Although the plan was set that night, they didn't take action immediately; there was still a lot of preliminary work to be done.
The search for outposts over the past few days went smoothly. In addition to the previously known locations, four or five more were discovered. Sunagakure had set up many outposts within the Land of Rivers. Konoha had already swept through the ones closer to the Land of Fire, but there was no guarantee that some hadn't been missed. Even if any remained, they were likely well hidden. Most of the newly discovered outposts were closer to the Land of Wind.
These outposts were very crude, clearly designed for Sand shinobi to resupply. There weren't many shinobi stationed at each one, at most fewer than ten.
However, Konoha unexpectedly learned a new piece of intelligence these past few days: the supply deliveries to these outposts all occurred on the same day, three times a month, specifically on the 1st, 10th, and 20th.
This was understandable. Since the outposts were scattered across the Land of Rivers, delivering supplies individually as they ran out would be impossible. Unified delivery naturally saved manpower and resources. Moreover, this would increase the success rate of Kyuushin's previous plan.
The three days for supply delivery would also be the times when Sand shinobi were most concentrated at the outposts. As long as this timing was precisely utilized, greater battle results were inevitable.
Inside Konoha's frontline command post, Orochimaru and Shikaku Nara were consolidating intelligence when two figures appeared without warning, startling Shikaku.
"Even though I was prepared, I still got a fright. The Second Hokage's ninjutsu is truly unpredictable," Shikaku Nara said, patting his chest. Orochimaru, standing nearby, also nodded, looking at Kyuushin and Sakumo Hatake, who had just teleported.
Kyuushin merely nodded at Shikaku Nara's words, then turned to Sakumo Hatake and asked, "Senior Sakumo, experiencing space-time teleportation for the first time can cause some dizziness. Are you alright?"
Sakumo Hatake's face was a bit pale, but he forced himself to say, "I'm fine, but it is quite dizzying. I think I'll need to adapt a few more times. I'll have to trouble you."
Space-time teleportation indeed caused some discomfort. Kyuushin himself felt it during his first teleportation, but it had little effect on him, and after adapting, the feeling mostly disappeared.
However, it seemed Sakumo Hatake's discomfort was particularly strong, to the point of turning pale. This was probably related to individual physical differences.
But ever since Kyuushin learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, he had never teleported with anyone else, so he didn't know this before.
It was Orochimaru who reminded him whether they needed to practice beforehand, and only then did Kyuushin realize the issue. Otherwise, if such a mishap occurred during the actual operation, it would be quite embarrassing.
"Alright, I've already left a marker at the previous location. We can go there anytime."
Hearing Sakumo's request, Kyuushin naturally agreed and was about to put his hand on Sakumo's shoulder to leave, but Sakumo twitched his shoulder, quickly avoided him, and said urgently, "Wait, hold on. Let me recover first. We can practice after I've had a moment to rest."
Kyuushin was a bit stunned. Sakumo Hatake had always maintained a cool, aloof image in his eyes, but his actions at this moment caused that image to crumble.
Orochimaru then said, "Kyuushin, let Senior Sakumo rest for a while. Coincidentally, I haven't tried space-time transfer yet. May I try it as well?"
"Of course," Kyuushin replied, recovering. He stepped forward, placed his hand on Orochimaru's shoulder, and then the two instantly vanished.
Shikaku, standing nearby, also looked envious. Space-time transfer ninjutsu was rare. If he and Kyuushin weren't still unfamiliar with each other, he probably would have also suggested trying it to Kyuushin.
Orochimaru only felt as if he blinked, and he instantly found himself on a mountaintop, yet he hadn't moved a single step during the entire process.
He savored the experience, realizing it wasn't quite like blinking. He had intentionally kept his eyes wide open to fully experience the process, but the transfer was so fast that even saying it happened in the blink of an eye might be too slow to describe it.
He exclaimed, "As expected of a space-time ninjutsu!"
But then his mood became somber. He turned to Kyuushin beside him and said,
"My ninjutsu talent in childhood might not have surpassed yours, but it was much better than Tsunade's and Jiraiya's. I could learn the ninjutsu my sensei taught me very quickly.
I thought I could learn all ninjutsu, but when my sensei taught me this jutsu back then, I couldn't learn it successfully. I initially thought this jutsu was exclusive to the Second Hokage, but you've given me another surprise.
I have to admit, I am just a mortal."
Kyuushin didn't expect Orochimaru to express such sentiments to him, but his heart stirred.
The current Orochimaru hadn't yet become the man who would resort to any means for immortality. In the original storyline, Orochimaru witnessed the deaths of Nawaki and Dan Kato, realizing the fragility of life, which intensified his craving for immortality.
Later, due to his cooperation with Danzo and losing the position of Fourth Hokage, he embarked on the irreversible path of human experimentation, eventually being forced to defect.
In fact, human experimentation wasn't considered wrong in this world. Even the Second Hokage conducted many experiments on living people to create forbidden jutsu. It was just that Orochimaru used people from within the village for his experiments.
But to be honest, although Orochimaru created a forbidden jutsu like Living Corpse Reincarnation, which allowed him to achieve immortality by taking over others' bodies, this method of immortality was clearly evil.
As the number of reincarnations increased, Orochimaru's soul would also weaken through repeated clashes, and it wasn't impossible for it to eventually dissipate on the spot.
However, the current Orochimaru clearly hadn't reached that point. Kyuushin was curious: if Orochimaru took a different path at this time, would the outcome be more interesting?
Thinking this, Kyuushin directly asked, "Orochimaru-sensei, what is your dream?"
"Oh?" Orochimaru was very surprised that Kyuushin would ask this question. He directly said,
"Kyuushin, I originally thought you were like me, but I didn't expect you to ask such a childish question."
"I also think I'm very similar to Orochimaru-sensei, but even people like us have pursuits, don't we?
For example, my pursuit is to surpass the First Hokage, become the strongest person in the shinobi world, and even one day reach the strength of the Sage of Six Paths.
Orochimaru-sensei, when we say dream, it's actually a pursuit. You must have such a pursuit too, right?"
"The Sage of Six Paths?" Orochimaru sneered, saying,
"Do you believe in such legends, too?"