Orochimaru's acknowledgment loosened Tianyi's tightly wound nerves. His body went limp, and he pitched forward.
Orochimaru did not reach out to support him. He merely watched him fall before looking away.
He surveyed the traces of battle around them, especially the two distinctive blast sites.
There was no residual elemental chakra at all...
Appreciation aside, his doubts only deepened.
On the surface, the entire incident looked like an ordinary encounter.
But the details did not hold up to scrutiny. Nawaki's team had faced a sentry post guarded by Chunin.
A forward outpost where the Chunin appeared to have used enhancement drugs.
The enemy deployment information provided by Intelligence contained obvious errors.
And he himself had happened to be held up by an elite Hidden Rain Village squad...
A single coincidence could be understood, but when multiple coincidences piled together—
They could point to an inevitability born of design.
Someone wanted to kill with a borrowed blade! But who was the target? Nawaki? Or...
This rather unusual Hyuga Tianyi?
Or perhaps it had been a test aimed at Orochimaru himself?
He concealed the thoughts in his eyes and returned to his usual indifference.
"Return to camp first." With that, he formed a seal with one hand.
He summoned a snake, which coiled around the unconscious Tianyi.
Then they swiftly withdrew toward the Hidden Leaf Camp.
Leaf Frontline Camp, medical area.
In the center of the tent, Senju Nawaki sat on a makeshift hospital bed with his head lowered.
His left arm was wrapped in thick bandages, and his face was pale from blood loss and lingering poison.
But he was still in decent spirits. Standing before him—
Was a blonde woman with shoulder-length hair and a striking figure, her face now covered in frost.
Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin, had just finished an urgent mission. Upon receiving the news, she had rushed back at top speed.
Moonlight Kaede stood at the side. His ribs had been properly set, and his internal injuries had stabilized under Medical Ninjutsu.
He was quietly reporting the entire mission, from the infiltration and elimination of the sentries to the sudden turn of events after Nawaki used Wind Release.
The Chunin's abnormal speed and strength after taking the drug, as well as Tianyi's final order to cover their retreat...
Tsunade stood with her arms folded, her fingers unconsciously tapping her elbow. The more she listened, the uglier her expression became.
When she heard that Nawaki had failed to hide immediately after using ninjutsu and had remained standing there, exposed—
Only to be severely injured in an instant, her fury finally reached its peak.
"You idiot! You reckless fool! Is your brain stuffed with straw?!"
Tsunade's roar nearly blew the top off the tent.
A trace of her powerful chakra pressure leaked out uncontrollably.
The surrounding medical ninja all shrank their necks.
"What's the first rule of being a ninja?! Teamwork!
Your teammates created an opportunity for you, and what did you do? You stood there like a target for the enemy to shoot!
Do you think the battlefield is your backyard?!"
Nawaki was scolded until his head nearly sank into his chest, his face alternately pale and red.
He was both terrified in hindsight and deeply ashamed. In a small voice, he said, "Sis... I..."
"Shut up! There's no sister here! Only the frontline commander!"
Tsunade cut him off sharply, her chest heaving violently.
"If your teammates hadn't risked their lives to cover your retreat, if Orochimaru hadn't arrived in time...
You'd be a corpse by now! The bloodline of the Senju Clan?
The First Hokage's grandson? Dying because of such a stupid mistake would be an utter disgrace!"
Her words lashed Nawaki's heart like a whip.
They also echoed throughout the tent, and the wounded and medical staff around them unconsciously moved more quietly.
Just then, the tent flap was lifted.
Orochimaru entered first, followed by the summoned snake carrying Hyuga Tianyi on a stretcher.
Everyone's gazes instantly focused on them, especially when they saw Tianyi's miserable state.
Quite a few people gasped.
Tsunade's rage abruptly stalled as her sharp gaze swept over Tianyi.
Then she looked at Orochimaru, her tone urgent. "What happened? His injuries?"
"Severe burns, concussion from the blast, no fatal wounds, but he needs immediate treatment."
Orochimaru was concise as ever, gesturing for the medical personnel to place Tianyi on the empty bed beside them.
Tsunade stopped scolding Nawaki and strode to Tianyi's bedside.
