Chapter 598: The Plan
The sight of the Cloud Ninjas rushing out of the izakaya like a bunch of paranoid neurotics did not disrupt the rowdy atmosphere inside the tavern at all.
Of course, there would be people who took this brief encounter—which could hardly even be called a conflict or an incident—to heart.
This place was located at a major traffic junction of the northern continent, so it was not surprising to see all kinds of sketchy characters.
Informants, hidden agents, spies, rogue ninjas, intelligence officers, and even ninjas disguised as civilians were like rats hiding in the dark. They peeked, eavesdropped, collected, and snatched up all kinds of intelligence to pass on to their superiors. Eventually, these reports would gather on the desks of forces that could more or less influence the ninja world—
Orochimaru's Otogakure, the Akatsuki, Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and even Konoha itself, not to mention the nobles and the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
However, in front of that seemingly ordinary pair of a noble young master and his maid, none of them dared to make a rash move.
Those in the intelligence business all possessed sharp eyes. They had seen with perfect clarity how miserably Urokodaki Ukon, that elite Jonin from Kumogakure, had retreated. When a ruthless powerhouse of that caliber was scared out of his wits, this master and servant were bound to be two absolute titans.
It was as if they were radiating a boundless, blinding light—an existence that could neither be ignored nor looked at directly!
Thus, the observers shrank their heads even lower, burying themselves deeper into the shadows, shivering as they erased their presence.
They were like ostriches burying their heads in the sand.
Sitting at the counter, Sakura Uchiha took a quick glance around and spotted several shifty characters. They were trying very hard to conceal themselves, but their deliberately suppressed chakra fluctuations could not escape her perception. This attempt to cover things up only made their presence more conspicuous.
However, she didn't have much interest in clearing out these small fry.
They were just weeds; clear out one batch, and another would grow back.
Sakura Uchiha was simply full of curiosity about everything because this was her first field mission—though field missions were nothing new in the original's memories, "experiencing" a mission firsthand was an entirely different matter.
When the enthusiastic girl turned her head, she found that the black-haired woman beside her had already dispelled the Transformation Technique, reverting to his original appearance.
This beauty whom she had called "Sako-chan" was actually a teenage boy in reality.
It was none other than Sasuke Uchiha.
"Alright, undo your transformation too. There's no point in keeping up this disguise, Sakura-kun!" he said, "We've already been exposed anyway."
Sasuke, after all, was no cross-dressing enthusiast. For a textbook straight guy, wearing such an outfit was far too awkward.
Sakura Uchiha shrugged and reluctantly dispelled her disguise, changing back into her female form.
"They say cross-dressing is a threshold you either never cross or cross infinitely," she looked at Sasuke gloomily, "Did you really not awaken some kind of new hobby?"
A wave of disgust washed over Sasuke from her gaze, and he quickly turned his head away. "Where did you hear such absurd logic... Why on earth would I be interested in dressing up as a girl! Be serious, we are on a mission!"
"Hmph, if you really prioritized the mission, you should have continued playing the role of the maid well, Sako-chan!" Sakura Uchiha gave him a resentful, rolling glance, speaking with a pouting mouth.
The idea of putting on a disguise to infiltrate Orochimaru's nest deep in his territory had been Sakura Uchiha's idea.
It might sound unbelievable, but within Team Seven—including Kakashi-sensei—the person who used the Transformation Technique best was not Sakura, who had the best chakra control, but Naruto. In the original timeline, this guy's transformation technique had even caught Kaguya off guard. To prepare for this mission, Sakura Uchiha had specifically written a letter to Naruto, who was training at Mount Myoboku, to learn some transformation techniques and tricks from him.
Sakura-kun's idea was indeed effective to a certain extent in avoiding drawing premature attention, born out of public duty; however, forcing Sasuke to transform into the maid Sako-chan was purely driven by her personal mischievous taste.
As for the noble young master she had transformed into, his appearance was loosely based on her past life—unfortunately, even Haruno Sakura herself had nearly forgotten what that looked like, and for her clone who had merely accepted the original's memories, the impression was even more blurred, so she had simply opted to make him as handsome as possible.
A heavy and grim assassination mission had somehow been turned into a casual outing by her.
It was only because these two possessed immense strength, were fully confident in defeating Orochimaru, and still had the playful nature of youth that they acted this way.
Seeing her acting all huffy and annoyed, Sasuke found it rather amusing and explained, "Moving forward, there's no point in continuing to pretend. We are entering Orochimaru's core territory, which is not a place civilians can wander into."
"Hmph!"
The young girl ignored his explanation, deliberately turning her head away. Her bright eyes, however, were spinning rapidly as she plotted something in her mind.
Sasuke shook his head.
He knew she wasn't truly throwing a tantrum.
After spending more than half a month together, Sasuke had basically figured out the girl's personality.
