87 Chapter 87
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"Orochimaru-sama, you've called for me," Kyomu entered the tent and bowed slightly, greeting respectfully.
"I've been wanting to meet you for a while, but I've been busy with some matters, so it was delayed," Orochimaru's face carried a smile, though it seemed out of place on him, as he always was carrying a hint of chilliness.
"Sakumo has mentioned you to me more than once, praising your talent, your character, and your efforts," Orochimaru reminisced, then suddenly asked, "Was last night's attack your doing?"
"Yes, it was me," Kyomu admitted calmly.
"Oh?" Orochimaru became interested. "Was it a ninjutsu similar to the Hatake sword technique?"
"No, pure taijutsu."
Orochimaru's serpent-like eyes narrowed slightly, losing some of their eagerness and gaining a hint of doubt. "Can taijutsu achieve an attack that explodes like a red sun?"
"If you swing more than five hundred blades continuously in an instant, it can achieve that effect."
Listening to Kyomu's response, Orochimaru fell silent suddenly.
He had thought Kyomu was using some remarkable ninjutsu and was eager to see it, even willing to pay a price to learn it.
But he never expected it to be pure taijutsu, which undoubtedly shattered Orochimaru's interest.
Besides his enthusiasm for exploring immortality, Orochimaru's second hobby was understanding and learning various ninjutsu.
But unfortunately, he had no interest whatsoever in pure taijutsu.
"It's a pity..." he muttered quietly, then turned to Kyomu again with an invitation. "Kyomu, are you interested in working with me?"
Perhaps worried that Kyomu might refuse or misunderstand, Orochimaru added, "Sakumo was a good friend of mine in his lifetime, and I still value his disciples."
Kyomu couldn't figure out what Orochimaru was up to, but with the assistance of his warning necklace, he didn't sense any malice from Orochimaru.
Simply wanting to take care of Sakumo's disciple?
Who knows.
But Kyomu didn't immediately agree. Instead, he asked directly, "So, Orochimaru-sama, as a former friend and teacher of Sakumo, may I ask, do you think he did wrong?"
"Haha." Orochimaru suddenly chuckled, then looked at Kyomu seriously. "This question is taboo in the village."
"I know, but I still want to hear your opinion on my teacher."
"Sakumo was right," Orochimaru gave a deep answer with profound eyes.
Kyomu didn't continue to ask further. He wouldn't ask Orochimaru why he didn't intervene to help at the time.
"Since that's the case, I'm willing to work with you."
"Very well." Orochimaru nodded, his deep gaze falling on Kyomu, and a playful smile unconsciously appeared on his lips. "I can guess what you're thinking."
Kyomu remained calm without panic or admission, giving an ambiguous answer.
"I also know what you're thinking, Orochimaru-sama."
"Hehe, then tell me, what am I thinking?"
"You're pondering the meaning of life," Kyomu's voice was light. "And I am too, but I'm more focused on the significance."
A different emotion brewed in Orochimaru's eyes, his voice equally gentle. "Put away your cleverness. I'm not like Sakumo."
"I understand, Orochimaru-sama."
"Good, go back and rest well, await my next command."
"Yes."
Kyomu turned and left the tent, while Orochimaru watched his back, involuntarily widening the smile on his lips.
"He's quite an unruly one," he concluded in his mind. "But then again, Sakumo's death had an effect on him akin to a tree's roots..."
With that thought, Orochimaru visibly became more gloomy, his earlier smile turning icy.
"Why is life so fragile?" Turning around, he sat back in his chair, chin resting on his hand. "And the meaning of life, perhaps there's more than just one or two explanations. Narrow-mindedness, stagnation, and the lifeless lack of innovation are not the appearances I want to see."
---
Not mentioning Orochimaru's contemplation on life, Kyomu returned to his own tent, where Might Guy and the others gathered around him.
"Captain Kyomu, Orochimaru-sama called you for..."
Kyomu naturally understood what they wanted to ask. "The commendations will come in a while. After all, it needs approval from the village before sending the commendations over."
