Akashō couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
Come to think of it, back on the Wind–Fire battlefield, he'd also been tracked to a cave by a squad of Sand Village ninja. Jiraiya too.
Well, it made sense. These were ninja, after all—by definition experts in assassination and tracking. It was only natural they'd be skilled at pursuit. It's just that most of the ninja he'd run into so far fought more like mages or warriors, which had made him unconsciously overlook that aspect.
Looks like I'll have to be more careful from now on.
"So, Snake-sama, did you just follow… Kokushibo's trail to get here?"
Akashō almost let Bertholdt Hoover's name slip out, but quickly corrected himself to Kokushibo. Orochimaru didn't deny it and simply nodded.
"More or less."
"What's strange is that when I reached the end of the trail, the person who left it was nowhere to be found. It almost felt like someone deliberately led me there."
That's odd. The cave I chose the night before last shouldn't have been this one. So how did Orochimaru follow Kokushibo's trail here?
He's lying. But why? Just too lazy to explain?
What Akashō didn't know was that Orochimaru hadn't actually followed any trail from the night before. It was only after yesterday's great battle that he suddenly felt the urge to meet Kokushibo and Bertholdt Hoover.
As for the reason… that involved some rather personal matters—things Orochimaru would never casually share.
As for this kid…
Orochimaru glanced at Akashō. Normally, with his temperament, he would've already killed a kid like this—or at least beaten him half to death.
But because of his current objective, he didn't want to make enemies of Kokushibo and Bertholdt Hoover over something trivial. And with Namikaze Minato's request on top of that, he decided to do him a small favor.
Before long, Orochimaru brought Akashō to the Konoha camp. Ninja moved back and forth everywhere, their steps hurried, their faces exhausted.
"Hurry! Hurry! Someone here's about to die—where are the medical ninja?!"
"Ah! My leg—my leg is gone!"
"Please… tell my mother something for me…"
They passed several tents with their flaps wide open—clearly areas where the wounded were gathered. Shouts, screams, wails, sobbing, and words of comfort blended together into a relentless cacophony. Medical ninja rushed from one place to another, drenched in sweat.
Akashō pretended to be scared and hid behind Orochimaru, secretly peeking at the injured Konoha ninja.
Some of them had been wounded in the attack the night before last, but more had been injured in yesterday's transformation explosion caused by Akashō. Others had simply been caught in the aftermath of the fighting.
"Spending all day around a monster like Kokushibo, and you're still scared of something this minor?"
Orochimaru glanced at the boy clutching his clothes and couldn't help but sneer.
"I—I'm still just a kid."
"I've never seen a kid with a head full of schemes like yours."
"When have I ever had bad intentions?"
Akashō pouted and muttered under his breath. Orochimaru wasn't as easy to fool as Jiraiya.
"And how is this a 'small scene'? They're all real people, and now they've ended up like this. Don't you feel even a bit of sympathy?"
"Heh."
Orochimaru let out a cold laugh. "Too weak, too unlucky to die outright—who's to blame? And now they're wailing like this, making a disgrace of themselves. If not for the rules, I'd have ended them already just to quiet the noise."
Akashō frowned inwardly. That attitude was… cold. The type who only cared about himself and had no regard for others?
Thinking back to Orochimaru's behavior the night before last, was he only that angry because Akashō had ignored him?
Troublesome. So he's a selfish and arrogant type.
"Enough of that."
Orochimaru impatiently cut off Akashō's thoughts and led him to a main tent that was noticeably larger than the others.
"Stay inside for now. I'll have someone bring you food later. I've got other things to take care of, so I won't be watching you."
"But don't even think about trying to escape. If you get killed by a patrolling Konoha ninja, I won't avenge you."
With that, Orochimaru stopped paying attention to him and turned to leave.
Akashō narrowed his eyes at Orochimaru's departing figure, temporarily giving up the idea of transforming into Bertholdt Hoover to escape.
Even though Orochimaru hadn't shown anything particularly outstanding in his clashes with Kokushibo or in yesterday's battle—almost as if he'd been holding back—that didn't mean he was weak.
After all, he was a veteran Kage-level ninja, acknowledged across the entire shinobi world. His strength was beyond question.
Moreover, even though Akashō was currently inside the Konoha camp, Orochimaru wasn't like Han. Compared to comrades, he valued himself more. If Akashō transformed into Bertholdt Hoover and used the power of the Colossal Titan to try the same tactic he'd used against Han, it likely wouldn't end the way he wanted.
The outcome could very well be the complete annihilation of the Konoha ninja… followed by his own death at Orochimaru's hands.
It was only a possibility—but not one to ignore. Better to wait until nightfall, when he could transform into Kokushibo and act more safely.
With a plan in mind, Akashō stopped worrying and began idly looking around the main tent.
"Hm?"
On a low table lay an open scroll—probably intelligence of some sort.
Akashō picked it up and glanced at it casually, but his eyes suddenly lit up.
"The Cloud Village has started fighting too?"
Seeing that a new battlefield had opened, he immediately read the report from beginning to end.
It turned out that just as Akashō arrived at the Earth–Fire battlefield, the Cloud Village ninja had suddenly launched an attack on Konoha forces along the border of the Land of Fire.
And that meant one thing—
The Third Great Ninja War had officially begun on all fronts.