Why did the Konoha shinobi support Orochimaru in resisting the Hokage's orders?
The reason wasn't complex; it was simply a matter of conflicting interests and raw emotion.
After years of grueling warfare, they had finally driven Sunagakure into a corner. Total victory—the utter destruction of the Hidden Sand—was within their grasp. For every ninja present, this was the pinnacle of glory and the promise of immense military merit.
Now, the Hokage had dispatched two unlikable advisors to initiate peace talks. With a few measly words, he expected them to abandon the spoils of war and the honor they had bled for. No one could accept that quietly.
Furthermore, thousands of Leaf ninjas had died at the hands of the Sand over the years. Every single shinobi currently in the Land of Wind carried a blood debt against Sunagakure. How were they supposed to reconcile years of mountain-high corpses and sea-deep hatred with a sudden handshake?
However, Hiruzen Sarutobi was the Hokage. During the reign of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, a series of administrative reforms had significantly consolidated the Hokage's power. As long as a Hokage hadn't been rendered a mere figurehead, it was nearly impossible for any ninja to defy a direct order.
This left the Jonin stifled, their hearts heavy with a resentment they didn't dare voice—until Orochimaru stepped up.
Orochimaru's defiance wasn't a frontal rebellion; he simply asked for forty-eight hours to "adjust." Every ninja, including Sakumo Hatake, immediately threw their full weight behind the delay. Orochimaru was the Hokage's disciple; if he took the lead, the Hokage's anger would likely be tempered. The rest of them wouldn't end up on a "blacklist" or face administrative petty-persecution once they returned home.
Once the general assembly of Jonin dispersed, the heavyweights of the army gathered to discuss the final two days of combat.
As the de facto commander and leader of the "protest," Orochimaru spoke first. "First, we must be realistic. It is impossible to take Sunagakure in forty-eight hours."
Sakumo, Kato Dan, and Tsunade all nodded. They had been besieging the village for four days, and the combat had been brutal. They could all feel it: Suna's resistance remained fierce, showing no signs of collapse.
It wouldn't fall in two days. It likely wouldn't fall in a month.
"Therefore, these two days are dedicated to one thing: maximum lethality. We must cripple Suna's remaining combat strength as much as humanly possible," Orochimaru said bluntly. "From this moment on, we maintain a relentless offensive—day and night."
Kato Dan looked concerned. "Continuous night attacks might be a problem for our ninjas. Last night's performance was subpar; the casualty ratio between us and the enemy was far too close for comfort."
"You needn't worry about that. Our shinobi won't be handling the night shift. I have someone far better suited for nocturnal warfare," Orochimaru said with a thin smile. "Isn't that right, Tokubetsu Jonin Aburame Tetsumaru?"
"Orochimaru-sama."
Tetsumaru slowly rose from the ground in the corner of the tent.
Facing four Kage-level powerhouses, he didn't dare pull any stunts like a Body Flicker or a flashy puff of smoke. If one of them mistook him for an assassin and reacted instinctively, he'd be lucky to survive the afternoon.
Specifically, he was terrified of Tsunade. She saved lives by the thousands and had a sterling reputation, but her name was equally synonymous with being impulsive, clumsy, and short-tempered. She was the queen of "unintentional friendly fire."
Once fully above ground, Tetsumaru bowed politely to the others. "Lady Tsunade, Lord Kato, Lord Hatake."
The three legendary ninjas looked at him with curiosity. They knew he was Orochimaru's first true confidant, having served him since the Land of Rain.
Lately, Tetsumaru's name had been causing a stir in Konoha's upper echelons. The reports of a single squad pinning down the Kazekage and a thousand-man army through relentless psychological harassment were nothing short of extraordinary. The fact that he had stood his ground against a Kage to cover his team's retreat and emerged unscathed had earned him the professional respect of every high-ranking officer.
With Orochimaru assigning Tetsumaru to the night shift, the others felt a sense of relief. This allowed the main force to rest and recover during the dark hours.
"Night combat... I assume your 'precious' bugs won't have an issue with that?" Orochimaru asked.
Tetsumaru smiled. "As long as the sun isn't out, the swarm has no complaints."
"And the numbers?"
"I have enough for two nights of total attrition. Please, rest easy."
Orochimaru nodded, satisfied. "I know your preparations are extensive. Go and get started."
"Yes, sir. I'll take my leave." Tetsumaru bowed and departed.
