Fury and Undercurrents

Orochimaru's acknowledgment finally loosened Tianyi's taut 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 whatsoever...

Though he admired it, his suspicions deepened as well.

On the surface, the whole incident looked like an unexpected encounter.

But the details could not withstand scrutiny. Nawaki's team had faced a sentry post guarded by Chunin.

A forward outpost where the Chunin had apparently used enhancement drugs.

There was an obvious discrepancy in the enemy deployment information provided by the intelligence department.

And he himself had just happened to be held up by an elite Hidden Rain Village squad...

A single coincidence could be understood, but when multiple coincidences piled up—

They might point to an inevitability born of careful design.

Someone wanted to kill with a borrowed blade! But who was the target? Nawaki? Or...

This somewhat unusual Hinata Tianyi?

Or was this a test aimed at him, Orochimaru?

He concealed his thoughts 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.

The Leaf Village frontline camp, medical area.

In the center of the tent, Senju Nawaki sat with his head lowered on a makeshift hospital bed.

His left arm was wrapped in thick bandages, and his face was pale from blood loss and lingering poison.

But he remained fairly alert. Before him—

Stood a woman with long blonde hair draped over her shoulders and a striking figure, though her face was now covered in frost.

Tsunade, one of the Three Sannin. She had just finished an urgent mission and rushed back at top speed upon receiving the news.

Moonlight Fu stood to one side. His ribs had been properly set, and his internal injuries had stabilized under medical ninjutsu.

He was quietly reporting the entire course of the mission, from infiltrating the area and eliminating the visible sentries to the sudden change 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 crossed, her fingers unconsciously tapping her elbow. The more she heard, the worse her expression became.

When she heard that Nawaki had not immediately taken cover after using ninjutsu, but had remained standing there and exposed himself—

Only to be severely wounded in an instant, her fury finally reached its peak.

"You idiot! You reckless brute! Is your head stuffed with straw?!"

Tsunade's roar nearly blew off the tent roof.

A trace of her powerful chakra pressure leaked out uncontrollably.

Making the surrounding medical ninja shrink their necks.

"What is the first rule for 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 at!

Do you think the battlefield is your backyard?!"

Nawaki was scolded until he nearly buried his head in his chest, his face alternating between pale and red.

He felt both lingering fear and shame. "Sis... I..."

"Shut up! There is no sister here! Only a frontline commander!"

Tsunade cut him off sharply, her chest heaving violently.

"If your teammates had not risked their lives to cover your retreat, if Orochimaru had not arrived in time...

You would be a corpse right 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 instinctively softened their movements.

Just then, the tent flap was lifted.

Orochimaru entered first, followed by the summoned snake carrying Hinata Tianyi on a stretcher.

Everyone's gazes immediately focused on them, especially when they saw Tianyi's miserable condition.

Quite a few people sucked in a breath.

Tsunade's anger abruptly stalled as her sharp gaze swept over Tianyi.

Then she looked at Orochimaru, her voice urgent. "What happened? How badly is he hurt?"

"Severe burns and concussion from the blast. No fatal injuries, but he requires immediate treatment."

Orochimaru was brief. He gestured for the medical staff to place Tianyi on the empty bed beside them.

Tsunade stopped berating Nawaki and strode to Tianyi's bedside.

Her hands were already glowing with dense green chakra as she began examining him.

Her brows knitted tightly. "The burned area is extensive, and the depth... fortunately, most of it is superficial second-degree burns.

The main issue is that his internal organs were likely displaced by the close-range shockwave..."

As she diagnosed him, she gave orders to the medical Chunin beside her.

"Prepare debridement tools and specialized burn ointment. Quickly!"

Nawaki looked at Tianyi, who was still faintly frowning in pain even while unconscious.

Remembering the sight of him standing in front of Fu and himself at the end, Nawaki's eyes reddened, and his guilt grew heavier.

Moonlight Fu also cast Tianyi a worried look.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru stood silently in the shadows at the edge of the tent, seemingly out of place amid the bustling scene.

His gaze slowly moved between Tianyi, Tsunade, and Nawaki.

His golden slit pupils narrowed slightly.

A coincidental attack, abnormally powerful enemies.

All the fragments seemed to be slowly assembling into a picture.

"Then..." Orochimaru's low, hoarse voice sounded within the tent as he looked at Tsunade.

"Regarding this accident caused by an intelligence failure.

Should we submit a detailed report to Teacher Sarutobi?"

The air inside the tent seemed to freeze a little at his words.

Tsunade's hands, which were cleaning Tianyi's wounds, paused slightly.

She slowly raised her head and looked at Orochimaru.

"No."

"The whole affair began when Hinata 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 Village 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 facts."

She then looked at Tianyi. "I suspect this attack was meant for Nawaki and Hinata Tianyi from the start.

They wanted to use a seemingly reasonable battlefield accident to eliminate them both in one stroke.

Nawaki is the First Hokage's grandson, the hope of the Senju Clan;

Hinata Tianyi..." She glanced at the heavily wounded boy on the bed, her brows furrowing slightly.

"He is merely a Branch House child who suddenly displayed extraordinary medical talent. I do not know why he was targeted so thoroughly as well."

A mocking curve tugged at Tsunade's lips. "Reporting this to Teacher now would only alert the enemy.

It would make them hide even deeper. And anyone capable of manipulating the old man—

Of calculating intelligence, personnel assignments, and even battlefield timing to this extent—

How many old men hiding in the shadows are there in all of Leaf Village?

Someone so meticulous, and with such obvious hostility toward our Senju Clan..."

She snorted coldly without saying that name.

"Hmph. They had better not let me catch an opportunity."

Orochimaru listened quietly, his golden slit pupils gleaming faintly in the shadows.

Tsunade's analysis matched his own judgment perfectly.

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."

His figure flickered, and he vanished soundlessly beyond the tent flap.

Over the next several hours, the surface of the Leaf Village frontline camp remained as busy as ever.

But some personnel who usually kept a low profile—

Were suddenly ensnared 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. Before he could even scream, he was sealed inside an earthen prison like a coffin.

The efficiency was astonishing, the methods ruthless and strange. There was no large-scale disturbance, and scarcely any witnesses.

Only when camp patrols or logistics personnel occasionally discovered that someone had inexplicably vanished from a post—

Did they belatedly realize the camp had just undergone a silent yet thorough internal purge.

Without exception, every one of the dead was found—

To have evidence on them of secret connections to Amegakure.

Their identities as "spies" were confirmed.