Inside the simple command room of the Konoha camp.
The "shush-shush-shush" sound of writing was exceptionally clear in this quiet yet bright environment.
Orochimaru, seated in his chair, was reviewing intelligence gathered from various parts of the battlefield and contemplating his next strategic move.
Suddenly, a flurry of footsteps broke the silence outside the command room. A ninja in a green vest rushed in, knelt on one knee, and said to Orochimaru, who was seated, " Lord Orochimaru, our men have discovered changes inside the Sunagakure Village's defenses. Something seems to have happened."
"Haven't you waited two days to rest? Is Rasa already impatient?" A cold, hoarse voice rang out in the room. Orochimaru assumed this was yet another attack, one that had occurred many times since the start of the war.
However, out of caution, he looked at the ninja in front of him and continued, "Have our people discovered any reason for the unusual activity inside the Sunagakure Village's fortifications?"
Orochimaru's main concern was finding out why Rasa had started another war.
The two sides, Sunagakure and Konoha, had just fought a massive battle involving thousands of people two days ago. Usually, after such a battle, they would rest for a few days to allow both sides time to recuperate and analyze their situation.
Of course, these few days of rest are not a true truce, but rather the conflict on the battlefield shifts from the front to the side, with the Anbu or elite squads of both sides fighting each other.
However, the battle on the flanks is still undecided, yet the main battle is about to resume, which is inconsistent with Sunagakure's usual offensive style. Therefore, Orochimaru is curious whether something has happened that has caused Sunagakure to change its approach.
" Lord Orochimaru, our men haven't gained any intelligence, but the Lord Hokage of the village personally wrote a report and requested that it be delivered to you Lord Orochimaru. He also instructed you to act according to the information in the report." Upon hearing Orochimaru's question, the ninja, who was kneeling on one knee, took out a scroll from his robes and handed it to Orochimaru.
Orochimaru, with a hint of curiosity, accepted the scroll and opened it to read.
This information was truly astonishing; even Orochimaru, a calm and collected person, showed surprise upon reading it.
After reading the intelligence report from beginning to end, his surprised expression turned into excitement and exhilaration.
The ninja beside him looked at the excited Orochimaru with great curiosity, wanting to know what kind of information could make the usually cold-faced Lord Orochimaru show such an expression.
Orochimaru, sitting at the head of the table, didn't notice the strange expressions on his subordinates' faces. He slammed his hand on the table with a "bang".
The previously low and hoarse voice became high and clear as it addressed the ninja in front of him. "Tomorrow, the Lord Third will send another 1,000 ninjas to our front lines to alleviate our pressure."
"And you immediately go down and remind the captains of all the ninja units that tomorrow's attack from Sunagakure will be extremely fierce, and they must be on high alert."
"Yes, Lord Orochimaru." After a reply, the ninja in the green vest disappeared from Orochimaru's sight with a happy expression.
The village has sent another thousand-strong force to the front lines, which will greatly reduce the pressure on the battlefield and decrease their casualties. He thought to himself, no wonder Lord Orochimaru is so happy; this is indeed rare good news.
However, what made Orochimaru happy was different from what he had expected.
Orochimaru was indeed pleased with the support force of a thousand men, as it meant he could exert more influence on the battlefield, but it didn't excite him.
What truly excited him was the intelligence report that someone who had truly inherited the First Wood Release would be coming to support the battlefield.
This is the main reason why his heart could not find peace for so long.
He never imagined that his teacher was so secretive, having hidden the fact that someone had successfully inherited Wood Release from him.
And to entrust it to him so confidently, for a moment he even thought that Hiruzen Sarutobi had approved of his human experiments, otherwise where would the Wood Release inheritor come from?
However, he immediately dismissed the idea, knowing that Old Man Sarutobi, with his personality, would absolutely not agree to it.
The appearance of Wood Release was probably just an accident.
It has to be said that Orochimaru's guess was spot on. The appearance of Wood Release was truly an accident. If Kōki hadn't traveled through time, this person would never have appeared in the Shinobi World.
It can only be said that all of this is fate.
However, Orochimaru was wrong about one thing: the appearance of Wood Release had nothing to do with Hiruzen Sarutobi. The user of Wood Release was actually created by Orochimaru himself, but Hiruzen Sarutobi did not write this information into the intelligence report.
Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't want Orochimaru and Kōki to have too much contact, and in fact, he originally didn't want to tell Orochimaru about Wood Release.
However, Hiruzen Sarutobi had no choice. He was considering that the information about his Wood Release had been exposed, and there might be situations on the battlefield where Kōki's help was needed. So, to facilitate Orochimaru's decision-making, he told him about Kōki's situation.
Kōki Itō
Orochimaru looked at the names on the intelligence report, along with the details about Kōki's strength and talent, his curiosity grew.
"I really can't wait a moment longer, Kōki- kun."
At this moment, Kōki was unaware that Orochimaru had already set his sights on him. He was still in the yakiniku restaurant, enjoying juicy and tender grilled meat with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
" Kōki, do you know? I was originally planning to ask to leave the Anbu after this mission." Nara Yūsuke's sudden words interrupted their lively atmosphere.
"Why, Yūsuke- senpai?" Kōki, who was eating grilled meat, almost choked on Nara Yūsuke's words. "Did I do something wrong?"
Kōki clearly sensed that Nara Yūsuke's reasons for wanting to leave the Anbu were definitely justified.
"No, it's not your problem, it's the problem of me, Kenji, and Tsuyoshi. Our repeated mistakes during missions show that our mindset is no longer suited for Anbu work. Forcing ourselves to continue will only make things worse, and in severe cases, we might even die in future missions."
Nara Yūsuke's expression was somewhat helpless as he spoke. As the squad leader and commander, he clearly sensed that Kenji and Tsuyoshi had become dismissive of the Anbu's mission, and he himself shared the same sentiment.
Since Kōki joined the team, missions have become much easier to complete. Kōki handles most of the tasks while the others observe.
This is what changed their mindset, making them feel that the tasks of the Anbu were nothing special.
He hadn't realized it until this serious mistake occurred, and then he woke up to the fact that if he and the other two continued to team up with Kōki, problems would inevitably arise sooner or later.
That's why I had the idea of leaving the Anbu.
Of course, he wasn't blaming Kōki; he was just blaming himself. He wanted to follow behind Kōki, but he didn't want the three of them to be a burden to Kōki. In his opinion, Kōki could do more and better without the three of them.
Nara Yūsuke's words also silenced Yamanaka Kenji and Akimichi Tsuyoshi who were standing beside him.
Compared to Nara Yūsuke's mindset, the other two are the ones who truly need to reflect on their actions.