HSU: Ch. 289

Orochimaru, who had just said the place was inconvenient, walked quite a distance away.

Masashi followed him up a hill. From here, under the deep blue sky, the distant mountains stretched endlessly, winding through a thin mist. Over a thousand Oto ninjas were scattered across the meadow below, like dense black dots poised to devour something. A nobleman's convoy snaked along the ground like a black ribbon.

Brutal ninjas and relaxed nobles, a reflection of the true nature of this world. The wind blew across Orochimaru, but even his clothes didn't flutter. His every move seemed to reject the world around him.

"You're actually willing to lead troops? What are you planning?" Looking down at the subordinates below, Orochimaru asked, "You already knew I got my hands on the Edo Tensei, didn't you?"

"The Hokage told me to lead the troops, what choice do I have?" Masashi looked at Orochimaru. "We know each other well enough. Let's be honest. I want to crush Kumo. Lend me some of your men. You've been raising these Oto ninjas for years. Surely you can spare a few thousand capable fighters?"

"And if I say no, you'll blow up my lab?"

"That's actually a great idea. I'll take it under advisement."

Orochimaru inwardly cursed himself for not agreeing to Danzō's old suggestion to get rid of the Uchiha. Maybe things would be a lot easier today.

"So they're pushing you to lead the troops, the Uchiha clan is aiming for the Hokage seat?"

"The clan leader is already the Hokage Advisor. It's only natural to want to move a step further."

"Did you already forget what you just said about honesty? What, you're going to stand here pretending it's not about putting you in the Hokage seat?" Orochimaru sneered.

Masashi's brow instantly furrowed. "We've worked together for a long time. I've never shorted you in our deals, have I?"

"You haven't. But what does that have to do with your ambition to become Hokage?"

"Then why are you cursing me for wanting to be Hokage?"

"So you don't want to be, then?"

"If you were me, would you want to? Let's forget about whether I can actually get it. If I did become Hokage, wouldn't I have to blow up a few of your labs just for the celebration?"

"Hmm, yeah, being Hokage really isn't worth it." Orochimaru instantly agreed with Masashi. Only a fool would want to be Hokage.

"Back to business, are you lending the men or not?"

"It's not that I won't." Orochimaru looked northward. "But you know, even though Oto is my village, raising so many people isn't cheap. War consumes resources and supplies at a whole different scale."

"So you're just asking for money." Masashi waved his hand dismissively. "We're at war. Everyone's strapped for cash. I can't give you money, but you'll get half of the spoils."

Orochimaru's eyes lit up. Then he made his trademark licking motion.

"But the retaliation from Kumo afterward could be a real pain. Konoha hasn't attacked Oto, maybe because they still find us useful, right?"

"A ninja like you, worried about revenge?"

"That's not the point. You came to me for help, didn't you? Otherwise, you could've done it all on your own. Same logic."

"Fine. I'll give you a reason. A solid one."

"Let's hear it." Orochimaru was genuinely curious how strong a justification Masashi could come up with.

"Your village is just a front anyway. I'll go and blow it up. That way, it'll look like Oto was forced to obey me in order to survive. You guys can file a complaint with Konoha later."

"That's a pretty strong reason. But you do realize rebuilding that front will cost a fortune, right? Also, the other villages already know I'm the head of Oto. If I go through with this, I'll lose a lot of reputation."

For someone like him, with the things he wanted to achieve, the more reputation he had, the smoother things went. After all, what he dealt with were always the irregular things, and the more irregular they were, the more useful repuation became.

Masashi didn't care about Orochimaru's repuation, but he did want the Sannin's brain.

"I have another project. Are you in?"

"Depends on the project. Business is business." Orochimaru put on a serious face, making it clear he didn't mix personal feelings into professional matters.

"Developing a path to bloodline encompassing," Masashi said. "And I've got research data on tailed beast chakra. So, are you interested or not?"

"You want to study the Sage of Six Paths' secrets?" Orochimaru asked. Others might not know what this pointed to, but he did. Very clearly. After all, his goal was to uncover the secrets of all ninjutsu, and in doing so, discover truth. And to unlock all secrets of ninjutsu, there was no way around the Sage of Six Paths, the one who ushered in the chakra era.

Strictly speaking, though their ultimate motives were different, Orochimaru and Masashi were, in truth, companions walking the same path.