Orochimaru resumed the briefing. "We begin the assault immediately. Dan, you take the first wave. Suna's initial counter-fire will be intense, so don't push too hard at the start."
"I understand. I'll keep the pressure steady," Kato Dan replied.
"The second wave will be led by Sakumo-senpai..."
Tetsumaru was listening to the briefing with rapt attention via his bugs when a hand suddenly clapped onto his shoulder. He jumped, his skin crawling with a sudden jolt of electricity. He nearly unleashed a counter-attack on instinct.
"You've improved quite a bit, kid. I didn't spot you until you were practically inside the tent."
Tetsumaru immediately suppressed his half-formed jutsu. It was Orochimaru—or rather, a Shadow Clone.
No wonder he hadn't detected him until the physical contact. A Shadow Clone was essentially a solid phantom; it lacked biological signals, scent, or body heat, and its movements were nearly silent. Unless he was looking directly at it, even a sensory ninja would struggle to detect a Shadow Clone that held no killing intent.
"Orochimaru-sama... did you have more orders?"
"No. I simply figured you had questions for me, so I came to answer them."
Even as a clone, Orochimaru habitually licked his lips. Tetsumaru was long past being unnerved by the gesture.
Tetsumaru nodded and got straight to the point. "I was under the impression you were going to besiege Sunagakure for a month or two—wait until those desert-dwellers were starving before moving in. Why the sudden shift to a frontal assault? What happened?"
Orochimaru sighed. "Konoha is under attack. I no longer have the luxury of a two-month siege."
Tetsumaru was stunned. "Konoha was attacked? By who?"
The Iwa? No.The Kumo? Unlikely.The Kiri? What am I even thinking?
To his surprise, Orochimaru shook his head. "We don't know yet. The attackers are ninjas capable of flight. They're incredibly troublesome; we haven't caught a single prisoner, and we haven't even recovered a body."
Flying ninjas... That made them a nightmare to deal with. In the shinobi world, anything that could fly was a massive problem—look at the Tsuchikage or the Kazekage.
But aside from those Kage, there were very few "standard" flying ninjas... unless you counted the ones that used mechanical gear.
Wait, I remember this. There are two minor villages that utilize standardized flight equipment: the Snow Ninja and the Sky Ninja. Both were from the theatrical movies.
Tetsumaru quickly ruled out the Snow Ninja. He remembered clearly that their "Chakra Armor" wasn't developed until after the Third Great Ninja War.
That meant Konoha was likely being attacked by the Sky Ninja.
Man, just when we were about to win, a side-plot pops up. I guess Sunagakure really isn't fated to fall.
Still, that was a problem for later. He had to deal with the Sand in front of him first.
"Orochimaru-sama, I'll go gather the swarm. I'll be back by sunset."
"Go. And don't be stingy this time. We must inflict enough damage in forty-eight hours to force the Kazekage to the table on our terms. If we can't break them now, we won't be able to retreat safely from the Land of Wind. That would be a catastrophe."
"I understand. If we don't break their spirit, they'll never give up. Negotiation and retreat would both be impossible dreams, and it would only bolster Suna's morale."
Orochimaru nodded. "Talking to you is always efficient. Get moving."
The Shadow Clone dispelled into a puff of white smoke.
Tetsumaru still had over thirty million insects in the Land of Rivers. Since finding the Giant Ants a few days ago, he had ordered the Broodmothers to stop producing the larger units, so the numbers hadn't increased.
Technically, thirty million was far too many. Officially, he only claimed to have ten million. He could argue that the hatching rate was thirty percent higher than expected—thirteen million bugs.
How many would be left after fighting the Kazekage? Eight million? He certainly couldn't claim nine million.
The point was, he couldn't bring thirty million bugs into the Land of Wind. At most, he'd bring twelve million and hide the rest, "replenishing" his numbers mid-battle when no one was looking.
The desert march during the day took a heavy toll on the swarm. The Poison-Sting Beetles, who had to travel on foot, suffered a thirty-percent mortality rate from dehydration under the brutal sun.
By dusk, Tetsumaru finally returned to the outskirts of Sunagakure. He was followed by 2.4 million Flight-Locusts; the massive swarm of beetles was still lagging behind on the dunes.
2.4 million locusts were more than enough. Tetsumaru took over the offensive duties, and a black cloud of insects descended upon the walls of Suna and the narrow entrance of "The Gap."
The deafening buzz of millions of wings was enough to make one's ears ache, but it couldn't drown out the terrified screams of the Suna defenders.