Seeing smiles appearing on everyone's faces, Kyomu continued, "And our squad now directly serves under Orochimaru-sama's leadership, which is also good news."
"We serve directly under Orochimaru-sama?" Genma couldn't help but exclaim, "So are we like the Anbu for the Hokage?"
"Although the analogy is not perfect, the nature is similar." Kyomu nodded, then became serious, "But don't forget, besides being called one of the 'Konoha Sannin', Orochimaru-sama also has the title of 'Lord Cold'."
"'Lord Cold' doesn't just refer to his facial expression, but also his personality and style of combat command."
Kyomu was confident in his deep understanding of Orochimaru, even if he couldn't analyze all of his personality traits, he knew every detail of his life and representative events.
Orochimaru was an extremely contradictory person, saying he cared for someone, but he would not hesitate to abandon them for his own purposes, ruthlessly and mercilessly.
But if you say he was too ruthless to his own people, during ordinary times, he would spare no effort to protect them. As long as the goals didn't conflict, he would be the best leader and the most intimate friend.
The title 'Lord Cold' summarized these two extremes of Orochimaru very well.
Especially in war, if the situation required it, Orochimaru would not hesitate to abandon a portion of his people, using their lives as bait to achieve greater victories.
Moreover, Orochimaru wouldn't notify beforehand, and would even incite them. It was simply the best example of selling people while making others count the money.
With Kyomu's reminder, the people in the tent immediately became serious.
They had heard some rumors about Orochimaru, albeit only a little.
Seeing the atmosphere become silent, Kyomu smiled lightly in his heart and immediately broke the silence.
"Don't worry, with me here, I'll protect all of you without fail." Kyomu's words were sincere, without any falsehood. "Whether it's a dead-end or not ahead, I will definitely carve out a path with the blade in my hand!"
"Alright!"
"I believe in Captain Kyomu!"
"Yes, yesterday's incident is the best proof!"
"Kyomu has truly inherited Lord Sakumo's..."
Before Duy could finish his sentence, the atmosphere cooled down, and everyone looked at Kyomu unconsciously.
"Teacher did nothing wrong." Kyomu remained calm. "I will prove to those people, at least I will make you understand right from wrong."
"Captain Kyomu, we understand!" The leaders of the team nodded heavily. "You can rest assured that I will never commit the despicable act of betraying my comrades."
"Captain Kyomu, we understand too."
"Captain Kyomu, we will always stand by your side!"
"Captain Kyomu..."
Everyone expressed their trust in Kyomu, some even seemed to regard him as their leader.
Nodding, Kyomu waved his hand lightly, "Thank you all for your trust. In the days of fighting side by side in the future, I will never let you down! We came as a team of seventeen, and when we return, we will leave as a team of seventeen, not one less!"
——
At noon the next day.
Today, the squad led by Kyomu received a mission dispatched by Orochimaru.
In war, there was no task assigned that wasn't dangerous.
After two days of camping and rest, the Leaf Shinobi Force was in full condition, and the Sand Shinobi, naturally, had abandoned any plans for a surprise attack. Instead, they intended to engage in a straightforward confrontation with the Leaf Shinobi Force, relying on their numerical superiority.
With approximately four thousand troops, the Sand Shinobi Force, led by the elder Chiyō of the Hidden Sand Village, had advanced to the border of the Land of Hot Water, just seven kilometers away from the Leaf camp.
Upon Orochimaru's immediate order to march out and confront the enemy, Kyomu's squad, along with other squads directly under Orochimaru's command, received a task to lead a flanking maneuver, cutting through the battlefield from the side.
Although the risk of flanking maneuvers was lower compared to direct frontal assaults, the scarcity of personnel meant that if a mistake occurred and they became surrounded by the Sand Shinobi, so annihilation was a real possibility.
Moreover, if unexpected events occurred on the frontal battlefield and couldn't be coordinated with the flanking maneuver teams, Kyomu and his team would be left isolated, with dire consequences.
Fortunately, Orochimaru was aware of the difficulties of flanking maneuvers. Among every three teams, he assigned a member of the Hyūga clan to increase the margin for error.
