After returning from Yahiko's place, Shiba Seika set about writing a letter to Hanzo the Salamander.
He had no intention of pledging allegiance to Hanzō. In fact, he planned to take the old bastard out someday and make a killing off him!
But for now, he still had to find a way to keep the Land of Rain's nominal guardian deity calm.
The two main culprits behind the Akatsuki Organization's future downfall were Hanzō and Danzo. Shiba Seika's plan was to keep the former placated first, then focus on dealing with the latter!
That wasn't just because Danzo was more despicable. It was also because Shimura Danzō currently represented Konoha.
As a Rain ninja, Shiba Seika had every justification for going after Konoha!
Hanzō, on the other hand, was still the Land of Rain's undisputed leader. Openly opposing him would only plunge the country into civil war ahead of time.
Shiba Seika wasn't afraid of civil war. He didn't care about war—in fact, he rather enjoyed watching rivers of blood flow.
But he cared about the timing, and about whether he could profit as much as possible from the civil war!
And this clearly wasn't the right time.
The Third Great Ninja War had only just begun. The famous events Shiba Seika remembered from his previous life—the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, the Battle of Kikyo Mountain, and the First Generation Seven Ninja Swordsmen getting kicked around until they were reduced to a trio—had yet to happen.
That meant the war hadn't truly reached its boiling point. The great ninja villages were still testing each other strategically and locked in a stalemate. They hadn't yet beaten one another's brains out.
If the Land of Rain suddenly fell into chaos at this point, the surrounding great ninja villages would surely be delighted to call a halt, divide up the country, and then resume fighting.
Just as they had once joined forces to destroy the Land of Whirlpools!
Only once the war had escalated across the board and all the great ninja villages were mired too deeply to pull out would Shiba Seika consider it the best time to deal with Hanzo the Salamander!
Until then, Shiba Seika's position remained the same: keep the Demi-God placated first.
Show deference on the surface and lull the enemy into complacency.
So the entire letter was filled with praise!
He devoted a great many words to applauding Hanzo the Salamander's outstanding contributions to the development of the Land of Rain, fondly recalled the Demi-God's many glorious exploits in the previous Great Ninja War, and lavishly extolled Hanzō's wisdom and might.
In short: Your fish-seat wisdom is unmatched!
He then hinted that undercurrents were still churning in the Land of Rain, with Sunagakure and Iwagakure Ninja frequently roaming around inside its borders. The Akatsuki Organization had been working tirelessly to protect the people of the Land of Rain and wipe out these traitors. They were loyal subjects through and through!
Finally, he earnestly asked the Demi-God to place a little more trust in them. He also offered a few supplies as a token of goodwill, hoping the Demi-God would accept them.
The letter was so shamelessly sycophantic that even Shiba Seika got goosebumps after writing it. But in reality, beyond all that flattery, he had made no meaningful concessions whatsoever.
He hadn't handed over command of the Akatsuki Organization, nor had he promised to halt its expansion.
Instead, he had subtly made a demand, asking Hanzō for a little more "trust."
If Hanzo the Salamander was so dazzled by the flattery that he actually made that promise, then he'd have fallen right into Shiba Seika's trap!
The very next day, Shiba Seika would dare to wield that promise like a royal decree, using Hanzo the Salamander's trust as an excuse to round up and execute every Rain ninja who had extorted Akatsuki members!
That was Shiba Seika's style: he didn't care about appearing to yield. What mattered was securing tangible benefits!
It was just a shame about the one-eighth of their supplies they'd sent as tribute.
But there was no helping it. After Yahiko's grand giveaway, they could no longer hide the fact that they'd seized supplies.
Without paying a little protection money, this would be hard to smooth over.
Once he had finished the letter, he handed it, along with the scroll containing the sealed supplies, to Konan. Her Paper Butterfly would deliver them to Hanzo the Salamander.
Shiba Seika didn't plan to meet with Hanzō anytime soon.
