Puch—
Crimson blood sprayed out into a shimmering flower in the air. One of the Genin's ears had been sliced off by Orochimaru and fell to the ground, dripping with blood.
Because the swing of the blade was so fast, the Genin only realized what had happened when the blood sprayed onto his face. His pupils instantly constricted to a point from extreme terror. Just as he was about to open his mouth and scream, Orochimaru covered it with his hand.
"Mmmph! Mmmph! Mmmph—"
The Genin let out muffled sounds, his eyes filled with terror as he looked at the boy who appeared much younger than him.
Orochimaru silently gave a wicked smile, then put a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture.
The Genin forced himself to bear the intense pain and complied. His struggles and protests gradually faded.
Orochimaru's eyes were as evil and crazed as a demon's, yet his tone was gentle, like a younger boy next door: "See, I just can't control myself very well. When I see blood, I get excited. And when I get excited, my hands, well, they don't know where to go. They just want to pick up a kunai, stab something, poke something, and then I feel comfortable."
As the Genin listened to Orochimaru's "heartfelt confession," his terror intensified. His entire body shook as if he were having a seizure.
Orochimaru affectionately stroked the Genin's pale, cold-sweated cheek and continued, "It's alright, I won't ask you anything. Can you help me relieve my excitement? You know, it won't be long, maybe just about five minutes. Can you do that?"
Having finished speaking, Orochimaru lowered the hand covering the Genin's mouth. His youthful face wore an amiable, adorable expression, like a younger brother begging his older brother for candy.
The Genin, his face ashen like gold paper from fear, spilled everything he knew like beans pouring from a sack: "Don't! Don't get excited! I just want a quick death! I... I'll tell you everything..."
The Genin answered, his voice trembling, holding nothing back. By the looks of it, if Orochimaru had wanted to know the color of his cousin's underwear, he would have readily confessed that too.
After hearing the Genin's intelligence, Orochimaru frowned slightly. These people were indeed spies, and spies from the neighboring Land of Rivers. Orochimaru estimated that this operation must have been tacitly approved by some greater power. Furthermore, in the other squad, there was a Special Jōnin who specialized in tracking.
The Chūnin who escaped must have already informed the other squad of the situation. They still had at least fifteen minutes to travel before reaching the Leaf Village's alert radius. Orochimaru believed that if the Special Jōnin wasn't an idiot, that amount of time was enough for him to catch up and get ahead of the three of them. The situation was getting increasingly tricky!
Orochimaru looked at the sky. It was getting late. If they took a detour, there was no chance of reaching the Leaf Village today, and the mission would be considered a failure.
It seemed they had no other choice!
Orochimaru turned back, still composed and calm, but said solemnly to Jiraiya and Tsunade, who had also heard the intelligence, "Let's go. We have no choice."
The two nodded.
Tsunade couldn't help but ask, "What about this Genin? He gave us the information, shouldn't we let him go?"
The Genin's eyes lit up with a flicker of hope upon hearing Tsunade's words.
Orochimaru gave a cold smile. With a "Puch—" sound, the kunai stabbed into the Genin's heart.
Staring emotionlessly at the disbelieving Genin, Orochimaru said flatly, "Didn't he say he only wanted a quick death? I'm granting his wish."
Jiraiya and Tsunade remained silent.
Yamata slithered out from who knows where and crawled back into Orochimaru's clothes, falling asleep again.
Orochimaru sensed Yamata's condition. It was not absorbing any more chakra, suggesting that its capacity for chakra absorption was limited.
Afterward, Orochimaru ignored the dead Genin, leaped onto a tree branch, and said in a low voice, "We're running out of time. Let's go quickly!"
...
Aida was a Rain Ninja from the Land of Rivers. He possessed a unique talent in tracking and counter-tracking, which earned him the appreciation of Hanzō the Salamander, leading to his promotion from elite Chūnin to Special Jōnin.
When the orders from Lord Hanzō came down, Aida resolutely decided to volunteer to eliminate this potential threat for his lord, as repayment for Hanzō's recognition of his talent.
Aida immediately sensed that something was wrong when Squad Two went silent less than a minute after engaging the enemy. He instantly ordered his subordinates to rush toward Squad Two's location at full speed.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—
Suddenly, Aida heard an unusual noise. He signaled to his rear to take up a standby alert position, and the squad immediately dispersed, hiding into the nearby shadows.
"Huff, huff—"
Violent panting and gasping came from the direction Aida was watching, and he could hear the thick fear in the heavy breaths.
A familiar figure soon darted into Aida's view.
He suddenly jumped out, standing in front of the newcomer, and urgently asked, "Akai, what happened? Where's your ear-mic?"
Akai, seeing Aida, looked delighted. Hearing the question, he replied with lingering fear, "I lost the ear-mic while running. Aida, there were three of them, and one was trailing behind. He suddenly jumped out and caught us completely off guard. That person is very strong, and the killing intent on him..."
Aida frowned. While inwardly calling Akai an idiot, he swiftly cut off the rest of the conversation that was demoralizing his troops: "Enough! Which way did they run? We leave immediately! I refuse to believe that three Genin can cause such a ruckus for us four Chūnin! Hmph, Lord Hanzō's great plan must not be ruined by a few brats!"
Akai nodded in agreement. After Aida mentioned Lord Hanzō, the terror in his eyes subsided somewhat, and his fighting spirit returned. He pointed in the direction of the Leaf Village and said viciously, "When we catch those brats, I'm going to personally slice them in half!"
Aida nodded in satisfaction. He waved his hand and chased in the direction the three of them had left. Along the way, he fully employed his powerful tracking skills, rapidly closing the distance between his squad and Orochimaru's group.
...
The closer Orochimaru got to the Leaf Village, the more uneasy he felt. He had a strong sense that a hound was rapidly approaching the three of them from behind.
Aida darted onto another tree. He stopped at a faint, almost invisible footprint on a thick branch, touched some of the soil, smelled it, and his eyes lit up. He sneered, "Full speed ahead! They're not far now!"
Orochimaru's pace became faster and faster. He could hear the heavy, labored breathing of Jiraiya and Tsunade behind him, but time would not allow them to waste even a tiny bit more. If they were caught by the other squad, Jiraiya and Tsunade, with their chakra nearly gone and multiple injuries, would be completely defenseless, leaving only him.
Suddenly, Orochimaru clearly sensed abnormal chakra fluctuations behind them. He knew the pursuers had arrived!
At this moment, the three of them were still at least five minutes away from the Leaf Village's alert radius. Moreover, whether or not they would encounter patrol ninja even after entering the radius was a matter of chance.
The situation had become extremely critical!
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