Making Preparations to Stay Alive

"Orochimaru has defected!"

Baiyu was startled. He hadn't expected it to happen at this point.

Having lived in this world for so long, Baiyu didn't remember the specific events of the Naruto world very clearly.

But he still remembered the major events.

Orochimaru defected before the Uchiha Clan Massacre and after the Nine-Tails Incident.

Orochimaru had competed with Minato Namikaze for the position of Hokage. After Minato Namikaze died, Sarutobi Hiruzen returned to office.

Three years after the Nine-Tails Incident, Orochimaru defected. Three years after that, Uchiha Itachi defected!

I don't have much time left...

Thinking of Orochimaru's defection reminded Baiyu of Uchiha Itachi, and some long-buried memories gradually resurfaced.

"I accept!"

While Baiyu was lost in thought, Uchiha Itachi spoke up.

Baiyu could see the determination in Uchiha Itachi's eyes.

"The village and the clan."

He had begun weighing the balance between the two when he was seven.

By now, he should have leaned toward the village, but deep down, he still hadn't given up on his clan.

At this point, the clan still held a place in Itachi's heart.

"What's the mission pay?"

Baiyu asked, spreading his hands.

"Ten million, paid by Lord Hokage's Sarutobi Clan!"

Shisui replied in surprise, not expecting Baiyu to ask about that.

Does he like money?

He quietly added that to his mental notes about Baiyu.

That's over three million for me! Worth it.

Baiyu did the math to himself.

When his parents had died in battle, the compensation paid by the clan had only been around four million.

That was how cheap a human life was in wartime.

With those three million or so, he could try to have another sword made to suit him.

After getting used to the long hilt of an iaito, he couldn't get comfortable with a short tantō.

Baiyu was broke and badly needed money.

Nothing mattered more than staying alive.

Unless there was a huge sum of money involved!

He already doubted Shisui's Mangekyo, and Uchiha Itachi had his own bias. Accepting the mission was the wisest choice.

If he refused now, he'd offend the two most important people in the Uchiha Clan.

It wasn't worth it.

Besides, Itachi had agreed too. As a nobody, Baiyu ought to follow the lead of those two heavy hitters.

I probably won't be lucky enough to earn those three million anyway.

His terrible luck was a trump card hidden deep in Baiyu's heart.

The Land of Fire was huge, and Orochimaru had only a handful of people with him. The chances of running into them were tiny.

It took them two days to reach the mission site from the village.

An Anbu outpost stood on a small island near the border of the Land of Fire.

Three Anbu, along with Shisui's team, formed the main force for the ambush. Three ordinary ninja stationed at the outpost would provide support.

This was an entire S-rank mission involving more than a hundred Anbu and over a thousand ninja, including those stationed along the border.

And yet Orochimaru was able to escape safely despite such a tight blockade.

Baiyu knew how dangerous this mission was.

Orochimaru was widely recognized as a Kage Level powerhouse, and he had a group of fanatical followers around him. They were willing to die for him at any moment.

Orochimaru's escape route was a mystery, and no one could guarantee he wouldn't head for the Land of Water.

The only silver lining was that the Third Hokage had injured Orochimaru in a trap, weakening him.

At Konoha's border, Baiyu had surprisingly stopped practicing the Draw-Sword Technique.

It was now the fifth day since they'd reached the outpost, and Baiyu had thirty thousand draws left before reaching one hundred thousand.

Over the past five days, he'd completed more than fifty thousand draws through relentless practice.

He'd finished those fifty thousand draws surprisingly quickly, thanks in large part to a medical ninja stationed at the outpost.

Some of the knowledge granted by the poison proficiency passive ability he'd obtained through a lottery explained the human body in detail.

With this ability, Baiyu understood the body better and could get the most out of his Draw-Sword Technique training.

Feeling the danger growing ever more intense, he didn't dare slack off for even a moment.

"I can't believe this island actually has the ingredients to make poison that works against demons and spirits."

While patrolling the area, Baiyu had spotted many familiar plants.

They were all key ingredients for making poison.

Having already benefited from this ability, Baiyu decided to make some himself.

