The battle ended, and Orochimaru gave no order to clear away the traces of combat. They were extremely close to the Stone Ninja outpost, and patrol teams generally had to return to report at set intervals to ensure their safety.
Orochimaru did not know exactly how long those intervals were.
Since they had already eliminated the patrol team, they might as well attack the Stone Ninja outpost directly. Any delay could give the Stone Ninja a chance to sense danger and raise their guard.
That was Shin'un's thinking, and clearly Orochimaru's as well.
In silence, the entire force swept past the scene of carnage and rushed toward the nearby Stone Ninja outpost.
Following Orochimaru's deployment, Shin'un took his two teammates to a concealed vantage point beside the Stone Ninja outpost, keeping watch outside to prevent any Stone Ninja reinforcements not accounted for in the plan from arriving.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru and the five Jonin teams split up as planned, hiding among the shadows and moving through blind spots in the Stone Ninja's field of view. They slipped soundlessly into the outpost, advancing toward their respective targets.
Shin'un watched the last Konoha Ninja disappear from sight.
After a short wait, there were still no unusual sounds from the Stone Ninja in the outpost ahead. Clearly, the Konoha Ninja's covert assassination plan was proceeding smoothly.
Shin'un turned his gaze back to his surroundings, standing in the treetop to survey everything around the Stone Ninja outpost. Since Orochimaru had taken the three of them into consideration and assigned their team a task, they had to do it justice, watching their surroundings and not letting a single additional Stone Ninja slip past.
Though there probably would not be any occasion for Shin'un and the others to act...
"Shiina Kō, go over there and watch that side."
"Yūichi... stay beside me and watch over there."
Shin'un assigned each of his two teammates an area to observe. Together with the largest area, which Shin'un himself took responsibility for, the three of them kept watch over every direction around the Stone Ninja outpost...
"Hey, Shin'un."
"Tell me, what's the point of Sensei bringing us along if he won't let us take part in the mission?"
Yūichi was clearly still frustrated about being unable to join the fighting. With Shin'un right beside him, he immediately asked with a glum face.
Without taking his eyes off the area he was responsible for watching, Shin'un replied evenly.
"What's the rush? Didn't Sensei take us into consideration and give us a task?"
"Besides, even if Sensei wants to assign us to real combat, we need to demonstrate the corresponding strength first. Otherwise, even if he decides to send us on an important mission, other people will object."
As he spoke, Shin'un changed tack.
"You should also be more considerate of Sensei's difficulties and thoughts."
"Also, keep an eye on your area. If Stone Ninja really do show up here and we fail to spot them, people will be even less willing to trust us with missions."
"I understand that too, but..." Yūichi opened and closed his mouth, finally heaving a long sigh before turning toward his assigned area and dutifully keeping watch.
Catching Yūichi's movements out of the corner of his eye, Shin'un sighed inwardly. The position of squad leader Orochimaru had handed him really was no blessing.
Normally, he had to supervise his teammates' training. In battle, he had to supervise and command the team. When a teammate had a problem, he even had to play the understanding big sister and ease their worries.
Yet Shin'un had no way to turn down the position of squad leader.
One reason was that Orochimaru, as one of those in charge of the Land of Rain battlefield, truly was busy. He often had no time to manage his students and needed someone to help manage the team.
Moreover, Shin'un could tell that Orochimaru had high hopes for him. His attitude toward Shin'un was different from his attitude toward Yūichi and Shiina Kō.
When speaking with Shin'un, Orochimaru exchanged ideas, thought things over, and discussed them. It was entirely like a conversation between peers.
With Yūichi and Shiina Kō, however, it was very different. Their conversations were strictly those between teacher and student. Orochimaru did not discuss or exchange ideas with them, instead directly explaining the knowledge, experience, or skills he had accumulated.
"Haah..." Shin'un shook his head helplessly.
Being valued by others, especially having someone like Orochimaru place high hopes in him, was certainly something to be happy about. At the same time, however, having to think about so many things unrelated to himself was tiring.
Shin'un could only carry out his duties as squad leader with both pleasure and pain.
Of course, if Yūichi knew what he was thinking, he would definitely call Shin'un pretentious, enjoying the benefits while acting hard done by.
At that thought, a smile appeared on Shin'un's lips, and he glanced at Yūichi beside him.
Time passed quickly as Shin'un kept watch and let his thoughts wander.
Boom!
A few minutes later, Shin'un heard an explosion behind him and instinctively turned to look toward the Stone Ninja outpost.
That explosion had come from an Explosive Tag. Clearly, the Stone Ninja under attack had used the blast to warn their companions of the assault.
He could clearly hear that, as the explosion rang out, the Konoha Ninja who had been conducting stealthy assassinations no longer held back their methods.
The clash of weapons, the impact of Ninjutsu, whimpers and screams... the entire Stone Ninja outpost immediately erupted into an uproar.
At the same time, smoke rose from the fierce fighting between dozens of elite ninja. Though inconspicuous in the Land of Rain's gloomy weather, it was still clearly visible for several kilometers around.
Watching the rising smoke, Shin'un narrowed his eyes slightly. There was no need to worry about the force Orochimaru was leading to wipe out the Stone Ninja outpost.
From now on, however, if any Stone Ninja reinforcements were coming, they would most likely arrive in the period that followed.
That meant they needed to observe their surroundings even more closely to guard against Stone Ninja reinforcements.
Yūichi beside Shin'un clearly understood this as well. He fidgeted much less and focused on watching his assigned area.
Several minutes passed. The noisy sounds of combat in the Stone Ninja outpost behind them continued without any sign of weakening. Clearly, the battle inside would last a while longer.
It was at that moment that a piercing sound rang out, carrying for several kilometers around.
Shin'un turned to look. The piercing sound came from a white signal flare in the sky, directly above Shiina Kō's position.
The Stone Ninja clearly would not launch a signal flare like that, announcing their arrival to the enemy so conspicuously. It could only be a flare Shiina Kō had fired after discovering enemies to warn the other Konoha Ninja.
At the sight of the white signal flare blossoming in the sky, Yūichi grew excited.
"Shin'un, enemies! Come on! Let's go save Shiina Kō."
As he spoke, Yūichi pulled out a Kunai and waved it back and forth, clearly already itching to cut someone.
Seeing Yūichi like this, Shin'un fell into thought.
Although Shiina Kō had discovered enemies, that did not guarantee another group of Stone Ninja reinforcements would not appear afterward.
If Stone Ninja entered the outpost to provide support without being spotted, that would be a dereliction of duty. Shiina Kō was naturally more important, but they could not neglect their responsibilities either.
After a brief moment of thought, Shin'un formed hand seals and created a Shadow Clone, handing the lookout duty over to his clone. Then, taking Yūichi, who had already begun grinding his teeth, Shin'un hurried toward Shiina Kō.
A white signal flare accompanied by a piercing sound means the enemy is a full team composed of one Special Jōnin and two Chunin.
Recalling the section on signal flares in the ninja handbook, Shin'un determined what enemies Shiina Kō had encountered.
Isn't that the other Stone Ninja patrol team we couldn't find?
Realizing this, Shin'un ran faster and faster.
"Hang in there, Shiina Kō!"