After Ren returned to the Camp, he went straight to Orochimaru's main tent. By this time, it was already dark, and lights had been lit all around the Camp.
Upon reaching the main tent, Ren directly presented his identification. After the guard checked it, he let Ren in.
"The documents should be placed in… Ren-kun?"
Noticing the curtain being lifted, Orochimaru stopped his conversation with the Ninja in front of him and turned to look at the entrance. He had expected it to be a staff member delivering documents, but it turned out to be Ren returning.
"Please continue with your work."
Seeing the two, Ren did not speak further but turned and walked to the side to wait. Uchiha Fugaku was not in the tent, so it seemed he must have gone out to attend to something.
"Mm."
Orochimaru nodded, then shifted his gaze to a Ninja wearing glasses in front of him and continued, "Then I will entrust this mission to you. I will arrange a squad to meet you at a fixed location. Be careful."
"Yes, Lord Orochimaru!"
"Mm."
Orochimaru nodded, then took out a scroll from behind him and handed it to the other party.
"This is the infiltration map. Familiarize yourself with it first."
"Yes!"
The Ninja solemnly took the scroll and stood to the side to read it. Orochimaru, now free, also turned his gaze to Ren.
"Ren-kun, is there something you need to see me about?"
"It's like this."
Ren rubbed the bridge of his nose and said softly, meeting those golden snake eyes, "Minato-kun told me to stay here, so I came to you to see what position you would assign me."
"Oh?"
Orochimaru was a little surprised but didn't say much. He just started to size up Ren with his gaze. After a moment of contemplation, his eyes lit up, and he chuckled softly.
"Ren-kun, there's a mission here that I think suits you very well."
"Huh?"
Although Ren was a little puzzled, he still nodded.
"Please instruct, Lord Orochimaru."
"Very good."
Orochimaru nodded with satisfaction, then gestured for Ren to come closer. Then he turned to the Ninja beside him and introduced, "This is Aoki, an intelligence Ninja. His mission is to infiltrate the Cloud Hidden Great Camp, retrieve intelligence from the intelligence personnel, and bring it back. What do you think? Are you interested?"
After Orochimaru finished speaking, the man named Aoki nodded slightly to Ren, and after Ren responded to him, he turned to look at Orochimaru.
"No problem, Lord Orochimaru, please rest assured and leave it to us."
"Mm."
Orochimaru nodded and continued, "The mission starts tomorrow. Aoki will tell you the rest. Today, you two should prepare well."
"Yes! X2"
As soon as the two walked out of the tent, Aoki was the first to extend his hand to Ren and smiled slightly, "Hello, I'm Aoki. Nice to meet you."
Ren blinked, paused for a moment before realizing, then quickly reached out and shook the other's hand, saying cheerfully, "Hello, I'm Hoshimi Ren. Nice to meet you too."
Aoki pushed up his glasses, staring intently at Ren with a smile, "I know you, Konoha's number one genius. I'm very happy to be on a mission with you."
"Not at all…"
After the two released their hands, Aoki spoke first, "Then let's find a place to plan the mission first, and I'll tell you some details about this mission."
"Okay."
Ten minutes later, the two sat in a tent with a map laid out between them, marking the locations of the Konoha Camp and the Cloud Hidden Great Camp in two different colors. Aoki held a marker pen, gesturing on it.
"Let me explain the situation first."
Aoki put down his pen, adjusted his glasses, and looked at Ren.
"Because this intelligence is very important to us, but due to the KumogakureNinja's overly strict defenses during this period, our intelligence personnel have no way to transmit the intelligence out.
So, we can only infiltrate the Cloud Hidden Great Camp to retrieve the intelligence."
A thoughtful look appeared in Ren's eyes, and after thinking for a moment, he asked, "Then how do we infiltrate tomorrow? This is my first time doing this, so I don't quite understand. Please forgive me."
Aoki didn't care at all. He waved his hand and said, "It's fine. The reason Lord Orochimaru wants us to act together is for you to protect me. After all, my strength isn't very strong, so leave the intelligence handover to me. Please just handle the combat.
As for tomorrow, Lord Orochimaru will personally lead a team to fight and attract Kumogakure's attention. We will use this opportunity to infiltrate their Camp, and then we need to obtain the intelligence and retreat successfully within two days. That's roughly it."
After talking for a long time, Aoki picked up the water cup next to him and drank while still looking at the map, the marker pen in his hand twirling around.
"As for combat, just leave it to me."
After listening to the other party's explanation, Ren finally understood the real reason Orochimaru wanted him to participate in this mission. Goodness, so he was looking for a bodyguard here.
However, with Ren's current strength, even if he couldn't win, he could still retreat safely with Aoki. Not to mention the new ability he gained yesterday.
If he couldn't win, he could just fly. If Kumogakure has the ability, they can drag their Chakra cannons from the rear. Otherwise, even if the Raikage himself came, he could only stare blankly from the ground.
"Okay, then that's it. You get some rest early. I still need to go out and make some preparations, just in case."
While Ren was distracted, Aoki had also finished marking. He then put away the map and writing materials and stood up to leave.
"Okay, then I'll see you tomorrow."
After Ren watched him leave, he lay down on the bed. As soon as his head touched the pillow, a wave of drowsiness washed over him.
"Another busy day. I should sleep early. I have a mission tomorrow."
Ren mumbled a few words, then closed his eyes and fell asleep. When he opened his eyes again, the sky outside was already dimly lit.
Ren didn't waste any time. After a simple wash, he began checking his Ninja tool pouch and personal belongings. After repeatedly confirming nothing was left behind, he walked out of the tent and headed towards the meeting point.
Along the way, Ren saw many Konoha Ninja rushing with hurried expressions, all heading in the same direction.
"Hmm… It looks like Orochimaru's side is already preparing to move out."
Ren muttered to himself, and at the same time, his pace unconsciously quickened by two points.
He didn't like waiting for people, nor did he like making people wait for him. A sense of time was important.
When Ren arrived at the meeting point, it was empty. It seemed Aoki hadn't arrived yet. At this moment, Ren's stomach started to rumble.
"Why am I hungry again?"
Ren scratched his hair, pulled out a Soldier Ration Pill from his Ninja tool pouch, and threw it into his mouth. It seemed it had been stored for a bit too long; it chewed like raw beans.
Both made a crunching sound, but the taste was worlds apart from Rosted Peanuts.
"Sigh, I suddenly really want to eat roasted Peanut…"