Her hands were already glowing with dense green chakra as she began examining him.
Her brows drew tightly together. "The burned area is extensive, the depth... Fortunately, most of it is superficial second-degree burns.
The main issue is that his internal organs seem to have been displaced by the close-range shockwave..."
As she diagnosed him, she gave orders to the medical Chunin beside her.
"Prepare debridement tools and the strongest burn ointment, quickly!"
Nawaki looked at Tianyi, who was unconscious not far away yet still faintly frowning from the pain.
Remembering how Tianyi had stood before him and Kaede at the end, his eyes could not help turning red, and his shame only grew heavier.
Moonlight Kaede also cast Tianyi a worried look.
Orochimaru, meanwhile, stood silently in the shadows at the edge of the tent, seeming utterly out of place amid the busy scene.
His gaze moved slowly between Tianyi, Tsunade, and Nawaki.
His golden vertical pupils narrowed slightly.
The coincidental attack, the abnormally powerful enemy.
All the fragments seemed to be slowly piecing together into a picture.
"Then..." Orochimaru's low, hoarse voice rang through the tent as he looked at Tsunade.
"Regarding the accident caused by this intelligence failure.
Should we submit a detailed report to Teacher Sarutobi?"
The air in the tent seemed to freeze somewhat at his words.
Tsunade's hands, which had been cleaning Tianyi's wounds, paused slightly.
She slowly raised her head and looked at Orochimaru.
"No."
"The whole thing began when Hyuga Tianyi was suddenly assigned to Nawaki's team.
Then there was the severely inaccurate intelligence, and opponents far stronger than expected.
And then you just happened to be held up by a Hidden Rain ninja squad at the critical moment..."
Tsunade did not speak quickly, but every word struck at the heart of the matter.
"When too many coincidences collide, they stop being coincidences and become fact."
Then she looked at Tianyi. "I suspect this attack was aimed at Nawaki and Hyuga Tianyi from the start.
They wanted to use what appeared to be a reasonable battlefield accident to eliminate both of them in one stroke.
Nawaki is the First Hokage's grandson, the hope of the Senju Clan;
Hyuga Tianyi..." She glanced at the severely injured youth on the bed, her brows faintly furrowed.
"He is merely a Branch House member who suddenly displayed extraordinary talent for Medical Ninjutsu. I don't know why he was plotted against so thoroughly as well."
A hint of mockery curled Tsunade's lips. "Reporting to the old man now would only alert the enemy.
It would make them hide even deeper. And those who can manipulate intelligence, personnel assignments, and even battlefield timing to this extent—
How many old men lurking in the shadows are there in all of Leaf Village?
Someone who works so flawlessly, while showing such obvious hostility toward our Senju Clan..."
She snorted coldly without speaking that name.
"Hmph. Don't let me catch an opportunity."
Orochimaru listened quietly, his golden vertical pupils gleaming faintly in the shadows.
Tsunade's analysis coincided exactly with his own judgment.
This time, they had plotted against his disciple.
That crossed a line.
"Heh heh..." A low, hoarse laugh escaped his throat.
There was no warmth in it, only the chill of a predator locking onto its prey.
"Anyone who dares lay a hand on my disciple will pay the price."
With a flicker, he vanished soundlessly beyond the tent flap.
Over the next several hours, the surface of the Leaf Frontline Camp remained as busy as ever.
But certain personnel who usually kept a low profile—
Were suddenly entangled by snakes reaching out from the darkness while heading alone to the warehouses, dragged into the shadows, and never heard from again.
A member of the communications unit responsible for delivering encrypted letters, during a shift change—
Was imprisoned by earth erupting from the ground and sealed inside an earthen cell like a coffin before he could even scream.
The operation was astonishingly efficient, its methods ruthless and bizarre. There was no large-scale commotion, not even many witnesses.
Only when camp patrols or logistics personnel occasionally discovered that someone at a post had vanished without explanation—
Did they realize, belatedly, that the camp had just undergone a silent and thorough internal purge.
Every one of the dead was found—
To have secret ties to Amegakure, or to possess evidence of such ties on their person.
Their identities as "spies" were thus confirmed.
Before you continue