"I already have plenty of leads," Masashi looked at Orochimaru. "You've got plenty of flaws, but when it comes to research, you're the real deal. Our goals align."

"Now that's what I like to hear." Orochimaru nodded. "But what does any of that have to do with me sending people to help you fight the Kumo ninjas?"

"Do you not clean your lab? If you don't clear out the vermin, how can you focus on research?"

"Ah, I see…" Orochimaru turned and glanced toward Oto. "Let's hear your strategy."

"After we finish the personnel handover, I'll go make contact with the Kumo ninjas. I want to see if the southern fortress really has as many Kumo troops as rumored. Personally, I doubt it."

"The Kumo ninjas aren't what they used to be," Orochimaru nodded. "According to my intel, Kumo recruited a bunch of Kiri missing-nin a while back and taught them new battle tactics. You've been stirring them up quite a lot over the years, and you've been relying on Susanoo way too often."

"I'll take southern fortress first. By then, can you have your people ready? And your village, even if it's just for show, we need to play it convincingly."

"No problem." Orochimaru responded confidently. "But as compensation, you'll need to help me build a new batch of labs. Prices in the black market are sky-high during war, and the channels through Rasa's side are tight."

"That's fine. No issue." Masashi replied. "The clan has a dedicated fund for this sort of thing. We can allocate money from it."

"Knew it, it's always a pleasure dealing with you, Masashi." Orochimaru's eyes narrowed in satisfaction.

Don't misunderstand, this wasn't a dramatic look. He was simply smiling with narrowed eyes.

He extended his hand, and Masashi shook it. It was a symbol of partnership. Also a friendly collision between Orochimaru-Style Body Replacement Technique and the Flying Thunder God mark.

"Looks like we're partners from now on. Let's work well together."

"Sounds good. But using a jutsu during a handshake, isn't that a bit insincere?"

"Not at all. It's proof of our partnership. It's not like just anyone qualifies to be your partner, right?"

The two stared at each other for a while, then both smiled warmly. They let go of the handshake, turned away, and left, each heading back to their own camp.

---

In Year 63, Konoha set a new record.

With a single Chunin Exam, it ignited a full-scale war across the shinobi world. In the latter half of that year, Masashi, newly appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of Konoha's Northern War Zone, began his first personally led large-scale military operation.

He reorganized all of Konoha's forces stationed in the Land of Hot Water, and left behind 2,000 troops to garrison the Konoha-controlled area centered around Yu, then assembled the remaining 3,000 troops and led them west.

Accompanying the army were the noble caravans from the Lands of Frost and Lightning. Also joining them were foreign ninja mercenary groups hired by Konoha.

These ninja organizations had already made a fortune on Konoha's side, but they couldn't put on airs in front of him. After a single meeting with Masashi and their leaders, they obediently committed their forces.

He discovered that Konoha had a long-standing bad habit, being unwilling to use foreign ninjas on a large scale in warfare. Whenever they were short on manpower, they would just plug the gaps with their own young people.

It wasn't about being stingy with money. Rather, it was a mindset: foreign ninjas supposedly lacked professionalism and couldn't be trusted to treat missions with the same seriousness as Konoha's own.

To this, Masashi could only respond, those greenhorns freshly graduated from the academy, or those pulled from logistics lines, weren't exactly reliable either. Most of the time, they couldn't even understand their superior's orders properly. Worse still were those rookies who were both incompetent and convinced they were right.

Try to hold them accountable, and they'll start babbling about the Will of Fire, completely missing the point.

Honestly, if something could be solved with money, why waste the lives of your own people? The cost of "training" through battle was too high. It'd be more practical to just raise the admission standards of the Ninja Academy.

Before the Third Great Ninja War, mercenary ninja organizations weren't widespread. Back then, Konoha's approach made sense. But during the Third War, such groups emerged rapidly. Many were wiped out in the conflict, but even more sprung up afterward. Stubbornly insisting on "using only our own" now would just be self-defeating.

To put it plainly, Konoha was still too proud.

You couldn't judge an entire industry just because of one Akatsuki. You wouldn't find another mercenary group in the shinobi world with such a twisted mindset as theirs.

In terms of industry standards, most ninja organizations were very reliable, professionally trained, and as long as the money was right, they were willing to die for it.

