Naruto: Hyuga Warlord

"Deploy for battle? With what forces shall we deploy?"

In the Leaf's forward camp located in the Land of Rain, Orochimaru furiously tore the combat order sent from Konoha into pieces, his rare display of emotional breakdown visible as he shouted loudly before his two teammates Jiraiya and Tsunade, as well as the Anbu messenger who had come to deliver information. "Has our teacher lost his mind? Doesn't he know the situation here at the front lines?"

"To send us out during such terrible weather conditions is practically sending my men out to die!"

"And also! I allowed my troops to return to the village for rest and recuperation with only good intentions. But after those exhausted warriors—already tired of war after serving more than two years—returned home, where is my subsequent reinforcement force?"

"You! Yes, you I'm talking to! Tell me! Where are my ninja forces?"

Orochimaru glared with his snake-like slit pupils, fixating menacingly on the visibly flustered Anbu messenger.

"Orochimaru-sama..."

The messenger inwardly groaned but didn't know how to respond.

Heavens above! He was just an Anbu directly under command, tasked solely with delivering sensitive official documents; how would he be privy to high-level military decisions?

But still, could he even dare say no?

Everyone in Konoha knew the Hokage's favored pupil, Orochimaru, had a legendary temper.

Though his status as an elite direct Anbu under the Hokage was prestigious, this only applied relatively speaking!

Moreover, this particular order he personally delivered came straight from the Hokage himself—who specifically designated Orochimaru as its recipient. Naturally, the politically astute Anbu understood exactly what this meant.

Similarly, the messenger realized intelligent Orochimaru must have already figured all this out, and thus, the current outrage and frustration he displayed could only mean one thing—the stationed ninja forces in the Land of Rain indeed faced some extremely severe practical difficulties.

Therefore, he too felt trapped by the confrontation.

"Speak up!"

A loud roar from Orochimaru startled the messenger back from his wandering thoughts. "Is the old man trying to get my men killed?"

"Orochimaru-sama, Tsunade, Jiraiya-san," the messenger quickly tried to explain, "please don't misunderstand! Lord Third truly has his reasons!"

"Elaborate!"

Until now silent, Tsunade folded her arms coldly and asked, "Just what is sensei thinking? Who convinced him to launch an attack against the Rain Ninja Village at a time like this?"

"This is December—the coldest period in the Land of Rain. The constant heavy rains are even colder than the frozen lands of the Land of Iron."

Jiraiya added sarcastically, "Of course, we're not blaming you messengers whose job is just to relay orders—we simply want to know who came up with this foolish idea!"

"Feel free to speak up! Our lips are sealed—we won't let anyone know you told us these things!"

"Right… Unless something goes wrong, the next Hokage will definitely come from one of us three,"

"Hmph! Hmph!"

That final pair of threatening snorts came from Orochimaru, causing the greatest chill yet in the messenger's spine.

Under White Fang's command, the Western Border Forces crossed the Land of Rivers and annihilated the majority of Sunagakure's border army in a single day.

But initially, the village hadn't expected White Fang to go this far and launch an offensive across the border.

Unable to wipe the sweat from his masked face, the messenger Anbu simply endured the discomfort and muttered softly, "That's why we also need to achieve some quick results on our campaign front in the Land of Rain."

"We want to ask you—who exactly came up with this idea! Don't you realize how difficult things are for our expeditionary forces in the Land of Rain right now!"

Jiraiya impatiently snapped, "Don't try to change the subject! What we want to know is who convinced our teacher to make this foolish move!"

The messenger Anbu didn't continue answering. Instead, he shook his head repeatedly, signaling that he dared not speak further.

Orochimaru's expression immediately darkened.

Tsunade thought for a moment and quickly understood the underlying cause behind all this.

"It's that same old power struggle game again, huh?"

Just thinking about such matters made Tsunade's mood extremely sour.

"Hmph!"

Unwilling to get involved in these annoying affairs any longer, Tsunade let out a cold snort and turned around, walking away directly.

"Hey, where are you going?"

Jiraiya bounced forward as if to follow her.

"Shin came by yesterday, and I'm going to find him right now! Don't bother me!"

Tsunade replied extremely impatiently.

Without stopping her pace, she walked straight out of the central war tent.

As if hit by a thunderclap, Jiraiya froze on the spot, stunned for quite some time.

He looked like a kicked puppy.

The messenger Anbu's inner gossip hound began howling.

"Shin?"

After a while, Jiraiya stammered as he turned toward Orochimaru and asked, "When did he come back? Wasn't he supposed to be on an ultra-classified mission? And why didn't I know about this!"

"You went drinking and soaking in hot springs yesterday. So it's perfectly normal you wouldn't know."

Orochimaru gave Jiraiya an exhausted look—his patience already tested from having to urgently drag him out of his pink distractions.

"Ahh—this!"

Jiraiya was instantly speechless with shock, almost wanting to slap himself.

"Oh right! Does she know about me going out for pleasure?"

Suddenly remembering something, Jiraiya hastily asked again.

"Do you think there's anyone in the entire expeditionary camp who doesn't know about your hobbies?"

Orochimaru responded rather impatiently.

Then he turned his attention away from Jiraiya, who was being annoying, and focused instead on the messenger Anbu watching everything unfold.

"Ah! Lord Orochimaru, please give your orders!"

Snapping out of his gossip-filled daze, the messenger Anbu immediately straightened up and declared with respect, "Your commands are our sacred mission!"

Orochimaru ignored both the eager-to-please messenger and the thoroughly dispirited Jiraiya, directly taking out a scroll and swiftly writing a secret message. Then he sealed it with a unique cursed seal before tossing it to the waiting Anbu ninja.

"Take this scroll back to the village and give it to Sensei."

Orochimaru spoke slowly, "If Headquarters decides to launch an offensive, we'll need the number of ninja forces and supplies specified in this scroll. Otherwise, any offensive action is unlikely to bear results."

"Huh!"

Jiraiya was immediately taken aback.

But then he figured, if Orochimaru had already brought it up with their sensei, they probably wouldn't be acting rashly. They must've worked everything out before even thinking about attacking the Rain Ninja Village. Knowing how the village bureaucracy worked, going back and forth for two or three rounds of discussions would probably take until January of Konoha Year 39 anyway. By then, the rain in the Land of Rain would start getting a bit lighter and not so icy. That might even work in Konoha's favor—it's tough for shinobi not used to constant dampness.

"At once!"

The Messenger Anbu practically sighed with relief, hurriedly tucking the encoded scroll away, respectfully bowing to Orochimaru, and then vanishing with the Body Flicker technique like someone fleeing for his life.

"Are we really going to start a war against the Rain Ninja Village?"

After the Messenger Anbu left, Jiraiya, who had seemed so drained earlier, now perked up again. "War's never been the best solution to anything."

"But it is the fastest!" Orochimaru interrupted his lecture directly. "Besides, the village sent us—and so many other ninja—here to fight nonstop for over two years. We can't just retreat empty-handed!"

"Especially—"

"Sakumo himself destroyed one of Sand's border armies!"

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