Orochimaru raised a hand for silence, then swept his gaze over everyone. "After the Sand Ninja's ambush, you should all understand the situation by now."
"The Sand Village has officially declared war on us, Konoha!"
"From this moment on, any Sand Ninja who enters the Land of Fire without permission is to be killed on sight!"
"Every squad is to handle its assigned duties and stand ready for orders. Do not make any mistakes!"
Orochimaru laid out a series of plans and directives.
Although Hatake Sakumo's camp would deal with the Sand Village's main forces, this camp was primarily responsible for the Rain Country battlefield and for keeping an eye out for Iwagakure, which might join the fight at any moment.
The Sand Village was also close to the Land of Rain, and Hatake Sakumo's forces were only a fraction of Konoha's strength. The pressure was immense, and the Sand Village could very well affect the fighting here.
Orochimaru and Hatake Sakumo had to coordinate and support each other to concentrate their forces and face the crisis.
Konoha lay at the heart of the Five Great Nations. It had to contend with the four great shinobi villages at once, as well as other minor villages whose intentions were uncertain. The situation was extremely unfavorable.
The meeting ended.
Bai Lin left with Tsunade, and the two girls, Kushina and Uchiha Mikoto, hurried over to him.
"Brother Lin, I missed you so, so much!"
Kushina threw herself at Bai Lin and wrapped both arms tightly around his neck. Her feet dangled off the ground, and she clung to him like a sloth, refusing to let go.
Her weight made Bai Lin stagger. He quickly caught her by the thighs to steady himself, then followed Tsunade with a helpless smile. "How much did you miss me? Tell me."
"Super, super much!" Kushina mumbled, burying her face in the crook of his neck. "Ever since you left, nobody's been there to supervise my training."
Bai Lin raised an eyebrow, teasing her on purpose. "So I'm just a tool for supervising your training?"
"Hmph, that's right! You shouldn't have left without taking me with you!" Kushina grumbled, rubbing her cheek against his neck, though her voice soon softened.
"You took Big Sis Mikoto with you, which was bad enough. But why could Big Brother Nawaki go along too, while I had to stay with Big Sis Tsunade?"
"I'm really unhappy."
Kushina pouted, making it clear that all Bai Lin had to do was comfort her and she would forgive him.
"Kushina, what's wrong with staying by my side?" Tsunade turned around, her tone unfriendly. "With that brat gone, who's been keeping you company during training all these days?"
"And who's been treating you?"
"Who's been comforting you?"
"You ungrateful little thing. Answer me!"
Kushina stuck out her tongue and made a face at her, then buried her head again and ignored Tsunade.
"I hate kids the most!" Tsunade said helplessly.
Bai Lin could see what Kushina was really after, so he played along. "I missed you too, Kushina."
"You didn't miss me! You have Big Sis Mikoto with you. She's so gentle and capable, so you must've forgotten all about me, the little troublemaker!" Kushina pouted, tracing circles on Bai Lin's back with her finger as her voice turned pitiful.
Bai Lin looked down at her reddened eyes and deliberately sighed. "Oh no, you caught me?"
Kushina's eyes widened. She grabbed his collar and demanded, "You really forgot about me?"
"I'm teasing you." Bai Lin smiled and pinched her soft cheek, his voice tender.
"Twenty-four hours a day, one thousand four hundred and forty minutes, eighty-six thousand four hundred seconds—I think about you every second."
He leaned close to her ear, his voice dropping low with deliberate seductiveness. "I think of you when I open my eyes in the morning and when I close them at night. I even dream about you. You enchanting little vixen, when will you let me hold you in my arms and sleep in peace?"
"Wah—!" Kushina stiffened all over. Her cheeks flushed scarlet, and even the tips of her ears burned. She instinctively tightened her arms around Bai Lin's neck and hid her face in the crook of it, her voice barely audible. "B-Brother Lin, you're such a pervert!"
She called him a pervert, but her body betrayed her as she snuggled closer to him, her breath turning hot.
"Brat!" The veins on Tsunade's forehead throbbed as she listened up ahead. She turned around and glared at Bai Lin. "What kind of filthy things are you saying in broad daylight?"
"You think about Kushina every day? Seems you haven't given Mikoto a single thought."
"Mikoto, don't pay that brat any more attention. He's just like Jiraiya—not a good person."
Tsunade tried to stir things up between them, clearly enjoying herself.
"Bai Lin, I guess I don't mean as much to you as Kushina does. I'm so heartbroken." Mikoto lowered her eyes, her voice tinged with deliberate hurt, though the corners of her lips curled up ever so slightly. "Even though I think about you every day too."
"Haha! Mikoto, I missed you too!" Bai Lin knew Uchiha Mikoto wasn't actually angry, so he took her hand.
"Then how will you prove it?"
"Prove it, huh..." Bai Lin raised an eyebrow, then suddenly leaned down and kissed her forehead. His voice held a hint of amusement. "Does this count as proof?"
Mikoto froze. Her cheeks flushed instantly, and the redness spread down her neck.
She looked up without thinking and met Bai Lin's smiling eyes, then quickly lowered her head again. Her fingertips trembled, but she couldn't keep the corners of her mouth from lifting. "I-I guess so..."
"Hey! Brother Lin, you're playing favorites!" Kushina immediately protested, rocking Bai Lin by the neck. "You kissed Mikoto. You have to kiss me too! Ten times! Otherwise, I won't forgive you!"
Bai Lin's head spun from her shaking. With a helpless smile, he kissed her other cheek. "Is that fair now?"
"No!" Kushina pouted and pushed her other cheek toward him. "You have to kiss this side too! And my forehead, my nose, and my lips!"
"You brat, you're getting carried away!" Tsunade turned around and rapped her on the head. "Keep this up and I'll send you back to Konoha, where you'll never see that brat again."
Kushina's face crumpled with grievance, but she obediently stopped asking. She just clung tightly to Bai Lin's neck like a kitten guarding its food and muttered, "Big Sis Tsunade is mean!"
"There's a bad guy among us!"
Tsunade had finally had enough. She turned around and reached out to grab Kushina's ear. "You little brat, how dare you call me mean? You're asking for a beating!"
"Ow, ow, that hurts!" Kushina grimaced in pain, but still clung stubbornly to Bai Lin's neck. "Brother Lin, help! Big Sis Tsunade is trying to kill me!"
Bai Lin quickly intervened, stopping Tsunade as he tried to smooth things over with a smile. "Tsunade, even if you're jealous of Kushina, you shouldn't bully her."
"Jealous of her? What do I have to be jealous of?" Tsunade froze.
"Of course you're jealous. Kushina's so young, and she already has me doting on her. You're so much older and still don't have a man. You're just an old maid."
"I'll take pity on you and sleep with you tonight. Think of it as easing your jealousy, so you don't have to keep watching us lovebirds and lose your appetite."
"Brat, you're dead!" Tsunade erupted, the veins on her forehead bulging as she raised a hand to smack Bai Lin on the head. "I'll teach you to spout nonsense!"
Bai Lin was ready for her. He dodged to the side with Kushina in his arms and ran off, laughing. "Tsunade, you wouldn't want people to find out you've been single all this time because I'm so handsome that no one else can measure up, would you?"
"You brat!"
Boom! A crater several meters across appeared in the ground.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" The Konoha Ninja, unaware of what had really happened, heard the crash and immediately went on alert. They rushed toward the source of the noise, their expressions grave, thinking that Sand or Rain Ninja had slipped into the camp.