Demigod · Salamander Hanzo

At this moment, Salamander Hanzo was likely at his most high-spirited.

Having just routed the samurai of the Land of Iron and seized a massive haul of steel supplies, weapons, and ninja tools, this initial victory filled Salamander Hanzo with immense confidence.

Because the Sand Ninja were bound by a ceasefire agreement with Konoha, Konoha had forced them to deploy a large number of ninja troops along the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain.

This gave Salamander Hanzo a stifling sense of unease, like a thorn in his back or a bone stuck in his throat.

How could one allow others to snore soundly beside one's own bed?

Although Hanzo did not know this ancient saying, he felt this sentiment deeply.

"Once the war begins, cripple and kill the Sand Ninja first!"

Finding a way to resolve the southern border conflict was Salamander Hanzo's best option.

If he were to engage in a deep standoff with Konoha first, the high-end combat power of the Land of Rain would easily be tied down and unable to break free.

Salamander Hanzo had always treated Konoha's combat strength with caution.

The result of being entangled by Konoha would inevitably be a sneak attack from the Sand Ninja.

In that case, he would completely lose the initiative in the war.

In the eyes of Salamander Hanzo, the ninja world was just that—the ninja world, devoid of even the slightest hint of warmth.

Every inch of land in the ninja world was inscribed with the law of "the weak are prey to the strong."

In this era of great contention, the major ninja villages engaged in frequent diplomatic maneuvering; the strong grew stronger, and the weak perished.

If he were to follow the old ways and rely on the status of a small, neutral nation to survive temporarily, how would that differ from waiting for death?

Many ninjas of the Land of Rain felt shaken, but he, Hanzo, would not!

Those surrenderists and moderates believed that declaring war on the great nations was no different from throwing an egg against a rock.

But Salamander Hanzo was clear-headed.

If things dragged on like this, he wouldn't even have the chance to throw an egg against a rock.

The current Land of Rain was already at its most prosperous moment!

If they missed this opportunity, the Land of Rain, trapped in the meager territory of a small nation, would only be courting its own destruction.

As for this strategic decision, it was naturally to "conquer the weak first, then conquer the strong."

First wipe out the Sand Ninja, then seize the fertile lands of Konoha, and ultimately become the sixth great nation of the ninja world.

This was not only Salamander Hanzo's dream, but also the "Ultimate Ninja Way of the Land of Rain" that the nation had insisted on cultivating and instilling for over a decade, day after day.

Were the Sand Ninja weak?

From the perspective of the Land of Rain, they seemed very weak.

Just like the recent war between the Sand Ninja and Konoha.

That bunch of Sand Ninja had collapsed in a chaotic mess.

The combat troops of the Sand Ninja were the smallest in number among the major ninja villages.

The vanguard of the Land of Rain also seemed to firmly believe in the weakness of the Sand Ninja.

Even Salamander Hanzo had misjudged the true strength of the Sand Ninja.

The Third Kazekage hadn't even made a move.

A single puppeteer, Chiyo, had caused heavy losses to the Land of Rain's vanguard.

Of the five hundred and fifty Land of Rain ninjas, not only did they fail to gain any advantage against the puppeteers led by Chiyo, but they also lost nearly half their forces to the enemy.

This sudden, heavy blow made Salamander Hanzo's blood pressure soar.

What made him most furious was the various potent poisons he had provided to his troops.

Not only did these poisons fail to inflict sufficient damage on the Sand Ninja, but the Land of Rain's forces suffered the loss of nearly fifteen jonin due to "Chiyo Poison."

There were no obvious wounds; it was simply because the Chiyo Poison was so persistent—if a hand was injured, the forearm would become infected, and if the forearm was amputated, the entire arm would become infected.

The infection spread repeatedly, like maggots boring into bone.

The terrifying toxin also made it difficult for the injured ninjas' wounds to heal, causing endless agony and blood poisoning.

For a time, the terrifying "Puppet Old Hag" became a haunting presence in the hearts of the Land of Rain ninjas.

