Uchiha Jun's eyebrows moved slightly, but his expression remained calm. "Then what?"
"I saw the body of Xingyue Langang."
Orochimaru looked directly into his eyes, "--You did it, right?"
Uchiha Jun did not avoid his gaze, but nodded calmly. "It's me."
The corner of Orochimaru's mouth twitched slightly, showing helplessness, but also an unexpected hint: "Why?"
"He wanted to put the blame for the loss of Position 3 on my head."
"Can I bear this?" Uchiha Jun's tone was still calm, "The defense line of the third position was breached. His deployment made a major error. If I hadn't taken action, the third defense line would have been broken by Fourth Raikage's elbow."
"But after the war, this guy didn't even bother with a word of thanks. He actually wanted to hold me accountable for why I didn't have the responsibility to hunt down Fourth Raikage."
"Damn it, do you think that because I hold a knife, you think I'm easy to talk to?"
"So I took action and killed him."
The tent was quiet for a few seconds.
Orochimaru exhaled slowly, leaned back in the chair, and rubbed his eyebrows. "Did you clean up the scene? Did you leave any survivors?"
"I killed him in front of all the Jonin who survived the third line of defense."
"But I told them - whoever dares to leak the news, I will kill them together and let them self-examine. If anyone leaks the secret, no one will survive."
Orochimaru looked at Uchiha Jun for a few seconds and suddenly smiled - it was a smile with complex emotions, including helplessness, appreciation, and a trace of fear that even he himself was not aware of.
"I knew it."
"Okay, I will handle this matter. I will suppress Xingyue Langang's matter and tell the public that he died in a battle with Kumogakure ninjas, and his body was left intact." Orochimaru stood up and patted the non-existent dust on his robe, "But in exchange-"
He looked down at Uchiha Jun sitting on the bed, and a serious light flashed in his golden snake eyes. "You will be the commander of the third defense line."
Uchiha Jun's brows moved slightly. "Me?"
"Xingyue Langang's position cannot be left vacant, and you are the most powerful person on the third line of defense and the person who best understands the situation of the defense line at that time."
Orochimaru's tone left no room for doubt, "What's more important is that if you want to suppress those Jonin who are aware of it, the best way is not to threaten them, but to let them see with their own eyes that you have enough power to suppress them."
"As long as you are firmly in the position of commander, you will never dare to say those words."
Uchiha Jun pondered for a few seconds, then nodded slowly. "Deal."
A quarter of an hour later, the frontline headquarters.
In the tent, more than twenty ninjas wearing Konoha Jonin uniforms have gathered.
Most of them had injuries on their bodies, some had bandages on their arms, and some had gauze on their foreheads. Everyone's expressions showed varying degrees of fatigue and solemnity.
Orochimaru sat in the main seat, his eyes slowly swept over everyone present, and then said:
"I called everyone here for two things."
"First, report the current situation on the front. Although the main force of Kumogakure has temporarily retreated, according to the intelligence returned by the frontline reconnaissance team, they did not retreat to Land of Lightning, but regrouped near the border of Land of Hot Water."
"This means that they may launch a second attack at any time. We need to reorganize the defense line in the shortest possible time and clarify the commanders and task division of each position."
"Second-" He paused, his eyes falling on the empty seat in the center of the tent, "The commander of position three, Xingyue Langang Jonin, has died in the battle just now. We need to designate a new commander of position three."
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a burst of low discussion in the tent.
"Xingyue Langang is dead?"
"How did he die? His strength is not weak, how could he..."
"I remember that the No. 3 position was severely breached. Could it be..."
Orochimaru raised his hand to signal silence, and then continued, "Xingyue Langang's body has been confirmed and was caught by Fourth Raikage's full force of 'Thunder Horizontal Chop'. His sacrifice deserves our respect. The top priority is to fill his vacancy."
A Jonin with a scar on his face was the first to speak, "Lord Orochimaru, I recommend Captain Akita to take over as the commander of position three. Captain Akita has performed well in previous battles. He is the most outstanding among us in terms of both tactical literacy and practical experience."
Another burly Jonin also followed closely. "I recommend Captain Takayama. Captain Takayama successfully repelled three waves of Kumogakure's offensive in the defensive battle. His commanding ability is obvious to all."
"I recommend Captain Inoue..."
"Let's let Captain Hashimoto come on, he has more experience..."
All of a sudden, the Jonins in the tent began to recommend candidates they recognized.
In the chaos, there are many people with unconcealed ambitions in their eyes - in war, each commander's position represents more military exploits and higher prestige. Whoever can grab this position at this time may have the opportunity to be promoted after the war.
But Jonin on the first line of defense was arguing, while Jonin on the second and third defense lines all looked at Uchiha Jun.
Orochimaru listened quietly, tapping the pen on the table lightly, and remained silent.
It wasn't until the sounds in the tent gradually weakened that he slowly spoke:
"I have heard all your recommendations. The captains you recommended are indeed the pillars of Konoha--"
He changed the subject. "But, I already have a more suitable candidate in my mind."