Since You're Here

Sen Chisato, hiding in the corner, felt his mouth twitch before he stepped out with a resigned sigh.

Lord Orochimaru, you're really setting me up here. What's the point of a spar where you can't even kill anyone?

If he lost, Orochimaru would lose face, but against Namikaze Minato, winning without revealing his true strength was impossible.

There was absolutely no benefit to this.

Under the gaze of everyone present, Sen Chisato walked to Orochimaru's side and bowed his head. "Lord Orochimaru, what would you have me do?"

In front of Orochimaru, he remained the obedient, well-behaved child.

"Would you like to have a match with Minato?" Orochimaru smiled gently. "Also, just call me Teacher."

Since he had already said it out loud, this child's talent was more than enough to qualify as his disciple.

"Yes, Teacher!" Sen Chisato's face lit up with excitement, his sharp gaze instantly snapping toward Jiraiya and Namikaze Minato.

Seeing this, Sarutobi Hakuba helplessly covered his face with his hand.

This brat, his mood swings are too fast. He was never this obedient when he was under my command.

"Shall we fight? How should we do it? Do I need to hold back?" Sen Chisato asked in quick succession, looking toward Orochimaru for the final question with an air of absolute compliance.

"Uh, Teacher and Lord Orochimaru were just joking," Namikaze Minato said, waving his hands with an awkward, helpless smile.

How could he possibly cross blades with a ten-year-old child?

Jiraiya, however, instantly appeared in front of Sen Chisato, leaning down to loom over him. "You cocky little brat, you're quite arrogant, aren't you? But if you want to challenge Minato, you'd better go train for a few more years, hahaha!"

"Hmph."

Sen Chisato let out a cold sneer, and his chakra surged, instantly manifesting as a visible membrane around his body.

BOOM!

The ground shattered and the tent billowed under the sudden gale, forcing the surrounding ninjas to raise their arms to shield their faces.

"What astonishing chakra! Even a Jonin couldn't compare to this!"

"As expected of Lord Orochimaru's disciple!"

Hyuga Hihi activated his Byakugan, took one look, and whispered, "His chakra levels have increased again!"

Jiraiya was also taken aback, leaning back in surprise. "Tsk tsk, Orochimaru, you've taken in a little monster. But being a ninja isn't just about chakra; you still have a lot of training to do."

With that, Jiraiya stepped back, clearly having no intention of letting Namikaze Minato and Sen Chisato actually spar.

"Alright, let's get down to business."

Orochimaru returned to the main topic, summarizing the available intelligence in a few brief sentences before asking, "Jiraiya, what do you think?"

"I can't figure it out either. Could it be that they're intentionally sending these Sand Ninjas to their deaths?" Jiraiya pondered for a long time before shaking his head in frustration.

As for the rest of his words, everyone simply took them as a joke.

There were hundreds of Sand Ninjas, the weakest of whom were at the Chunin level, with no fewer than ten Jonin among them.

Unless the entire Sunagakure leadership had lost their minds, they wouldn't send a force of that size to die for nothing.

Nara Shikaku, however, had a sudden flash of insight. "That actually might be the case!"

"Don't forget the reason this war started in the first place."

He crossed his arms, thinking as he spoke. "The current frontline commander for Sunagakure should be Rasa. Although he has become the Kazekage, he hasn't fully consolidated control over the village. As far as I know, many Sand Ninjas are dissatisfied with him, and he has a powerful rival; his position as Kazekage is far from secure."

The temperature inside the command tent seemed to drop, and everyone fell silent, a chill creeping into their hearts.

After a long pause, Orochimaru let out a low, chilling laugh. "Heh, another case of foolish power struggles."

"To sacrifice them so pointlessly, what a waste," Sen Chisato's youthful voice rang out.

He was incredibly jealous at that moment, grinding his teeth in hatred toward that idiot Rasa.

So many people—if you don't want them, give them to me! I'll kill them for you, and I'll even handle the burials!

Hundreds of people; heaven only knew how many were left now.

"That is indeed true," Orochimaru agreed with a nod. "Without a legitimate reason, even if Rasa is the Kazekage, he couldn't make these Sand Ninjas go to their deaths willingly."

"What is behind the Konoha defensive line?" Namikaze Minato asked.

"The Land of Fire, Konoha," Sarutobi Hakuba, who had also been thinking, answered without hesitation.

