NRAO: Chapter 107/108

Chapter 107: Arrival

The Uzumaki clan, descendants of Asura and distant relatives of the Senju, held a special place in Konoha. Their exceptional vitality, massive chakra reserves, and powerful sealing techniques allowed them to suppress tailed beasts making them a vital ally to the village. Konoha, knowing the importance of the Uzumaki clan, had always sent shinobi to secretly protect them. One of the last survivors, Uzumaki Kushina, witnessed the destruction of her homeland with her own eyes. Because of her special constitution and Konoha's plans for her to become the next jinchūriki, Kushina was brought back to Konoha after the tragedy.

A jinchūriki, as Orochimaru well knew, was a person who served as a vessel for a tailed beast, containing its chakra. Kushina's status as the jinchūriki for the Nine-Tails was top-secret, known only to Konoha's highest officials and a few elite Anbu tasked with her protection. Not even the Sannin, including Orochimaru, were aware of her true purpose. But now, after years of delving into Konoha's hidden secrets, there was little that escaped Orochimaru's notice.

---

In Uzushiogakure, chaos reigned.

"Retreat! Retreat now!"

"Hahaha, don't rush, we've looted enough!"

"We've gained plenty of resources here. Even as a minor country, Uzushiogakure still had much to offer."

"We need to leave now! Konoha's reinforcements will be here any moment!"

"What? Konoha? Retreat!"

Ninja after ninja fled from the crumbling walls of Uzushiogakure, their retreat swift as they headed toward the eastern docks of the Land of Whirlpools. But on the western shores, three large ships approached the island.

Onboard were 24 elite Konoha jonin, most of whom had once been classmates of Orochimaru from their chunin days. Hatake Sakumo wasn't present, but the Uchiha clan had sent one of its own: Uchiha Retsu.

"Lord Orochimaru," Nara Shikafu, one of the jonin, spoke calmly. "There are several foreign ninjas on the island. We've spotted them through reconnaissance."

Despite being a jonin now, Shikafu still vividly remembered Orochimaru's terrifying performance during their chunin exams. The memory of how Orochimaru's team had dominated the Forest of Death was forever etched in his mind. Out of respect, he always addressed him as "Lord Orochimaru."

"Is that so?" Orochimaru replied nonchalantly, taking the monocular telescope from Shikafu and peering toward the shores of the Land of Whirlpools. Sure enough, there were several enemy ninjas keeping watch.

"There are indeed quite a few," Orochimaru said, lowering the telescope.

"What should we do?" Shikafu asked, waiting for instructions.

Orochimaru smiled slightly, his voice calm but sharp. "Abandon the ship. We'll head straight for them. If they aren't wearing Uzushiogakure headbands, kill them all."

"Understood!" Shikafu nodded before turning to the others. "Everyone, abandon ship! Attack the enemy directly!"

"Yes, sir!" The assembled jonin echoed as they leaped from the ship, landing swiftly on the water. Chakra surged to the soles of their feet, allowing them to sprint across the waves toward the shores of Uzushiogakure.

Orochimaru and Tsunade were among them.

"Are we really killing all of them, Orochimaru?" Tsunade asked, sounding a bit conflicted.

Orochimaru chuckled, his eyes gleaming with a hint of amusement. "Still soft, Tsunade? These are enemies who've invaded and destroyed an allied village. Do you really expect mercy?"

Tsunade fell silent. Despite her strength, she had never experienced the brutality of war on a large scale. Aside from the few skirmishes Hiruzen had taken her to, she had been shielded from the true horrors of battle. Now, witnessing Konoha preparing to execute foreign invaders without hesitation, she felt a flicker of doubt.

But the battle had already begun.

---

"Dammit, Konoha's forces are here already!"

"Hold them off! We need to buy time for the others to retreat!"

"You're all going to die here, Konoha!"

The foreign invaders clashed with Konoha's elite jonin. Fire, earth, and wind-based jutsu filled the air, the clashing forces igniting the land.

"Earth Style: Stone Shatter!" One of the invaders hurled an earth jutsu toward Uchiha Retsu, who dodged it effortlessly. He leaped into the air, drawing his sword with a gleaming arc. His blade met resistance as the enemy blocked with a kunai, but it wasn't long before Retsu gained the upper hand, disarming the foreign ninja with a swift strike.

