Not long after, Orochimaru arrived safely with more than two thousand ninjas.
" Jonin Nara." Orochimaru stepped forward, greeted him, and then pulled a scroll from behind his back, handing it to Nara Shikahito. "This contains a list and detailed information on two thousand ninjas."
"Okay." Nara Shikahito took it with both hands, turned around and handed it to the ninjas following behind him. At his signal, they immediately went to check the identity of the two thousand ninjas.
"You've worked hard. I've cleared out a camp. Go and rest." Looking at the two thousand fierce-looking Konoha Ninja covering the hillside, Nara Shikahito was in a good mood and smiled, telling Orochimaru to go and rest.
"It's alright, you go ahead with your work, don't worry about me," Orochimaru as soon as he arrived, he saw his three disciples waiting for him on a boulder not far away. After bowing slightly to Nara Shikahito, he turned and walked towards Shin'un and the others.
"Teacher!" Upon seeing Orochimaru approaching them, Shin'un and the others quickly jumped off the boulder and stood neatly in front of Orochimaru to greet him.
Orochimaru's aura remained as cold and sinister as Shin'un remembered, increasingly resembling the Orochimaru who first appeared in the original work, only lacking a touch of madness in his personality.
Looking at the three disciples in front of him, Orochimaru Jonin.
"It's only been a few months, I didn't expect you to have changed so much."
Hearing the teacher's words, Shin'un and the others looked at each other and then laughed.
Indeed, although only a few months have passed, all three are thirteen years old, a period of rapid physical development. They would show some changes if they were not seen for a week or two, let alone several months.
Moreover, during this period, Shin'un and his companions also participated in many missions on the Sand Ninja front, so some changes were only natural.
After scrutinizing the three disciples before him, Orochimaru finally fixed his gaze on Shin'un, who was a head taller than him.
" Shin'un, you've changed the most."
Shin'un smiled and nodded, not denying Orochimaru's words.
After all, about four months ago, Shin'un, being a boy, developed later than Shiina Kō, which resulted in Shin'un, as the squad leader, being shorter than Shiina Kō.
However, since returning to Konoha and receiving the Senju Secret Medicine from the Senju residence, Shin'un's body has developed extremely rapidly after receiving ample nutrition and initially activating the Senju bloodline within him.
In just three months, Shin'un's height increased dramatically, making him half a head taller than Yūichi and Shiina Kō beside him.
His once youthful face began to mature, his features gradually became more defined, his appearance became more aloof and handsome, and his tall stature was enhanced by his silver-white hair, which gave Shin'un a unique and cool temperament.
At the same time, Shin'un's good physical development also allowed him to reach a relatively high level of Chakra.
Although a detailed comparison is not possible, Shin'un estimated that he could easily outperform more than a dozen of the Shiina Kō around him.
"Very good." Orochimaru looked Shin'un up and down, nodded in satisfaction, and said nothing more.
Immediately afterwards, Orochimaru noticed a person behind Shin'un.
" Nawaki?" Orochimaru immediately recognized Nawaki.
"Hehe~" Nawaki stepped forward and greeted Orochimaru. " Orochimaru- nii, long time no see~"
Shin'un turned his head in surprise and glanced at Nawaki. He thought that since his teacher was Tsunade's teammate, it was only natural that Orochimaru and Nawaki knew each other.
Upon seeing Nawaki, Orochimaru's pleasant expression vanished, replaced by his usual blank demeanor.
" Tsunade told me you secretly graduated without telling your sister?" Orochimaru immediately brought up Nawaki's old grievances.
Nawaki, somewhat embarrassed, scratched his head and said, "I was just focused on going to the battlefield back then..."
"Your sister was very worried about you and asked me to come and check on you." Orochimaru ignored Nawaki's embarrassment, looked Nawaki up and down, and then continued speaking to himself.
"Also, she said you should remember to write to her, or else you'll taste the iron fist of your sister's love." After saying this, Orochimaru's chilling aura paused, then he added, "These are her exact words."
"This..." Nawaki seemed to have connected the dots, and suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. He immediately agreed. "Okay, I'll write a letter as soon as I get back and have the guys in logistics deliver it."
On the other side, Shin'un looked at Orochimaru with his mouth slightly open.
I never expected Orochimaru to say something like "the iron fist of love"...
"Alright, let's head back to camp. The handover of two thousand ninjas will take a long time." After completing the tasks assigned by his teammates, Orochimaru looked relaxed and walked past the crowd directly towards the Konoha Earth Flow not far away.
Seeing this, Shin'un and the others quickly followed.
Five days later.
In the Konoha camp, Shin'un led his teammates toward the command tent.
"I never expected we'd be able to rest for a full five days on the battlefield," Shiina Kō said with a smile.
"Yeah, we've been holed up in the camp for five whole days, and to maintain our condition we can't even train. I feel like my nerves are getting sluggish," Yūichi from the side.
"Alright, stop complaining." Shin'un, who had overheard the conversation between the two people behind him, immediately stopped them.
"The two thousand ninja reinforcements brought by the teacher have completely eliminated our only numerical disadvantage against the Sand Ninja. The Jonin Nara will certainly have to rethink his command strategy."
As he spoke, Shin'un glanced at Yūichi behind him.
"Besides, the reason the Jonin Nara summoned us this time is probably to assign us a mission."
"I was just a little anxious..." Yūichi muttered softly, "I haven't fought for several days, and my body feels a bit numb."
Although Yūichi's complaints were soft, Shin'un and Shiina Kō, who were standing nearby, heard them clearly.
Both of them knew Yūichi's personality well, so they didn't bother with him and headed towards the command tent.
"Whoosh~"
Lifting the curtain, Shin'un, along with two teammates, went directly to Nara Shikahito.
"Report, all three members of the Hirakawa Squad have arrived."
Upon hearing Shin'un's voice, Nara Shikahito raised his head, nodded slightly, and said:
" Shin'un, I have a task for you."
Upon hearing this, Shin'un and Shiina Kō were relatively calm, but Yūichi was quite excited, his joy evident on his face.
Seeing the excitement on Yūichi's face, Nara Shikahito laughed.
"As expected of the Uchiha Clan, they've been itching to get back at your team these past few days without assigning you any missions."
After speaking, without waiting for Yūichi's reply, Nara Shikahito's expression turned serious as he looked at Shin'un and said:
"Early this morning, a large intelligence outpost in the Sand Ninja was accidentally discovered by a Konoha squad on a mission. Your mission is to lead five squads to steal information from the Sand Ninja."
Nara Shikahito picked up a scroll from the cluttered wide table in front of him and handed it to Shin'un.
"This is the mission scroll for this task. All the details are on it; you can check it yourself."
"I've already notified the other five teams to assemble in the open area west of the camp in ten minutes, except for you."
I hope you can leave as soon as possible.
Nodding, Shin'un took the mission scroll, immediately unfolded it, and the first thing he looked at was the list of people involved in this mission.
Among them, two names that Shin'un recognized were prominently listed, causing Shin'un to exclaim in surprise.
" Nawaki and Dan Katō?"