"With just these few hundred people, it's impossible to threaten the Land of Fire or Konoha," Jiraiya shook his head.

That reason wasn't enough to make these Sand Ninjas throw their lives away, unless they were all idiots. But if they were truly idiots, Rasa wouldn't be trying to get rid of them in the first place.

"Then what if it's the supply transport lines?" Sen Chisato asked, rubbing his chin.

The discussion stopped abruptly, followed immediately by a burst of laughter.

Of course, the laughter wasn't malicious; they simply felt that Sen Chisato was being too naive.

"Kid, stop joking. It has always been us, Konoha, cutting off others' supply lines and reinforcement routes!" Sarutobi Hakuba patted Sen Chisato on the shoulder, his expression tinged with pride.

It wasn't that they hadn't considered the possibility, but Sunagakure lacked the experts to pull it off; relying on these few hundred Sand Ninjas alone made it impossible.

"How exactly did we manage to do it in the past?" Sen Chisato asked softly, showing no signs of anger.

"I remember that during the last Great Ninja War, we relied entirely on Lord Hatake Sakumo, uh..." A ninja who had participated in the Second Great Ninja War trailed off, unable to continue.

"So, now that Konoha's sharpest blade has snapped, it's entirely possible for the enemy to turn that very tactic against us," Sen Chisato said in a calm tone, displaying a maturity that belied his age.

"Don't forget, if Rasa is truly sending them here to die, whether they succeed or not is irrelevant; as long as the pretext is suitable, that is all that matters."

"Furthermore, if we dispatch a large number of ninjas to hunt these people down, our main camp will be left vulnerable, and the Sand Ninja might seize the opportunity to launch a large-scale offensive," Orochimaru added, casting an appreciative glance at Sen Chisato.

"Then what should we do?" Jiraiya asked instinctively.

He was a man capable of serving as a commander, and his strategic and tactical levels were not low, but with Orochimaru present, he couldn't be bothered to use his brain.

However, after he finished asking, he sensed something was wrong.

Why had everyone stopped talking?

He looked up and saw everyone staring at him.

"What's wrong?" Jiraiya gulped, sensing that something was amiss.

"This matter will be left to you and Minato," Orochimaru decided, slamming his hand on the table.

"Hey, hey, hey, I only came here to take a look. The old man has already given me orders to head toward the Land of Grass to guard against the Stone Hidden, and I'm leaving immediately," Jiraiya hurriedly refused, pulling out the appointment letter signed by the Hokage to prove he wasn't lying.

"Uh, me too," Namikaze Minato said with an awkward smile. "Lord Hokage ordered me to take my subordinates toward the Land of Fields to guard against the Cloud Hidden."

"Well, I'm also heading to the eastern coastline immediately." Seeming to feel that today was a good day for departures, Nara Shikaku also joined the ranks of those resigning.

"Since that is the case, it is even more appropriate."

Orochimaru was not angry; he pointed at the map on the table and said with his usual expression, "Starting from the Konoha main camp, Jiraiya will head north, Shikaku east, and Minato south. You will implement search operations along these three lines. I will have the outposts in those areas support you. You must eliminate all the infiltrating Sand Ninja!"

Since they were already here, it would be a waste not to make good use of them.

Orochimaru would never let such a good opportunity slip by.

"Fine, then I'll be off. Honestly, I shouldn't have come in the first place," Jiraiya grumbled as he walked away.

"In that case, I will go and prepare as well," Nara Shikaku said, not refusing.

In the end, only Namikaze Minato remained as the sole "outsider."

"Well, Minato, do you have any other thoughts?" Orochimaru asked.

"Lord Orochimaru, heading south takes me further and further away from the Land of Fields," Namikaze Minato said with a helpless expression.

"Heh, it doesn't matter. I will have someone carry your Flying Thunder God mark and head over there first."

Namikaze Minato's face nearly turned green.

Traveling via Flying Thunder God was indeed fast, but covering such a vast distance would drain him completely.

"My chakra cannot compare to Lord Orochimaru's disciple," Namikaze Minato said with a wry smile.

"Oh, right. As for support, let Chisato accompany you on your mission. Please take good care of him for me." Orochimaru didn't give Namikaze Minato a chance to refuse.

Sen Chisato, who had been standing to the side with his head bowed, looked up in confusion.

Huh???