Cloud Shinobi Border
"Interesting."
Orochimaru lowered the message and glanced at the shinobi standing before him.
His tongue slipped out briefly, thin and snake-like, tasting the air.
"Orochimaru-sama," the shinobi said carefully.
"Danzo-sama is waiting for your reply."
He bowed and left without another word.
Orochimaru looked back at the message.
Danzo wanted him to begin research on the First Hokage's cells.
In return, he was offering forbidden jutsu—and the preserved body of a first-generation, for deeper study of the first Hokage's bloodline.
Finally…The body of the First Hokage.
An opportunity he had waited for far too long.
Immortality, Orochimaru thought, a thin smile forming.
But another line caught his attention.
He was about to be relieved of command at the Cloud border.
Someone else would take his place.
Orochimaru chuckled softly.
"So the games continue, Sensei," he murmured. "As if these games ever mattered to me."
He had already gained more than enough here.
The chaos he caused in the Cloud camp—releasing the Eight-Tails from its jinchūriki and severing one of its tails—
had forced the Cloud army into caution.
It had slowed them, unsettled them… and spread his name far and wide.
Effective.
Too effective, it seemed.
From the look of things, his success had begun to trouble certain people.
"Well… I've gathered enough experimental material for now."
Orochimaru's voice was calm, almost casual.
He turned toward the door as it slid open, already aware of the chakra approaching.
Two figures stepped inside.
"Orochimaru-sama," Minato said, stopping a few steps in.
"Hokage-sama asked me to deliver this to you."
He held out the message.
Orochimaru took a moment before accepting it.
His eyes lingered on Minato's face, studying him.
His lips curved slightly, and his tongue slipped out for a brief second, thin and snake-like.
Minato felt it immediately.
A chill crawled down his spine, sharp and sudden.
He kept his posture straight, forcing himself not to react.
Yūhi Shinku noticed it as well.
When Orochimaru's gaze shifted to him, an old, familiar discomfort settled in, but Shinku had been a shinobi long enough to hide it.
His expression remained calm, controlled.
"Shinku," Orochimaru said, sounding mildly amused.
"So even a genjutsu specialist like you has come all the way to the border."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"I was beginning to wonder where someone like you had disappeared to."
Seeing his former classmate here was unexpected.
A man of Shinku's calibre usually remained close to the Hokage.
Shinku met his gaze without flinching.
"I go where the village needs me," he said.
Then he smiled—
genuine, restrained—
and gave a small nod.
"Oho," Orochimaru hummed, finally turning back to Minato.
"And little Minato now delivers intelligence and orders himself."
He accepted the letter and let out a quiet sigh as he opened it.
"At least you're more useful than your sensei," he added lazily.
"That space-time jutsu of yours has its advantages."
Minato let out an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I'll… take that as a compliment," he said,
unsure.
Orochimaru skimmed the contents of the message.
Then stopped.
The amusement in his eyes faded for a brief moment.
This wasn't what he had expected.
Slowly, he lifted his gaze back to Minato.
Minato noticed the look and smiled faintly, a little stiff, understanding the reason.
"Well then," Orochimaru said, his smile returning—
different now.
Thinner.
Sharper.
"Congratulations, Minato."
"The youngest commander in Konoha's history."
He tilted his head slightly.
"Your sensei must be very proud."
As he spoke, his tongue slid out once more, tasting the air like a snake.
Minato looked at Orochimaru and felt something was… off.
He couldn't say what it was, only that the air around the man felt wrong.
Shinku, on the other hand, understood.
"There is an urgent need for you in the village, Orochimaru," he said.
"The Hokage-sama asked us to inform you."
Orochimaru turned to him, smiling.
"Well," he said lightly, "if you're here to guide Minato, then I'm not worried about the border."
He stepped closer and placed a hand on Minato's shoulder.
"Do your best, Minato," Orochimaru said softly. "Many people have high expectations of you."
The words were meant for Minato—
but Shinku heard them clearly.
His expression tightened, unease flickering in his eyes.
Minato, however, didn't catch the meaning behind them.
"Don't worry, Orochimaru-sama," he replied without hesitation. "I'll definitely do my best for the village."
He smiled—open and genuine.
Orochimaru looked at him.
For a moment, his expression froze.
That smile…
It reminded him of someone else.
He let out a quiet breath and turned away slightly.
"Yes," he said at last. "Do your best."
