Mutual Schemes

It was not until Orochimaru stood before them that the three Anbu truly understood how terrifying one of the Sannin could be.

In their previous missions, it had always been the three Anbu who were the ones intimidating others.

But now, whether in terms of status, experience, or raw strength, the Orochimaru before them had achieved a level of absolute suppression.

Xiang, the leader, knelt on one knee, struggling to remain calm as he briefly described the current situation in a steady voice.

"Reporting to Lord Orochimaru, the Third Hokage has sent us here to complete a secret mission."

"Your target is not a rogue ninja carrying secret techniques, but an Anbu from Sunagakure!"

Hearing this, Orochimaru revealed a look of realization and licked his lips.

"No wonder his uniform looked so familiar to me..."

Xiang continued, "Several days ago, he was captured by Root, but now he is attempting to sneak back to Sunagakure."

"The Hokage suspects there is a conspiracy and has sent us to uncover the truth."

Having briefly summarized his mission, Xiang lowered his head, waiting for Orochimaru's response.

"Danzo's handiwork, is it? I didn't expect such a situation to arise during little Lihuo's first mission."

Orochimaru quickly sorted out the situation and made rapid deployments.

"Follow at a distance and act according to my commands. I will go see what exactly is going on."

"I can't have my dear disciple's first mission go awry, after all."

With that, Orochimaru vanished using the Body Flicker technique, leaving behind three Anbu who felt as if they had just survived a catastrophe.

Qing breathed heavily, the pressure brought by Orochimaru simply being too overwhelming.

Linjiao looked at Xiang. "Captain, what should we do?"

Xiang did not hesitate for a second and said decisively, "Of course, we do as Lord Orochimaru requested. We must not act rashly without his orders!"

At this moment, Lihuo was carefully observing Sha. From the very first glance, Lihuo had felt that something was slightly off.

Now, Lihuo finally realized it—it was the attire!

One might ask, what kind of ninja who had just defected would wear such high-quality equipment, with their forehead protector worn so neatly?

The identity of this ninja might not be as simple as we thought.

Thinking of this, alarm bells rang in Lihuo's heart, and he quickly dragged Sha to the side.

Sure enough! On the tree trunk where Sha had just been leaning, there appeared a mark that Lihuo could not decipher. Needless to say, this was a signal Sha had just left behind.

Lihuo did not hesitate. He created two shadow clones to watch over Sha, while his main body stepped forward, spread his hand, and pressed a pale blue Rasengan fiercely onto the mark.

Crack!

The powerful destructive force not only completely obliterated the mark but also felled the tree at its roots!

After checking the surroundings to ensure Sha had left no other tricks, Lihuo tied Sha up with the rope he carried and placed a Flying Thunder God Mark on his body.

Adhering to the principle of being extra cautious during his first A-rank mission, Lihuo also created shadow clones to carefully inspect the path they had taken, doing his utmost to leave no traces behind!

By the time he finished all this, Orochimaru had just returned to the side of the two.

Looking at the fallen tree, the hog-tied Sha, and Lihuo, who was sweating profusely beside him, Orochimaru fell into deep thought.

However, he still quickly explained the situation to Lihuo.

After verifying his own conjectures, Lihuo felt fortunate that he had reacted so decisively.

We shall set aside the discussion between master and disciple on how to scheme against Sha for now. Meanwhile, far away in Sunagakure in the Land of Wind, Elder Chiyo was having a secret conversation with a Jonin.

"The Fire Snake Squad hasn't sent back any intelligence for over a week."

"It is very likely that an unforeseen situation has occurred. Oniichiro, I am sending you this time ostensibly to let Sasori gain experience, but in reality, you need to secretly investigate the whereabouts of the Fire Snake Squad."

Upon hearing this, the Jonin nodded and then vanished with a flicker.

Not long after, the genius puppeteer of Sunagakure, Sasori of the Red Sand, received the summons from his teacher, Oniichiro.

After settling his "Father and Mother" puppets, Sasori took out the newly crafted puppet "Crow" and set off with Teacher Oniichiro toward the border of the Land of Wind.

And the target of Oniichiro and his group—the Fire Snake Squad, which had been missing for a full week—was now in a state of utter desperation.

"Boss, let's go back to the village. We've already reached the border of the Land of Wind. If we delay any longer and the village finds out, our crimes will be unforgivable."

Hearing this, the once incredibly firm Fire Snake became hesitant.

After thinking for a moment, Fire Snake stood up and said, disheartened, "Pack up. Use my summoning creatures to scout one last time. If we don't succeed, we return to the village."

With that, Fire Snake summoned over a dozen lizards. These lizards scattered instantly, conducting the squad's final reconnaissance.

At the same time, Sha slowly regained consciousness, only to find that he had already been hog-tied.

What was even more unacceptable to Sha was that he had been stripped completely bare!

All of his personal belongings had been placed at Lihuo's feet.

"You... what are you doing! Is this how you treat your clients!"

Sha glared furiously at Orochimaru and Lihuo, who were currently boredly toying with his belongings while holding torches.

Hearing Sha's accusation, Orochimaru smiled playfully, walked slowly toward him, pointed at a tree Lihuo had felled nearby, and said softly, "Did you think I didn't know what you were up to? A rogue ninja actually daring to send secret messages!"

Although his petty tricks had been exposed, Sha's heart, which had been hanging in his throat, settled down once he realized they didn't know his true identity.

Suddenly, Orochimaru glanced to the side, having sensed something. He instantly opened his mouth wide, his tongue shooting out as rapidly as a frog catching prey.

Bang!

A nearby tree branch snapped instantly, kicking up a cloud of dust, and a dying lizard lay on the ground.

With a puff of white smoke, the lizard vanished.

"It was a summoning creature!" Lihuo said in surprise.

"It seems the people looking for you have arrived," Orochimaru said leisurely.

Captain Fire Snake! Sha thought to himself. You've finally come.

As the lizard dissipated, Fire Snake also sensed the disturbance in the distance. Without a word, he rallied his squad, and this group, having marched through the desert for a week, suddenly erupted with powerful combat readiness.

The Fire Snake Squad was sprinting rapidly toward Lihuo and his group.

At that moment, Lihuo held his torch and roared wildly at Sha, "You actually dare to pull more tricks!" With that, he threw the torch fiercely onto all of Sha's clothes.

In an instant, flames erupted, and the crackling sound reached Sha's ears.

Sha stared daggers at Lihuo, wishing he could tear him apart and swallow him whole.

Just then, Orochimaru said languidly, "Little Lihuo, it seems you were wrong. In a fire, a person doesn't look at their most important possession first, unless that most important thing is you."

"Hahaha," Orochimaru seemed amused by his own joke.

But Lihuo instantly snapped out of his previous frantic state; it was clear that he had just been putting on an act.

He glanced at Orochimaru and said calmly, "Master Orochimaru, there is another possibility..."

"And that is that this fire didn't damage his most important possession at all."

Suddenly! Lihuo used Body Flicker to appear before him and placed his hand on Sha's head, a powerful sensory force piercing through Sha's entire body.

Ding! Touched the head of B-rank ninja: Sha. Please select two of the following rewards.

Ignoring the system prompt, Lihuo's hand reached straight into Sha's body.

Squelch!

As flesh and blood were pierced, a blood-stained scroll appeared in Lihuo's hand.