Chapter 42: Master of Micro-Management Orochimaru

A ninja from the Sealing Squad said angrily, "How dare Kumogakure penetrate so deep into the Land of Fire? How could they be so bold?"

Orochimaru, played by Yamanaka Chujiu, let out a hissing laugh: "It seems the sacrifice of the Fourth has left the Fourth Raikage with no scruples."

"Then let him know that even if Konohagakure has lost the Fourth Hokage, it remains the strongest ninja village in the Ninja World."

"Because Konohagakure still has me, Orochimaru!"

"Follow me!"

The ninjas following Yamanaka Chujiu quickened their pace upon hearing this.

As the group entered the central Konoha camp, the morale of the Konoha ninjas visibly lifted upon seeing Orochimaru, and cheers erupted one after another.

"Lord Orochimaru will surely win!"

"Konoha will surely win!"

The Konoha ninjas were greatly encouraged to see Orochimaru, their ever-victorious commander, but the balance of power between the two sides would not change immediately.

After confirming the sacrifice of the Fourth Hokage, the Fourth Raikage immediately assembled a large army to invade the Land of Hot Water and broke through the border of the Land of Fire at an extremely high speed.

From the start of the war until Yamanaka Chujiu arrived at the front line, six major battles broke out in just 12 days; the Konoha ninjas suffered heavy losses, and now their numbers were only 4,500.

By mobilizing reinforcements, hiring wandering ninjas, and coercing Grass Ninjas, the Cloud Hidden Army increased its total strength to 8,000.

Even without counting the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, they had already formed an absolute advantage on the battlefield.

Every Konoha ninja who came to report couldn't help but say to Yamanaka Chujiu at the end: "Lord Orochimaru, please, you must defeat the Fourth Raikage."

In the end, Yamanaka Chujiu laughed, using Orochimaru's classic laugh: "Hmm-heh~ hehehe, the Cloud Hidden Army's offensive is quite fierce, isn't it? It has scared the guts out of all of you, hehehe."

"Are you still Konoha ninjas?"

"Is this still the Konohagakure that suppresses the four great ninja villages?"

"However, you are right."

"The Cloud Hidden Army is powerful, and Konohagakure's reinforcements have gone to the East Front; I, Orochimaru, have only brought ten ninjas as reinforcements."

Orochimaru sneered and said: "That is the reality, so I will not fight them head-on; we are retreating."

Yamanaka Chujiu, relying on the disguise of the Great Snake Skin, perfectly replicated Orochimaru's physique, aura, and chakra; even Mitarashi Anko, who had traveled with him the whole way, did not notice anything unusual.

The other Konoha ninjas were even less likely to notice, respecting Yamanaka Chujiu as Orochimaru, but the tactics he proposed caused an immediate uproar among the Konoha ninjas.

"Retreat?"

"How can we retreat?"

"He is right, we cannot retreat even one step! Lord Orochimaru!"

"We must defend the Land of Fire, defend Konohagakure!"

Yamanaka Chujiu turned a deaf ear to the objections of the Konoha ninjas, his eyes fixed firmly on the map.

Kumogakure invaded while the Fourth Hokage was mourned because they looked down on Konoha's scattered morale and gambled that Konoha was vulnerable.

The Fourth Raikage is a crazy gambler, but he won his bet; the Cloud Hidden Army easily punched through the Land of Hot Water and even pushed into the Land of Fire.

Moreover, Konohagakure was truly leaderless; the Fourth Hokage had sacrificed himself, the Third Hokage was hesitant, and the entire northern front lacked unified command.

The Fourth Raikage could fight however he wanted, having pushed the Konoha defense line to its limit, less than two thousand meters away from the camp where Yamanaka Chujiu was located.

The Konoha ninjas reacted intensely, not only because they felt stifled, but also because the Cloud Hidden Army was already pressing right in front of them.

Retreating in the face of the enemy is the most dangerous situation in military terms; even if the commander makes no mistakes, a mere accident can turn a retreat into a rout, eventually evolving into a total defeat.

The Konoha ninjas saw only the possibility of failure, but Yamanaka Chujiu saw the opportunity for victory.

The Fourth Raikage had been fighting too smoothly, to the point that he ignored the fact that his own war preparations were insufficient.

According to the intelligence gathered by the Konoha ninjas, the Cloud Hidden Army's food, weapons, medicine, and other supplies were inadequate; they were currently relying on previous spoils of war and looting from the Land of Hot Water to fill the gaps.

More scarce than supplies were the vehicles, livestock, and people to transport them.

As the Cloud Hidden Army penetrated deeper into the Land of Fire, their supply lines were clearly stretched; the strength of the Cloud Hidden Army pushed right before them had already declined due to material shortages, and it would definitely drop sharply if stretched further.

Yamanaka Chujiu's fingertips slid across the map, his mind quickly calculating distances and time.

All the data mapped into two curves in his mind, representing the strength of Konoha and Kumogakure, respectively.

As the preset battlefield moved continuously toward Konohagakure, the two curves rapidly approached each other.

When the battlefield moved to a village called Sakurahara, the two curves in Yamanaka Chujiu's mind intersected.

He pointed to this location and, using Orochimaru's characteristic hoarse voice and indifferent tone, said to the noisy Konoha ninjas: "Have you finished arguing?"

"If you're done arguing, shut your mouths and listen to my orders!"

What if they weren't done arguing? Yamanaka Chujiu didn't say, and the Konoha ninjas dared not ask; they all honestly shut their mouths, their bodies tensed straight.

This was Orochimaru's prestige among the Konoha ninjas.

As long as he made up his mind and issued an order, no Konoha ninja would question it, and they would execute it without hesitation.

In both his lives combined, this was the first time Yamanaka Chujiu held such power, deciding the life and death of 4,500 Konoha ninjas with his orders.

Tension was inevitable.

He subconsciously wanted to lick his lips, but the extended tongue licked his cheek and even moistened his eyeball.

Damn it, I've been playing the role for so long, I won't turn into a disgusting long worm, will I?

Yamanaka Chujiu was nervous and excited at this moment; his Mind Severing Realm sensing range had reached a radius of four thousand meters, and his spirit could distinguish every ninja within that range.

The position of every Konoha squad, the movements of every group of Cloud Hidden enemies, and every noteworthy powerhouse were clearly presented in his mind.

It was like inputting a cheat code in a real-time strategy game, eliminating the fog of war from the map.

Beyond the eight-thousand-meter diameter circle, there were Root ninjas he had converted into Living Puppets acting as relay signal stations, lighting up circular areas of over a thousand meters in the fog.

Although he couldn't sense specific ninjas, it was enough to monitor the overall movements of the Cloud Hidden Army.

What is this? This is omniscience!

Omniscience is omnipotence!

Yamanaka Chujiu was already riding the dragon right into their faces; how could his confidence not increase greatly?

That is not all!

Yamanaka Chujiu's Thought Threads had also already spread across the entire battlefield, gently wrapping around every Konoha Ninja and Cloud Ninja, ready to exert subtle psychological suggestions at any moment.

Hehehe, this, this is the real cheating!

Suppressing the urge to chuckle, Yamanaka Chujiu issued orders in an orderly fashion.

His orders were full of an "I don't understand" style, not only issued directly to every Konoha Ninja squad, but even specifying the attack angle of Ninjutsu, the direction and speed of retreat after attacking, and the location for receiving the next order.

The Konoha Ninjas were shocked beyond measure, unable to understand such detailed orders.

This is not the Lord Orochimaru we are familiar with!