171 I Am the Serpent Swarm

The Land of Frost is sandwiched between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Lightning, serving as the gateway for people from the peninsula of the Land of Lightning to enter the Western Continent.

After four days of travel, the two village delegations had spent twice the usual amount of time to finally reach this small country.

This was not because they had been delayed by another ambush or attack, but purely because they were walking slowly. Under Orochimaru’s deliberate suppression, their pace felt more like a sightseeing tour.

Kakashis team members were quite puzzled, but intimidated by Orochimaru’s overwhelming pressure, they did not dare to ask too much. They could only channel their excess energy into foraging for wild game and preparing ingredients.

Upon entering the Land of Frost, Orochimaru’s actions became even more perplexing. Under the pretext that locals were more familiar with the Land of Frost, he handed the duty of leading the way over to the Kumogakure delegation.

What a joke that was. The Konoha shinobi desperately wanted to say that although they were not locals, being in the Land of Frost felt just like being home, and they were intimately familiar with the country's terrain. However, under a single sideways glance from Orochimaru, they obediently shut their mouths.

The Konoha delegation did not dare to openly defy Orochimaru’s orders, so they could only secretly remind the squad's Byakugan user—Hyuga Hizashi—to keep an eye on the Kumogakure personnel and make sure they were not led into a trap.

Continuing their march in this manner, they finally arrived at the heartland of the Land of Frost.

"Stop."

Orochimaru suddenly accelerated, moved to the front of the formation, and gave a single command. Everyone, including the Kumogakure delegation, halted their steps on the tree trunks.

"Lord Orochimaru... is something wrong? This road... is the safest one leading to the Land of Lightning."

The temporary leader of the Kumogakure peace negotiation squad spoke with a stutter. His attitude was less of respect and more of sheer terror, his body instinctively fearing the man before him.

"There is nothing wrong with the road itself, but there is no need to walk it anymore."

Orochimaru smiled, waved his hand at the Konoha shinobi to signal them to halt and rest, and flashed over to stand before the temporary squad leader, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

"You should be able to contact Kumogakure, right? Tell them not to bother setting up an ambush ahead. The negotiation site has changed; it's right here."

The expression on the Kumo squad leader's face suddenly stiffened. "Lord Orochimaru, what are you talking about... I don't quite understand."

"You don't understand?"

Orochimaru pressed a hand onto his shoulder. A white snake crawled out from his sleeve, coiled around the squad leader's neck, and flicked its forked tongue with a hiss.

"Notify your village within five minutes, or die. Do you understand now?"

Feeling the chilling sensation of that crimson snake tongue grazing his cheek, combined with the snake's body tightening more and more around his neck, the Kumo squad leader broke out in a cold sweat and immediately cried out, "I understand!"

The ambush had clearly been exposed; continuing to stubbornly feign ignorance was pointless, and most importantly, he needed to quickly let the village know that they had been discovered.

"Very good."

The white snake loosened its grip on the Kumo shinobi's neck and slowly crawled back into the sleeve. Orochimaru smiled faintly.

"I don't want to kill you, provided you don't seek your own death."

Playing dumb and treating him like a fool was equivalent to courting death.

The Kumo shinobi leader read that exact meaning in the other's gaze. Ignoring his need to take deep, gasping breaths, he frantically fumbled through a scroll to retrieve his communication tool. In his panic, he nearly lost his grip and almost dropped it down the tree, displaying genuine anxiety.

Actually, as a Kumogakure elite jounin sent on a diplomatic mission to another country, this man might not have been a top-tier genius, but he was still a veteran of numerous battles and shouldn't have fallen apart to such a pathetic degree. On a battlefield, even knowing certain death awaited him, he would have been capable of launching an attack on Orochimaru.

However, this was not a battlefield. Stripped of that reckless bravery, he felt as though he were trapped in a cage, facing a bare-fanged beast all alone. The pressure was immense, and that lingering sense of crisis was eroding his sanity step by step, making it impossible for him to maintain his composure.

