"Am I leaving too?"
Nawaki was momentarily stunned before he realized what was going on. Orochimaru had said that only Takuya and Minato should stay, while everyone else should go rest. That meant Nawaki also had to leave.
"But, Sensei, I..."
"Go rest. This mission is suitable only for Takuya and Minato. It's too dangerous for you."
"But..."
Nawaki wanted to argue further, but the moment his eyes met Orochimaru's serious, cold, slit-like pupils, he closed his mouth immediately.
Despite Orochimaru's usual kindness towards Nawaki, when it came to serious matters, not even his own apprentice was allowed to challenge his authority.
Would Orochimaru back down in situations like this?
Not for Nawaki, not even for Jiraiya. Only Tsunade might stand a chance.
Don't push it. Go rest. Minato kept blinking at Nawaki, signaling him to leave.
Takuya remained calm, giving Nawaki no such hint. He trusted that Nawaki wouldn't be foolish enough to challenge Orochimaru, especially when it involved official matters.
Sullen, Nawaki left the command room.
Now, only Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Takuya, and Minato remained.
Jiraiya finally spoke, "Orochimaru, I still think your plan is too risky."
"What might seem risky to you isn't necessarily risky for Takuya and Minato," Orochimaru replied evenly. He looked at the two, assessing them. "One has flawless mobility, the other has absolute power. Together, they can cause chaos in Kirigakure's rear lines."
After learning that Minato could now use the Flying Thunder God to move people across long distances, Orochimaru changed his strategy.
Occupying an island and waiting for reinforcements?
No, no, no. Too risky, and it would lead to unnecessary losses.
If he could, Orochimaru wanted to avoid such a costly operation.
A twenty-man strike team?
Too many people would compromise mobility.
Just Takuya and Minato would be enough.
So the task of causing chaos was given to Minato and me? Takuya raised an eyebrow, not expecting Orochimaru to hand this mission over to him and Minato.
"Hatake Sakumo has gathered valuable intel, and I've gathered quite a bit myself over these past few days. Within Kirigakure, many do not follow Yagura's orders. This is our opportunity. If we cause enough disruption, it could escalate Kirigakure's internal conflicts. Then, no matter what tricks Yagura tries to play, they won't work."
"He won't even have any tricks left! He'll be forced to fight us head-on."
Thinking about Kirigakure falling into chaos, a sinister smile spread across Orochimaru's face. Jiraiya, sitting nearby, couldn't stand it and instinctively shifted his position.
He felt that the aura of darkness around Orochimaru had only grown stronger over the years.
The old Orochimaru just liked to play with snakes. Now, he seemed to be a snake.
Minato glanced at Takuya, who gave him a reassuring look. Takuya then asked, "So, to summarize, Minato and I are to continue causing havoc in Kirigakure's rear lines?"
"No, no. I need you two to be even more aggressive," Orochimaru's eyes gleamed.
"Even..." Takuya frowned. "More aggressive?"
Wasn't their mission aggressive enough?
What did "even more aggressive" mean? Were they supposed to march straight into Kirigakure itself?
If they stirred up internal conflicts within Kirigakure, Yagura might be able to suppress them. If the rear was in chaos, he could simply dispatch forces to eliminate the intruders.
But what if Kirigakure itself had issues?
Would Yagura still be able to control things then?
Thinking about Kirigakure descending into total chaos, Orochimaru seemed thrilled.
"I need you to be even more aggressive. I believe with Takuya's strength, infiltrating Kirigakure shouldn't be a problem. You handle the sabotage, and Minato will extract you afterward."
Are you serious?! Takuya wanted to curse.
But the plan did sound thrilling.
Wasn't Kirigakure offering a bounty for his head on the black market? Maybe he should help them increase the bounty a little.
Orochimaru's plan, Takuya had to admit, was perfect.
Takuya could easily infiltrate Kirigakure, and if he could, that meant Minato could too. All Takuya needed was to carry one of Minato's kunai. Once they caused enough havoc, they could leave without a trace, leaving Kirigakure furious.
At that point, even if Yagura didn't want to engage in a full-scale battle, the higher-ups in Kirigakure would pressure him into it.
By then, Yagura wouldn't have much of a choice.
Forget naval advantage or harassment tactics—those would all be pointless. Orders would come down, and even if Yagura wasn't happy, he would have to fight head-on.
"Alright," Takuya said after thinking for a while, accepting the mission.
Since Takuya agreed, Minato had no objections and accepted as well.
"Then I'll await good news from both of you," Orochimaru said, satisfied.
Orochimaru had come all the way to the camp in the Whirlpool Country to personally discuss this matter with Takuya and Minato.
Now that everything was settled, he felt comfortable heading back to the coastal camp.
Shikaku Nara wasn't enough on his own.
Although Shikaku was very clever, he was still young and lacked the authority needed. If his father were here, that might be a different story.
Satisfied, Orochimaru left.
Jiraiya, feeling frustrated, smacked the table. "You two should've refused! This mission is too dangerous."
"Why didn't you tell us to refuse earlier?" Takuya said, exasperated.
Seriously, acting all wise after the fact. Jiraiya himself had been the first one convinced by Orochimaru, and now he was giving second thoughts.
"Cough, cough!"
"I... I didn't want to make it awkward for him," Jiraiya coughed, looking uncomfortable.
Sure, like I'd believe you. You were just annoyed at being ignored by Orochimaru. I know your tricks, Jiraiya.
"Alright, just relax. I'll make sure Minato gets back safely," Takuya reassured.
Since the First Great Ninja War, without Madara Uchiha appearing, there were two walking "cheat codes" in the shinobi world—Third Raikage of the Hidden Cloud and Minato Namikaze of the Hidden Leaf.
One was a beast who fought tailed beasts head-on; the other moved like a phantom.
Such "cheat codes" weren't easily taken down.
Anyway, the original story had many holes, Takuya didn't even know where to begin criticizing.
Third Raikage was tough, sure, but he ended up being worn down by an army of thousands—killing until he literally died of exhaustion. That was certainly a unique way to go.
But what confused Takuya was why Third Raikage would choose to stay behind to cover his guards and then get exhausted to death.
Was there some misunderstanding here?
Weren't Raikage's guards there to protect the Raikage?
Faced with enemies, they should be holding them off, not running away while the Raikage stayed behind. What kind of situation was that?
It was like during the First Great Ninja War when Tobirama Senju was surrounded. He chose to stay behind so his students could escape.
Tobirama did it for his students—it made sense.
But what was Third Raikage trying to achieve?
And Minato's death was even more nonsensical.
Takuya didn't believe that half of Kurama sealed within Naruto would be too much for Minato to handle, or that he couldn't find anyone else to contain the seal.
Was it really necessary to go down along with half of Kurama?
Clearly, he and Kushina were true love, and Naruto was just a byproduct.
When Kushina was about to die, he decided he had to die too, leaving their child to fend for himself.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing Takuya looking at him with an odd expression, Minato scratched his head in confusion.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"Minato, I'm curious." Takuya thought for a moment before asking, "When you grow up, if you have a wife and a child, and one day all three of you are facing a powerful enemy, with your wife about to die but you able to survive, would you abandon your child and die along with your wife?"
"Screw you! Get lost!!"
Minato, with a dark expression, flipped Takuya off.
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A bonus chapter for 2100
Next Bonus: 2500 Power Stones. ╰ (´꒳`) ╯
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(P)(S): If you're interested, you can read up to chapter 360+ at patreon com/ Emik01. ಥ‿ಥ
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