Over the past few days, Qifeng had been living in constant unease. He slept poorly, food had lost its taste, his craving for cigarettes had lessened, and even the thrill he usually felt from handling corpses every day had faded.
He knew the war had broken out. The thing he had worried about for so long had finally happened, yet instead of feeling relieved, he became even more anxious.
Looking slightly dejected, he crushed out his cigarette butt.
"War... It hasn't really started yet. A lowly corpse collector like me shouldn't have to go to the battlefield for now, right?"
Qifeng looked at the blazing sun hanging high in the sky. The dazzling sunlight shone on him, yet he could barely feel any warmth.
"Tch, was the Morgue's air conditioning always this cold?"
Suddenly, Qifeng's body stiffened. He slowly turned his head and saw a figure emerge beneath the shade of a nearby tree.
He wore Konoha's standard green vest, had long flowing hair, and possessed a slender build. If one ignored his face, that snake-like waist might have belonged to a beauty.
Unfortunately...
Qifeng gave a dry laugh and called out, "Lord Orochimaru."
Wasn't he supposed to be heading to the battlefield? What was he doing here?
Did he have nothing better to do?
"Qifeng-kun, you are hereby drafted into the Advance Force." Orochimaru licked his lips and looked at him with great interest.
Qifeng's face fell. "Me? I'm just a Chunin. I-I'm not much use, am I?"
"There aren't many corpse collectors in Konoha." Orochimaru offered no explanation. After leaving those words behind, his body turned into smoke and vanished. "Konoha's Great Gate in half an hour."
It was a Shadow Clone.
Qifeng wiped the sweat from his forehead.
He finally understood where his uneasiness had come from.
That was right. There were not many corpse collectors in Konoha to begin with, or else he would not have been the only one willing to guard the Morgue.
Aside from him, who was truly dedicated to the job, most of the others were Medical Ninja working part-time.
He knew going to the battlefield was inevitable. He just had not expected it to happen so soon.
He had nearly forgotten that Orochimaru had set his sights on him.
Still, he could not understand it. Orochimaru was one of the Sannin, the disciple of Konoha's Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Why had he fixated on him?
And it was the kind of fixation where, once he had his eyes on someone, he would never let go.
"There's no reason for it."
Though his mouth complained, his body was honest. After quickly packing his things, he headed for the door.
It was wartime. Anyone who received a draft had to report, or they would be punished as traitors to the village.
With the battle situation so urgent, Qifeng's arrival did not attract much attention.
The Advance Force consisted mostly of Jonin and experienced Chunin. Once the situation had stabilized and they had assessed the circumstances, Konoha's remaining ninja would gradually head to the front lines.
This first group possessed the greatest overall strength, but it was also the most dangerous.
Very soon.
The vast ninja force departed Konoha.
Land of Fire.
Border.
Orochimaru led Konoha's Advance Force of more than a hundred Jonin and Chunin to Wushi Outpost, a checkpoint within the Land of Fire.
By then, Wushi Outpost had already become a field of ruins. The Konoha Ninja who had originally been stationed there had either died or successfully retreated at the last moment.
Some places were still burning, and quite a few corpses lay scattered about—some from Konoha, others from the iwa-nin.
Orochimaru's face darkened as he beckoned. Several Jonin consciously appeared at his side.
"Get organized. We'll set up camp here first."
"Yes!"
"Gather all these corpses and send them to—"
He glanced at Qifeng, who stood at the very back of the crowd, then pointed at him. "Give him a separate tent. Send all the corpses to him."
"Yes!"
The Jonin answered. After giving the inconspicuous Qifeng curious looks, they immediately began carrying out their orders.
Since they were already at the Land of Fire's border and could encounter battle at any time, the Advance Force had spent more than a day traveling to reach this place.
Though they remained highly alert, if they continued onward and encountered an ambush, they might suffer heavily against well-rested iwa-nin.
Most of the Advance Force's ninja were seasoned veterans of the Second Great Ninja War, so the camp was quickly erected.
Inside the command tent at the center, Orochimaru and the Elite Jonin responsible for each squad had gathered.
Of course, there was also one unexpected person.
Qifeng.
To be honest, when the Anbu Ninja called Qifeng into the tent while he was handling corpses, he had been completely dumbfounded.
