*Woosh*
The curtains of the tent moved as a woman with blonde hair, bearing a domineering presence, entered the room. Her curious yet watchful eyes scanned the room, taking in everything and everyone present.
This was one of the instincts honed by all the top shinobis; they always scanned their surroundings as soon as they entered any room or area. No matter if it was their home or someone else's place, they would always perform the same procedure.
Inside the room, there were only a handful of high-ranking people present, surrounding a big table on which a huge map of their current location was placed. On the map, there were several marks that made her narrow her eyes.
"What happened?" She looked at the person in front of her on the other side of the table. It was none other than Jiraiya, who had gone out to collect information about their plans. Since Hiruzen had been wanting to hone the three of them as the most powerful weapons of the Leaf Village, they were left as the commanders of the battlefield.
There were heads of all the clans present in the room. They were also supporting the Hokage's decision since they knew the limits of their bodies, and the village needed more powerful ninjas than ever.
Right now, all the seasoned ninjas were present in this camp to support these three if they made any bad or hasty decisions. Even though they were honing them to be the weapons of the village, they could not afford to suffer the losses of their forces at their hands.
"You should already know that Sunagakure will be commencing soon," Jiraiya said with a bitter look on his face. He already knew about Tsunade teaching Tsukimi, and since Sakumo had already told his students about that, she must already be aware of this information.
Indeed, she confirmed his guess with a nod, prompting him to continue.
"Amegakure also came to know about this attack and might be using the opportunity to attack us."
Hearing this, Tsunade's expression turned grave. Facing attacks from two sides at the same time was not something they could bear without consequences.
Orochimaru's expression was a little distant at the moment, as if he were contemplating something inside his mind. No one seemed to mind his actions as they looked forward to their decision.
Tsunade moved closer to the table and looked at the markings on the map, which she understood as the attacking routes from both villages.
"Did you come up with a counterattack?" She turned towards Orochimaru and asked, her eyes narrowing a little at the lost look in his eyes, but she dismissed it as him thinking about strategies to counterattack.
He was the strategist of their team, and most of the important decisions would come from him.
"I think the three of us might be able to lead a small force to face the attack from the Hidden Rain Village if they really dare to attack at the same time. The rest of the forces can be deployed here under Sakumo-senpai's command."
Jiraiya offered his suggestion, looking at the white-haired ninja in the corner holding his sword on his back.
He did not mind being ordered to lead a force to attack. Tsunade also seemed to be contemplating his approach, while Orochimaru, who had been asked this question, suddenly interrupted the talk.
"Since the Hidden Rain got this information earlier than us, they might either be collaborating with the Hidden Sand Village or have a spy in their ranks."
He came forward, looked at the map, pointed at the attack points, and added,
"From the way I look at it, the places they could attack from would be this, this, and this." Orochimaru pointed out a few of the marked places, catching everyone's attention.
"Why would that be, Orochimaru?" Jiraiya asked as he looked at the spots, trying to find something significant about them. The spots even had some natural disadvantages for both sides.
"Check the distance between these spots," Tsunade, who suddenly understood what Orochimaru wanted to show, commented.
Jiraiya followed her instruction and also realized what she had found out. "One of the hidden villages wants to divide the strongest ninjas from our camp, while the other side wants to deal the damage. They really have the guts to play with us like that."
The spots, at first, looked ordinary, but if they engaged in battle, one side would not be able to provide backup to the other if needed. Their tactic was to separate their forces and weaken them.
"This is only true if they are colluding." Hearing Orochimaru's words, Sakumo walked ahead and asked,
"What is the possibility that both hidden villages are colluding to weaken our forces?"
"More than 70%."
Orochimaru hissed with an amused tone. He was getting more and more curious as to who made these strategies for those villages.
"So how do you plan to counter them?" one of the clan heads came forward and asked with a serious tone. His eyes, which were of a similar raven color as his hair, looked at Orochimaru with a narrowed gaze, his face laced with arrogance and sharpness beyond all.
Orochimaru knew that this was the head of the Uchiha clan, and they had an innate arrogance because of their prowess and skills. They were extremely proud of their own eyes. Shaking his head, Orochimaru simply stated the approach he found the most amusing.
"Didn't my teammate already give a good way for us to attack?" Jiraiya looked at him with a puzzled expression. If they really went with what he mentioned, they would have to split their forces, which he did not want to do at all because that is what their enemies wanted.
The head of the Uchiha family looked at the snaky man with anger and yelled,
"You want us to play into the enemy's hands? What is the difference between this and sending us to our graves!"
Even the rest of the family heads seemed to agree with his words, but Orochimaru did not mind them at all. He noted that Tsunade, who would have also flared by now, was unusually quiet and was waiting for him to continue.
He wondered what brought about this change, and then the face of a masked boy flashed in his mind, and a grin appeared on his face.