Naruto: Kushina's Redemption, My Revenge

Chinya stood at the front of the group, emotionless as he watched the Cloud Ninja forces who had split into two teams.

It had already been five days since they requested reinforcements from Konoha.

Considering the distance between Konoha and the Land of Hot Water, plus the time needed to organize relief ninjas, aid wouldn't arrive for at least another thirty-six hours.

Therefore, Chinya's current mission was to withstand pressure from the Cloud Ninjas for these 36 hours and defend at least part of the frontline.

Jiraiya, standing at the back of the team, sighed, "He really takes after you. Your student has real potential, but his personality is too cold. We're all comrades, so why must he speak so harshly?"

Orochimaru countered, "As a leader, one mustn't differentiate based on friendship but according to rank—only then can Chinya remain unaffected by external influences and make precise judgments.

His way is actually the most effective. First set clear rules, then make sure everyone follows orders exactly. Without that, everything falls apart and you can't lead an army."

Orochimaru glanced sideways at Jiraiya, "You get too emotionally involved on the battlefield, which constantly holds you back. Sometimes you must abandon certain things when necessary, or greater losses will follow."

Jiraiya sighed again, "That's exactly why I'm not suited to be a commander. Anyway, this kid Chinya acts so indifferent toward everyone—it won't work well long-term. If only he got along better with Minato... Otherwise, I'd really hope those two could become teammates. Ah, what a pity.

Though thinking about it, we didn't exactly see eye to eye in the beginning either at first, but eventually became best friends. Orochimaru, don't you think Chinya and Minato might develop a bond like ours?"

Orochimaru gave Jiraiya a long look but said nothing.

Jiraiya asked confusedly, "Why are you staring at me like that? Wasn't what I said right? Isn't it possible that Chinya and Minato might also become close friends through this war, just like us?"

Orochimaru turned his head away, "Believe whatever you wish."

Jiraiya felt slightly confused by Orochimaru's reaction.

Crossing his arms, Orochimaru kept watching Chinya ahead while thoughts swirled in his mind.

Now he had long abandoned conventional ethics; his sole goal now was immortality and mastering every ninja technique in the Shinobi World.

Similarly, Chinya had only one goal—Kushina Uzumaki.

Both he and Chinya would go to any lengths to achieve their goals.

Deep inside, Orochimaru knew full well that even though he was Chinya's teacher, if Kushina Uzumaki were involved, Chinya would hesitate not one bit before regarding him as an enemy.

The same went for him—if Chinya ever got in the way of his pursuit of immortality, Orochimaru would likewise treat Chinya as his enemy.

A snake appeared at Orochimaru's feet, reporting details about the Cloud Ninja forces.

Orochimaru nodded towards Chinya.

Understanding immediately, Chinya announced, "Everyone, follow me!"

Chinya led the Konoha ninjas into retreat.

Fifty Cloud Ninja had already begun advancing toward the Konoha Camp.

They advanced cautiously — setting traps around campsites was standard practice for all ninja camps.

Sure enough, they discovered traps during their advance.

Just as they finished disarming the first trap and were about to move on, a sudden cry of alarm rang out from within the ranks.

"It's a second layer! Watch o—"

Before the word could finish, the hidden secondary trap was triggered.

In an instant, explosions erupted one after another. At the same time, a hail of shuriken flew into the Cloud Ninja ranks along with the blast winds.

Cloud Ninja with fast reflexes quickly dodged.

Those who reacted slowly either got injured or died.

Still, the traps only slowed them down — no real damage done.

But with this previous lesson learned, the Cloud Ninja became even more cautious. When checking for traps, they also carefully examined whether a secondary trap might be hidden.

It bought the Konoha shinobi some much-needed breathing room.

As the Cloud Ninja slowed down, Chinya and his team also needed to slow down.

After all, their goal wasn't just about fleeing.

A snake had been coiled around Chinya's arm the whole time. It delivered intelligence gathered by Orochimaru from behind enemy lines straight to him.

"Halt. Now, every ninja and Shadow Clone should set up traps right here. Anyone without Explosive Tags or enough ninja tools — make fake traps!"

After waiting a bit, Chinya got word the Cloud Ninja were closing in again and gave the order to fall back.

The chase wore on. Slowly, the Cloud Ninja closed the gap.

Orochimaru and Jiraiya had already spotted the Cloud Ninja hiding among the trees.

Standing on a tree trunk, Jiraiya rapidly formed hand seals.

[Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!]

Jiraiya converted his chakra into oil. As he spat out a mouthful of oil, he used Fire Release Ninjutsu to ignite it.

A massive fireball roared toward the Cloud Ninja.

The oil made it extremely difficult for those caught in the flames to extinguish them using normal methods.

At the same time, surrounded by forest, the fire grew stronger and successfully obstructed the Cloud Ninja's progress.

The Cloud Ninja commander also noticed Orochimaru and Jiraiya.

The commander's eyes narrowed.

Both Orochimaru and Jiraiya were present, which meant the current leader of the Konoha forces wasn't one of them.

Immediately, the Cloud commander ordered, "Divide two seven-man squads to flank both sides, circle around behind the Konoha ninja, and try to stop them! Meanwhile, request reinforcements from nearby allies!"

Two squads of Cloud Ninja immediately took detours around Orochimaru and Jiraiya before continuing the chase.

Chinya ignored the chaos behind him and kept directing his squad to retreat.

While retreating, Minato Namikaze accelerated and arrived beside Chinya to report, "Chinya, we've detected signs of Cloud Ninja on the right wing!"

"Can you confirm the numbers?"

"Not yet. We currently only have one Sensor Ninja here!"

Chinya furrowed his brow and said to Minato Namikaze, "You go back to the team first."

Minato had expected Chinya to act immediately. But much to his surprise, Chinya showed no sign of doing so.

Those Cloud Ninja were definitely planning to intercept them. Minato believed it would be better to strike first before the enemy made their move.

Before Minato could speak, Chinya cut him off, saying, "You yourself mentioned that we only have a single Sensor Ninja. We can't confirm the number of enemies right now. Acting rashly will put us at a disadvantage. Return to the team!"

"Yes."

Minato returned to the team.

Chinya activated the system and accessed the Redemption Shop.

Having too few Sensor Ninja was a serious weakness in their group. Sensing wasn't his specialty either, so he could only hope to find suitable sensing abilities in the Redemption Shop.

Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year! May this year bring you happiness, prosperity, success in every endeavor, great luck, growth in status, heavenly blessings—and above all—wealth beyond dreams!

Thank you all, my wonderful readers, for staying with me this past year. I hope you'll keep supporting me in the new year!

You guys mean the world to me!

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