"Damn Sunagakure!" Jiraiya cursed after helping Orochimaru wipe out a squad of Sunagakure Jonin, his voice full of worry.
Konoha had been caught underprepared too.
Konoha had too many other villages to guard against. Even with war breaking out against Sunagakure in the Land of Rain, they couldn't pull in large numbers of troops at a moment's notice. Ordinarily, the forces they had there were enough.
They hadn't expected Sunagakure to join forces with the Land of Rain and bring in so many powerful fighters. Orochimaru and the others had been caught completely off guard.
If things went badly, Konoha could suffer devastating losses.
What mattered most was whether Uchiha Yi could beat Hanzō. If he could, they still had a chance to turn things around. If he couldn't, everyone was in danger.
It all depended on whether Uchiha Yi was as strong as Tsunade had said.
Orochimaru glanced toward the battlefield they had left behind. He didn't know how the fight was going, but Uchiha Yi knew the Flying Thunder God Technique. Even if he couldn't beat Hanzō, he should be able to protect himself. If the worst came to pass, he could take Tsunade away. That was the fallback Orochimaru had counted on.
At least Tsunade's safety could be assured. At this point, Orochimaru truly embodied the Will of Fire and cared deeply about his teammates.
If he had been a little stronger, he really would have been qualified to succeed Hiruzen Sarutobi as Hokage when Hiruzen was seventy.
Then again, looked at another way, even the future Orochimaru still possessed the Will of Fire. In his so-called plan to destroy Konoha, Sunagakure suffered the heaviest casualties.
Afraid the Kazekage might actually damage Konoha, he killed the Fourth Kazekage on the way. If Orochimaru had truly wanted to