It wasn't until the group had left that a long-haired figure wearing a green Konoha Jonin vest appeared under the moonlight.
"You've been noticed."
Orochimaru extended his finger, watching a small white snake coil and crawl up his arm, a wicked smile playing on the corners of his mouth.
The little white snake hissed twice at Orochimaru before slithering into his sleeve.
"That Uchiha Clan brat seems decent enough. He's cautious, knows Sensing Ninjutsu, and understands how to fight for a leadership position in a squad like this. He is indeed quite interesting."
Orochimaru seemed to be talking to himself, then turned his head to look in another direction.
"What do you think, Jiraiya? That sentence just now wasn't just for this snake."
"Heh heh, Orochimaru, how did you know I was here?"
A young man with white spiky hair emerged from the shadows on the ground, asking Orochimaru with a laugh.
"How could a toad hide from a snake's search? Jiraiya, why are you sneaking around here?"
"I'm here to give you some news so you're not out of the loop. The situation in the Land of Hot Springs has improved significantly. Kumogakure is seeking peace talks with us, and an embassy might arrive soon. We won't have to head to the Land of Hot Springs battlefield for now."
Jiraiya said, pointing in the direction of the Land of Hot Springs.
Orochimaru spoke leisurely:
"Lord Sarutobi wants me to be a Jonin Instructor and lead his son. I probably won't be assigned to a squad then, at least not in the short term."
"Oh? I thought you were planning to turn it down, but it seems you've agreed? By the way, how's the old man's kid? I heard his performance at the Ninja Academy was decent, only a tiny bit worse than I was back then."
Jiraiya asked with a curious look.
"Heh, idiot. If he were actually worse than you were then, this squad would be truly beyond saving, and there'd be no point in leading them."
Orochimaru said, looking at Jiraiya with a mocking gaze.
Jiraiya wasn't angry; after all, he had been mocked by Orochimaru countless times since they were children.
Orochimaru continued:
"However, his personality is just like yours—indecisive yet naive and reckless. Even with some talent, without a powerful mentor and a clear-headed, rational teammate who is good at analyzing the situation and has stronger abilities to act as the overall commander, you would have died on the battlefield long ago."
Jiraiya's face fell.
"Are you insulting me or praising yourself?"
"I have no need to taunt you; I'm just telling the truth."
Orochimaru crossed his arms, his tone flat, but the slight smile on his face betrayed him.
Not everyone was cold and heartless from the start, including Orochimaru, who was only in his early twenties.
"But speaking of which, since you plan to continue leading this Genin squad, do you think someone in it is as smart as you were when you were a kid?"
Jiraiya stood beside Orochimaru, watching the setting sun in the distance.
"At least he knows how to make the idiots in the squad useful."
"Hey! Orochimaru!"
"What?"
"You were definitely taking a jab at me again just now, weren't you?"
"You're the one who took it personally, idiot."
Orochimaru flicked his sleeve and walked away lightly, leaving Jiraiya behind with his hands spread in exasperation.
This squad indeed reminded Orochimaru of the old Hiruzen Squad.
Although there were many differences, some elements of the Hiruzen Squad from over a decade ago could be found in this squad.
For instance, there was a noble descendant of the Hokage, and a naive idiot who wasn't very bright but had good potential—and this idiot even liked the only girl in the squad... It's just that these traits happened to be combined in that kid, Sarutobi Enjun.
And then there was a young genius with remarkable talent, who was cautious and capable of commanding and integrating the squad.
"Uchiha Gen... With this kid around, leading this squad in the future shouldn't be too much of a headache, though he's still too soft-hearted. Lord Sarutobi, for the sake of the Scroll of Seals, I'll train these kids well for you."
Orochimaru licked his lips with his tongue and turned to leave... Uchiha Gen was well aware of Orochimaru's prying.
Those words were also something he had said to Sarutobi Enjun on purpose.
He knew what kind of person Orochimaru was and what direction he would change in the future.
Speaking those words was exactly the right medicine for the situation.
However, how effective it would be was not something Uchiha Gen could speculate on right now.
What he needed to do now was lead this squad to complete the task at hand.
Fortunately, putting aside the things Orochimaru deliberately wanted to test, the difficulty of capturing these bandits wasn't very high for this squad.
Every new Genin who has undergone six years of formal ninja training in the Five Great Ninja Villages can easily take down dozens of ordinary people armed with sharp blades. When a ninja squad forms a formation, they are even more unstoppable.
Not to mention that the members of the squad Uchiha Gen was in were far beyond what ordinary new Genin could compare to; each one was a top-tier graduate from the Ninja Academy, some even exceeding standard expectations.
The real difficulty lay in accurately finding and identifying these bandits.
A few days ago, Uchiha Gen might have found it troublesome.
But fortunately, he now had Ninja Crows for long-range and relatively reliable Sensing Ninjutsu for short-range. Unless the enemy was a powerhouse whose overall combat ability far exceeded his own, or possessed powerful counter-reconnaissance means like the Byakugan, his current methods were sufficient for continuous reconnaissance, searching, and tracking within a limited range.
At least a group of ordinary people didn't have that capability.
By finding several townspeople who had connections with the bandits through Uzuki Ruri's side and then sending out Ninja Crows to tail them, they managed to track them all the way to a mountain peak about ten miles outside the town by the following morning.
Thus, at noon, over a hundred captured bandits were transported to the Lord's Manor.
As for the tax money and supplies that were supposed to be presented to the Daimyo, since only a few days had passed since they were stolen, the bandits hadn't had time to dispose of them, so most of the supplies were recovered.
On the contrary, more than half of the money had disappeared, perhaps already flowing back into the hands of those townspeople in the town.
"Lord Orochimaru, I wonder if you are satisfied with how we handled this?"
Uchiha Gen looked at Sarutobi Enjun, who was negotiating with the Steward in the distance, and spoke to Orochimaru, who had appeared there at some unknown time.
He didn't go to talk to the Steward personally because Sarutobi Enjun's identity was more suitable.
The son of the Hokage was a very useful signpost.