Shinobu Kocho's poison proficiency was mainly geared toward demons and spirits, but it also included poisons that affected human beings.

Baiyu didn't want to use poison, but if it meant staying alive, he could set his pride aside for now.

Only by staying alive could he keep practicing swordsmanship.

"What are you doing?"

A voice suddenly called out. Baiyu knew who it was as soon as he heard it.

Uchiha Itachi. For some reason, the guy had been coming to chat with him a lot lately. Baiyu found him troublesome.

"Making a few things."

"You were clearly afraid of dying before. So why did you come along after hearing about the mission? Baiyu, don't you know how terrifying Orochimaru is?"

Uchiha Itachi asked.

Since childhood, he'd listened to his father tell stories about Konoha's past geniuses, urging him to follow their example.

Fugaku had also made him a role model for the Uchiha Clan.

He had never let the Uchiha down.

"That's right, I'm afraid of dying. Everything I do is to stay alive."

Baiyu answered without turning around.

He'd nearly finished working out the formula for a second poison. Its main ingredient was wisteria, and he had a rough idea of what to use for the supporting ingredients.

He was improving on Shinobu Kocho's poison formula.

His poison proficiency gave him the confidence to do so.

It would also be one of his ways to stay alive.

"We really might die in battle here. Aren't you afraid?"

Itachi murmured. He was finding Baiyu harder and harder to understand.

Greedy, afraid of death, and strange in temperament. His behavior was bizarre. With a major battle imminent, he was still out looking for flowers and plants.

At this point in his life, Itachi was struggling with the confusion of adolescence.

He was searching for answers in all kinds of things.

"Did you get some news?"

Baiyu stood and looked at Uchiha Itachi.

"The latest news from the village is that Orochimaru has escaped through the country and reached the border. He'll probably try to flee to another country in the next two days. The latest order from Danzo, the Hokage's advisor, is to change the arrest warrant into a kill order!"

"So soon?"

Baiyu was startled. The chances of successfully intercepting Orochimaru at the border were practically zero.

Orochimaru had escaped from more than a hundred Anbu. His strength was far beyond what Baiyu had imagined.

The Anbu... Konoha's strongest force wasn't nearly as useless as it looked in the show.

You could tell how strong they were just from the requirements to join.

A jōnin was eligible to become a full Anbu member.

A Special Jōnin also counted as a jōnin.

For instance, Uzuki Yugao joined Kakashi's team as a trainee Anbu with the rank of Special Jōnin.

A Chunin might get a trainee position if they had connections.

From the Kakashi Anbu arc to Itachi Shinden, both of them only had a chance to enter the Anbu candidate assessment after reaching jōnin rank.

If Orochimaru escaped the Anbu net Konoha had laid out, he'd truly be free of the Land of Fire.

The border defenses would be pointless.

That was also why Baiyu had agreed to Shisui's plan to come to the border and get involved.

Maybe he could kill a couple of Mist Ninja, increase his number of draws, and get stronger.

"If Orochimaru really shows up, can I hold him off?"

Baiyu glanced at the sword at his waist. The answer only made him more eager to grow stronger.

"I'm going to the Mist Ninja outpost!"

Baiyu said coldly.

Three days earlier, he'd found a reef during a patrol. Two squads of Mist Ninja were stationed there, with a jōnin as their strongest.

"No. There's no time. Shisui told me to bring you back to the outpost. Anbu Captain Otsu is holding a strategy meeting. Return as soon as your patrol is over!"

Itachi shook his head.

"Orochimaru really will leave through here. Anbu intelligence has confirmed that Orochimaru is connected to the Fourth Mizukage!"

"What?"

Baiyu was shocked. Why hadn't they said so earlier? He could've gone and killed those Mist Ninja to complete the system mission...

While they were talking, Orochimaru and several of his loyal subordinates were cautiously making their way through the dense forest not far away.

Three Kirigakure assassination squads surrounded the outpost where Uchiha Shisui and the others were stationed.

The Kirigakure Anbu Ninja sent to assist Orochimaru's group had arrived long ago.