Everyone present was a big shot: Elite Jonin from Konoha's major clans, such as the Uchiha Clan, Hyuga Clan, Nara Clan, Yamanaka Clan, and Akimichi Clan. A mere Chunin like him looked utterly out of place.
But he had no choice. According to Orochimaru, Qifeng, who was responsible for the corpse collection squad, counted as an independent squad and needed to attend this meeting.
Even though the corpse collection squad consisted of Qifeng alone.
Still, he did his best to remain invisible and avoid drawing the attention of these big shots.
At that moment, a map of the border region was spread out in the middle of the tent.
Orochimaru looked at the map, pondered for a moment, and said, "Where do you think our first move should be?"
His gaze swept across the crowd, killing intent gleaming in his snake-like eyes.
After a brief silence, Uchiha Shin raised his hand and pointed to a location not far beyond the Land of Fire's border, within the Land of Waterfalls. "Tori Mori Outpost."
After pausing briefly, he continued, "The iwa-nin Advance Force definitely would not launch one raid and then withdraw. It is highly likely they have occupied our Tori Mori Outpost and are using it as a base to concentrate the fighting along the Land of Fire's border."
Orochimaru said nothing. Hyuga Hanjian glanced at Uchiha Shin and said in a deep voice, "There is another possibility. Iwagakure's Advance Force may be hiding somewhere within the Land of Fire and may not have left."
Both were indeed possible.
"Tori Mori Outpost is important, but the Advance Force's first priority is stability. Therefore, I believe we should first eliminate the possibility of enemies within the Land of Fire." The speaker was Nara Chuichi. His words were neutral, neither offending the Uchiha nor the Hyuga, while clearly laying out his own view.
Orochimaru still said nothing. His gaze fell on Qifeng in the corner, and he licked his lips. "Qifeng-kun, what do you think?"
Qifeng blinked.
The gazes of all the big shots in the tent fell on him, making him feel as though needles were pressing against his back.
What the hell?
Why ask me at a time like this?
I'm just a corpse collector!
I'm a Chunin!
Has your brain gone bad?
Qifeng raged helplessly inside, but he did not dare disobey Orochimaru's command, even as the others' looks became increasingly strange.
It was already surprising enough that a corpse collector who was only a Chunin had appeared here. Now Orochimaru was actually asking for his opinion. That was rather thought-provoking.
Since Orochimaru valued him so highly, no one dared look down on him.
Many even suspected that this obscure corpse collector might be Orochimaru's disciple.
He had to be!
Otherwise, why would Orochimaru value him so much?
Orochimaru's disciple!
At that thought, the expressions in the eyes of the assembled big shots instantly changed.
As Hiruzen Sarutobi's most valued disciple, Orochimaru belonged to the pure Hokage lineage and had an excellent chance of inheriting the Hokage position in the future. Then Qifeng would also become part of the Hokage lineage. Who knew, perhaps years from now, he might even have a chance to compete for the Hokage position.
They were getting ahead of themselves.
But the Naruto World was also a world built on connections. Teacher-student relationships in particular were no less significant than father-son relationships.
Naturally, Orochimaru had guessed some of what they were thinking. Yet instead of denying it, he simply smiled without saying a word.
That only made them more certain their guesses were correct.
Under the many meaningful, shifting gazes, Qifeng could only think for a moment before saying, "I don't know."
Yet inwardly, he had already formed his own answer to the question.
If I were commanding the iwa-nin Advance Force, I would launch a surprise attack just as Konoha's Advance Force arrived here and prepared to rest—when the Konoha Ninja had expended their energy, were setting up camp, and could not maintain a complete formation.
Because he remembered that Earth Style Ninjutsu seemed to have a technique called the Earth Dragon Burrowing Technique. It could hide deep underground, evade certain forms of detection, and was exceptionally suitable for ambushes.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Before he could finish thinking, violent explosions suddenly erupted outside the camp.
A ninja rushed in hurriedly. "Lord Orochimaru! Iwa-nin... The iwa-nin are attacking!"
"..."
Qifeng silently completed the words he had not spoken aloud.
That would make the success rate higher.
That shouldn't count as being a jinx, right?
I hadn't awakened anything, had I?
Had I?
Before you continue