Elsewhere, Konoha's jonin were proving their superior strength. Many of them hailed from the great clans like the Uchiha, Hyuga, and Aburame, their bloodline abilities and clan techniques giving them an edge in battle. Coupled with their sheer numbers, the tide quickly turned in Konoha's favor.

Orochimaru, however, walked leisurely through the battlefield, his demeanor calm amidst the chaos.

"This is my chance," thought one of the invaders as he spotted Orochimaru's back turned to him. He flung two shurikens with deadly precision.

"Whoosh!" Orochimaru casually sidestepped, not even turning to face the attacker.

"H-how did he dodge that without even looking? Does he have eyes in the back of his head?" the enemy ninja thought, stunned.

Before he could react further, he realized something was very wrong. He couldn't move his hands to form seals.

Glancing down, he saw that a black python had silently coiled around his arm, its grip tight and unyielding.

Orochimaru finally turned, his golden, snake-like eyes locking onto the invader. "Iwa nin? No… you're not from Iwagakure."

"W-what? How can you tell?" the enemy stammered, confusion and fear flooding his voice. His headband and uniform were perfect replicas of Iwagakure's, and his ninjutsu even mimicked the techniques used by Iwa shinobi. How had Orochimaru seen through it?

Orochimaru smirked. "The geology of Iwagakure tends to breed hardier shinobi. Your frame is far too thin to be from there, and your skin… it's far too pale. You're clearly from a small, weaker nation. You disguised yourselves as Iwa-nin to escape retaliation."

The invader was completely taken aback. Who was this man, to deduce their plan so effortlessly?

Unfortunately for him, he had no time to ponder further as Orochimaru's black snake, Yamata, sank its fangs into his neck, injecting its paralytic venom.

"Yamanaka Yanichi," Orochimaru called over to one of his teammates, "take this one for interrogation."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru," Yanichi replied, moving toward the immobilized man.

Before they could act, another enemy ninja hurled two kunai with explosive tags attached directly at them.

"Don't even think about it!" the enemy shouted.

"Boom!"

The explosion went off, killing the paralyzed ninja instantly. Orochimaru leaped back, avoiding the blast with ease, his face remaining impassive as the smoke cleared.

"Such a waste," Orochimaru muttered, watching the flames dissipate.

Chapter 108: World Peace?

The explosion not only killed the Iwa ninja, but also sent Yamata flying back.

"Damn it, what a waste!"

Yamanaka Yanichi, who had rushed over, sighed with regret.

Yanichi was a member of the Yamanaka clan, a group famous for their mind-control and mental-invasion techniques. They specialized in spiritual power, giving them the ability to probe an enemy's mind and extract valuable information. On the battlefield, this skill was especially useful for gathering intelligence. Orochimaru had captured the enemy alive specifically to give Yanichi a chance to explore his memories. Unfortunately, the enemy had self-destructed before that could happen.

"Still lacking battlefield experience, I see," Orochimaru muttered, narrowing his eyes at the body of the Iwa ninja. Though his raw power was undeniable, he recognized that battle-hardened instincts were just as crucial. A brief lapse in vigilance had allowed another enemy to spot the situation and sacrifice himself to take out his comrade.

It was a reminder that even he wasn't infallible.

Shaking off the frustration, Orochimaru turned his attention to the larger situation. He glanced at the two remaining jounin who had slipped away earlier, then back at his own forces. "Stick to the previous formation and sweep the area clean," he commanded. "If you encounter an enemy you can't handle, use the signal flares."

"Understood!"

"Shingo, Ryuichi, and Zen, let's head out!"

"Woof!"

"Yanichi, Kakui, sweep this area!"

"Keep moving!"

The Konoha forces split into smaller teams of three, leaving a few behind to guard the pier while the rest pushed deeper into the territory surrounding Uzushiogakure. Orochimaru and Tsunade partnered up and made quick work of their section.

Despite their swift movements, it was clear that they had arrived too late. Aside from the stragglers they had encountered earlier, there were very few enemies left.

---

The once peaceful and vibrant Uzushiogakure was now a devastated wasteland of ruins and debris. As Orochimaru and Tsunade entered the village proper, they were greeted only by the stench of death and the sight of bodies strewn across the streets. Whoever had attacked had long since fled.

Orochimaru had witnessed such scenes before, yet there was still a certain weight to seeing so much destruction firsthand.

