Change of Personnel!

Due to a series of unforeseen events, Orochimaru was forced to terminate the mission and return to the temporary command headquarters to report the details to the commander of the Land of Grass front, Shimura Danzo.

Tsunade, who had been on the Land of Rain front fighting alongside Hatake Sakumo against the Sunagakure siblings Chiyo and Ebizo, rushed to the temporary camp in the Land of Grass without a moment's rest after hearing the devastating news that Nawaki had stepped into an Explosive Tag trap.

A torrential downpour fell beneath the gloomy sky, and flashes of lightning tore through the heavens, illuminating Tsunade's terrified face. The thunder roared as if in mourning, or perhaps as if venting some pent-up rage...

Perhaps out of sheer dread, Tsunade's body trembled with every breath. Just as she moved to enter and see for herself...

"You'd better not go in."

Jiraiya reached out to grab her shoulder, urging her with all his might to stop where she stood.

"What does it matter? Let her look. She wouldn't be able to recognize that it's her own brother anyway."

Orochimaru leaned against the wall, his tone flat and indifferent.

"Stop it, Orochimaru!"

"This is an era of war. If one is a ninja, everyone will face a day like this eventually."

"After all, the battlefield changes in an instant; no one can claim they can easily handle every emergency."

"Still, children are just prone to getting too excited, especially the day after receiving a birthday gift."

As he spoke, Orochimaru pulled the necklace Tsunade had given Nawaki yesterday from his robes...

"Big sister, you're here?"

Just as Tsunade was drowning in the grief of losing her brother and the sting of Orochimaru's words, an ill-timed voice shattered the silence between the three.

Standing to the side, Jiraiya finally couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.

Watching Nawaki emerge from the temporary morgue, wrapped head-to-toe in bandages with only his eyes visible, Tsunade immediately understood what had happened.

"You three! How dare you team up to play me for a fool!"

Tsunade clenched her fists, slammed a punch onto the top of Jiraiya's head, and then grabbed Orochimaru by his clothes, hoisting him into the air.

"Especially you, Orochimaru! I never expected that someone who usually looks so serious and humorless could put on such a realistic performance!"

After gifting Jiraiya and Orochimaru each a "bump" on the head, she looked at her brother—now dressed in his "mysterious mummy man" limited-edition outfit—and sighed before speaking slowly:

"Explain yourself. What is actually going on here?"

"We were just here to mourn our fallen comrades, and it just so happened that we chose this place for our meeting. As for the rest, I'm not entirely sure myself; you'd better ask Orochimaru and Nawaki."

Rubbing the "bump" on his head, Jiraiya winced as he spoke.

"Tsunade, you're too hot-headed."

Seeing Tsunade's fierce gaze shift back to him, Orochimaru made a dry remark before beginning to recount the mission.

"In the end, when I went up to check, I found Nawaki wrapped in several different types of chakra. Those chakras each played their part, blocking the fatal damage, beginning to nourish and heal his wounds, and stabilizing his vital signs, successfully keeping him hanging by a thread."

"After feeding him that 'pitch-black, round, super-nutritious, healing, restorative, multi-purpose pill' he mentioned, I brought him back to camp for treatment."

Hearing Orochimaru finish the story, Tsunade realized in an instant that the gifts Qi Luna and her companions had given Nawaki had played a crucial role in saving his life.

At the same time, thinking about the consequences—that if Nawaki hadn't been kept alive by Qi Luna's chakra, the Life-Saving Talisman, and the special Military Ration Pill from Minato, he might have truly perished—she was left with lingering fear and broke out in a cold sweat.

Before she could even thank Qi Luna and her friends in her heart, Orochimaru's next words caused the heart Tsunade had just settled to plummet into anxiety once more.

"But there is one thing I haven't been able to figure out. During this classified mission, not only did we encounter an ambush by Rock ninja, but someone had also planted a large number of traps in advance along the only path we could have taken! It was as if they knew our every move ahead of time..."

"Are you saying there's a spy in the squad? No, that's impossible. Aside from Nawaki, the other members of the reconnaissance team were assigned temporarily. They couldn't have known the mission details in advance, let alone passed on information right under your nose, Orochimaru... So..."

Jiraiya calmly analyzed the possibility of a leak, but the more he analyzed, the colder he felt inside. His eyes were filled with disbelief, and he shook his head, trying to shake off the insane thought in his mind, muttering to himself in consolation:

"Maybe it was just a coincidence..."

"One accident could be a coincidence, but what about two? And it wasn't just that the Rock ninja's primary target was Nawaki; even after Nawaki fell into that trap, Rain ninja still appeared to finish off the 'corpse' instead of attacking the medical ninja who were collapsed on the ground..."

"How much longer are you going to be naive, Jiraiya? Stop lying to yourself!"

Listening to Orochimaru's cold words, each syllable felt like a sharp blade, stabbing into the hearts of Jiraiya and Tsunade.

After their analysis, all the evidence ultimately pointed to that one man!

"Danzo..."

Tsunade gritted her teeth and whispered the name. The fury in her eyes and tone suggested she wished she could grind that old thief into dust!

Seeing Tsunade about to head to the temporary command post to demand an explanation from Shimura Danzo, Jiraiya reached out to stop her again.

"Are you trying to stop me, Jiraiya?"

"Tsunade, don't act on impulse. The war has only just begun. Even if you go to question him, he won't admit to conjectures that lack concrete evidence. Aside from causing a scene and hurting our army's morale, we won't gain anything!"

"Are we just going to let him do as he pleases?! Damn it!"

After thinking it over repeatedly, Tsunade ultimately couldn't bring herself to push past Jiraiya's gentle obstruction. Watching her own footsteps falter and her fists loosen, she seemed to lose all her strength and resolve...

Seeing this, Nawaki stepped forward and comforted her softly:

"It's okay, Big Sister. Look, aren't I still alive and well? Although I'm a bit injured and won't be able to participate in combat for a while, I won't be in danger anymore once I follow the escort team back to the village with the remains of the fallen Konoha ninja in a few days."

Nawaki himself was quite optimistic. Although the mission had failed, and even though he had killed quite a few Rock ninja—including two Special Jonin—it wasn't enough to earn the merit required for his promotion to Jonin. Still, he wasn't discouraged, figuring he could just go back, recover from his injuries, and return to the front lines later.

As for Shimura Danzo wanting to harm him, whether it was true or not, the most he would do was request a transfer to a different battlefield to stay away from him.

It was perfect; the battlefield between the Land of Rain and Sunagakure was plagued by constant downpours, making it all the more suitable for his Earth and Water Release techniques to truly shine!

Several days later, Nawaki returned to the village safely with the team escorting the remains and the wounded, encountering no danger along the way.

Following a brief and concise report from the Anbu, Sarutobi Hiruzen decided to dispatch more ninja to the front lines.

Utatane Koharu would lead the Aburame Clan, the Inuzuka Clan, the Mitokado Clan, and the Utatane Clan to reinforce Mitokado Homura and his forces, who were currently guarding against Iwagakure in the Land of Grass.

Akimichi Torifu and the Hyuga Clan Head would lead the Ino-Shika-Cho Clans and the Hyuga Clan to join the confrontation against Sunagakure.

The smaller clans, such as the Kurama, Yuhi, Mitarashi, and Gekko, would be led by Uchiha Tarken to the border between the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain, standing ready to await orders from Shimura Danzo at any time.

However, outside of Sarutobi Hiruzen's planned arrangements, a thin, small figure trailed behind Uchiha Fugaku...