Just as Uchiha Gen was flipping through the scrolls again, organizing the parts he could apply at this stage, the carriage suddenly came to a stop.
They had arrived at Konoha's camp in the Land of Rain.
This place was located on the southeastern side of the Land of Rain and served as an important base for Konoha.
It was an abandoned military fortress that Konoha Ninja had occupied after entering the Land of Rain.
With the construction and production capabilities of Ninja, this place had naturally been forged into an impregnable fortress.
It was filled with various defensive works and military facilities, making it a war fortress that was extremely difficult to conquer.
"Gen, come down and move some things. It counts as a D-Rank mission."
From below the carriage, Sarutobi Enjun looked up and called out.
Hearing that it counted as a mission and would provide experience, Uchiha Gen nimbly put away his book.
He jumped off the carriage and assisted in moving the supplies.
"Gen-senpai, let me help you."
Minato Namikaze took the initiative to walk over from the side, speaking enthusiastically.
"No, Minato, you go move those over there. Leave everything here to me."
Uchiha Gen shook his head hurriedly.
He moved a box of shuriken behind him and pointed his chin toward a transport cart carrying medicine on the opposite side.
His mission settlement experience was linked to his participation and contribution in the mission.
The more he worked, the more he earned, so naturally, he had to scramble to do the work.
Watching Uchiha Gen's busy figure in the rain, Minato Namikaze was suddenly moved.
Even though no one was rushing him, it was as if a whip were constantly goading him.
It made him strive continuously to perform these simplest, most tedious low-level tasks with little reward.
What was this?
This was the Will of Fire!
Only someone who truly loved the Village from the bottom of their heart would exert all their effort into everything that could contribute to the Village, regardless of how big or small the task was.
At this moment, Minato Namikaze remembered the scene Jiraiya had described to him the day before their departure—the final moments of Uzumaki Mito.
"Gen-senpai is truly admirable!"
"Well, he is a child valued by Orochimaru, after all, and he was recognized by Lady Mito as well."
Jiraiya appeared beside Minato Namikaze at some point, looking at Uchiha Gen with a face full of praise.
He was actually a person whose character was quite simple in many ways, especially now while he was still quite young.
In his eyes, whether it was himself or his two companions, Tsunade and Orochimaru, they were all genuine, red-blooded inheritors of the Will of Fire.
To be able to teach a resolute "successor of the Will of Fire" like Uchiha Gen seemed a bit surprising to Jiraiya, but it also made perfect sense.
However... Jiraiya looked at Minato Namikaze.
This disciple in his own team seemed quite excellent as well.
After several hours of busyness.
Looking at the experience bar that had risen by a small section, a heartfelt smile appeared on Uchiha Gen's face.
Even small scraps were meat.
Now that they were at the front lines, there would surely be many more missions than in the safe rear of Konoha.
Although the frequency certainly wouldn't match being on the front lines, from another perspective, the danger of missions on the second line was much lower.
This could provide him with more time for development.
After a brief rest, Uchiha Gen and the others received a notice from Orochimaru to gather in a meeting room.
Arriving there along with them were many Ninja classified as Orochimaru's subordinates.
Uchiha Gen and his teammates were not placed at the front just because they were Orochimaru's disciples.
On the contrary, the fact that they could enter this room at all meant they had already benefited from their status as Orochimaru's disciples.
Because they were the only three Genin in this meeting room.
In the entire room, besides them and Orochimaru, there were only nine people.
Other than two youths who looked about three or four years older than them, the rest were either Jōnin or Special Jōnin.
Uchiha Gen immediately understood that these few people were Orochimaru's current core team and the subordinates he favored.
The current Orochimaru was barely in his early twenties.
Although he had already shown some potential to succeed as Hokage in the future, he still lacked a sufficiently substantial achievement to prove his ability before he could step onto a larger stage.
Therefore, Orochimaru was currently like a hidden dragon rising from the abyss.
The team under his command was still just a newly built prototype with few members.
But precisely because of his clever mind, far-reaching vision, and outstanding personal charisma, although this small team was still very simple, its quality was quite good.
At least to Uchiha Gen, most of these people seemed relatively young, which meant this team still had room to grow.
If Orochimaru hadn't been led into darkness by Danzō in the original timeline, failed his bid for Fourth Hokage, and defected afterward, he and his team would likely have shone brilliantly in Konoha.
"Everyone present is someone I, Orochimaru, find trustworthy."
Orochimaru sat in the head seat with a calm expression, looking around at the people sitting below.
The people here were either his confidants and disciples or allies with sufficient shared interests.
At the moment, they were all people he could trust on this battlefield.
"Some of you have met before, while others have not. This is a good opportunity to introduce yourselves while I issue orders. Zixiao, let's start with you."
Orochimaru tapped the table and said.
The ten or so people quickly finished their introductions.
Among the other nine people, there were two Jōnin.
One was Mitarai Zixiao, who was only two years younger than Orochimaru but had already been a Jōnin for four or five years.
The identity of the other person was quite surprising to Uchiha Gen.
This was a white-haired youth with a small build and a youthful baby face.
He was from the same graduating class as Orochimaru and had served as his teammate many times; his name was Hiruko.
He did not speak of himself as Orochimaru's subordinate but rather participated as an ally and collaborator.
However, Orochimaru clearly held him in high regard.
In terms of strength, Hiruko was only an ordinary Jōnin, far inferior to the three disciples of the Third Hokage.
But his abilities in other areas were much appreciated by Orochimaru.
Besides these two, there were five Special Jōnin.
Three of them were from civilian backgrounds and were companions Orochimaru had befriended by chance during his growth.
They had proactively chosen to serve him after he became powerful.
The other two were related to Uzuki Ruri.
Among Orochimaru's three disciples, only Uzuki Ruri came from a small clan.
Whether it was the Uchiha Clan behind Uchiha Gen or the Sarutobi Clan behind Sarutobi Enjun, they were all major clans at or above the first tier in Konoha.
It was impossible for them to place their bets directly on Orochimaru so early.
But for a small clan like the Uzuki Clan, they could only secure a sufficiently rich return in the future by planning and investing early.