For a moment, Shinichi even wondered whether he had somehow offended Orochimaru without realizing it.
Or perhaps his reputation as a genius was too loud, making Orochimaru think, "It would be a waste not to send someone this capable on the most dangerous mission?"
Before he could speak, Shinku Yuhi beside him had already urgently said, "Orochimaru-sama, perhaps I should—"
"Orochimaru-sama!"
Shinichi's calm voice interrupted Shinku Yuhi.
"I accept the order."
Shinku Yuhi was slightly stunned and turned to look at him, a boy who was in the same class as his daughter.
Shinichi did not look at him. He simply met Orochimaru's gaze, his expression calm.
Orochimaru stared at him for another two seconds, then laughed softly again.
"Hehe, very good."
"Then I'll leave it to you, Shinichi-kun. The detailed intelligence, maps, and operational plan will be provided to you later by the staff department. I hope you can perform just as excellently as you did on the southwestern battlefield, or even more impressively."
After speaking, he turned to Shinku Yuhi, whose face showed urgency.
"Shinku, no need to worry. You also have an important task. While Shinichi-kun carries out his operation, I need you to organize a medium-scale feint attack on the main front. The goal is to draw the main forces of the Village Hidden in the Cloud, creating as much time and chaos as possible for Shinichi-kun's actions behind enemy lines. The specific attack direction and intensity will be detailed to you by the staff department."
Shinku Yuhi was momentarily stunned, then composed himself and nodded solemnly: "Understood, Orochimaru-sama."
The crowd slowly withdrew, and the heavy tent curtain fell, isolating the inside from the outside.
Inside the command post, the low, busy murmur resumed.
Orochimaru walked back to his command desk, picked up a report, and began reading it. On it was clearly the information of the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Blue B.
"What a troublesome person."
Orochimaru licked his lips, his golden snake-like pupils narrowing slightly as his gaze slowly moved across the paper, his voice lowering.
"However... He seems to be someone with confusion, pain, and cracks in his heart. Perhaps he can be…"
His voice grew softer toward the end, so soft that no one else in the command tent could hear it.
"I need to plan this carefully."
Orochimaru put down the report and lightly tapped the desk twice with his fingertips.
"Simply cutting off one arm of the Village Hidden in the Cloud won't do. It would be more interesting if Village Hidden in the Cloud falls into chaos, hehe…"
Late at night, Land of Hot Water, in the Ashen Valley.
This was a remote valley far from the main road, surrounded by dense primeval forest, perpetually shrouded in the seemingly never-dispersing mist of the Land of Hot Water. The entire valley and the surrounding forest were enveloped in a vast expanse of white, damp haze.
At this moment, on the outskirts of Ashen Valley, deep within the forest also covered in thick fog, a hundred-man unit lay silently in ambush.
They blended into the night and the mist, and only the occasional cry of a night owl broke the deathly silence.
Shinichi stood on the top of a large tree, his body swaying slightly with the night wind. His gaze pierced through the mist and landed on the faintly visible valley entrance in the distance.
After a moment, he lightly descended and returned to the group.
"Senior Toma, senior Tsume, how is the situation? Can we confirm it's here?"
He turned to look at two figures.
One wore a high-collared coat and sunglasses, wrapped tightly from head to toe, an elite Jonin of the Aburame Clan, Toma Aburame.
The other was a lean woman with short brown hair, with red inverted triangle markings on her face. Beside her crouched a giant ninja hound with a blue back and white belly, an elite Jonin of the Inuzuka Clan, Tsume Inuzuka, also the current mother of Hana Inuzuka and the future mother of Kiba Inuzuka.
Both were members of Shinichi's fourth independent combat battalion. Including Ueno Kaito, another Jonin named Shinra Motokawa, and Shinichi himself, this hundred-man unit had a total of five Jonin.
Hearing the question, Tsume Inuzuka opened her eyes, exchanged a few words with her partner Kuromaru, then frowned slightly and spoke first: "Captain Shinichi, something is strange. Based on mine and Kuromaru's sense of smell, there are no traces of any fresh human scent ahead, nor any signs of recent activity from large creatures. Everything is normal, but too normal."
Shinichi nodded.
"Deliberate normality is abnormal."
He turned to look at Toma Aburame.
Toma Aburame was silent for a moment, then gave a concise reply: "There is a barrier outside the valley. To avoid alerting the enemy, I did not let the insects approach."
Shinichi's eyes shifted slightly. He had originally planned to use a sensory Ninjutsu to probe the situation ahead, but he feared his half-baked sensory Ninjutsu might trigger some kind of reactive barrier and alert the enemy, so he had handed the reconnaissance task to these two specialists.
Now it seemed that caution was the right choice.
"It seems the intelligence is correct. This is the place."
Shinichi raised his head and swept his gaze across the surrounding team members, who were quietly waiting for his command.
"Then, everyone! Execute according to plan!"
"Yes!"
As soon as the words fell, the hundred figures vanished instantly.
The night wind and mist remained, as if nothing had happened.
Deep within Ashen Valley, inside the temporary command post, a tall, dark-skinned, muscular middle-aged man sat in a chair, propping his right cheek with one hand and looking quite bored.
His name was B Yotsuki.
He came from the undisputed number one ninja clan of the Village Hidden in the Cloud in the Land of Lightning, the Yotsuki Clan.
Back then, the Village Hidden in the Cloud was founded under the leadership of their Clan Head of that generation, the first Raikage. The subsequent two Raikage also came from this clan. Their clan's status and influence in the Village Hidden in the Cloud and even the entire Land of Lightning could be described as being at its peak.
And B Yotsuki was not only from the Yotsuki Clan, but he was also the B of the previous generation's A-B Combo.
The A-B Combo was a legendary Tag-Team of the Village Hidden in the Cloud, or more precisely, of the Yotsuki Clan.
Usually, the heir of the Yotsuki Clan, the future inheritor of the name, A, would select a partner within the clan or among relatives to entrust life and death to, while making them inherit the name, B. Only if no suitable candidate could be found would they look elsewhere.
The two would grow together, fight side by side, and trust each other enough to unreservedly entrust their backs to one another.
And B Yotsuki was the previous B.
His former partner was the current third Raikage, A Yotsuki, the man known as the strongest spear and the strongest shield.
"So boring."
B Yotsuki let out another long yawn and lazily shifted his posture.
"It's only interesting when fighting alongside big brother."
"I wonder what big brother was thinking, making me do this kind of warehouse-guarding job."
Although he said that, B Yotsuki understood in his heart that he had long been unable to keep up with his big brother's pace.
His big brother was now too strong, so strong that even ordinary coordination required a partner with sufficient speed and reaction to keep up.
And he, the former B, could no longer do that.