The Sealing Squad ninja snapped, "How dare the Cloud Village push so deep into the Land of Fire? What gave them the nerve?"
The Orochimaru impersonated by Yamanaka Chujiu let out a hissing laugh. "It seems the Fourth Hokage's sacrifice has left the Fourth Raikage with nothing to hold him back."
"Then let's show him that even without the Fourth Hokage, Konoha is still the strongest village in the Shinobi World."
"Because Konoha still has me, Orochimaru!"
"Follow me!"
At his words, the ninja accompanying Yamanaka Chujiu quickened their pace.
As their group entered Konoha's central camp, the sight of Orochimaru visibly lifted the Konoha ninja's spirits. Cheers rose one after another.
"Lord Orochimaru will prevail!"
"Konoha will prevail!"
Seeing the ever-victorious commander Orochimaru filled the Konoha ninja with renewed morale, but the balance of power between the two sides would not change overnight.
After confirming the Fourth Hokage's death, the Fourth Raikage had immediately assembled his forces and invaded the Land of Hot Water, then smashed through the Land of Fire's border at incredible speed.
In the twelve short days between the start of the war and Yamanaka Chujiu's arrival at the front, the two sides had fought six major battles. Konoha's losses were heavy, and its forces now numbered only 4,500 ninja.
By calling in reinforcements, hiring rogue ninja, and coercing the Grass Ninja, the Cloud Village had increased its total forces to 8,000.
Even without counting the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, they already held an overwhelming advantage on the battlefield.
Every Konoha ninja who came to report eventually found himself saying to Yamanaka Chujiu, "Lord Orochimaru, please, you must defeat the Fourth Raikage."
In the end, Yamanaka Chujiu laughed—Orochimaru's signature laugh. "Mm-ee~ Hehehe. The Cloud Village army is advancing fiercely, huh? They've scared you all out of your wits. Hehehe."
"Are you still Konoha ninja?"
"Is this still the Konoha that overpowered the four great ninja villages?"
"But you're right."
"The Cloud Village army is strong, and Konoha's reinforcements have gone to the Eastern Front. I've brought only ten ninja with me."
Orochimaru sneered. "Since that's the reality, I won't meet them head-on. We'll retreat."
Thanks to the Great Snake Skin disguise, Yamanaka Chujiu had perfectly replicated Orochimaru's appearance, bearing, and chakra. Even Mitaraishi Anko, who had traveled all this way with him, hadn't noticed anything amiss.
The other Konoha ninja were even less likely to spot the difference. They treated Yamanaka Chujiu as Orochimaru, with the utmost respect, but his proposed tactics caused an uproar on the spot.
"Retreat?"
"How can we retreat?"
"He's right—we can't give up a single step, Lord Orochimaru!"
"We have to defend the Land of Fire and Konoha!"
Yamanaka Chujiu paid no attention to the Konoha ninja's objections, his gaze fixed on the map.
The Cloud Village had invaded while the Fourth Hokage's death left Konoha reeling. They were taking advantage of Konoha's shattered morale, betting that the village would be powerless to resist.
The Fourth Raikage was a reckless gambler, but he had won his bet. The Cloud Village army had swept through the Land of Hot Water with ease and even pushed into the Land of Fire.
Konoha really was without a leader. The Fourth Hokage had died, the Third Hokage was hesitating, and the entire northern front had no unified command.
The Fourth Raikage could fight however he pleased. Konoha's defenses had been pushed to their limit, and the enemy was less than two thousand meters from Yamanaka Chujiu's camp.
The Konoha ninja reacted so strongly not only because they were frustrated, but because the Cloud Village army was already bearing down on them.
Retreating in the face of the enemy was one of the most dangerous situations in warfare. Even if the commander made no mistake and it was all due to chance, a retreat could turn into a rout and end in utter defeat.
The Konoha ninja saw nothing but the possibility of failure. Yamanaka Chujiu, however, saw a chance for victory.
The Fourth Raikage's advance had gone so smoothly that he'd overlooked the fact that his forces weren't adequately prepared for war.
According to the intelligence gathered by the Konoha ninja, the Cloud Village army was short on food, weapons, and medicine. For now, they were making up the deficit with spoils from their earlier victories and by plundering the Land of Hot Water.
Even scarcer than supplies were the carts, livestock, and people needed to transport them.
As the Cloud Village army pushed deeper into the Land of Fire, its supply lines grew noticeably longer. The enemy forces bearing down on them had already weakened due to shortages, and if they advanced any farther, their strength would drop sharply.
Yamanaka Chujiu traced a finger across the map, quickly calculating distances and timing.
In his mind, all the data took shape as two curves, representing Konoha's and the Cloud Village's respective strength.
As the planned battlefield shifted closer and closer to Konoha, the two curves rapidly converged.
When the battlefield reached a village called Sakura Plains, the two curves in Yamanaka Chujiu's mind intersected.
He tapped the spot and, in Orochimaru's distinctive hoarse voice and cold tone, addressed the clamoring Konoha ninja. "Have you finished arguing?"
"If you have, then shut up and listen to my orders!"
What if they weren't finished arguing? Yamanaka Chujiu didn't say, and the Konoha ninja didn't dare ask. They all obediently fell silent, bodies ramrod straight.
That was Orochimaru's standing among the Konoha ninja.
Once he made up his mind and issued an order, no Konoha ninja questioned him. They carried it out without hesitation.
In both his lives combined, this was Yamanaka Chujiu's first time wielding such authority, deciding the fate of 4,500 Konoha ninja with his commands.
There was no avoiding the nerves.
He instinctively tried to lick his lips, but his tongue reached his cheek—and even moistened his eyeball.
Damn it. If I keep playing this part, am I going to turn into a disgusting long worm too?
Yamanaka Chujiu was both nervous and excited. His Heart Severing Realm had a radius of four thousand meters, and his mind could distinguish every ninja within its range.
The position of every Konoha squad, the movements of every Cloud Village enemy, and every powerful figure worth watching all appeared clearly in his mind.
It was like entering a cheat code in a real-time strategy game and clearing the fog of war from the map.
Beyond the eight-kilometer-wide circle, Root ninja whom he had turned into living puppets served as relay stations, lighting up one thousand-meter circle after another in the fog.
Though he couldn't sense individual ninja, he could monitor the overall movements of the Cloud Village army.
What was this? This was omniscience!
And omniscience meant omnipotence!
With the advantage already in his hands, how could Yamanaka Chujiu not feel more confident?
And that wasn't all!
The threads of Yamanaka Chujiu's thoughts had already spread across the entire battlefield, lightly winding around every Konoha and Cloud Village ninja, ready to apply subtle psychological suggestions at any moment.
Hehehe. This—this was what real cheating looked like!
Suppressing the urge to snicker, Yamanaka Chujiu issued his orders methodically.
His commands had a distinctly "I don't understand" style. He gave them directly to every Konoha squad, specifying even the angle of each ninjutsu attack, the direction and speed of the retreat afterward, and where they should go to receive their next orders.
The Konoha ninja were stunned. They couldn't understand how the orders could be so detailed.
This wasn't the Lord Orochimaru they knew!
Before you continue