"Bugs! It's the bugs!"
"It's that Konoha ninja! Defensive formations, now!"
The panic was so palpable that it immediately drew the attention of the Kazekage and Chiyo. Sheets of Iron Sand and clouds of toxic gas began to sweep through the air, swatting locusts by the thousands.
Watching from the command post, Orochimaru, Sakumo, Dan, and Tsunade all turned to look at Tetsumaru. The kid certainly knew how to make an entrance.
But even two Kage-level masters were only two people. They couldn't be everywhere at once. Massive swarms of locusts bypassed the defensive lines, pouring into the village and sowing chaos in the streets.
As the locust corpses began to carpet the ground, Tetsumaru performed a Summoning, releasing thousands of Landmine Insects. Using the carpet of dead locusts as cover, the mines began to crawl into the village, embedding themselves into the earth.
An hour and a half later, the walls and the interior of the village began to rumble with explosions that were distinctly different from explosive tags. The frequency and density of the blasts increased by the minute.
Finally, the Sand had enough. They released a massive, localized cloud of lethal poison. The green fog blanketed the entire length of the wall, killing every insect within the mist and ending Tetsumaru's first wave.
"Alright, my turn to show off," Tsunade said, stepping forward. She cracked her knuckles with a series of sharp pops. "Let's see just how much weight my name carries among these Sand ninjas."
Orochimaru just smirked and said nothing. He was long past trying to stop her. She was Tsunade-hime; as long as she wasn't sabotaging the plan or throwing her life away, not even the Third Hokage could tell her no.
"My apologies, Commander Orochimaru," Kato Dan said with a gentle, sheepish smile.
Sakumo Hatake laughed. "No need for apologies, Dan. To be honest, I'm curious myself—I want to see if my name still has any sting left in it."
Kato Dan rubbed the back of his head. "Actually... I was thinking the same thing."
Orochimaru let out a dry laugh. He was curious, too. He didn't want to believe that he, the Great Orochimaru, would be outshone by his own subordinate in a "fame" contest.
The four masters decided to take turns joining the fray, gauging their reputation by the volume of screams they could trigger.
Tetsumaru was busy managing the swarm when he noticed the four Kage-level ninjas taking turns launching solo raids. He looked over at the command post with a confused expression, wondering why they were suddenly acting like teenagers.
He was too focused on his tactical data to realize that the sheer, visceral panic he had caused among the Sand had triggered a competitive streak in the four legends. They had turned the "fear factor" into a game to break the monotony of the war.
The results were unexpected. Even Orochimaru riding Manda or Tsunade summoning Katsuyu didn't trigger the level of hysterical shrieking that Tetsumaru's first wave had. As for Kato Dan, he flickered across the wall and back, and—to his slight embarrassment—it seemed half the Sand ninjas didn't even recognize him.
Then came Sakumo Hatake.
He appeared on the wall without a sound. The moment he landed, a flash of white light cleaved through a Suna Jonin, and the entire section of the wall seemed to erupt in a collective gasp of horror.
"White Fang! It's the White Fang!"
"The White Light is here! Run for your lives!"
"Where is Lady Chiyo? Where is the Kazekage!?"
The Suna defenders fell into a state of pure, unadulterated terror. Some wailed in despair, others begged for mercy, and the rest simply bolted in the opposite direction. A few younger, hot-headed ninjas tried to charge him, but they were trampled in the rush of people trying to get away. The panic was so total that some Suna ninjas were actually pushed off the cliffs by their own retreating allies.
The Sand were broken by a name alone. They couldn't even organize a counter-volley.
"Tch. Sakumo-senpai is in a league of his own. There's no competing with that," Tsunade sighed, sounding genuinely impressed.
Kato Dan looked at Sakumo with admiration. His Spirit Transformation Technique was a masterpiece of assassination, but it wasn't built for frontal psychological dominance. He was a support master at heart, but like every support, he secretly yearned for that level of "carry" energy.
Orochimaru didn't linger on the result. It was just a brief diversion. Once the "contest" was over, he immediately went back to his maps.
He was focused on the casualty count and whether he needed to adjust the final dawn offensive. Tetsumaru's swarm had been significantly more effective than he'd anticipated.
He blamed Tetsumaru's reports. The kid always used the most dry, clinical language to describe his results, devoid of any hyperbole. It had caused Orochimaru to underestimate the sheer psychological impact of a "Zerg" invasion.
He had a plan to refine. He had forty-four hours left to break a nation.
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