realized Nawaki's Body Flicker Technique had become faster.

Within the Sea of Consciousness, Kawadera Uchiha suddenly said:

"It's here! Second! In the future I saw, Nawaki Senju died here!"

Unable to worry about hiding himself any longer, Kawadera Uchiha leaped down from the treetop.

Orochimaru turned his head, deeply displeased.

He had already said not to reveal their identities in front of Nawaki. Why would this person not listen?

Trash like them would only become Nawaki's burden.

Nawaki Senju reached the base of the cliff, pursuing a Cloud Ninja Chunin.

The Cloud Ninja Chunin darted aside, revealing a strange rock behind him.

No!

It was not a rock. It was a masked person wearing a strange cloak.

Still in midair, Kawadera Uchiha could see far into the distance, and he also spotted the cloak disguised as a rock.

An aluminum foil cloak that blocked infrared radiation!

No chakra-concealing method could possibly evade Orochimaru's senses.

The assassin had specifically designed a method to deal with Orochimaru. A simple aluminum foil cloak could block infrared radiation!

Nawaki Senju did not know what technique had struck him. He froze in place, allowing six Explosive Tags at his feet to detonate.

If he had retained even basic reaction ability, he would have already leaped away when the six Explosive Tags first began to burn.

Within the Sea of Consciousness, Tobirama Senju, like Kawadera Uchiha in the air, saw this scene.

Orochimaru noticed nothing, and Nawaki reacted to nothing!

Half a second later, once the Explosive Tags detonated, Nawaki would surely die!