The call was answered in less than ten seconds. "Hello, Chief. Is there something you need?"
Torifu cleared his throat. "No, not really. Minato was on a mission today and said he ran into a group of Ronin in the Land of Fire who'd come from your territory. I wanted to ask what was going on."
"As far as I know, Ronin haven't been around for a long time."
Hearing that term all of a sudden, Torifu felt as if he were looking at a relic of a bygone era.
Ever since the Land of Rain had been divided among three countries, the Ronin had gradually disappeared.
Now that they had turned up again, Torifu was naturally curious and wanted to get to the bottom of it.
When Torifu suddenly asked about them, Kakuzu fell silent. After quite a while, he finally spoke. "It's like this, Chief. Starting two months ago, the Ronin began gradually reappearing in what used to be the Land of Rain."
"And it seems their return is organized and premeditated. They've been secretly recruiting people in various areas, to the point that entire villages have turned to a life of Ronin."
Torifu furrowed his brows. He'd only wanted to hear some gossip and tease Kakuzu a little, saying he couldn't even deal with a few Ronin.
How had this turned into such a complicated situation?
But apparently that wasn't all. Kakuzu continued, "The Ronin aren't causing any destruction. They're just going around recruiting people. The whole of Rain Province, along with the former Land of Rain territories in the other two countries, has been thrown into chaos."
"Large numbers of villages have been emptied out, with every villager turning Ronin. And there are rumors that their leader is Hanzo, who escaped all those years ago."
Hanzo?