A thin mist wrapped around the forest outside Konoha, and the air carried a damp chill.
Uchiha Chiya's gaze drifted without intention across the tall, slender figure walking ahead of him.
Orochimaru was looking toward the treetops nearby, his golden slit pupils narrowed slightly, his thoughts unreadable.
'What an unpleasant way to look at someone...'
Every time Chiya met Orochimaru's eyes, he felt a mild discomfort.
He could sense what radiated off Orochimaru. It was not the killing intent directed at an enemy. It was something closer to a near-fevered desire to examine and dissect, like a venomous snake fixing its gaze on prey as it flickered its tongue.
"Your presence seems somewhat different from yesterday."
Orochimaru suddenly turned and looked toward Uchiha Chiya. His hoarse voice carried over.
Chiya's expression gave nothing away.
"From last night until now I have not practiced at all. Not falling behind is already something. Lord Orochimaru is surely joking."
He let that settle for a moment, then put on a puzzled expression and ventured.
"Does Lord Orochimaru actually study changes in a person's presence as well?"
Orochimaru's mouth curved into a meaningful smile, and he did not continue the subject.
"Tsunade asked me to give you this."
At the mention of Tsunade, Chiya paused.
He took a box from Orochimaru's hand and opened it.
'A keepsake.'
'Hmm? This necklace?'
'That "lucky" necklace of the First Hokage?!'
A jolt went through him.
He pulled out the note tucked beneath the necklace.
"I am giving you this. Come home safely."
Chiya shuddered without knowing why.
'This... this... she is not trying to get me killed with this "lucky" buff, is she?'
'You are not planning on letting me come back alive!'
"Chiya-kun, where do you think the meaning of life lies?"
Orochimaru's question cut through Chiya's thoughts. Chiya considered it, put the necklace away, thought for a moment, then spoke.
"In protecting others, I would say."
Hearing that answer, Orochimaru looked toward Uchiha Chiya with something that seemed like a quiet feeling stirring in him.
"Protecting others? What a naive and hollow thing to say."
"Lord Orochimaru, where do you think the meaning of life lies?"
Orochimaru's golden pupils lowered.
"Life is too fragile. It has no meaning of its own."
With those words, he turned and looked in the direction of Konoha.
"It is about time. Prepare to move out."
Orochimaru swept his gaze over everyone. His face was colder than ever.
"Yes!"
Chiya and the others answered.
In the last moment before leaving the village, Chiya could not help turning back.
In the morning mist that hung over the village gate, a flash of gold appeared and disappeared.
Tsunade stood with her arms crossed. Her bright brown eyes looked through the thin mist and met his across the distance.
She suddenly raised her fist and made a gesture that said: you had better come back.
A smile crossed Chiya's face.
He waved back to show he understood.
'Tsunade, don't worry.'
'I am the man who wins over the Fifth Hokage. I will come back in one piece.'
Chiya turned and followed the squad, moving quickly in the direction of Amegakure.
"Chiya-kun."
Orochimaru, running alongside the others, let his gaze fall suddenly on Chiya. His hoarse voice carried an eerie warmth.
"This time, just stay close to me."
"Yes!"
Chiya kept his expression respectful.
'Stay close to you? Just don't turn around and sell me out.'
Chiya's guard went up to its highest point.
After roughly half a day of running, the weather began to shift unpredictably.
Once away from Konoha, Orochimaru's squad moved rapidly through dense forest.
Chiya kept his guard up throughout. He could feel Orochimaru's probing gaze falling on him from time to time.
That look did not say comrade. It said interesting specimen under examination.
It seemed that Orochimaru had already undergone his shift in thinking.
"Chiya-kun seems rather tense."
Orochimaru spoke suddenly. His hoarse voice carried amusement.
Chiya's expression did not change.
"On a mission this important for the first time, being careful seems reasonable."
Orochimaru smiled in that meaningful way of his and said nothing more.
The squad pressed forward in silence. Only the sound of footsteps and the rustle of leaves moved through the trees.
As the elevation gradually rose, the vegetation around them began to change.
The lush broadleaf forest near Konoha slowly gave way to conifer trees. The air grew damp with moisture.
