Check out advanced chapters on P@treon: [email protected]/CosmicKaminari
----------
The welcoming ceremony concluded, and the crowd gradually dispersed.
The daimyo, surrounded by the Hokage and other high-ranking Konoha officials, walked towards the Hokage building.
Orochimaru was left alone.
No one spoke to him, and he didn't care.
For him, such occasions were truly boring.
He turned and walked home.
His steps were unhurried, like a stroll in the twilight.
"Orochimaru!"
Just as he rounded the street corner, a voice called out to him.
His usually indifferent face immediately broke into his characteristic smile. "Hiruzen-sensei!"
"It's so late. Aren't you going to sleep, old man?"
"It's only just gotten dark..." Hiruzen looked at him and went straight to the point. "What kind of person is that daimyo?"
"Sensei!" Orochimaru chuckled. "Before asking that question, shouldn't you first ask me what I've been doing these past few days?"
Hiruzen took a puff from his pipe. "Would you tell me?"
"Hehehe..." Orochimaru's laugh was low and hoarse. "You haven't asked. How do you know I wouldn't tell you?"
Hiruzen fell silent.
He looked at the face before him, both familiar and strange, and only spoke again after a moment. "Come sit with me at my place."
As he spoke, his gaze involuntarily flickered towards the alleyway beside them.
It was empty.
"Don't look." Orochimaru's voice held a hint of mockery. "Those are the guards sent by the daimyo to protect me. They're very professional."
Hiruzen paused.
Guards that even Orochimaru acknowledged as professional... He silently withdrew his gaze, looked at Orochimaru, and asked again. "Are you coming?"
"Forget it." Orochimaru waved his hand in refusal. "I still have things to do."
Hiruzen didn't move, just staring at Orochimaru.
There was no questioning, no forcing, only a silent gaze.
The smile on Orochimaru's face faded slightly. "I really do have things to do."
Hiruzen remained silent, the embers in his pipe flickering on and off.
Orochimaru finally showed a hint of impatience.
He understood his sensei. This kind of silence meant he wouldn't give up until his goal was achieved.
He tugged at the corner of his mouth, sighing helplessly. "Alright, I'll tell you."
"Two things."
"First, to develop a vaccine capable of dealing with large-scale plagues."
"Second, to research a new method that can double food production."
He then added. "This daimyo is different from all the dignitaries we have ever met."
Having said that, he didn't linger, turning and leaving.
His figure gradually merged into the night, leaving only a sentence drifting back. "Smoke less, Sensei. Your wrinkles are getting more and more numerous."
Hiruzen stood rooted to the spot.
The evening breeze blew, rustling a few fallen leaves.
His pipe had gone out at some point.
Vaccine... increased food production... These two words left him in a daze for a long time.
In the Hokage's office, the lights were ablaze.
Over a dozen elite jonin-class shinobi gathered around a huge map, conversing in low voices.
The map was marked with dense intelligence points in different colors.
This place had clearly become a temporary war command center.
When Shin entered the office surrounded by everyone, all the busy shinobi stopped their work and uniformly stood up to salute.
"Daimyo-sama!"
"You all have worked hard. Please continue with your work." Shin waved his hand, his gaze sweeping across the entire room.
Minato followed closely, explaining on his own. "My lord, the jonin-class colleagues are working through the night to analyze the clues of the Kumogakure squad."
Shin nodded, his steps unceasing, walking directly towards one particular area.
There, a man with a pineapple-like hairstyle and a slightly weary expression was staring at a piece of intelligence on the table.
Shin walked up to him and casually picked up the scroll laid open before him.
Nara Shikaku suddenly looked up, and seeing it was the daimyo, he quickly stood up, hastily explaining. "Daimyo-sama, this is a compilation of all the tracking intelligence regarding that infiltrating Kumogakure squad."
Minato immediately added. "Jonin Shikaku was escorting supplies to the front line a few days ago, and as soon as he returned, he immediately threw himself into intelligence analysis work. He hasn't slept for two days."
Shin paused his movement of flipping through the scroll and glanced at Minato.
This young Fourth Hokage was using this method to demonstrate Konoha's diligence and dedication, proving that they had not been careless.
"You've worked hard."
Shin closed the scroll, stating calmly, acknowledging their diligence.
His gaze shifted from the intelligence, and he suddenly asked. "Are there any battle reports from the border?"
"Yes!" Minato immediately pulled out a scroll from a nearby stack and handed it over. "To ensure complete security, intelligence from the Land of Lightning border is now reported daily."
"These are the battle reports from the past half-month."
Shin took the battle report and unrolled it.
The scroll recorded the results of every small-scale conflict along the northeastern border of the Land of Fire over the past half-month.
A series of victories, defeats, minor victories.
The lines were filled with the joy of frequent good news.
From the battle reports, Konoha's border forces seemed to have completely suppressed Kumogakure's harassment units, fully demonstrating the strong reputation of the shinobi world's largest village.
Shin nodded approvingly, and just as he was about to offer a few words of praise, his movement suddenly stopped, and his gaze fixed on a certain part of the battle report.
Everyone noticed the change in the daimyo's expression, and the previously slightly relaxed atmosphere instantly became heavy.
Tapping the scroll, Shin looked at Minato. "This battle report begins recording from the day before the Kumogakure squad infiltrated."
"What about before that?"
"Uh..." Minato was stunned for a moment, instinctively explaining. "Previous battle reports have already been archived. These are the latest..."
"I'll go get them."
Before Minato could finish speaking, Nara Shikaku, who was nearby, took over.
He seemed to have realized something as well, and immediately walked towards the wall, where scrolls were piled up into a small mountain.
"Thank you for your trouble." Shin said.
"Jonin Shikaku, you've just returned from the front line." While Nara Shikaku was busy searching, Shin asked again. "How are things there?"
"Very troublesome." Nara Shikaku answered without turning. "Those Kumogakure guys are reckless. They fight like they have nothing to lose."
"We and they are basically evenly matched, neither side gaining a significant advantage, remaining in a stalemate..."
At this point, his voice abruptly stopped, and his movements froze.
Evenly matched... stalemate... He suddenly remembered that when he left the front line, the battle was clearly still in a deadlock.
But after returning to the village, the battle reports he saw were all victories!
Thinking of this, cold sweat trickled down Nara Shikaku's back.
He finally realized where the problem lay.
His movements were no longer calm. He frantically rummaged through a pile of scrolls almost violently, the rustling sound jarring.
This abnormal behavior made the surrounding jonin look at each other in confusion, not understanding why.
Finally, Nara Shikaku grabbed several old scrolls and quickly walked back, his hands trembling slightly.
Shin said nothing more, taking the scrolls and laying them out in a line, side by side with the report on the table.
Two battle reports, a clear timeline, a shocking dividing point.
The dividing point was precisely the date the Kumogakure infiltration squad entered the country!
Before this, both sides were fifty-fifty in wins and losses, confirming the stalemate.
After this, Konoha was red across the board, with frequent reports of victory.
Everyone who saw the comparison of these two battle reports fell silent, the color draining from their faces little by little.
They had been deceived!
The entire Konoha had been deceived by Kumogakure with a series of false victories!
"This... how could this be..."
Minato looked at the time dividing line, his body swayed, and his lips turned pale.
Shin slowly looked up, his eyes devoid of warmth.
"The answer is already very clear!" His voice was very soft, yet every word was distinct. "Kumogakure's main forces are not at the border at all."
"They..."
"...have already entered the Land of Fire by some method we don't know!"