Naruto: Kushina's Redemption, My Revenge

After Chinya completed the mission to eliminate the bandits, Orochimaru didn't immediately return with Chinya to Konoha. Instead, he brought Chinya to the Rice Country.

However, Chinya did not accompany Orochimaru to personally meet the Daimyo of the Rice Country—he was left behind at the inn to rest.

Chinya lay on his bed, thinking about Orochimaru's meeting with the Daimyo.

In the future, when Orochimaru leaves Konoha, the Otogakure he establishes will be located within the territory of the Rice Country.

Orochimaru bribes the Daimyo of the Rice Country and builds Otogakure on his land, but Otogakure remains independent and does not serve the Rice Country.

In essence, Otogakure and the Rice Country are two entirely separate entities.

So even now, Orochimaru has already started building ties with the Daimyo of the Rice Country?

No wonder they say Orochimaru was destined for success.

Hmm... though maybe he wasn't a complete success.

But he did successfully establish his own shinobi village in the Rice Country and mastered the Living Corpse Reincarnation technique—a forbidden jutsu nearly equivalent to immortality.

Looking back on Orochimaru's life, he was mostly quite successful. His downfall mainly came from his obsession with the Sharingan.

Even if he eventually failed, Orochimaru still ended up alive and well.

Orochimaru didn't return that night. When Chinya woke up the next morning, he found that Orochimaru had just returned to the inn.

"Let's go. We'll head back to Konoha now."

Chinya and Orochimaru set off together on their way back to the village.

Upon arrival, Orochimaru first took Chinya to report the completion of their mission before visiting Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Inside the Hokage's office,

Hiruzen puffed thoughtfully on his pipe and kindly said to Chinya, "Chinya, your very first mission as a ninja was a C-rank, and you handled it admirably."

Chinya bowed deeply. "Thank you so much for entrusting me with this mission, Lord Hokage and Instructor Orochimaru."

Hiruzen smiled warmly. "It's partly because of your effort, too. Orochimaru has spoken highly of you—he says you're exceptionally talented and diligently dedicated to your training."

"I've improved so quickly thanks entirely to Instructor Orochimaru's guidance. Without him, I might still be stuck trying to improve all on my own."

That was no exaggeration.

Without Orochimaru's mentorship, Chinya might still be struggling inefficiently through self-guided practice.

A good teacher really can make a huge difference—it saves you from many wasted efforts and wrong turns.

Indeed, Orochimaru had been wholeheartedly instructing him.

Although Chinya remained cautious around Orochimaru, he truly felt grateful toward him.

Orochimaru's future obsession will revolve around the Sharingan. As long as that obsession doesn't involve Chinya's Sharingan directly, there won't be any actual conflict between them. Perhaps in the future, Orochimaru could still remain his teacher, while Chinya continues as his student.

Before Hiruzen, Orochimaru openly praised Chinya without hesitation. "Chinya is naturally outstanding. Although it was his first mission, his planning and execution were excellent—even surpassing some chunin who have completed numerous missions."

Hiruzen took another puff from his pipe and remarked, "For the first time ever, I'm hearing you praise someone this highly, Orochimaru. Looks like you're truly satisfied with your new student, Chinya."

Orochimaru glanced at Chinya and smiled slightly. "I must say, I'm quite satisfied."

Sarutobi Hiruzen also smiled briefly, then his expression turned serious. Without holding back in front of Chinya, he addressed Orochimaru directly. "Orochimaru, the Shinobi World is already on the verge of stormy times."

Orochimaru's voice turned heavy. "Have the other villages already started stirring?"

Hiruzen pulled out a map, spread it across the table, and began analyzing the situation. "Correct. According to the intelligence reports we've received, Iwa ninja have appeared along the border between the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Fire.

Similarly, Kumo ninja have been spotted along the border between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Fire.

As for Suna... they've always had the habit of stirring up trouble on our borders from time to time.

As for Kiri, the situation remains unclear. I've sent several letters to Terumi, the Mizukage, but haven't received any response at all."

Orochimaru slightly furrowed his brows. "So what you're saying is both Iwagakure and Kumogakure are already testing Konoha's defenses bit by bit. If both are doing this, they might have already reached some kind of cooperation. And if we include Suna, that means three of the five great shinobi villages are now targeting Konoha."

Hiruzen exhaled a puff of smoke with a somewhat gloomy expression. "Exactly. The situation doesn't look good. Originally, I wanted to establish an alliance with Kiri, but it seems now that won't bear fruit. It'll already be fortunate if Kiri simply chooses not to join them."

Orochimaru studied the markings on the map and asked after a moment's thought. "Then how serious is the current situation? Are Iwa and Kumo applying strong pressure during these probes?"

Hiruzen shook his head. "At present, their pressure isn't heavy. They haven't completely crossed into our territory in the Land of Fire. But at this rate, it's only a matter of time before they fully enter our borders. For now, they're probably just gauging Konoha's reaction.

Along the border between the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Fire, I've stationed Sakumo.

On the border shared with the Land of Hot Water, I've already dispatched Jiraiya. Conveniently, since he was training Minato anyway, now he can give Minato some battlefield experience firsthand.

As long as they're there, we don't have to worry about a full-scale war erupting right away, though some localized conflicts could easily start within the next few years."

Hiruzen's voice was slow and solemn, each word carefully pronounced. "Distance from the end of the Second Great Ninja War hasn't even been many years, yet the signs of conflict have already begun to appear again. And this time… the coming war could possibly target Konoha directly!"

The First Great Ninja War mainly erupted from hostilities between Konoha and Kumogakure.

Not long after Hashirama Senju's death, the First Great Ninja War broke out.

The reason peace existed in the Shinobi World previously was because of the deterrence offered by the Ninja God—Hashirama Senju.

After Hashirama's death, the sole source of deterrence vanished. Kumogakure openly declared war against Konoha first, prompting other villages to join the conflict one after another.

The cause of the outbreak of the Second Great Ninja War was unbalanced economic development.

As economic gaps widened between countries, certain factions advocating martial strength grew powerful, pushing for territorial expansion through military might. Thus began the Second Great Ninja War.

Neither of those wars was centered in the Land of Fire.

The Third Great Ninja War seems to be drawing near now.

If the Four Villages were to target Konoha at the same time, the Land of Fire would become the main battlefield.

And naturally, the Land of Fire would suffer heavy losses as a result.

Orochimaru's face darkened slightly as he gazed silently at the map, lost in thought.

Chinya couldn't help but feel surprised while listening to the conversation between Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru.

Is war really starting to show its face this soon?

Now that he thought about it, maybe it was about time for that.

In that case, it probably won't be long before Kumo ninjas kidnap Kushina Uzumaki.

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