War brought nothing but death. And in its wake, even a proud village like Uzushiogakure had been reduced to rubble.

Tsunade, however, was seeing this level of devastation for the first time. Her fists tightened, her heart filled with rage. "Damn them... unforgivable! This is absolutely unforgivable!" she spat through gritted teeth, barely able to contain her fury.

But Orochimaru's response was cold, detached. "It's already done. There's no point in getting worked up over it now."

"Where are we going?" Tsunade asked, forcing herself to keep her emotions in check.

"Search for survivors, obviously," Orochimaru replied, already moving ahead. "Even if the odds are slim, we might still find someone."

Tsunade was momentarily silent, then followed behind him. She knew he was right, though it didn't make the situation any easier to bear.

---

As they moved deeper into the village, it became clear that the attackers had been thorough. The few surviving structures had been razed, and most of the bodies were already cold. It was clear the invaders had systematically destroyed everything in their path.

"The Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques were always too powerful," Orochimaru commented as they passed through what appeared to be an ancestral hall. The walls were engraved with intricate symbols and scripts, a testament to the clan's mastery of fuinjutsu. "No matter how strong you are, with seals like these, you'd be helpless against them."

"Yeah… if they weren't so unique, they probably wouldn't have been targeted like this," Tsunade muttered, her voice laced with bitterness. But she left the rest of her thoughts unsaid. The reality was harsh: sometimes being too powerful could bring destruction.

They continued searching through the remnants of the village. The odds of finding any survivors seemed bleak, yet Orochimaru remained persistent. His thoughts turned to the future—he knew a few members of the Uzumaki clan had survived this massacre: Nagato's parents, and possibly Karin's mother. If he could find just one of them, it could prove invaluable.

---

On a hill about a kilometer away from the village, Orochimaru knelt, examining the earth. "There's moisture on the ground, and from the state of the village, it doesn't look like it rained here recently," he observed.

Tsunade caught on quickly. "You're thinking Kirigakure had a hand in this?"

"It's possible," Orochimaru replied. "But it's also likely those ninjas we encountered earlier were just opportunists, here to scavenge whatever they could. They probably weren't directly involved in the destruction of the village."

Orochimaru gestured ahead. "Look at the trees in the distance."

Tsunade followed his gaze. The forest up ahead was completely mangled trees were snapped, shredded, and the earth was deeply scarred from battles. "These are traces of a large-scale fight," Tsunade murmured, fury building again as the extent of the destruction became more apparent. "Damn it! Why were so many villages involved in this attack?!"

Orochimaru simply smiled, his voice soft yet calculating. "Why? Because the reward was worth the risk."

The Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques were known throughout the ninja world, and they had proven to be a powerful tool during the wars fought by the First and Second Hokage. The fact that the village possessed such valuable knowledge had made them a target for years. Now that Konoha's leadership under Sarutobi Hiruzen was seen as less intimidating, the other villages had seized the opportunity to strike.

As Tsunade's anger simmered, several Konoha jonin appeared behind Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru-sama, what's the situation here?"

"Anything noteworthy?"

Orochimaru shook his head. "Not much to add. It's likely the major ninja villages—Suna, Iwa, Kiri, and Kumo were all involved in the attack. Those ninjas we encountered earlier were probably small-time raiders from minor countries."

The jonin looked grim. "That lines up with what we found. If all four major villages are involved… this situation just got a lot more complicated."

One of the jonin stepped forward. "We'll report this to Hokage-sama immediately and continue searching for survivors. You and Tsunade can do the same."

Orochimaru nodded in agreement. "Let's keep moving."

---

As they walked away, Tsunade's thoughts churned. "Orochimaru, do you really think this could've been avoided?" she asked, her tone almost pleading.

"For now, this is inevitable," Orochimaru replied bluntly. "The world isn't going to change because we wish for it."

"But you've thought of something, haven't you? A way to stop all this senseless killing?" Tsunade pressed.

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

Tsunade looked at him with conviction. "My grandmother told me that your dream was always world peace. With your talent, I know you must have come up with a way by now."

Orochimaru chuckled. "World peace? That was a childish dream."

"You're lying!" Tsunade shot back, her eyes searching his face for some hint of the truth.

"Believe whatever you want," Orochimaru said, turning his gaze ahead.