Chapter 61 : First Move

What Orochimaru is thinking about right now is not how to snatch everyone's scrolls and excel in this test to gain fame and attention. His reputation is already well-known, and the Hokage Lineage has expressed goodwill and support for him. He represents a small family and civilian ninjas. In fact, from a political standpoint, he may be even better than the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato.

In the future, some of the stories might also have Orochimaru among them, or they will soon have him: an ordinary background, excellent teachers, and exceptional strength, including military accomplishments.

If Orochimaru is willing, he could even become the Fourth Hokage.

If some people don't cause trouble.

Everyone has dreams, right? What if it becomes a reality?

To achieve this dream, Orochimaru needs a smaller goal first, which is to reach the level of a Kage.

The title of "genius" might sound impressive, but it no longer suits him as a transmigrator. Orochimaru now desires to become a strong individual.

"Captain, don't we need to conceal our presence?" Hyuga Kazuki asked.

"Aren't you confident in me?" Orochimaru gave him a confident look.

"Of course, Captain." Hyuga Kazuki didn't dare to disobey Orochimaru's orders, remembering the painful experience of the kidney shot last time.

"Since you're worried, go ahead and investigate with your Byakugan." Orochimaru said with a deeper meaning.

"Byakugan, activate!" Hyuga Kazuki thought there was nothing wrong with using it, but to his surprise, he found that his vision was greatly suppressed, and it consumed more chakra than usual.

"That's expected. Didn't the instructor say earlier that they might set up a barrier to suppress the detection of ninjutsu and spiritual power?"

"Captain, are you also being suppressed?" Nightingale looked at Orochimaru with a concerned and expectant expression.

"Of course." Orochimaru wouldn't reveal that his original perception range of ten kilometers had been reduced to less than one kilometer. It seemed that the suppression affected those with stronger detection abilities more severely.

However, their group still had an advantage. Being with sensory ninjas was always better than being without one.

"Oh no, oh no! I have use the rest time to buy clothes. Captain, you'll have to give it your all!" Nightingale looked pitifully at Orochimaru, and others felt a bit sorry for her.

Orochimaru inwardly sneered, seeing through her act. She obviously wanted him to go ahead and shield her, yet she pretended to care about his well-being. He wasn't someone naive who hadn't seen the world.

Well, she's quite an actress, and she's rather beautiful. Too bad, I, Orochimaru, have lived enough to see the world.

"Do you know what equipment is necessary for ANBU to carry out missions outside?" Orochimaru suddenly asked.

"What? Equipment??" The three of them looked bewildered.

"A summoning contract, preferably with a creature that has higher intelligence, like a crow or a ninja dog, and preferably more than one." Orochimaru performed a hand seal.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

A lot of smoke rose, and snakes appeared out of nowhere.

They seemed to understand their mission. Orochimaru raised his hand, and the snakes scattered in all directions, burrowing into the grass and climbing trees in an orderly manner.

Watching the thick and long snakes slithering through the grass and the trees, the scene was quite spectacular. Nightingale's scalp went numb, and Falcon and Hyuga Kazuki swallowed nervously.

"Captain, your summoning is quite impressive. Some people think you're sinister and have a dark heart because of it. Your summoning creatures are really unusual, um... well, they're just strange!" Nightingale said with a worried look.

"Oh, who said that?" Orochimaru turned to look directly at Nightingale, and the crimson light in his eyes flickered, projecting a powerful aura that felt like a wild beast, freezing the air due to the enormous pressure!

"Uh... I heard it from some villagers, and it seems that a certain Konoha official also shares similar opinions." Nightingale was nervously staring back at Orochimaru, losing all her liveliness.

Very scary. Did he see through me? I must have appeared desperate and aroused his suspicions and vigilance. I need to be more careful in the future.

"Is that so?" Orochimaru looked at Nightingale with a playful expression. In truth, he wasn't sure whether it was Danzo or Uchiha who was badmouthing him from behind, or if it was Hokage Tobirama's way of testing him, or maybe Nightingale's own scheme. These possibilities were all inevitable, and Orochimaru hadn't taken any action against it.

"Go and tell them, I'm as evil as they think!" Orochimaru grinned, licking his teeth with his long tongue, displaying a wicked smile.

"Yes, yes..." Nightingale dared not look at Orochimaru anymore.

