Orochimaru's Chosen Assault Team

Sakura Fortress serves as the defensive anchor for Konoha, featuring a permanent, reinforced defensive stronghold.

The top floor of the fortress houses the commander's office, which doubles as the tactical command center and the highest observation post.

A small snake slithered out from a corner of the office, opened its mouth to disgorge a larger snake, which in turn opened its mouth to reveal a slimy Orochimaru.

Seeing this unique entrance, Yamanaka Chujiu laughed on the spot: "Teacher Orochimaru, you actually arrived a day early. How very thoughtful."

Orochimaru stood up straight and asked with a smile: "Oh, how so?"

Yamanaka Chujiu replied: "I know you have many matters to attend to, and with a ten-day deadline, it is tight; yet you still managed to squeeze out an extra day."

"I do not know how much you had to sacrifice just to rescue a student like me."

Yamanaka Chujiu truly had not expected that Orochimaru would be willing to abandon his own interests to save him.

This caused a massive shift in his perception of Orochimaru; he now truly respected him as a teacher, and his attitude changed accordingly.

Orochimaru sensed the change in Yamanaka Chujiu's attitude and let out a smug laugh: "Oh, hehehe..."

Once he finished laughing, he remarked with emotion: "You have done a magnificent job, my good student."

"Not only were you able to face a superior force, but you even left the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki completely helpless."

"I knew your command skills were strong, but I did not expect them to be this strong."

"Had I known, I would have spent two more days; not only could I have avoided losses, but I could have finished a few more experiments that I had to abandon halfway."

Yamanaka Chujiu said: "How could I have held out for two more days?"

"In two days, I would have had to retreat to within a thousand kilometers of Konoha, and the Third Hokage would have flown into a rage."

Orochimaru shook his head: "Teacher Sarutobi does not have that much patience. When I left, he was already throwing a tantrum in the Hokage's office."

Yamanaka Chujiu: "..."

"Teacher Orochimaru, under the leadership of such a Third Hokage, how did you manage to win battles before?"

Orochimaru extended his tongue to lick his cheek: "There was no other way; we could only fight the enemy head-on, gambling with the lives of the children, gambling with my own life..."

"Besides, the Teacher Sarutobi of the past was not as impatient as he is now."

"Very well, tell me your plan for what comes next."

"Yes, Teacher Orochimaru."

Yamanaka Chujiu laid out the entire plan without reservation, including the critical strike targeting the supply transfer center of the Cloud Village army.

As he spoke with excitement, his eyes began to glow, and he unconsciously stuck out his tongue to lick his cheek.

Orochimaru was momentarily stunned by this gesture, finding himself involuntarily sticking out his tongue as well.

Just then, Anko Mitarashi pushed the door open in high spirits: "Teacher Orochimaru, the intelligence you requested has arri—"

"Huh?"

"Teacher, why are you using a shadow clone... Ah! It's not a clone!"

"T-two Teacher Orochimarus."

A hint of helplessness flashed in Orochimaru's eyes: "Sigh, you have worked hard these past few days, Chujiu."

Yamanaka Chujiu shrugged helplessly: "I only had to look after Anko for a few days; compared to you, Teacher, it is hardly hard work."

Anko Mitarashi was cute in appearance and possessed excellent talent, but her personality was extremely difficult—gluttonous, lecherous, hyperactive, and reckless; she was always causing trouble.

Most importantly, the girl's consciousness split into two personalities between day and night, her brain capable of alternating sleep cycles like a dolphin.

The nighttime Anko could not be called Anko, but rather Boiled Black Bean—timid, prone to tears, extremely clingy, and full of endless questions.

In short, she was very difficult to take care of.

Orochimaru raised a finger and pointed at Yamanaka Chujiu: "Anko, this is your senior brother, Yamanaka Chujiu."

Yamanaka Chujiu turned to greet her: "Hello."

As he spoke, he drew a line across his brow, splitting the Great Snake Skin he was wearing in two to reveal his true face.

Anko nodded blankly: "Oh, okay."

Orochimaru shook his head: "Anko, give me the intelligence, then head out."

Anko handed the intelligence to her teacher, turned to open the door, then looked back: "Teacher, doesn't he need to leave?"

Orochimaru smiled: "Chujiu doesn't need to; he is even more capable than I am."

Anko's eyes darted around, and she held out her hand: "Chujiu... Senior Brother! Where is my greeting gift?"

Yamanaka Chujiu was stunned by Anko's strange logic and instinctively patted his body, only to realize he was carrying nothing but combat gear and had absolutely nothing that could serve as a gift.

However, having lived two lives, his skin was thick enough and his improvisational skills sufficient, so he immediately promised with a smile: "I didn't prepare a gift, but once this battle is over, I will get you something good!"

Anko laughed happily: "Okay, Senior Brother, you mustn't lie to your junior sister!"

After sending off the silly little Anko, the teacher and student continued to discuss the operational plan, making adjustments based on the intelligence they each held.

For instance, Orochimaru possessed a batch of Communication Snakes, cultivated to serve as a counterpart to the Mount Myoboku Communication Frogs.

Because the Communication Snakes lacked intelligence and could only transmit messages in one direction, Orochimaru had deemed them failed products.

But in the hands of Yamanaka Chujiu, this was a divine tool capable of saving precious time in relaying orders, reducing his battlefield latency from several minutes to under 100 milliseconds.

His command precision could be elevated from "move the machine gun five meters to the left" to "lower the muzzle by three centimeters!"

With this, the force responsible for raiding the Cloud Village supply hub could be reduced from a large battalion of over a hundred men to a medium-sized squad of thirty.

The greatest advantage of shrinking the team size was the ability to infiltrate through the Cloud Village army rather than having to detour for hundreds of kilometers.

This meant the time required to hold the front line against the enemy could be reduced by at least one day.

Orochimaru spoke with lazy confidence, "Holding for just two days is not a problem at all."

"With that much time, I can fully afford to make a move on the Eight-Tails Gyuki; I am quite curious about this Tailed Beast, which is said to be second only to the Nine-Tails."

Yamanaka Chujiu replied nonchalantly, "Do as you please, Teacher. This student will go pick the men."

"..."

"It seems I've torn the skin; Teacher Orochimaru, you'll have to accompany me."

Orochimaru feigned annoyance as he stood up, "What a waste of my time. Let's go!"

The thirty slots were filled quickly: one Ino-Shika-Cho squad, one Byakugan squad, two mixed reconnaissance squads, one genjutsu-specialist squad, four combat squads skilled in Fire and Lightning Release, and one Uchiha squad.

The Ino-Shika-Cho trio were naturally acquaintances of Yamanaka Chujiu; though they found it strange, there would be absolutely no issues with commanding them.

The Byakugan squad was composed of members from the Hyuga branch family, who possessed high levels of obedience, so they were also fine.

The mixed reconnaissance squads were composed of ninjas from the Hyuga, Inuzuka, and Aburame clans—though the three dogs were a bit rowdy.

The five combat squads were all of civilian origin and were full of enthusiasm for executing such a decisive mission; given Yamanaka Chujiu's status as Orochimaru's student, their obedience was excellent, making them even less of a concern.

The only potential problem was the Uchiha squad.

After all, the pride of those guys was truly troublesome.