Everyone in this command tent was a jonin from Konoha. Being stared at by so many jonin at once made Uchiha Yuan feel immense pressure.
Fortunately, most of them only gave Yuan and his teammates a brief glance before looking away.
At the head of the room, Orochimaru lowered his gaze to look at the three of them.
His eyes paused on Yamanaka Kagetsu for a moment before shifting to Uchiha Yuan in the middle.
Uchiha Yuan instantly felt his hair stand on end—Orochimaru's gaze had an invasive intensity that made him extremely uncomfortable.
But Orochimaru didn't linger on him for long either. Soon, his gaze moved to Hyuga Asana.
After scrutinizing Asana for a few seconds, Orochimaru said, "Shibi, introduce your subordinates."
"Yes, Lord Orochimaru. From left to right, the three of them are: Yamanaka Kagetsu of the Yamanaka clan, Uchiha Yuan of the Uchiha clan, and Hyuga Asana of the Hyuga clan."
"Do your subordinates have any special qualities?" Orochimaru asked.
"Um... I don't think so."
Orochimaru chuckled. "Seems like you're not familiar enough with your own students, Shibi."
Just then, a masked ninja standing beside Orochimaru—clearly dressed in ANBU fashion—interjected, "Lord Orochimaru, maybe let's skip the jokes and get to the point."
"Alright, no more teasing. The reason I had Shibi bring your entire team here today is because I have a mission for you."
"We're ready to obey, Lord Orochimaru," said Shibi Aburame.
"We launched a surprise attack and won a major victory against the Mist Ninja, eliminating a large number of them—but their top-tier combatants remain mostly untouched."
"And if nothing unexpected happens, the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, will arrive on the battlefield soon."
"This guy just assumed the title of Fourth Mizukage, and he'll certainly want to make a statement with a show of strength. The Bear Country front may face even greater danger soon."
"Therefore, we need your team to infiltrate deep into enemy territory and monitor the Mist Ninja's movements. Only return once you confirm the Fourth Mizukage has arrived."
(Author's note: Technically, Yagura wasn't the Mizukage yet at this point in the timeline, and the Third Mizukage has little canonical info—so the author is simplifying by calling him the Fourth. Also, Yagura wasn't a Three-Tails Jinchuriki yet; that only happened after Rin's death. Just clarifying to avoid nitpicks.)
Shibi's expression immediately turned serious. This mission was far more dangerous than anything they'd done before.
Their previous tasks were mostly clearing traps—but this one might take them near the Mist Ninja's main encampment.
"To determine when the Fourth Mizukage arrives, we might have to get very close to their camp," he thought grimly.
"Lord Orochimaru, they're still inexperienced. Let me go alone," Shibi said.
"Shibi, your kikaichū may be excellent for scouting distant enemies—but they can't assess chakra levels or transmit messages efficiently. You alone won't be enough," Orochimaru replied.
"But these three just graduated from the Academy. Isn't this too much for them?"
"That's why I said you don't understand your students. Lord Hiruzen holds all three of them in high regard—he even inquired about them specifically in a letter he just sent me," Orochimaru said with a sly smile.
Hearing this, Shibi didn't know what else to say.
"Yuan does have some talent, but he's still too young—his temperament isn't stable, and he lacks experience. Please allow me to go in his place," said Uchiha Mei, who had been silent until now.
Seeing Uchiha Mei speak up, a jonin from the Hyuga clan's branch family also offered to take Asana's place.
Yamanaka Inoichi, the clan head, followed with his own request: "Our clan members typically work in sync with Nara and Akimichi clans. Solo operatives like Kagetsu are rare."
"At the moment, we don't have anyone who can directly replace Kagetsu, but we're willing to send a fully coordinated Ino-Shika-Cho team to assist in this mission."
"A sentiment I share," said Akimichi Choza.
"And what do you say, Shikaku?" Orochimaru turned to ask.
"I have no objections," Nara Shikaku replied somewhat helplessly.
"In that case, the mission is assigned to you all. Shibi, you'll be team captain—they'll follow your orders."
At this point, Uchiha Yuan finally understood Orochimaru's plan.
Calling them into the tent, making a big show of assigning them such a critical mission—it was never about them completing it.
This was bait.
By proposing a dangerous mission and involving them, Orochimaru pressured the clan representatives in the room—especially by mentioning the Third Hokage's high opinion of them.
It was a political move to force the clans to provide suitable replacements for the mission.
"Since others have volunteered to take your places, the three of you are dismissed," Orochimaru said.
Shibi gave the three of them a subtle signal to leave quickly.
Yuan glanced at Uchiha Mei, who gave him a nod.
With a quiet sigh, Yuan turned and left.
Asana and Kagetsu followed close behind.
Once outside the tent, Yuan's face was grim.
"Yuan… did Lord Orochimaru just use us to pressure our clans into taking on a dangerous mission?" Asana asked.
"Yeah."
Kagetsu sighed. "So it really was like that. I thought I was just being paranoid... But if someone from our clan gets hurt or killed because of this—what are we supposed to do?"
Yuan and Asana exchanged a glance but said nothing. The air around the three grew heavy.
Honestly, Yuan hadn't expected Uchiha Mei to be the first one to speak up and offer to take his place.
After he figured out Orochimaru's ploy, Yuan had assumed some clan member would step in—and that would pressure the others to follow suit.
He thought the Yamanaka clan would go first, especially with their leader Inoichi present.
But unexpectedly, it was Uchiha Mei—the senior he'd only met twice—who immediately and without hesitation volunteered to take his place.
This made Yuan's conviction to save the Uchiha clan even stronger.
"Asana, Kagetsu—let's call it a day. Meet me tomorrow at 8 a.m. in our usual spot."
With that, he turned and left.
Asana and Kagetsu said their goodbyes and returned to their clan camps.
(To Be Continued...)