The shinobi present, including those from Konoha, felt no contempt for the Kumo leader's loss of composure; instead, they felt a deep sense of empathy.

If they were in his shoes, they wouldn't have fared much better. In the original timeline, Orochimaru was severely injured when he defected, yet he still managed to frighten off Kakashi with his lingering presence alone. Such terrifying prestige was evident, not to mention that the current Orochimaru was even stronger.

The message was transmitted quickly, exactly as Orochimaru desired. Within a quarter of an hour, shinobi continuously converged from all directions.

Hyuga Hizashi had already activated his Byakugan, monitoring the environment within a four-kilometer radius. Before long, his expression shifted drastically as one chakra signature after another leaped into his field of vision.

Not a single genin, and even chunin made up only a tiny fraction. Nearly a hundred jounin and over thirty elite jounin—Kumogakure had practically deployed its entire might.

One had to realize that among Konoha's medium-sized clans, those with many elite jounin only possessed two or three, while the smaller ones had merely one.

When two massive chakra presences flooded his vision, Hizashi could no longer sit still. He flashed before Orochimaru, reported the scene unfolding before his eyes, and said anxiously,

"—That's not all. The Fourth Raikage and two Jinchuriki have both rushed over. Lord Orochimaru, their target is not peace negotiations—it's you."

Kakashis and the others' expressions changed repeatedly upon hearing this, but they quickly hardened with resolve. They leaped into action, scattering across the treetops and forming a defensive '>' formation.

In unspoken synchronization, it was clear they intended to use their lives to cover Orochimaru's retreat, even though the current predicament had been caused by him in the first place.

These people were not protecting Orochimaru the individual, but rather what his survival meant to the village—a value far greater than their own lives.

Sensing this do-or-die determination, the shinobi of the Kumogakure delegation wore expressions of lingering respect mixed with bitter resignation.

...They were going to die too.

Trading their lives for the demise of one of the legendary Konoha Sannin was a worthy trade, and they were not afraid of death either. But the thought that the village's entire shinobi army was about to arrive, yet they were going to perish so easily beforehand, made them feel utterly aggrieved.

Noticing the Kumo shinobi's emotional state, Orochimaru gave a wry smile and waved his hand, signaling them to leave.

The Kumo squad leader looked puzzled, but Orochimaru stated, "I said I don't want to kill you, as long as you don't seek your death."

He then turned his gaze back to Kakashi and the others. "You don't need to put on that kind of look either. Before coming here, I had already anticipated the current situation."

Although they didn't understand his intentions, the feeling of being spared was too wonderful. The Kumogakure peace negotiation squad slowly put distance between themselves and Orochimaru alongside the Konoha shinobi, remaining on guard in case the latter suddenly turned lethal.

Before they could retreat to a safe zone, Orochimaru's voice suddenly rang out, piercing straight into their minds: "Tell the Raikage that if he doesn't want heavy casualties, he should talk to me first. Don't say I didn't warn you."

The Kumo squad leader's expression shifted, and he quickened his pace.

Soon, the Fourth Raikage appeared atop the treetops alongside several shinobi squads. From the other three directions, the two Jinchuriki and Totai led their respective forces, sealing off all avenues of escape for the Konoha group.

Perhaps out of gratitude to Orochimaru for sparing the Kumo negotiation squad, or simply due to lingering dread of Orochimaru himself, the Fourth Raikage did not launch an immediate attack. Instead, he spoke in a deep, booming voice, "Orochimaru, you want to talk with me? But I have nothing to say to you."

Although the wound on his flank had healed, the mere sight of Orochimaru made it begin to ache dully.

Orochimaru surveyed the surrounding Kumogakure forces and the corners of his mouth hooked upward. "There really isn't much to talk about right now, but what about this..."

He formed a hand seal, and Aotama materialized out of thin air. Without a moment's hesitation, she summoned two more giant snakes.

Those two giant snakes likewise performed summoning techniques, calling Manda and Katsuyu's opposing threat, Aoda—no, summoning Manda and Seiryū—summoning Manda and Sinya onto the battlefield.