Sarutobi Toru naturally had no idea what Hanzo of the Salamander had imagined. He merely replied politely, "That's right. I'm here to witness and supervise this operation in Amegakure. I hope Commander Hanzo will take good care of us."
Hanzo of the Salamander hurriedly shook those thoughts from his head. Whatever plans Konoha had, they had nothing to do with the Land of Rain. If anything, the more thoroughly Konoha crushed Sunagakure, the better. The Land of Rain could then expand along with the momentum.
As for whether Konoha had designs on the Land of Rain? Konoha still needed the Land of Rain to keep Sunagakure in check. Until Sunagakure fell, the relationship between the Land of Rain and Konoha would remain in its honeymoon phase.
"You're too polite. The weather in the Land of Rain has always been terrible. I've prepared food for you all, so please come into the village and rest for a while." No matter what he was thinking inside, Hanzo of the Salamander revealed nothing on the surface as he calmly invited the Konoha shinobi inside to rest.
"Then we'll have to thank Commander Hanzo. Come on, everyone, let's head into Amegakure and rest for a bit." Sarutobi Toru also found the rain extremely uncomfortable and readily agreed.
Only after entering Amegakure did Sarutobi Toru discover that Sunagakure's Third Kazekage had already arrived.
With the River of Rain Plan underway, Sunagakure would certainly send people to join the operation. But Sarutobi Toru had not expected Kosa, the Third Kazekage, to come to Amegakure personally. Before becoming Kazekage, he had been captured by Hanzo.
If Sunagakure's younger generation had possessed any outstanding talent besides him, the sole Kazekage candidate, his path to becoming the Third Kazekage would likely not have been so easy.
Of course, Konoha's