Teacher, Has the Enemy Already Infiltrated Our Ranks!?

Ruohuo's theory was correct.

By pressing the barrel down with his bare hands, he'd forced Dragon Fire into a tighter stream, extending its reach by about three meters. After that, it spread much more slowly, too.

More importantly, the increased pressure made it shoot out much faster.

Aburame Ryoma's Insect Clone hadn't even had time to react before it was burned to ashes!

"Tsk. So it was a clone."

Ruohuo curled his lip and looked at Orochimaru, less than pleased.

"Teacher, you let him get away."

"We'll have another chance to meet him, Ruohuo," Orochimaru said with a smile. "If necessary, we can still pursue him now."

"We should save the others first, Teacher."

Ruohuo had only been tempted for a second before giving up on the idea of chasing after him.

He didn't know why Orochimaru was targeting Danzo, too, but he had no intention of becoming Orochimaru's weapon...

Killing one man was enough. Elder Danzo must have had a hard time raising his subordinates, too.

"Saving the people waiting for rescue is more important than rooting out rats in the shadows," Ruohuo said earnestly.

"Indeed." Orochimaru smiled and pulled the scroll from his robes, tossing it to Ruohuo.

"This is also a rescue mission, but the danger level is higher, and it may well be a trap... Ruohuo, why not make the decision yourself?"

"..." Ruohuo opened the scroll, and his expression gradually turned strange.

It was indeed a rescue mission, though "reinforcement mission" would have been a more accurate description.

Another team had run into trouble while carrying out a mission. They'd sent out a distress signal, calling for reinforcements.

And this mission... he really was familiar with it.

The mission called for them to strike at a vital supply route for Iwagakure.

And destroy Kanabi Bridge!

Ruohuo was a little dumbfounded. How could this be the mission?

At this point in time, shouldn't White Fang have been carrying it out?

How had it ended up in Orochimaru's hands... and why had Danzo given it to him?

Something about this was deeply mysterious.

"The mission site is here, Ruohuo."

Orochimaru helpfully produced a map and pointed out their current location and the site of Kanabi Bridge.

"Considering the Iwagakure Ninja we're likely to encounter on the way, it'll take us at least twenty hours to reach the bridge."

The distance alone was considerable, and there could be danger along the way.

Twenty hours seemed reasonable.

But the important thing was...

"The rats gave you this mission, didn't they, Teacher?"

Ruohuo looked straight into Orochimaru's eyes. "They had it wrapped up in insects at the time, but I saw it with my Sharingan when I left. This is that same scroll, Teacher."

Honestly.

If Ruohuo still didn't understand what was going on by now, he'd be letting down the spirit of his father, the police chief, and his strong-willed mother.

"Indeed, Ruohuo."

Orochimaru made no attempt to deny it. "This mission originally belonged to another Konoha team. They left only a week before we did..."

"And I can say for certain that they hadn't returned to Konoha before we set out."

Orochimaru watched Ruohuo.

Now that things had come to this, Orochimaru planned to give Ruohuo a brief introduction to some of Konoha's "darker knowledge."

For instance, what kind of organization the men Ruohuo had killed the night before—and the charred corpse on the ground—belonged to.

More than that, Orochimaru wanted to know...

How the boy would react once he learned the truth.

Perhaps it was cruel to tell a child all this.

But for a ninja, especially one with great ambitions...

Some things were better learned as early as possible.

At the very least, he might live a little longer, instead of dying in a trap at such a young age...

"So, Teacher, you mean... those rats have already infiltrated the village?"

Ruohuo furrowed his brow, his face grave. "They've even infiltrated the village's leadership and gained a great deal of power?"

Ruohuo grew visibly agitated again. "I knew there was something off about those two gate guards at the Hokage Office Building!"

"..." Orochimaru's smile froze for two seconds. "Ruohuo... what are you talking about?"

Why had this come back to the two guards? Hadn't Ruohuo burned them with Fire Style and sent them to the hospital?

"I could never understand it. They were obviously spies, but Grandpa Hokage, you, and the Anbu uncles all said there was nothing wrong with them!"

Ruohuo spoke with impassioned conviction. "Now I finally understand. They were part of that group of rats!"

"I just hadn't yet received the Will of Fire from the Chunin, so I couldn't sense the darkness around them!"

"Damn it!" Ruohuo suddenly slammed the scroll onto the ground.

"Has Konoha really been infiltrated this badly by those rats?!"

"..."

Orochimaru fell silent.

"..."

Orochimaru remained silent for two minutes.

"..."

Orochimaru couldn't take it anymore. "Ruohuo..."

"We have to go save them, Teacher!" Ruohuo suddenly said.

"Hm?" Orochimaru still couldn't follow Ruohuo's train of thought. "Save them?"

"That's right! We have to save them!"

Ruohuo pointed at the scroll on the ground, his expression solemn. "Teacher, haven't you noticed? This is their scheme!"

"A scheme?" Orochimaru was even more bewildered. You've figured it out?

...Figured out what?

"Exactly! It's a scheme!" Ruohuo declared with certainty. "From the very beginning, our mission was to reinforce that team, but they changed the mission details!"

"They didn't want us to go support them, so they kept sending people to attack us and delay us!"

"Once they'd delayed us long enough, they gave us the real mission details, so they could cover up the fact that they'd changed the mission!"

"And in the end, this mission will fail, the people we're supposed to rescue may die, and those rats will have the last laugh, continuing to undermine Konoha!"

"..."

After hearing Ruohuo out, Orochimaru's thoughts suddenly fell into place.

So that was it...

Honestly, if Orochimaru hadn't already had a general idea of the truth, he wouldn't have been able to find a single flaw in that explanation.

"I see..." Orochimaru nodded.

"I understand, Ruohuo... you're right."

Orochimaru really had figured it out.

To follow Ruohuo's reasoning, he first had to forget the so-called "truth."

The boy had a unique perspective. It seemed absurd, yet the logic was airtight. There was nothing to fault.

Look at it from another angle.

Danzo and the rats under his command...

Heh... weren't they "spies" who'd infiltrated Konoha's leadership?

"Then we can't waste another moment, Teacher!"

Ruohuo took off his shoes. He hadn't had time to remove them during the fight. Though he'd covered the soles of his feet in chakra, the soles of his shoes had still gotten badly softened by the heat.

Ruohuo's heart ached. He'd grown attached to these shoes, and he'd planned to pass them on to Obito first, then Shisui.

Clap—

Ruohuo brought his hands together and swiftly formed Hand Seals.

"Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon!"

Whoosh—

A fire dragon appeared out of thin air, and Ruohuo stepped onto it barefoot!

"Get on, Teacher!"

"We have to reach that bridge as quickly as possible!"

"..." Orochimaru took half a second to consider whether he should ride the fire dragon.

He decided his constitution probably wasn't suited for it...

"The journey is too long. Don't waste too much chakra, Ruohuo."

Orochimaru bit his finger and slammed his hand onto the ground.

"Summoning Technique!"