"Which one should I choose?!"
Tsunade fell silent.
Only after a long moment did she open her eyes and look at Orochimaru.
"So, it seems you've made your decision," Orochimaru said with a bitter smile, lowering his head.
But instead of a reply—
Tsunade's fist hit him square in the face.
The sudden impact sent Orochimaru slamming sideways, his cheek rippling from the blow like water.
"Wha—?!"
Clutching his face with one hand and propping himself up with the other, Orochimaru stared at her in utter confusion.
"You idiot, what the hell were you imagining?!"
Tsunade jabbed a finger at him. "Listen carefully."
"I am a shinobi of the Senju of Konoha!"
"I will never betray the village my grandfather built!"
"And I will never abandon my comrades!"
"So shut your mouth and just watch me!"
Orochimaru stared at her blankly. It was unclear whether he was stunned from the punch—or stunned from her declaration. He didn't move for several seconds.
Then—
"Hahaha…"
He suddenly burst out laughing.
"Truly… I thought only Jiraiya would say something like that. Never imagined those words would come from you."
"Hahaha…"
"What, you want another beating?" Tsunade lifted her fist again.
"All right, all right. Still… I never thought I'd take a punch from you. Other than enemies, I thought only Jiraiya had the honor."
Orochimaru rubbed his distorted cheek; the pain radiating from the cheekbone helped clear his previously sluggish mind.
He knew perfectly well that Tsunade was venting the anger she couldn't unleash on those two Ame shinobi.
He just happened to be the unlucky target.
By now Tsunade had calmed down again. She looked at him seriously.
"Listen carefully. As long as I can still act, I won't let any of my comrades die in front of me."
Orochimaru also dropped his usual indifference.
"Have you really thought this through? Just earlier, you were about to bite your tongue and die rather than be taken prisoner. Is this really worth it?"
"I won't betray my own heart."
Hearing her answer, Orochimaru closed his eyes and sat silently against the wall.
"Your own heart, hm…"
He murmured inwardly.
Tsunade, too, released her anger and sat down to regulate her breathing.
The vast stone prison fell into complete silence…
---
Land of Fire — On the Road
Sarutobi Hiruzen was still racing toward the front lines when a piercing hawk cry drew his attention.
"That is—"
With a burst of chakra, Hiruzen accelerated.
High above, the hawk sensed him and immediately descended.
"An intelligence message from the front? Has something gone wrong?"
The hawk landed on his wrist. Hiruzen removed the message tube and opened it.
"Lord Hokage," his four ANBU escorts called as they caught up.
"Is there a new development?"
Hiruzen read the message—
—and his heart tightened.
"Things have developed in the worst possible direction."
He quickly added a few lines with his brush, tied the note back to the hawk's leg, and released it. The hawk circled the sky once, then sped off toward the border.
Looking at the fading sunset, Hiruzen said to his team:
"Recover your strength for a moment. Then we move at full speed. We reach the front in one push."
"Yes!"
The four ANBU replied, stopping immediately to chew down soldier pills.
They had already been running at top speed for an entire day, and the border was still nearly another day away.
"Jiraiya… please hold on!"
---
Land of Rivers
In the River Country, Hattori Murakami had just regrouped with several Ame shinobi.
"Well? Any results?"
"Hattori-senpai," one reported, "I searched the eastern region. It's all mountain forest, but it doesn't match the terrain described in the intel. No similar location found."
"I checked the south—same result. Nothing matches."
"We came down from the north," another added. "Still no leads."
Hattori nodded. "Then we split into two units. Three of you come with me toward the Wind Country border. The other five head toward the Fire Country border. Keep your movements concealed."
"Disperse."
They were just about to leave when an Ame shinobi suddenly halted.
"Wait—I sense chakra from the mountain. Someone's coming."
"Oh? He's finally catching up?"
When they entered the Land of Rivers earlier, they had encountered Konoha pursuing Suna shinobi, so they had sent Yamanaka back to report.
"It's been several days. Why's he only showing up now?"
"We split up back then. He probably couldn't find us until he received the regroup signal."
Moments later, a figure descended in front of them.
"Yamanaka! Where have you been? Why are you only arriving now?"
Yamanaka didn't waste a second.
"Hattori-dono, seniors—I've made a discovery."
"Oh?"
"It's like this," Yamanaka explained.
"After reporting the intel, I rushed after you, but everyone had already dispersed. I didn't know which direction the search continued, and I didn't want to waste time. So I headed straight toward the area near the Wind Country border."
"In the southwest of the Land of Rivers—I found the target."
"There's a village nearby. I disguised myself as a wandering swordsman and asked around. They told me there is a location very similar to the one in our intel."
"Although the area is near the coast and still has some humidity, there is a massive stretch of barren mountain terrain… and endless stone pillars."
"I searched the area for half a day and finally found a hidden cavern. At first I thought it was natural, but the deeper I went, the larger it became. I started noticing unusual features—columns and stones that were too regular in shape."
"And some structures—I couldn't tell whether they were ruins or natural formations. They looked half man-made, half created by years of erosion."
He pulled several sheets from his pouch.
"I sketched what I could see. Because lighting was poor, I didn't draw much of the deeper parts, but the outlines are clear enough. This is also a route map."
"Considering the time, I didn't dare venture too deep. I rushed back for the regroup."
Hattori Murakami examined the drawings carefully and nodded.
"Excellent. If this is correct, this should be exactly the place Lord Hanzō wants us to find."
"I thought this mission would take a month… but we've solved it in less than a week."
He handed the drawings to another Ame shinobi.
"Original plan canceled. We split into two groups."
"I'll go verify the site with Yamanaka. The rest of you take these documents directly to Lord Hanzō. Not a single mistake is allowed. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
The Ame shinobi of the Land of Rivers dispersed immediately, vanishing from sight within seconds.