Orochimaru and Akira were at another restaurant in a different town
Akira a bit quiet then he asked Orochimaru who was eating a toast and omelet.
"Does this kind of.... Crimes against humanity happens a lot."
Orochimaru paused and said. "Crimes against Humanity? That a nice term actually they should use it more often."
From what Orochimaru said, Akira realized there was not some sort of Geneva convention here in his new world.
As Orochimaru said,
"War between the great villages is… complicated."
He took another sip of tea.
"Officially, there are rules. No village openly orders atrocities against civilians. No Kage publicly endorses such actions."
He paused briefly.
"But war is not fought by Kage alone."
Orochimaru's golden eyes drifted slightly toward the restaurant window.
"Many things happen far away from command centers, On border territories. Occupied settlements, Supply routes."
His gaze returned to Akira.
"And most of those things are never reported."
Akira remained silent, Orochimaru continued.
"Sometimes shinobi commit such acts because they believe it will intimidate the enemy. Sometimes they do it because they are angry."
"Sometimes…they do it simply because they want to."
The words were spoken without emotion.
"In most cases, the incident never reaches the high command of the village and even in the rare case it does…"
He shrugged slightly.
"It becomes a political matter."
Orochimaru rested his chin lightly on his hand.
"If a shinobi from Iwagakure commits an atrocity inside the Land of Fire, the leadership of Konohagakure rarely blames the entire village."
"They blame the individual shinobi responsible, put extra bounty on his or their head. "
He smiled faintly.
"It is… convenient."
Akira understood immediately.
If the crime was blamed on a rogue soldier instead of a village.
Then the war could continue without escalating further.
Orochimaru picked up his fork again.
"More often than not," he added casually, "such atrocities are covered up by the shinobi themselves. Witnesses disappear, Reports are altered, Evidence vanishes."
He cut another piece of omelet.
"And eventually…"
"…the incident simply fades from memory."
Akira stared at the table silently.
Outside, the town continued its normal routine.
People walked through the streets.
Merchants opened their shops.
Life moved forward even if there is a war in the world that has changed many ways of life.
-------
By the time the sun had begun to lower in the sky, Orochimaru and Akira had already traveled for hours.
The forest gradually gave way to rough hills overlooking a quiet stretch of land within the Land of Fire. A narrow dirt road ran through the valley below, leading toward a small settlement of perhaps twenty houses.
Orochimaru stopped at the top of the hill.
"There," he said calmly.
Akira looked down.
At first glance, the place looked abandoned.
No smoke.
No people walking the streets.
No animals.
Akira narrowed his eyes.
"Kuso Hensei: Enhanced Instinct."
His pupils sharpened instantly as his senses expanded across the valley.
The details became clearer.
And then he saw it.
His stomach tightened.
Bodies.
They were everywhere.
Villagers lay scattered across the dirt roads and inside broken doorways. Some had clearly been killed while trying to run. Others had been executed where they stood.
The streets were stained with dark patches of dried blood.
Akira's hearing stretched further, but the village was almost completely silent now.
No screams.
No voices.
Just wind moving through empty houses.
He focused deeper.
Near one of the houses he saw a group of bodies lying together.
Women.
Their clothes were torn.
The meaning was obvious even without hearing anything.
Akira's expression darkened slightly.
Then his eyes moved again.
Something caught his attention.
Among the bodies scattered through the village were a few shinobi corpses.
Akira focused closer.
Headbands.
The leaf symbol.
Shinobi of Konohagakure.
Akira slowly deactivated the technique.
For a moment he said nothing.
Then he spoke quietly.
"…They're Konoha shinobi."
Orochimaru glanced down toward the settlement with mild interest.
"Yes."
His voice was calm.
"Sometimes shinobi grow tired during long campaigns."
Akira looked at him.
Orochimaru continued casually.
"War places enormous stress on soldiers."
"Months of fighting. Constant missions. Endless death."
He shrugged slightly.
"Occasionally, a shinobi disappears for a few days. Before just showing up one day after a week or two. Officially they are listed as missing during operations, during they were missing. "
His golden eyes drifted toward the ruined settlement.
"But in reality…some of them simply wander."
Akira's gaze slowly returned to the village.
Orochimaru continued.
"There are many small settlements scattered throughout the Land of Fire."
"Remote places."
"Quiet."
"Unprotected."
His tone remained completely neutral.
"In many such cases…those shinobi eventually arrive somewhere like this."
"Anyway you go and collect the material for me."
"What!?", Akira suddenly shouted.
"What do you mean 'what'.", Orochimaru sneered.
"They all are at least jonin level, their are like 12 or 13 there!"
"They are mostly drunk, unprepared and You have the elements of surprise for yourself."
Akira reluctantly Agreed.