In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.
Inside the main command tent of the Konoha encampment, Tsunade and Sakumo stood before Orochimaru, their faces set with quiet seriousness.
After finishing the scroll, Orochimaru silently passed it to Tsunade.
Once all three had read it, he asked in his familiar rough voice, "What are your thoughts?"
Sakumo exhaled deeply, his expression firm.
"The Third Hokage's judgment is correct.
For the past month, we've launched relentless assaults on the Suna camp.
Our forces have reached their limit.
If we continue pressing forward like this, our troops may break before Sunagakure does."
"I agree," Tsunade replied after a brief pause.
"This is enough.
Suna has received their warning."
Orochimaru almost objected.
His instincts urged him to say that it wasn't enough.
But when he looked at Tsunade's exhausted face, the words died before leaving his mouth.
He knew very well that he had pushed the limits this time.
War requires steady advancement, careful pressure, and minimal losses.
Especially when one holds the advantage, deliberate and methodical encroachment is the proper way forward.
This had been their strategy from the start.
Yet because Uchiha Hayashi had nearly lost his life, Orochimaru had abandoned the optimal plan.
As commander, he forced the troops into an aggressive assault against the Suna camp.
But war is not fought through impulse.
Although Sunagakure was disadvantaged, they still possessed significant strength.
As a result, even though Konoha had pushed the front lines forward considerably during the past month, their own casualties were heavy.
The Third Hokage's reprimand arrived quickly.
In truth, the Hokage had always viewed Orochimaru as calm, sharp, and calculating.
But when he read the battlefield report, an unexpected thought struck him.
Has Orochimaru always been this reckless?
Did I misjudge him?
Immediately afterward he dismissed the idea.
No… it must simply be youth.
Brilliant, but still impulsive.
Orochimaru understood his teacher well, perhaps better than most.
He knew he had let him down, yet he did not regret his decision.
Just as the Third Hokage admired Orochimaru's talent, Orochimaru admired the disruptive potential Hayashi had displayed.
But regardless of his personal conviction, the Hokage's command had already arrived, and neither Tsunade nor Sakumo would support further offensive action.
So after a quiet sigh, Orochimaru reluctantly nodded.
At that moment, a subtle sense of melancholy passed through him.
Ever since immersing himself in forbidden techniques, he had begun to perceive the vastness of the shinobi world and the enormity of time itself.
Compared to that endless horizon, what were shinobi?
What were the founders, the nations, even the Five Great Lands?
Just fleeting existences.
A single thought lit up in his mind, and his viewpoint shifted.
Mastering true knowledge is the only path.
Research is all that matters.
No family, no attachments, nothing but the pursuit of jutsu.
What was there to fear?
For a moment, the world inside him seemed to expand.
His thoughts quieted, becoming strangely serene.
A peaceful ninja path… not bad.
His eyes brightened slightly, as if some barrier inside him had lifted.
Just as Orochimaru drifted deeper into these revelations, Tsunade opened another report.
"According to the interrogation division, Suna's operation near the battlefield was planned beforehand.
Chiyo infused a special agent into her poison.
When their shinobi discovered Uchiha Hayashi's trail, they released a poisoned mist.
After he was exposed, they used ninja rats trained by the village to track him.
Anbu confirmed this information through a spy inside Suna."
Sakumo nodded calmly.
"It's not unexpected.
Eliminating a rising genius from an enemy village is something Konoha also does when necessary.
I simply did not expect Hayashi's talent to be that overwhelming.
The enemy he killed was a guard of the Third Kazekage.
In strength, that man was only a little weaker than the three of us here.
Yet he still died.
After this, Suna will likely abandon any plans to assassinate Hayashi."
His words carried both admiration and envy.
Sakumo had been considered a prodigy in his youth, praised by all.
Compared to his generation, he had stood above the rest.
But that was all.
Hayashi, however, was different.
He wasn't simply ahead of his peers; he was rapidly approaching the level of their entire generation.
A genius could be caught up to.
A monster could only be feared.
Sakumo could not help imagining the future.
What if my son inherits talent like that…?
No, even half of it would be enough.
Hatake Fifty-Fifty… that actually sounds good, he thought with an amused glint.
"Setting that aside," Tsunade cut in, "Suna has stabilized after a month.
The question is, where did they receive their supplies?"
Her fist hit the table with force after seeing that the two men were drifting off in thought.
A thin crack spread across the wood.
Sakumo cleared his throat.
"There's no chance the supplies came from the Land of Fire.
Anbu reports that the Uchiha clan intercepted the Suna forces attempting to reopen a transport route."
"And the result?" Tsunade asked.
"They were at a disadvantage," Sakumo said.
"The Uchiha have spent years performing village security duties, and their battlefield experience is lacking.
Their intelligence was leaked as well.
They took severe losses, but their numbers allowed them to eventually stabilize."
Tsunade frowned.
"Someone leaked the intel?"
Orochimaru gave a thin smile.
"The investigation shows it was done by merchants seeking profit."
But all three of them knew there were likely hidden influences behind that.
The Daimyo's court was not known for its transparency, and someone had "accidentally" omitted crucial information regarding Suna's movements.
Orochimaru did not suspect the Third Hokage directly, yet he understood something: in politics, scapegoats are never lacking.
Sakumo suddenly recalled something.
"The Third Raikage recently led Kumogakure forces in an assault on the Land of Earth."
Tsunade nodded.
"That's right.
Iwagakure suffered the heaviest losses in the Land of Rain.
Since Kumogakure barely participated in the earlier conflict, it makes sense for them to seize an opportunity now."
"But here lies the issue."
Sakumo folded his arms.
"Even though Iwa suffered heavy losses, and even though many of their forces in the Land of Rain were wiped out, Kumogakure has gained almost no advantage.
According to intel, the situation is being held together only by Iwa's remaining troops."
"Did they deploy the Four-Tails?" Tsunade asked.
"Impossible," Sakumo replied.
"When I intercepted Roshi, the Four-Tails' influence had nearly destroyed his body.
He must be recovering.
I suspect Iwagakure and Sunagakure have formed an alliance."
Tsunade considered it.
"It's plausible.
They coordinated in the Land of Rain, and their countries share a border.
Iwa could easily exchange food for Suna's poisons and mechanical weapons."
Sunagakure excelled in puppet engineering.
Although their technology was not on the level of the chakra cannon Kumogakure would one day use to fire at the moon, their devices were still powerful tools on the battlefield.
Otherwise, a land as barren as Wind Country could never claim to be the second-strongest military force.
Their strength was genuine.
People often mocked Sunagakure for losing the First, Second, and Third Shinobi World Wars, yet they never considered whom Suna had stood against each time.
Konoha.
The unchallenged giant of the shinobi world.
Sunagakure wasn't weak.
Their opponents were simply monsters.
And that was no crime.
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