Villagers of the Land of Rain

Through the True Sight Eye of Uchiha Kō, the Tsunade squad largely bypassed the main forces of the Rain ninjas. Although they occasionally encountered small squads, they crushed them every time due to their numerical advantage.

The Rain ninja squads couldn't even get a word out, nor could they manage to fire a signal flare, before they were throat-slit by the ninjas of the Senju Squad.

By now, this force of one thousand remained completely unscathed, and without the enemy even noticing, they arrived at a village in the Land of Rain.

Uchiha Kō climbed down from Long Yi's back and faced his troops. "Everyone, you have been marching for a day. There is a village ahead where you may rest, but let me be clear: we are ninjas of Konoha, the ninjas of the village of love established by the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama."

"Since that is the case, once we enter the village to rest, you are not to recklessly collide with or disturb the common folk of Amegakure!" A glint shone in Uchiha Kō's eyes.

"Therefore, I am setting down these rules. Anyone who violates them will be executed without mercy! 1. Trespassing into private homes: death. 2. Plundering supplies: death. 3. Molesting the populace: death. 4. Bullying the weak: death. 5. Forced buying or selling: death."

"These are the five capital offenses. I hope you all keep them in mind. I do not want us to be comrades in the morning and enemies by night! Furthermore, this unit must have discipline; do not take so much as a needle or a thread from the masses! Do you all understand?"

Uchiha Kō's voice rang out with authority. The members of the Senju clan looked at one another.

Finally, Tsunade spoke first. "Understood!" Following her, the members of the Senju clan shouted in unison, "Understood!"

Uchiha Kō did not pay much mind to this. He guessed that some ninjas did not agree with these rules and only complied because of the voice of the Princess of Senju, Tsunade. However, they did not know that this was the wisdom from another dimension.

"Now, everyone follow me into the village! Step lightly, move slowly!" Uchiha Kō took the lead; as the battlefield commander, he naturally had to be the first to face the risks.

Tsunade, worried about him, stayed by his side. Upon entering the village, Uchiha Kō looked around and noticed the villagers watching them through windows and door cracks, not daring to make a sound.

Uchiha Kō then spoke in a loud voice, "Villagers of the Land of Rain, we are ninjas from Konoha. I know that in your eyes, ninjas from the great nations are cold-blooded killers, and I will not deny that."

"But I can guarantee that this unit of ours strictly adheres to discipline and will not commit the slightest offense against the people. We only wish to rest for one night. Please rest assured, we will only borrow the streets on either side to sleep and recover, and we will leave a path in the middle for you to walk."

"I hope you are not afraid. If any ninja commits an evil act, tell me, and I will surely bring them to justice on the spot!"

After speaking, Uchiha Kō ordered his troops to set up rain shelters along the roadside. The ninjas either leaned against the walls of the villagers' houses or lay directly on the ground. Having marched all day without stopping, and with battles breaking out from time to time, they were already physically and mentally exhausted.

He then selected twenty ninjas to patrol, as the safety of the unit had to be guaranteed.

Seeing the ninjas from Konoha being so disciplined, the villagers of the Land of Rain could not help but feel moved. In the past, those ninja lords would burn, kill, and loot, committing every evil imaginable. Why was this unit so disciplined today?

They were somewhat skeptical, so while the Senju troops slept soundly that night, the villagers felt uneasy, or perhaps, felt that it was all too surreal.

It was not as if they had never experienced war, but this was the first time they had encountered such a unit and such a commander. They felt as if they were dreaming.

Late at night, two Konoha ninjas covered in wounds arrived at the village. They randomly found a house and were about to open the door to enter and take refuge when a patrolling Senju jonin asked, "Hey! What do you think you're doing! Which unit are you from!"

Suddenly, this voice startled over two hundred nearby ninjas, who immediately drew their weapons and looked at the two wounded Konoha ninjas.

"We are ninjas from Jiraiya's unit. After a great battle, we got separated from our army. We found a village nearby and thought we'd come to grab a bite to eat," one of the two Konoha ninjas said with a smile.

"That's right, brother, we're just here for a meal, no need to be so serious!" the other added with a laugh.

"Men, tie them up!" The patrolling ninja was none other than Long Yi. He admired his commander to the point of worship; without him, he didn't know how many casualties their unit would have suffered. Now that ninjas from another unit wanted to break Kō's rules, he didn't care whose unit they were from—he would take them down first and let Kō deal with them!

"What are you doing! We are comrades from the same village!" One of them activated his Sharingan—a two-tomoe—and stared at the Senju ninjas present while holding a kunai.

"Could it be that you Senju still harbor resentment toward us Uchiha!" The other Uchiha also activated his Sharingan, a one-tomoe.

"Hmph! You dare to resist after trespassing into a private home?" Long Yi used the Senju martial art, the Heavenly Foot of Pain, kicking the two-tomoe Uchiha unconscious, then followed up with a Mountain Crushing Strike, slamming his elbow horizontally to knock the one-tomoe Uchiha to the ground.

Then, other ninjas stepped forward and tied them up. A red-haired child inside the house was watching the scene unfold, his eyes wide, feeling it was all quite incredible.

The ninjas of Konoha protected us?

Nearby villagers were also observing through windows or door cracks, and after witnessing this, a joy they couldn't quite describe filled their hearts.

Uchiha Kō was under an eave, thinking about how to deal with Salamander Hanzō. After all, he was a Kage-level powerhouse known as a demigod, and that title was no empty claim.

Admittedly, he could not compare to Senju Hashirama or Senju Tobirama—the true God of Shinobi and the God of Speed—but in the current era, his strength, all things considered, was worthy of the title of demigod.

The Land of Rain's declaration of war against the Land of Wind, the Land of Fire, and the Land of Earth was primarily for three reasons. First, because of the many organizations within the Land of Rain, Hanzō chose to declare war on the three great nations to expand his influence and become the de facto leader of Amegakure. Regardless of the outcome, he wanted everyone to see that he was the leader capable of guiding Amegakure!

Second, every time the great nations went to war, the battlefield was always in small ninja villages like theirs, causing labor and wealth to be wasted and leaving the people starving. He had to fight this war; even if he couldn't win, he had to tell the world that the Land of Rain would not be bullied!

Third, because of the scarcity of resources, war was the best way to divert attention from internal shortages. Through plunder, he hoped to make the Land of Rain stronger and more prosperous.

However, what he did not expect was that less than a week after his declaration of war, Konoha, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure would send troops from their borders all the way into his territory.

Only now did he realize that the strength of one person was not enough to determine the strength of a nation. To put it another way, he was not yet strong enough; he could not reach the level of the God of Shinobi, who could deter the Five Great Nations all by himself!