"Lord Orochimaru, the reinforcements from the village have arrived, but..."
Inside Konoha's war conference room in Kikyo Castle, a ninja responsible for settling frontline personnel reported to Orochimaru. Although the arrival of reinforcements was good news, the troops the village had sent this time seemed to be of little use.
Apart from Minato Namikaze, the hundred and fifty reinforcements included only three jonin and twenty chunin. The rest were all genin, and they had not brought much military equipment or supplies either.
A force like this offered little help to the front. After seeing the new reinforcements, quite a few ninja in the Land of Rivers camp grew resentful of the village. They were fighting hard for the village too, and the Sand Ninja were extremely difficult to deal with: the Kazekage, the One-Tail Jinchuriki, the puppeteers...
Why did those on the Land of Rivers front have to face such difficult circumstances? Although Lord Orochimaru had led them in repelling the Sand Ninja several times, more often, their lives had been saved by retreating.
And on several occasions, Orochimaru had even covered their retreat. Otherwise, the Konoha ninja in Kikyo Castle would have suffered even heavier losses.
"It's all right. I already have a way to handle this. The Sand Ninja are certain to lose this war."
Orochimaru spoke calmly, but his expression was full of confidence, a confidence that spread to every jonin in the room.
Having spent some time with Orochimaru, they all knew Lord Orochimaru was not one to boast. Since he had said this, he must be absolutely certain, and that certainty gave them considerable encouragement.
"Senior Orochimaru."
Minato Namikaze only came after settling his students. Upon entering the tent, he greeted Orochimaru respectfully.
"Minato, fortunately, you were the one who came. If it had been