Trading life for money was second nature to them. Sure, their strength didn't match a hidden village's elite, but their dedication was solid. This was their livelihood. And really, if you were the one paying, and you didn't use them to the fullest, were you even a proper client?

Now, Masashi was the highest commanding officer in the Northern War Zone. Whatever he said, went.

By the time he ordered the army to march out, the total number of ninja in this joint corps had naturally increased to 5,000. And that wasn't even the full extent of his auxiliary forces.

After Konoha's ninja army mobilized, their first target wasn't the southern fortress, but Oto. If the Kumo ninjas took this chance to attack Yu, Masashi would be overjoyed.

He selected elite troops from two major clans and formed a vanguard of several hundred ninja. That very day, they launched into the Land of Rice Fields.

His justification was simple and blunt: Oto, as an ally of Konoha, had failed to cooperate with Konoha's military operations. This was disrespectful and revealed ulterior motives.

The vanguard, composed of core fighters from the Uchiha and Hyūga clans, moved with explosive efficiency. Upon entering the Land of Rice Fields, Oto's symbolic defense forces were instantly crushed. The two clans then invaded Oto and mercilessly burned it to the ground. The Uchiha were ecstatic. It wasn't often they got to indulge in arson so freely.

Konoha's ruffians had come in high spirits. Whether they would leave in high spirits depended entirely on how Oto responded.

The nominal leader of Oto appeared just in time beside the blazing ruins of the village and gave a very convincing performance of a small-time group knowing it couldn't afford to offend the big shots. Anyone elite enough to be from the Uchiha or Hyūga clans wasn't stupid. Even if they were a bit dull in daily life, their instincts on the battlefield were razor-sharp. These ninjas, sent by Masashi to do the burning, immediately sensed something fishy.

But no one said a word. Everyone figured: "This is classic Masashi, makes sense." And they all slipped naturally into acting mode.

Sure, the script was a bit rough. But with backing from both Orochimaru and Masashi, and over a dozen jonin playing roles, the performance was still convincing enough.

By the time Konoha's main force, escorting the noble caravans, reached the border of the Land of Rice Fields, three thousand Oto ninjas were already waiting at the frontier. The temporary actors, having completed their part, also rejoined the ranks, switching back from performers to killers. After taking inventory, under Masashi's orders, this ninja army, now swollen to 8,000 strong, began escorting the noble caravans northward.

This time, their destination was clear: the southern fortress.

The three major war zones couldn't necessarily coordinate with each other, but since a full-scale war hadn't officially begun yet, communication was still happening at regular intervals. According to the latest reports Masashi received, not a single one of the three fronts had yet fired the first real shot.

The Western War Zone was the largest. Konoha and Suna were still getting used to working together. Meanwhile, Ame and Kusa were watching from the sidelines. Iwa hadn't made a move either, just amassed troops at the borders. None of the three great hidden villages had chosen a battlefield yet. But the special ops teams from all three sides were already skirmishing deep inside the Lands of Rain, Grass, and Stone.

The Suna ninjas, in particular, seemed oddly energized.

In the Eastern War Zone, Kiri and Konoha had already begun casually infiltrating each other's territory, it was business as usual.

Looked like the first real fight would fall to Masashi himself.

With 8,000 ninja, the army advanced northward along the mountain border. As they drew closer to the southern fortress, the atmosphere among the noble caravans began to grow tense.

While there was no inherent political conflict between nobles and ninjas, just like ninjas often found nobles annoying during missions, the nobles were just as wary. When ninjas got into the heat of battle, they might get carried away and "accidentally" take the nobles out too. Everyone understood the situation: the Five Great Hidden Villages were about to go to war.

If possible, the nobles would much rather stay in Konoha until the fighting was over, but that wasn't realistic. They had territories to govern. Great Ninja Wars often dragged on for years. Staying away that long just wasn't feasible. Returning early was actually safer.

Masashi was a considerate man. He personally offered some reassurance to the nobles, patting their representative on the chest and promising they would be safely escorted to the southern fortress. He also reminded them not to linger there once they arrived, they should return home promptly, since now that war between Konoha and Kumo had officially begun, there was no time to waste.

He emphasized this point repeatedly. The noble representatives nodded in agreement and assured him they understood.

A few days later, Konoha's ninja army arrived at the gates of the southern fortress.