In the distance came a low rumbling like muffled thunder, and lightning flickered high above.
"The border of the Land of Rain is just ahead."
Orochimaru had stopped, signaling everyone to stay alert.
Chiya raised his eyes and saw a grey curtain of rain hanging over the distant horizon.
The Land of Rain lived up to its name, smothered in cloud and shadow all year round, rain falling almost without pause.
It was said that this was weather Hanzo deliberately maintained to strengthen the country's defenses, the constant rain significantly weakening the power of Fire Release jutsu.
After crossing the border, the surroundings became immediately oppressive.
Along both sides of the muddy road ran rusted barbed wire, and scattered among it were the shapes of ninja corpses bleached pale by the rain.
In the distance, tall steel structures loomed in and out of view. These were the landmark buildings of Amegakure, fortifications personally designed by Hanzo that were said to be able to withstand any ninjutsu attack.
"Everyone put on your rain gear."
Orochimaru's hoarse voice came through. The group stopped and pulled rain cloaks from their packs, pulling them on.
Orochimaru looked everyone over once they were covered.
"Move out."
The word had barely left his mouth before he bent his knees and ran forward.
Everyone followed.
Before long a thin scattering of rain began to fall, pattering against the rain cloaks.
They had not run far when Orochimaru slowed.
"Watch your footing."
Orochimaru gave a sudden warning.
"The ground throughout the Land of Rain is riddled with explosive tags and traps."
Chiya quietly activated his Sharingan. Sure enough, faint chakra threads showed through the muddy water, barely visible.
He carefully avoided these deadly traps, and at the same time noticed some strange marks along the roadside.
They looked like the trails left by some large creature moving across the ground.
"We are here."
Orochimaru stopped before a dilapidated outpost.
This was supposed to be one of Konoha's forward positions. Right now it was silent in a way that felt wrong.
The wooden door of the outpost hung half open, creaking in the wind and rain.
Chiya caught a brief glint of metal through the gap in the door.
'Something is wrong.'
Chiya kept his voice low.
"There are traps inside."
Orochimaru seemed to have already sensed that something was off. He signaled everyone to fall back.
With a sharp flick of his arm, several small snakes shot out from his sleeve and slid silently toward the outpost.
At that moment, everything changed at once.
"Ambush!"
With that sharp shout, countless kunai with explosive tags attached came flying in from every direction.
Orochimaru formed signs in an instant.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
A wall of earth surged up from the ground, but the blast from the explosions still sent everyone tumbling.
Through the smoke, dozens of Rain-nin emerged from the curtain of rain.
They wore specially made gas masks, their movements precise and unified. These were clearly elite forces who had undergone specialized training.
"Fall back!"
Orochimaru gave the order in a cold voice, but he himself did not move from where he stood.
Chiya had just started to act when he suddenly felt the ground sink beneath him.
Without him noticing when it happened, the muddy ground had turned into a quicksand-like trap.
Chiya quickly used the Body Flicker Jutsu to free himself. The Rain-nin around him were closing in.
'It seems we walked into an ambush.'
Orochimaru ran his tongue across his lips. A heavy killing intent flashed in his eyes.
The rain came down harder. The large drops struck his face like needles.
Chiya wiped the rain from his face. His Sharingan moved through the curtain of rain, searching for an opening to break through.
Just then, he noticed a figure flash past on a building in the distance.
'That is... Hanzo?'
That familiar silhouette sent a jolt through everyone present.
The legendary figure stood on high ground, looking down over the battlefield. Several elite ninja wearing gas masks stood beside him.
Chiya's gaze dropped.
'Of all the terrible luck.'
'We had barely arrived, and already ran into the man himself?'
Chiya thought of that lucky necklace.
'No. I am a materialist. I cannot let something so subjective influence me.'
'This has to be something that old schemer Danzo arranged.'
'In the world of the Hokage, whenever something does not add up or has no clear culprit, blaming Danzo is never wrong.'
'This was not an ordinary ambush. They had been waiting for this Konoha group all along...'
Chiya looked toward Orochimaru. Before he could finish the thought, a water dragon burst up from the ground and came straight for him.