When he was finally ready, he hoped their first meeting would end with a kill!
After sending the letter, all that remained was to wait.
Everyone in the organization was nervous.
A person's reputation preceded them, and at this time Hanzo the Salamander still carried enormous weight in the hearts of the Land of Rain's many ninja.
Fortunately, only two days passed before many of them began to notice things improving, even though no reply had arrived yet.
That day, an Akatsuki member returned to their base, pushed open the door, and excitedly shouted,
"Good news, everyone! Good news! The ninja outside Falling Rain Village all withdrew last night. I checked the woods outside the village this morning, and they'd even taken their tents. Looks like they don't plan to block us anymore."
Over the course of the day, more and more members returned to report good news.
"The people in the town to the south told me that the ninja who kept threatening them over the last few days finally didn't show up today."
"The Rain ninja we clashed with three days ago shot us a letter with a Kunai today, saying it had all been a misunderstanding."
"I went out on my usual patrol today, and finally wasn't attacked for no reason!"
By evening, Yahiko finally let out a long sigh of relief.
"Looks like Lord Hanzō finally understands us."
Shiba Seika happened to be waiting for a reply in Yahiko's room. He rolled his eyes at that and bluntly shot him down. "What the hell does this have to do with understanding? The money just got there, that's all."
Yahiko wanted to defend his ideals, but before he could say a word, everyone began praising Shiba Seika in unison.
"You really know what you're doing, Seika! We were at our wits' end while you were away!"
"We really do have to rely on you, Seika!"
Yahiko was left speechless by the scene.
He felt deeply uncomfortable, but couldn't find a reason to argue.
Because before Shiba Seika returned, he really hadn't been able to come up with a solution.
He was a failure as a leader...
What bothered him even more was that this time, even Konan and Nagato didn't try to comfort him.
Konan wasn't even looking at him. Her eyes were closed as if her mind were elsewhere—she seemed to be controlling the Paper Butterfly flying outside.
A little while later, Konan opened her eyes and said excitedly, "A reply has arrived!"
Everyone perked up!
The Paper Butterfly flew into the room with the letter. Yahiko was about to reach out and take it, but to his surprise, the butterfly sailed right past him and landed smoothly and naturally in Shiba Seika's hand.
For a moment, Yahiko's expression stiffened slightly.
Fortunately, everyone else in the room was focused on Shiba Seika, watching him open the letter and read it.
That spared Yahiko the embarrassment...
Soon, Shiba Seika finished reading. The others saw his strange expression, and their spirits—which had just begun to settle—rose in unison once more.
"What is it, Seika? What did Hanzō say? Could it be..."
Shiba Seika reassuringly patted Konan's hand, signaling her not to panic.
"Don't worry. Hanzō's letter shows no hostility toward us. In fact, he even praised us.
"Everything's been settled satisfactorily. Everyone should be able to get a good night's sleep."
The people in the room finally let out a collective breath of relief. Then they thanked and praised Shiba Seika.
Only Konan still looked uneasy. She pressed him, "Then why did you look so strange just now?"
Shiba Seika handed her the letter. "Konan, take a look for yourself. We'll probably have one more task to handle in the near future."
His expression had looked odd not because things had gone badly, but simply because he was surprised.
In his letter to Hanzō, he'd casually made up a line about Sunagakure and Iwagakure wreaking havoc inside the Land of Rain, to emphasize how precarious the country's situation was.
He'd only meant to exaggerate the threat from outside and remind Hanzo the Salamander not to start a civil war right now. Think carefully about the consequences!
But who could've expected Hanzō to actually assign him a mission in the reply—
Go take care of a squad of Sunagakure ninja roaming around in the southwestern part of the Land of Rain.
It was easy to imagine how impossible it had been for Shiba Seika to keep a straight face when he saw the letter.
I just made that up off the top of my head. And there really are Sunagakure ninja sneaking in here?
Damn it! What kind of place is the Land of Rain? Can anyone just come and go as they please?!
Before you continue