His mood had shifted, something uneasy settling beneath it.
He glanced at Shinku, gave a small nod, and stepped back.
"Well," Orochimaru added, already moving toward the exit, "I should collect some of my things first."
Minato and Shinku watched as Orochimaru departed.
There was still a faint smile on his face, as if something amused him deeply.
"Alright, Minato," Shinku said after a moment.
"Let's meet with the other units here and get familiar with the situation."
Minato was still looking in the direction Orochimaru had gone.
When he heard Shinku's voice, he nodded.
"Okay, senior."
Outside the tent, Orochimaru slowed and glanced back slightly, the smile on his lips widening.
"Hahaha… Sensei's youngest commander," he muttered to himself."What a fabulous title for someone so young."
He found the whole situation funny.
Amusing, even.
Konoha Village
Homura stood inside the storage room, looking over the supplies he had managed to purchase.
They're not even acting like shinobi anymore, he thought grimly.
Those Uchi—Mizuno shops are practically merchants now. They don't even care about authority.
After three full days, the supplies he had secured still fell short—
far short—
of what the Aburame clan alone had provided to the village.
Worse, when he tried to apply pressure using village authority, Gensai had pushed back with the daimyo's approval.
A threat, plain and simple.
"If this continues," Homura muttered, rubbing his temples, "it'll become difficult to maintain our image."
With a tired sigh, he turned and left the storage room.
Inside the Hokage's office
Tsunade was looking over a document when she noticed an urgent notice on the desk.
She reached for it—
—but Koharu picked it up first.
She glanced at the contents and calmly slid it into her sleeve.
Tsunade's eyes lifted slowly.
"Hey, old lady," she said, her voice rising slightly.
"If you want to keep secrets, it'd be better if I just left. Don't make me sit here for this."
Her tone drew the attention of both Hiruzen and Jiraiya.
"Tsunade," Koharu replied sharply, "you're here to look into the medical unit issues and the supply problems. Focus on that instead of wasting time."
"Oh, really?" Tsunade shot back.
"Why don't you just tell me to sit here like a puppet while you pull the strings?"
The room tensed.
Before it could escalate further, Hiruzen spoke.
"Enough," he said firmly.
"Tsunade, focus first on understanding how those healing pills work and what they contain."
That did it.
Tsunade stood up abruptly, her chair scraping the floor.
"Fine," she said coldly. "I'll test them myself. When I have results, you'll get the report."
Her gaze flicked to Hiruzen.
"If I stay here any longer, who knows whose authority I'll end up 'respecting.'"
She turned and stormed toward the door.
Bang.
The door slammed shut behind her.
"Tsuna—" Jiraiya started, then stopped.
He stared at the door, frustration written plainly on his face.
This had been happening for three days now.
If this keeps up, he thought grimly,
how are we supposed to unite the clans… when we can't even unite ourselves?
He glanced at Hiruzen, the weight of it settling in.
"Sensei," Jiraiya said, his voice lower now, serious.
"It can't go on like this. If we don't open up among ourselves and keep hiding things, nothing will move forward."
Hiruzen felt the same irritation, heavy and familiar.
He exhaled slowly, then turned his gaze to Koharu.
"What was that?" he asked.
Koharu hesitated for a moment.
Then she pulled the report from her sleeve and handed it to him.
"I didn't want her to see this," she said. "Not yet."
"She would've lost her temper without understanding the full picture."
Koharu sighed.
In truth, she had made things harder for Tsunade on purpose.
She knew Tsunade's nature too well—
quick to anger, slow to wait.
Hiruzen opened the report.
As his eyes moved down the page, his expression darkened.
Jiraiya watched the Third Hokage's face closely.
Something was wrong.
"What happened, sensei?" he asked quietly.
Hiruzen stayed silent for a moment, weighing the choice to tell or not.
Then, remembering Jiraiya's words from earlier, he let out a slow breath.
"The Uchiha have suffered heavy losses against the Mist shinobi," he said at last.
He took a long puff from his pipe before continuing.
"They're demanding reinforcements and supplies—immediately."
The smoke lingered between them.
"And they made it clear," Hiruzen added, "that this will be the last request."
"If the village's response isn't satisfactory, they've warned that Konoha will bear responsibility for whatever happens next."
Jiraiya's concern deepened.
Anything involving the Uchiha was never simple.
And when their warnings were ignored, the consequences were never small.
The village already knew that much.
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