At this moment, a dozen Iwagakure Ninja were sitting together in a relatively spacious abandoned reservoir. Their disguised civilian clothes had long been soaked in water vapor and exuded a musty smell, but everyone's face was filled with a sense of relief that they were about to be relieved.
They had just received the top-secret order from Commander Kitsuchi - Since "Demigod" Hanzo of the Salamander had become aware of Iwagakure's infiltration plan and launched a bloody purge, the planned "hunting" operation was suspended indefinitely. All latent troops, after completing the last mission, immediately evacuated or went into deep hibernation.
"Ha, I can finally leave this hellish place!" A stout Iwagakure Chunin named Iwamine swallowed hard the dry food in his mouth and said nonchalantly, "If I stay any longer, I feel like mushrooms are growing in the seams of my bones! When I get back to the village, I will definitely go to the restaurant to drink for three days and three nights, and find some of the hottest girls!"
A shrewd-looking ninja next to him was carefully scraping the dirt from his nails with a knife. He sneered when he heard this, "Drinking? Is your mission subsidy enough? I've already made up my mind. This time I go back, plus the extra hush money, it's enough for me to expand the land in my house. I really don't want to stay in this damn place for a moment longer."
"Speaking of it, that 'Demigod' is nothing more than that." Iwamine lowered his voice, but the contempt in his tone was not concealed, "What kind of big purge is it? We Iwagakure is scared out of his wits? I heard that Kirigakure's idiots were treated like chickens and slaughtered by him. They really deserved it. Now that our main force has withdrawn, what can he do? He can't just guard his shabby village and watch himself slowly rot."
"Okay, just say a few words."
In the corner, a figure who had always been silent finally spoke. He was the captain of this team, Jonin Tsuchiya. The ferocious scar on his face twitched slightly as he spoke, adding a third degree of evil to his majesty.
"Stop bragging here." Tsuchiya stood up and glanced at each team member with sharp eyes, "Hanzō is still 'Demigod' even if he is old. Our mission is to deliver all the last supplies to the people in the east. Those are the important chess pieces of our Iwagakure in Land of Rain, and there must be no mistakes."
"Everyone come here."
He spread out a simple map and pointed to a narrow strip of land circled on it.
"According to the plan, we will disguise ourselves as a caravan and advance along this old trade road. The people over there will meet us at the other end of the Eastern Bridge. This is our last action. After completion, everyone will immediately disperse and evacuate and return to Land of Earth. Do you understand?"
"Yes! Captain!" Everyone responded in unison, their voices full of confidence.
In their view, this is just a simple transportation mission. Hanzō's main force is shrinking its defenses to guard against Iwagakure's army, and has no time to take care of these "small fish and shrimps". The rebel army they are going to join is the local resistance force of Land of Rain, and they know the terrain well.
This mission is simply like the last outing before going home.
Tsuchiya looked at the high morale of his men and nodded with satisfaction. Although he said to be cautious, deep down in his heart, he was filled with the unique arrogance of Iwagakure Ninja? What kind of nonsense could a "Demigod" abandoned by the times, a small country with years of civil war and a miserable life for the people, make?
"Everyone pack up their supplies and get ready to go!"
With the order from Tsuchiya, everyone took action to prepare for tomorrow's mission and evacuation.
Meanwhile, Kesu Gorge.
The cold rainwater slid down the steep rock walls and formed a small stream that meandered at the bottom of the canyon. The air was filled with the smell of earth and rocks, and it was so quiet that only the sound of wind and rain could be heard.
A thin figure, like a statue, lay quietly behind a huge rock not far from the entrance of the canyon.
Shisui had already entered the canyon in advance and cleared all large animals in the canyon. This was done to prevent these animals from inadvertently destroying the traps they had set.
Maruboshi Kosuke is farther away, laying out his seemingly simple but actually deadly traps and barriers.
And Orochimaru, like an elegant spectator, has long been hiding in a corner at the highest point of the canyon, ready to enjoy this "performance" led by his students.
While Senju Chen was helping Maruboshi Kosuke lay out the trap, he was reviewing the entire plan in his mind. From luring, to siege, to the final strangulation, he had calculated every link and every detail to the extreme.
Orochimaru's "teaching" has indeed benefited him a lot. Taking advantage of human nature, creating panic, killing people with a borrowed knife... these are all Machiavellian tactics engraved in Orochimaru's bones.
But Senju Chen knew in his heart that he was fundamentally different from Orochimaru.
Orochimaru is within the rules and plays with human nature at the palm of his hand. What he enjoys is the sense of IQ crushing and control.
And myself...
The plot map named "Naruto" has always been clearly presented in my mind.
Orochimaru could predict Iwagakure's greed, but could not predict that Iwagakure's top management made the decision to suspend the general offensive because of a wrong "intelligence".
He can calculate people's hearts, but he cannot calculate the trajectory of fate.
And I already know your ending, Auntie Snake...
"It's almost time"
Senju Chen's mouth curved into a cold arc.
He slowly took out a small doll from his arms, which he imitated using Wood Release and belonged to the model "Yuki" Kirigakure Ninja.
This was something he researched himself, and this model helps him complete a quick "transformation" when there are no corpses around him.
The next moment, the Chakra in his body began to flow in a strange way.
The bones made a slight brittle sound, the muscles began to stretch, and the height, body shape, face... everything was undergoing earth-shaking changes.
He stood up and moved his arms and legs that had become slender and unfamiliar.
He even looked at the puddle, straightened out his pale and "scarred" face, and squeezed out an expression of pain, hatred and eagerness toward the unfamiliar face in the water.
Perfect.
The actors are already in place.
Now, it's time to kick off this killing feast.
He took a deep breath, suppressed all the calculations and coldness in his heart, and then made a big circle, with "scars" and "despair" all over his body, stumbling towards the Iwagakure caravan that was about to step into the grave.