Heading to the Border

Hokage Office.

It had been a month since Orochimaru last visited, and his presence felt like that of a rare guest.

He held a list in his hand and handed it to the Third Hokage.

As pressure on the borders continued to mount, Konoha had begun to gradually dispatch reinforcements to the front lines.

Although the fighting was not as intense as the large-scale battles of two years ago, Konoha's vitality had been severely damaged by the death of the Fourth Hokage. With Tsunade having left the village and Jiraiya constantly away, Orochimaru was the only one left who could truly be relied upon.

The Third Hokage carefully reviewed the report, his index finger tapping against the desk.

"The current situation is developing quite poorly. Even the Land of Earth, which signed the peace treaty, has begun to make small moves. According to Jiraiya's intelligence, Iwagakure has deployed no fewer than ten squads across the Land of Birds and the Land of Grass."

Orochimaru said indifferently, "The numbers are not significant."

"True, the Land of Earth is waiting to see how things play out. Our primary enemies remain the special forces of Sunagakure. After their defeat on the main battlefield, they shifted to border harassment tactics, which has left us at a loss."

"Rats always love to scurry about."

Orochimaru offered a disdainful assessment.

When the Third Shinobi World War was in full swing, the Kumogakure front was handled by Minato, the surprise attacks from Kirigakure were repelled by the Hyuga Clan and the Uchiha, and the Iwagakure front was initially left to Jiraiya before being handed over to Minato.

However, the long-drawn-out Battle of Mount Kikyo had been under Orochimaru's command from start to finish.

He was well-versed in dealing with these types of enemies.

The Third Hokage hoped for Orochimaru to go precisely because he considered this history, intending to resolve the conflict swiftly and eliminate the hidden threats.

Otherwise, if the situation were to deteriorate, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The Land of Earth, with its troops massed at the border, would certainly take action, and the restless Kumogakure would also find excuses to stir up trouble.

Peace treaties, in the end, were nothing more than scraps of paper.

Only formidable military strength could stabilize peace.

Konoha needed to show the shinobi world that it still possessed the resolve to sweep away all obstacles.

The Third Hokage took a puff of his pipe: "Orochimaru, I am counting on you this time."

"What about Jiraiya? Didn't he return once before? I am surprised you let him leave."

"Sigh, he has his own ideas, and much of the intelligence comes from him; it can be considered a special mission." The Third Hokage shook his head helplessly.

The village, once at its peak, had somehow suddenly begun its decline.

In just a few short years, people had either died or left.

Even the people he could confide in were gone.

Orochimaru said with disdain, "Does he still believe in that so-called Child of Prophecy? A boring omen."

"Everyone has different choices." The Third Hokage sighed slightly, looking at the disciple he had once valued most. "Supplies are already in transit. I can spare a few Anbu squads for you to command. Also, I noticed Uchiha Akashi is on the list you submitted? You want him to follow you to the front lines?"

"That is correct. As my subordinate, is there any problem with that?"

"If he has no objections, then of course there is no problem, but the Uchiha..."

The words trailed off, and the Third Hokage did not know how to continue.

The conflict between the Uchiha and the village?

As a member of the village, contributing to the defense of peace and stability at a time like this was expected of every shinobi, but the resentment still existed.

Didn't the Uchiha suspect that Orochimaru had stolen the Sharingan?

If a dispute were to break out because of this, he, as Hokage, would be in a very difficult position.

Orochimaru sensed the underlying concern and said, "Rest assured, if any problems arise, I will take full responsibility. If there is nothing else, I will go and prepare."

Rest assured? How could he possibly be at ease?

Watching Orochimaru walk out of the office, the Third Hokage stood up and walked to the window.

"Help me summon Uchiha Akashi."

"Understood."

An Anbu shinobi responded from somewhere unseen.

A short while later, Akashi arrived at the office and was questioned in detail by the Third Hokage. His answer remained the same: he wanted to go. The reason was simple—Fugaku had instructed him to keep an eye on Orochimaru.

In the current awkward situation, the Third Hokage could not possibly ask Fugaku for the truth.

Furthermore, from Fugaku's perspective, Akashi was an undercover agent, so naturally, everything he said and did was from the standpoint of the Uchiha, and he could not possibly oppose it.

In reality, Akashi possessed a significant degree of autonomy.

Even the Third Hokage, after hearing this, could only nod and offer a single piece of advice: "Protect your life."

However, Akashi was not entirely speaking nonsense.

There were indeed many reasons he wanted to go to the battlefield—partly because of Orochimaru, and partly because of himself.

He needed to sharpen his blade on the battlefield.

During the Third Shinobi World War, he was still young; although he had been to the battlefield, the missions he carried out were low-level and carried very little risk. As a rookie under the protection of his clan, he had navigated through danger without incident.

Later, after being transferred under the command of Orochimaru, his primary strategy became the art of "survival."

After returning to the village, all his combat training was strictly limited to sparring.

In his assigned missions, those wandering ninja couldn't even withstand a few of his moves before they were finished.

This time, what he needed to hone was not just his strength, but the mindset to match it, along with accumulating real combat experience.

It would be even better if he could find the opportunity to evolve his Sharingan into the Three-Tomoe state.

After dealing with the Third Hokage, he returned home.

The dining table was spread with delicious dishes, and they were just about to start the meal.

After washing his hands and sitting down, Akashi ate the fragrant food. After struggling with himself for a moment, he decided to tell the truth and laid out the news about his upcoming support mission to the border.

As expected, both his parents were greatly astonished.

According to the normal deployment order, it shouldn't have been Akashi's turn to go to the front lines. Was it just because he was a former subordinate of Commander Orochimaru? That seemed far too rash!

Hiromi looked at Akashi, her voice filled with worry: "How could you be sent to support the border? That place is extremely dangerous."

"I know, but this is an appointment from the Hokage," Akashi said.

"Gaining experience is a good thing, it's just that this seems far too rushed..."

Halfway through her sentence, Munakata Uchiha suddenly realized something: "I understand now. That girl from the Hyuga clan is going, isn't she?"

"Pfft!"

Akashi spat out a mouthful of rice and coughed repeatedly.

"See? I hit the nail on the head." Munakata wore the smug expression of a father who knew his son best, casting a glance at Hiromi. "Back in the day, I only kept fighting on the front lines and refused to retreat because I couldn't rest easy knowing you were there."

"And that's why I had to treat you later, wasting resources," Hiromi rolled her eyes at him, her cheeks flushing slightly.

The old married couple seemed to be reminiscing about the tender affection of their youth.

He didn't know the specific details of their story back then, but just looking at them, he guessed there must have been some melodramatic plot involved.

"Ahem." Akashi broke the beautiful scene. "No, it has nothing to do with her. We haven't seen each other for quite some time."

Hearing this, Hiromi sat closer to Akashi and gently stroked his head. "Even though our two clans harbor deep-seated grudges, Mother is very happy that you know how to protect others..."

Hey, hey, you two are getting a bit ridiculous!

Akashi responded with silence, burying his head in his food and letting the two of them run wild with their imaginations.

In the end, his parents expressed their full support; Munakata Uchiha even wanted to ask if there were any extra spots available, which Akashi quickly blocked.

However, his father's words did give him a bit of inspiration.

Bringing Hyuga Shingetsu along actually seemed like a pretty good idea.

"Dad, Mom, I'm going out after I finish lunch."

"Go on, go on!" Hiromi smiled brightly, as if she had seen through everything all along.