As the squad directly under Orochimaru's command, it was natural for Kyomu's squad to have a Hyūga shinobi accompanying them on this mission.
In this mission, although Kyomu still held the position of squad leader, he was once again elevated in terms of actual authority, leading two additional ninja teams.
Watching the fifty Leaf Shinobi following behind him, Kyomu felt invigorated, experiencing one of the ultimate thrills of manhood.
War.
"Keep up!"
Kyomu shouted, leading the team swiftly towards the flank of the Sand Shinobi Force.
At the same time, the other three teams set off as well, each heading towards the right flank and rear of the Sand Shinobi Force.
Watching the three teams gradually disappear from sight, Orochimaru waved his hand. "Except for those guarding the flanks and rear, the rest follow me to confront the Sand Shinobi head-on!"
The main force moved forward and soon clashed with the advancing Sand Shinobi Force.
Soldier against soldier, leader against leader, Orochimaru fought against Chiyō, while other ninja engaged in chaotic combat on the vast battlefield.
The carnage was naturally intense.
Especially during the initial clash of jutsu between the two forces, the scene was spectacular, akin to modern warfare's artillery bombardment.
Whether defending or attacking, the aftermath of clashes between jutsu, including explosions upon impact, often claimed unlucky casualties.
Especially for lower-ranking ninja, in a battlefield covered with the aftermath of jutsu explosions, shuriken, kunai, and explosive tags, their deaths were often inexplicable.
Their only option was to charge forward, charge forward, charge forward!
Only by breaking into the enemy lines, intertwining with them, could they halt the widespread jutsu exchanges and turn the tide into individual combat, slightly increasing their chances of survival.
In an instant, the battle cries resounded, and even Kyomu, who was stealthily maneuvering, couldn't help but glance back.
On the battlefield, flames, lightning, water currents, rocks, and fierce winds from various jutsu, along with shuriken, kunai, explosive tags, and other ninja tools, were flying everywhere, accompanied by deafening roars and billowing smoke.
"So this is war between ninja..." Kyomu couldn't help but sigh in his heart. "Although the scale is only five or six thousand, the destructive power is indeed considerable. What are lower-ranking ninja if not cannon fodder?"
But it had to be said that the first batch of Leaf Shinobi sent to the battlefield, despite their small numbers, were of high quality.
Even the lower-ranking ninja had one or two years of mission experience, far from the freshly graduated lower-ranking ninja.
But the Sand Shinobi were not weak either, and their quality was also high.
However, in terms of tactical arrangements and the quality of special jonin squads, the Sand Shinobi were inferior to the Leaf Shinobi.
They also knew the power of flanking maneuvers. After all, ninja relied on skills such as infiltration, assassination, and sabotage to make a living.
But what did the Sand Shinobi have compared to the Hyūga clan of the Leaf?
With an extra pair of eyes with a 360-degree field of vision and a maximum observation distance of eight kilometers, making the Sand Shinobi's deployments transparent to the flanking maneuver teams.
So the team sent by the Sand Shinobi for an ambush, under the surveillance of the Byakugan, couldn't hide at all. Their ambush turned into a gift.
With such unequal battlefield intelligence-gathering capabilities, the Sand Shinobi Force couldn't translate their numerical advantage into a winning strategy.
The Sand Shinobi were well aware of this fact, having suffered a humiliating defeat during the Second Great War. They had learned their lesson.
Especially Chiyō, this old lady knew best how her son and daughter-in-law had died. How could she not be cautious against the Leaf's flanking maneuver teams?
And her response was simple and straightforward.
Come, just come!
You can flank us, and I can counter-surround you. The numerical advantage was her greatest reliance.
This old woman, Chiyō, had arranged another two thousand troops eight kilometers behind the frontline Sand Shinobi force.
As soon as the flanking maneuver teams showed themselves, the team in the rear would quietly encircle them within the limit of the Byakugan's observation distance.
With the speed of ninja rushing on foot, a distance of eight kilometers could be covered in less than ten minutes.
By then...
They would be caught like fish in a barrel!
(End of Chapter)
