Sunny and cheerful Konoha Genin

After a short rest, everyone accelerated their progress without stopping, and finally arrived at the outskirts of Konoha's front camp before nightfall.

This is a simple-looking camp hidden in a dense forest.

It consists of several small and exquisite tents surrounding a large main tent, and nothing else.

You can see that in the camp, there are ninjas responsible for patrolling and guarding, but in secret, there are countless pairs of eyes lurking, guarding the camp.

"Stop!" Just as they were getting closer, a low shout suddenly rang out.

Then, two figures dressed in Konoha attire leaped out from the darkness and firmly blocked their way.

Both of them were young ninjas, but they exuded an indescribable murderous aura, as if they had just experienced a bloody battle.

They looked at Hatake Sakumo and his group, and although they were vaguely certain in their hearts, they still said:

"We need to verify your identity."

After all, in times of war, it is not uncommon to use transformation techniques to transform into enemy ninjas.

"Ah."

Hatake Sakumo, who was walking in front of the team, nodded slightly, indicating that he understood the other party's caution. Then, he slowly took out a half-triangular white armband from his pocket.

This half armband may look ordinary, but the meaning it represents is extraordinary - it is a special symbol that only Hatake Sakumo has the right to hold.

"Lord Sakumo!!"

After confirming the identity of the person in front of them, the two young ninjas immediately showed joy on their faces.

Finally support has arrived!

Their tense nerves relaxed for a moment, and then they quickly stepped aside to make way, saying respectfully, "Please come in quickly, Lord Orochimaru has been waiting here for a long time."

"Okay, got it." Hatake Sakumo nodded slightly, his eyes passed over the two of them and fell directly on a place not far ahead.

There, Orochimaru was walking towards them with a leisurely pace and a smile on his face.

In fact, Orochimaru did not learn about the arrival of Hatake Sakumo and others through the two ninjas. He had already placed summoning snakes around him in advance. These snakes have keen perception and can detect any disturbance in advance.

Therefore, in fact, Orochimaru noticed the approach of Hatake Sakumo and Ito Toru and his group earlier than the two ninjas in charge of reception.

It was only for the purpose of hiding information and boosting morale, so Orochimaru would only show up after the interrogation was over.

He wanted to let the ninjas who had been holding out in the camp for a long time know that our support had arrived!

This will not only boost morale, but also facilitate further combat operations!

Hatake Sakumo was naturally well aware of this.

"You're finally here." Orochimaru said as his eyes swept over Hatake Sakumo and Ito Toru, keenly smelling the blood that had not yet dissipated from them. Then he saw the puppeteer who was tied up tightly in the back, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Did you encounter an attack on the road?" he asked calmly, but there was a hint of concern in his eyes.

Hatake Sakumo nodded and replied, "Yes, we encountered two waves of harassment troops sent by the Sand Village, one was a trap unit, and the other was a puppeteer unit, but we defeated them all, and Ito even managed to capture an enemy alive."

As soon as he finished speaking, not only Orochimaru, but everyone else in the camp also cast surprised glances at Ito Toru.

You know, it is not easy to catch a ninja alive! Most ninjas will have the means to risk their lives, and would even rather choose to perish together with their opponents than to be captured.

Therefore, unless there is a huge disparity in strength between the two sides, it is usually rare to see a ninja being captured alive.

And Ito Toru's strength...

Although they were not very clear, they could all sense that the amount of chakra in this young man was not very much.

"It was thanks to Master Hatake's attack that destroyed the puppets on the other side and frightened them out that I was lucky enough to catch one."

It was time for Toru Ito to lower his presence, so he quickly spoke up and put most of the credit on Hatake Sakumo.

"Ah? But..."

Hatake Sakumo stopped talking before he could finish his words because he saw Ito Toru winking at him.

Along the way, Toru Ito showed wisdom that was inconsistent with his age, and also gained the trust of Hatake Sakumo.

He felt that the young man must be wiser than himself, so when he saw Ito Toru winking at him, he immediately stopped talking.

"Is that so?"

Orochimaru was such a smart guy that he understood Ito Toru's intention immediately, and took advantage of the situation to look at Hatake Sakumo with undisguised appreciation in his eyes: "This is really good news, Sakumo."

"We were troubled by this before. The existence of these two forces caused us a lot of trouble."

"By the way, you just said to destroy them all?!"

Orochimaru asked.

"Ah."

Hatake Sakumo nodded: "This is all thanks to..."

"Thanks to Lord Hatake's extraordinary speed, none of them escaped!" Ito Tetsuya answered in a high-pitched voice.

"Everyone agrees, right?!"

He also turned around and asked the ninjas who followed him.

"Correct!"

"That's right!"

"We have really opened our eyes along the way!"

"I never knew before that Hatake Jonin's strength was so terrifying!"

"He's still too low-key, but it doesn't matter, his fame will surely spread throughout the ninja world soon!"

The ninjas didn't know that Toru Ito was leading the discussion, so they all followed suit.

This made Hatake Sakumo blush.

He is not a person who is very good at expressing himself. Most of his thoughts are spent on improving his strength. He believes that he can use his strength to protect what he should protect, such as the village and his companions.

Therefore, in the eyes of most people, Hatake Sakumo is a somewhat taciturn and unsociable person.

However, now there are suddenly so many people supporting and trusting him, which makes him a little overwhelmed for a moment. He can only secretly make up his mind in his heart that he must protect them!

The will of fire is burning!

"Haha, don't stand here, let's go into the tent and talk." Orochimaru saw Hatake Sakumo's embarrassment and Ito Toru's intention, and understood that he didn't want to talk openly here, so he laughed and invited him to go into the big tent to discuss the next strategy.

Now that the powerful output and strategic master have arrived, it’s time to counterattack!

Of course, he did not forget the other ninjas who came with him, and said to everyone including Ito Toru:

"As for you, it's up to Duan to arrange your destination."