123, are you doing this on purpose?

At noon, with the sun high in the sky, the jungle lost its earlier coolness and became humid and stifling.

After a half-day of relentless travel, Orochimaru and his group pressed on without pause until they finally reached a stronghold on the border of the Land of Fire.

Despite all being elite ninja with physical prowess far surpassing ordinary people, the continuous battles and marching left them deeply fatigued.

When the messenger ninja returned, Shisui and the others entered the fortress. After arranging treatment for the wounded, they eagerly sought out rooms to rest.

As the commander, Orochimaru could not afford such ease; he had urgent matters to attend to.

Pushing open the door, he entered the meeting room where two advisors to the Hokage were already seated behind a long table, apparently wondering the reason for his sudden arrival.

Orochimaru spoke first, bluntly stating, “Immediately establish communication with the village. I have urgent business to discuss with the old man.”

Tsunade’s voice caught in her throat, nearly choking her as she was quickly escorted away.

Yet she knew well that Orochimaru was not one to joke about such matters. Her face clouded with frustration as she muttered, “Follow me.”

Hotomono Homura trailed behind, curious about the urgent matter Orochimaru mentioned.

The two were responsible for negotiating peace with the Hidden Cloud Village, but those talks had long since stalled, leaving them with ample time and little to do.

As the three left the meeting room, a ninja from the intelligence division hurried over. Seeing them, he quickly reported, “Elders, just now we received news that the Hidden Rock Village has launched an attack on the Hidden Cloud Village. Over a thousand ninja have directly stormed the Land of Lightning...”

“What?”

Hotomono Homura gripped the ninja’s shoulder so firmly that the man cried out in pain. “Is this true? How could it happen so suddenly?”

“Absolutely true!”

The intelligence ninja’s eyes widened as he spoke urgently. “The Hokage is already awaiting the two elders.”

“Good. Take me there immediately.”

Hotomono Homura released the ninja’s shoulder and urged him onward, but Orochimaru chuckled softly.

“The Hidden Rock Village has already struck? Their speed is quite impressive.”

Under their watchful gazes, Orochimaru licked his lips and smiled, “This is perfect. What I need to discuss with the old man is related to this very matter.”

The two Hokage advisors exchanged a glance, then silently followed the intelligence ninja toward the base.

...

Behind the screen, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, puffed on his pipe, exhaling smoke from the corner of his mouth. “So this is the situation. What are your thoughts?”

“This is a great opportunity,” Tsunade said. Having learned from Orochimaru that the Land of Lightning had redeployed forces en masse to the Hidden Rock battleground, her eyes gleamed with determination. Unlike the cautious and hesitant stance the Hidden Cloud Village had taken, she advocated for a decisive strike to wipe out the entire Hidden Cloud Village.

Of course, her confidence was bolstered by the presence of both Orochimaru and herself here.

Hiruzen said nothing, contemplating briefly before turning to Orochimaru to hear his opinion.

“I oppose this,” Orochimaru said with a smile, though he did not mention the gentleman’s agreement he had with Killer Bee.

Such a revelation would be difficult to explain, especially why Killer Bee would choose to trust him, considering he could not reveal how he once spared the Fourth Raikage. Moreover, those present were all cunning individuals who would dismiss such things. To them, village relations were matters of timing and advantage.

Tsunade looked at Orochimaru in astonishment, never expecting his opposition. Given his usual demeanor, one would expect him to be far more aggressive.

Damn Orochimaru—why does he always go against what I want? Is he doing this on purpose?

Orochimaru paid no heed to Tsunade’s glare and continued, “If I were to strike alongside Tsunade, it might be possible to destroy half the Land of Lightning. But then what? Does the village currently possess the strength to occupy the Land of Lightning?”

Hotomono Homura and Tsunade frowned.

After the Nine-Tails’ rampage, the ninja of mid and upper ranks had suffered heavy losses. Not to mention dispatching troops to the Land of Lightning, even the core territories of the Land of Fire could not be fully secured, with many demons and bandits emerging and countless bounties piling up in the mission center.

Under such circumstances, continuing the war would yield little actual benefit and could even bring significant drawbacks.

But such a golden opportunity—should it just be allowed to slip away?

“Don’t push the Hidden Cloud Village too hard,” Orochimaru warned, casting a glance at the two. “Unless you can wipe them out completely, remember they still have two Tailed Beasts—both controlled by Jinchuriki. Aren’t you worried they might bring the Hidden Leaf down with them?”

The two Hokage advisors shuddered, recalling the devastation the Nine-Tails’ rampage had wrought upon the Hidden Leaf.

“In any case, after this battle, the Hidden Rock Village will likely be severely damaged, and the Hidden Cloud Village won’t fare much better,” Orochimaru went on. “We only need to continue recuperating. The Hidden Leaf’s potential far surpasses that of those two villages.”

“...”

Faced with these mounting crises and doubts, the two advisors were left speechless, their heads spinning, unsure of what to say.

It wasn’t that Orochimaru’s reasoning was particularly sound, but these concerns and risks had always been there, now simply laid bare once more.

To be fair, although Tsunade and Hotomono Homura disliked Orochimaru’s methods, they had great faith in his personal abilities.

His active role in major events had proven this beyond question.

Their plan to attack the Hidden Cloud Village had been proposed with the hope that Orochimaru would refine the details and secure the greatest benefit for the village.

But Orochimaru had no time to entertain such thoughts. His visit was solely to quash any possibility of the two advisors sending troops to the Hidden Cloud.

While taking advantage of the situation to strike at the Hidden Cloud or Hidden Rock villages was acceptable, wasting time on endless warfare was utterly impossible.

Yet, he regarded the Hidden Leaf as a nursery; if these two old men acted recklessly and dragged the village into war, he could not simply stand by and watch as precious seedlings were destroyed.

“Orochimaru, you really have changed,” the Third Hokage remarked on the other side of the screen with a hint of emotion.

He wasn’t fully convinced by Orochimaru’s words but recognized no difference in his actual conduct. If a swift, decisive strike was to be made, Orochimaru was undoubtedly the best commander among the nearby ninja.

Yet he was the one who advocated watching from the sidelines.

“Heh, I’ve never cared much for these conflicts,” Orochimaru said earnestly. In truth, these were his genuine feelings.

Tsunade and Hotomono Homura, however, found it hard to believe, their lips twitching as if barely suppressing laughter.