"Captain, can your snakes really be of help?"

Hyuga Kazuki tried to change the subject, coming to Nightingale's rescue.

"Don't worry, everything is under control."

With a group of summoning creatures, things became much more convenient. These snakes served as Orochimaru's eyes and ears. Even with his spiritual power greatly suppressed, he could sense disturbances in the surroundings through these "beacons."

Though the bounded forest seemed vast, with more than thirty ninjas and eight teams, they would eventually encounter each other. No matter how skilled their opponents were, could they escape a carpet search?

"Let's sit back and wait here. There's no need to worry about what the instructor taught us." Orochimaru sat on the ground and began refining chakra.

"Is this really a good idea?" Hyuga Kazuki hesitated, feeling that his Byakugan didn't seem to play a significant role. He eventually sat down as well.

The Falcon's sword was already sharpened, and Nightingale thought for a moment before jumping up a tree to keep watch.

"Boom..." At that moment, the sound of a battle erupted in the distance, indicating someone had used powerful ninjutsu.

"Captain, should we go check it out?" Hyuga Kazuki asked.

"No need to worry. What they're doing now is just collecting scrolls for us," Orochimaru said confidently.

After four long hours, as everyone started to feel at ease, Orochimaru opened his impassive snake eyes.

"At four o'clock, there's a group of people hiding behind rocks."

"Should we approach them?"

"Of course!" Orochimaru grinned, "They're here to deliver the scrolls, so naturally, they need someone to take it from them."

At the same time, behind a large rock, four ninjas whispered to each other.

"Wasp, have you found anything?"

"No, my bugs told me there's no trace or movement of people nearby."

A ninja tightly wrapped in bandages replied, his entire body covered, leaving no skin exposed.

"It seems like everyone is hiding well."

"But just thinking about waiting here for three days makes me feel weak all over."

At that moment, a kunai with a detonating talisman was launched toward the large rock where they were hiding!

"Be careful!!" Their captain realized and shouted, quickly pulling the Aburame clan member who was controlling the bugs, and dragging the other two teammates simultaneously.

"Boom!"

A massive explosion occurred, and stones flew everywhere, countless fragments hitting the four ninjas.

"Retreat, hide!" Their captain cautiously and slowly withdrew.

"Wasp, didn't you say there was no one here?!" A female voice said indignantly.

"..." Wasp shook his head and remained silent.

"Fox, now is not the time to discuss this!" the captain said sternly.

Their team had formed only temporarily, and it was necessary to keep everyone's spirits up.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Three more detonating talismans exploded, completely shattering the boulder. However, the four ninjas had already hidden behind bushes again.

A figure walked confidently toward them.

"You don't have to hide anymore. You've already been exposed."

The hidden ninjas remained motionless and continued observing.

"I really can't do anything about you." Orochimaru chuckled, quickly forming hand seals!

"Wood Style : Wooden Spear"

Emerald green leaves suddenly emerged from Nightingale's shirt as she leaped out of the bushes, launching her ninjutsu first. The leaves flew like countless hidden weapons attacking the bushes, while Orochimaru also activated his ninjutsu!

"Wind Style : Great Breakthrough"

A violent gust of wind roared, as if a giant hand was sweeping the roots of the bushes, revealing the four people's clothing and armor!

"We are completely exposed. Hurry up...!" At that moment, a ninja was extremely frustrated and was about to say more when a shining blade swiftly decapitated him!

Falcon struck, and Orochimaru followed with a leap into the air. His sharp blade cut through the body of the unfortunate ninja before he could even use the substitution technique, stopping right at his neck.

"Don't move."

"Don't... don't! We are all ANBU comrades. I promise we won't resist."

Seeing the lack of fighting spirit in the captured ninja, Falcon put down the knife and tied him up with a rope.

At the same time, Hyuga Kazuki used a surprise attack to knock out another ninja.

"...Damn!"

The leading ninja suppressed his anger and didn't look at the Aburame clan member. He thought he had concealed himself well, but he was swiftly taken down by someone who were hidden before they could even use ninjutsu. It was humiliating.

"Where's your scroll? Hand it over." Orochimaru and Nightingale walked over together.

Nightingale chuckled and said, "You guys look like decent folks. I don't want to be too ruthless."

The two trainee Anbu ninja's face under their masks grew even darker at her words.

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