As a clone, her personality was fundamentally very close to the original. She was a rare type of girl who wasn't boy-crazy, possessing a mind where rationality completely overrode emotion. Therefore, she naturally lacked the spoiled, dramatic, and pretentious temper of a princess. However, compared to the iron-willed straightness of Haruno Sakura, this split-body Sakura possessed a bit more softness over the original's cold and rigid nature. Perhaps when replicating the original's mind, her core personality had inherited more of the original Sakura's soul rather than the transmigrator's part.
"Let's get back to business," Sasuke smiled, "What's the next move? Do you have a plan?"
The moment the mission was mentioned, Sakura Uchiha indeed sat up straight and serious, speaking earnestly, "I carefully studied the latest intelligence Kakashi-sensei left for us, and considering Orochimaru's cunning, many-nested nature..."
Her elegant brows furrowed slightly, and her crimson lips pouted a bit as she pondered for a moment.
"It seems that apart from a direct, forceful assault, there really isn't any better way."
At this point, the waiter began serving their food, so the two paused their conversation. Sasuke took the opportunity to think deeply, but he couldn't come up with any brilliant solution either.
This was only normal.
With Orochimaru's slippery nature, Konoha had wanted him for so many years, and Akatsuki had hunted him openly and secretly for just as long. Even with two massive organizations targeting him like that, they had been unable to do anything to him, allowing him to live more comfortably as time went on. How could Sasuke and Sakura-kun, two newcomers, come up with a miraculous strategy in just a few moments?
Moreover, Sasuke was never one for quick wit.
Sakura Uchiha had inherited a fair share of the original's excellent brain, but even if the original Haruno Sakura were here, would she be able to catch that slippery white snake right away?
If Obito hadn't caused a bit of a stir when he contacted Orochimaru earlier, Konoha wouldn't even be sure which corner Orochimaru was nesting in right now!
"Let's eat first. We can talk about everything after we finish," Sasuke said helplessly. "If it really comes down to it, we'll just launch a frontal assault on one base after another, digging three feet into the ground to drag him out!"
"In that case, our disguise and sneaking around would have been much more reliable..."
Sakura Uchiha secretly rolled her eyes at him.
However, despite racking their brains for a long time, the two ultimately failed to think of a solid plan. Consequently, their last hot meal ended up tasting rather bland—a bit of an unfortunate start.
When they stepped out of the izakaya, the snow had already stopped. The land was wrapped in a silver shroud, exceptionally enchanting and presenting a magnificent view.
The young girl's spirits instantly lifted.
"The good news is that Orochimaru did not agree to Akatsuki's invitation, which means he views Akatsuki as an enemy too..." Her mind stirred, and she suddenly asked, "Speaking of which, compared to the last time the original fought Orochimaru, how much stronger does my current strength appear to be?"
Sasuke froze for a moment, then looked the girl up and down. After a moment of thought, he said curiously, "On the surface... there doesn't seem to be a massive change!"
He knew that Sakura Uchiha was undoubtedly vastly stronger than the Haruno Sakura of that time, but unless she used Sage Mode or other secret arts, such progress wasn't that obvious on the surface. If one had to count the rapid physical growth and the robust increase in chakra over the past year due to aging, that was merely natural progression. Compared to the original's monstrous rate of growth, it couldn't be spoken of in the same breath.
Sakura Uchiha smiled brightly and said, "Then it seems Orochimaru has a reason to come out and face me... provided he has a clear enough understanding of his own situation!"
Her reasoning was as follows—
Orochimaru was currently caught between a rock and a hard place. He was unwilling to rejoin Akatsuki, yet it was impossible for him to submit to Konoha... Continuing to run and living like an underground rat was certainly an option, but today was different from the past. If Akatsuki or Konoha set their minds on capturing him, how long he could keep running would be a serious question.
Therefore, for Orochimaru, the best way to break the deadlock would be to have a direct showdown with this Sakura-kun, who didn't seem to have made an overwhelming amount of progress.
However, whether they could actually capture Orochimaru this way would ultimately depend on his own calculations. To emphasize it again, true flawless planning did not exist in the Naruto world. The entire main storyline of Naruto was a multi-layered symphony of failed plans: the Sand Ninjas planned a rebellion for several years, only to fail; Obito planned the destruction of the world for twenty to thirty years, only to fail; Madara planned to conquer the world for decades to a century, and he failed too; Kaguya and Black Zetsu planned their revenge for over a thousand years, yet they still met with failure.
Sasuke thought it over for a moment and came to a realization as well. "True!"
Compared to having absolutely no clues earlier, the two now had at least some grasp of the situation, and their moods instantly improved.
With a light leap, Sakura Uchiha landed on the snow, gracefully walking outward. She applied her water-walking technique to the soft layer of snow, remarkably achieving the effect of stepping on snow without leaving a trace. To the civilians passing by on the street, they almost thought they had caught sight of a snow fairy dancing through the winter landscape.
After a few Body Flicker Techniques, the two had already vanished from the town, stepping across the snow as they began to penetrate deep into the heart of Orochimaru's territory.