Hidden Stone's supply lines were severely damaged and would be difficult to restore in a short time. Ōnoki had no choice but to order the Hidden Stone forces on the front lines to retreat. If supplies couldn't keep up, they couldn't possibly expect the Hidden Stone Ninja on the front lines to fight to the death against Konoha Ninja, could they?
It wasn't that Hidden Stone hadn't targeted Konoha's logistics. Every Ninja Village did such things. Hidden Stone had repeatedly attacked Konoha's medical and logistics units, but each time ended in failure, resulting in the loss of many elite Ninja and Bloodline Limit Ninja. Many members of the demolition squad were also lost; those who could join the demolition squad either possessed demolition secret techniques or the Explosion Release Bloodline Limit.
Hidden Stone had lost so many Ninja yet failed to strike Konoha's medical and logistics units. Instead, their own supply unit's camp was completely wiped out by Konoha's ambush team.
It was truly frustrating, genuinely frustrating!
Tsuchikage Building, Tsuchikage's Office.
Ōnoki's face was grim. If it weren't for those reckless Kumogakure brutes suddenly attacking Hidden Stone, how could the Hidden Stone supply unit's camp, which was responsible for supplying the Hidden Stone forces fighting Konoha, have been so easily taken by Konoha's ambush team?
Ōnoki kept this grudge in mind; he would definitely get his revenge given the chance.
Now, the most important thing for Iwagakure was how to salvage the situation.
Thump, thump, thump—!
A knock sounded, and Ōnoki looked at his office door, saying, "Come in."
"Tsuchikage-sama, it's time for the meeting."
A Hidden Stone Ninja pushed open the door and entered the office.
"I understand."
Ōnoki stood up with a heavy expression, heading to the conference room as if going to war. Before he even entered, he heard the fierce arguments of Iwagakure's high-ranking officials coming from within.
The reason for their argument was the complete destruction of the supply unit's camp by Konoha. They were all blaming each other for not fulfilling their responsibilities, for not coming up with better strategies, which allowed Konoha to find the supply unit's camp so easily.
With the destruction of the supply unit's camp, Iwagakure lost not only the Ninja who made up the unit but also important supplies.
Despite the arguments, no one blamed the captain of the supply unit, because the captain had already died in the fire that burned down the camp.
They had to show due respect to the dead.
---
"Orochimaru, you didn't go to assassinate the Tsuchikage, did you?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi breathed a sigh of relief seeing Orochimaru return safe and sound. Knowing Orochimaru, he was genuinely worried she might have run off to assassinate Ōnoki.
Because of this, he hadn't been in the mood to eat all day, even though the successful surprise attack that severely damaged Iwagakure's supply lines, preventing the front-line Iwagakure forces from getting supplies, was something to celebrate.
"Hiruzen-sensei, why do you ask?"
Orochimaru asked curiously. Given the current situation, assassinating Ōnoki would be completely redundant. Even if she wanted to kill Ōnoki, she wouldn't choose this time.
"Then, Orochimaru, she is…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze fell on the girl behind Orochimaru, who was looking around, curious about everything, wearing a blue high-slit cheongsam and those wicked white sports shorts.
"Hiruzen-sensei, allow me to formally introduce you. This is Ichikishimahime, one of the Three Snake Princesses Sages of Ryūchi Cave. This mission was successfully completed thanks to her help and the efforts of every member of the surprise attack squad."
When Orochimaru introduced Ichikishimahime, she attributed the credit for completing the mission entirely to Ichikishimahime and the members of the surprise attack squad, not including herself at all. Such credit was useless to her, even less valuable than the supplies Ichikishimahime had taken from the Iwagakure supply unit's camp.
Strategic materials were in high demand during this wartime period.
Orochimaru planned to sell those materials back to Iwagakure.
"A Sage from Ryūchi Cave?!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Ichikishimahime in shock, finding it hard to believe that such a young and beautiful girl could be a Sage from Ryūchi Cave, the most dangerous of the Three Great Sage Locations!
Moreover, judging by how she interacted with Orochimaru, their relationship was quite unusual!
"Kid, do I not look like a Sage from Ryūchi Cave?"
Ichikishimahime floated up, white snake scales appearing on her face, performing an instant transformation that made Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes widen. His pipe fell onto the table, thankfully the tobacco inside hadn't been lit yet.
A cute and pretty girl suddenly turning into a terrifying snake monster, one can imagine the immense impact it had on Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind.
"Did that scare you?"
Ichikishimahime put her hands behind her head, crossing her long, slender, snow-white legs, and flicking her pink snake tongue, said, "Orochimaru wasn't scared the first time she saw me like this."
"Cough!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression returned to normal as he said, "Ichikishimahime-sama, welcome to Konoha. I am Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"Hmph hmph!"
Ichikishimahime was very satisfied with Hiruzen Sarutobi's attitude, waving her hand and saying, "I'm just following Orochimaru to Konoha to take a look; I won't be staying too long."
"Orochimaru, this is your mission reward, and also the bonus for bringing back those supplies."
Hiruzen Sarutobi took out two paper bags and placed them on the table. It was clear that the second paper bag was slightly smaller than the first.
"Hiruzen-sensei, given the value of those supplies, aren't you being a bit stingy?"
Orochimaru walked over and opened the paper bag, looking at the Land of Fire bank notes with a face value of a thousand ryo inside, and said with dissatisfaction, "The members of the surprise attack squad and I risked our lives to bring back those supplies! At the very least, you should give us more! As the Hokage, how can you dampen the spirits of Ninja who risk their lives to complete missions?"
"If you don't want it, then give the bonus back to me. This bonus came out of my own pocket."
Hiruzen Sarutobi turned his head away, acting as if he didn't care if she took it or not. He had figured it out; Orochimaru just wanted more money. This money was his own contribution for the surprise attack squad's bonus, to thank the surprise attack squad for bringing back those valuable strategic materials.
"Do you think being Hokage is easy for me?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi regretted saying this immediately, wishing he could slap himself. What kind of thing was that to say!
Orochimaru didn't want to be Hokage in the first place, so hearing this would only make her want to be Hokage even less, wouldn't it?
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