"With this, the mission can be considered completed," Orochimaru said. Tossing the mission report back to Tsunade. She nodded at his words and looked at the report given to her.
"It seems you did quite some work in the camp to get this information," Tsunade remarked at the detailed information about camps in Land of Rain, the marked places that could be used to get information.
Orochimaru didn't reply to Tsunade's words. Instead, he looked at Akane who was staring at the report with a thoughtful face. A moment later, he asked, "What are you thinking about?"
"I am thinking that this plan would be considered stupid if we weren't capable."
Hearing his words, Tsunade and Orochimaru looked at Akane. Tsunade tilted her head, wondering what stupid thoughts he was having while Orochimaru thought of something and then a chuckle escaped his lips.
"Haha, you aren't wrong in your words. Even I wonder what Danzo was thinking when he thought of such a plan."
"You two could ignore the mission and talk about this to the teacher. Everything would have been solved with some side effects."
"But then---"
"But then if something happened in Land of Rain in between, our name would be mentioned, whether we like it or not." Tsunade continued Orochimaru's words, and Orochimaru looked at Tsunade, who cut him off.
"Well, let's ignore this for now. We have three days, the three days we gained from the Iwa mission, a day where 'we' would rest in camp, and then three to four days for travelling to Capital or Konoha, whichever would be feasible." Akane spoke with a thoughtful face, and Tsunade nodded at his words.
"I understand what you are trying to say. We have a total of seven to eight days for this mission. This means we need to plan efficiently as most of the time would be spent in travelling and sneaking around." Orochimaru continued his words and thought of the plan he had in his mind. A moment later, he told Tsunade about his plan and Tsunade furrowed her brows as she heard him.
"Wouldn't it be risky to travel on this path? From what you have told, the chances of finding rogue ninjas, and ninjas from Rain is quite high."
"Yeah, but it is shorter and faster. With our abilities, it wouldn't be hard to travel on this path, and I think it will yield more results."
Akane looked at Orochimaru and Tsunade who spoke their thoughts. If he used dream manipulation, he could find which path would be suitable but that would be extremely suspicious since even Orochimaru and Danzo wouldn't be aware of that path.
'I could use Grandma's name but then there are other questions and loopholes in using her name. So, we have to choose between the two paths, huh!'
Thinking of this, Akane looked at the map Orochimaru had in his hand. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Let's speed up while we are in the Land of Fire and till here. Then, we can slow down while following a safer path at the start, and when we are done with the mission, we can just use the transformation technique to go from a risky path."
"When returning, it would be better to use the shorter path."
Orochimaru and Tsunade looked at the path Akane marked, and Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. Akane's words weren't wrong and he made sure to follow both his and Tsunade's thoughts.
'Did he make sure to take care of both of our thoughts? Following this path, the time to look around the camps will be shortened. Does he have something in his mind, or is he not thinking of this?'
Orochimaru had various questions in his mind as he thought of Akane's words. Since he didn't know of Zetsu, he didn't know that Akane could get information about Land of Rain anytime. He had planned on contacting the Black Zetsu to make sure that Madara would be aware of them but the amount of information he would receive would depend on them.
If Madara got to know about them going to Land of Rain later from other sources, then he might get suspicious about Zetsu since they were his 'creations' and for some reason, his 'creations' didn't do what he said.
"What do you think, Tsunade? It will lessen the time to look around beside the bases. From what you have said, a third party is also involved, and we have to get to know about them too, if possible."
"About that, I think it would be better for us if we complete the 'mission' we have received and tell the rest of the information to the Teacher. Even though I also want to know about the other party, I still have another mission about the Daimyo's daughter and that one is important."
"Even if other Medical Nins have diagnosed correctly, and Daimyo's daughter is well, I still have to be there to show my presence as my name has been called."
Orochimaru understood what Tsunade was talking about. Unless Tsunade had spoken that Daimyo's daughter was well, the Land of Wind's Daimyo wouldn't be assured, and he also knew that Third Hokage wanted to get more benefits from the Daimyo by making use of this chance.
"Then we will focus more on the spy camps which are mentioned. As for the rest, let's see how things will go."
In the end, Orochimaru agreed with Tsunade's words. They had decided what needs to be done and what they will do.
"Before that, there is something we have to do."
Just as they were about to leave, Tsunade spoke suddenly as she remembered something important. Orochimaru looked at Tsunade, who didn't say anything. A few minutes later, under the thick cover of an ancient tree, Tsunade sat cross-legged, weaving handsigns rapidly.
In a flash of smoke, three perfect copies of her appeared, each wearing a neutral expression. Without hesitation, she began sealing them into separate scrolls, tightening the seals to prevent accidental chakra leaks.
Akane mirrored her actions. He created two Shadow Clones, one programmed to defend the Daimyo's daughter if needed, the other to assist Tsunade's clones logistically.
Watching the process, Orochimaru observed with keen interest, noting how precisely Akane handled the sealing technique. Not flashy, but smooth, a mark of solid fundamentals.
Before sealing the last scroll, Tsunade glanced at Akane and said, "You do know that Shadow Clone isn't perfect. There could be some problems in the process."
"I know," Akane replied, tying off the seal tightly. "Still, I will prepare for as many variables as possible. We still have another thing."
Tsunade gave a small smirk, almost proud at his words and the fact that she knew what he was talking about. "Good."
When the last scroll was sealed and secured, Akane and Tsunade left two of their clones hidden nearby with instructions to return to the base camp in time and follow the plan they had made.
After that, they would proceed toward the Fire Capital and to make sure that they would conserve as much chakra as possible, the Zetsu would help in transporting the clones from one place to another.
Looking at the scene and hearing the coded talk between them, Orochimaru wondered what the other thing they were talking about was. Even though he was curious, he didn't ask but he was more surprised about Akane's chakra control and amount of chakra he had.
After all, they had used Shadow Clone technique, not simple clone technique and Orochimaru knew how much chakra it required to create multiple clones.
'Is he really from Senju Clan, but with a changed surname to keep the identity hidden? Or maybe, a relative? I am curious about how many more secrets Mito-Sama has, and how things will change when Akane starts showing his abilities in Konoha.'
Even though there were too many unknowns, Orochimaru was looking forward to what kind of wind Akane would bring to Konoha, and what new things he would get to see from him.