Fortunately, Salamander Hanzo was nearby, and he had long since deployed his high-end combat power to the side of the Sand Ninja.

Hanzo's formidable combat strength caused the front lines between the two sides to quickly become intertwined.

The first conflict between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain soon escalated into a large-scale war involving over a thousand people.

The core battlefield between the two sides also became increasingly deadlocked.

One day, Chiyo would use her puppet army to wipe out four of the Land of Rain's forward outposts.

The next day, Salamander Hanzo would summon his giant salamander to slaughter the flank troops of the Land of Wind.

This back-and-forth exchange allowed the Land of Rain to initially grasp the methods for detoxifying and treating Chiyo Poison.

Chiyo, the puppet master of the Land of Wind, similarly developed a rapid-acting formula to resist the toxins of Salamander Hanzo.

The toxic methods both sides relied upon most heavily gradually lost their effectiveness in small-scale skirmishes.

During this phase, Salamander Hanzo and the puppet master Chiyo also clashed back and forth several times.

Although Salamander Hanzo clearly surpassed Chiyo in terms of ninjutsu and individual strength, he felt as though his hands and feet were bound when facing her army of puppets—which were immune to poison—and her extreme tactics of trading puppets for lives.

He was plagued by a constant sense of restriction, a stifling frustration he could not voice to anyone.

That detestable "Puppet Old Hag," Chiyo, even gave Salamander Hanzo a nickname that infuriated him.

"Ventilation Pipe Old Man!"

This nickname nearly made Salamander Hanzo, who styled himself a Demigod, crooked with rage.

The tenacity and ferocity of the Sand Ninja far exceeded Hanzo's estimates.

This provided the Konoha ninja with an excellent advantage to seize the initiative.

Taking advantage of the entanglement between the Sand Ninja and Salamander Hanzo, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade led their main forces to rapidly breach the borders of the Land of Rain.

On the Konoha border, the Land of Rain ninja, hampered by their weaker forces, could only rely on the complex terrain and harsh weather to repeatedly contest territory with the Konoha ninja.

Uchiha Fucheng also took advantage of this period, utilizing the low-intensity battlefield to encourage the participating Uchiha ninja to conduct targeted live-combat drills.

Uchiha Fucheng brought out his four "divine artifacts" of war.

Naturally, he relied on his "foresight" to have these special ninja tools custom-made.

The first: a multi-layered activated carbon, semi-covered gas mask.

This gas mask was an essential piece of gear for fighting in the Land of Rain.

Fucheng knew that Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and the others would eventually be taken down by Hanzo's poison.

Uchiha Fucheng had invested a significant amount of resources specifically to counter Salamander Hanzo this time.

He equipped every single Uchiha ninja with a gas mask.

The second: Acid Fog Goggles.

The ninja of the Land of Rain learned many special ninjutsu involving "rain, fog, acid, and haze."

These types of ninjutsu could all exert a restraining influence on the Sharingan Kekkei Genkai of the Uchiha.

The Acid Fog Goggles, a simple piece of equipment that could protect the eyes from the encroachment of acid fog, acid rain, and toxins, quickly became a life-saving item that every Uchiha ninja carried.

Fucheng's foresight led the Uchiha ninja to exclaim, "The Clan Head is wise!"

The third of these combat artifacts was a special tool that utilized chakra energy to rapidly boil water.

Although this Chakra Boiling Kettle, which converted chakra into Fire Release to quickly boil water, did not possess much technological complexity, for the Uchiha clan, who generally possessed Fire Release chakra, they grew to absolutely love this inconspicuous little kettle.

With two hand seals and both hands gripping the handle, a pot of boiling water would appear in just fifteen seconds.

In the perpetually damp and filthy Land of Rain, this was truly a top-tier divine artifact for drinking boiled water.

With the Chakra Boiling Kettle, the rate of diarrhea and illness among Uchiha ninja was kept at an extremely low level.

Uchiha Fucheng also made the Uchiha clan the ninja family in the shinobi world that loved drinking boiled water the most.

Uchiha, tea first!

If Heaven did not give birth to "Konoha Pot Fucheng," the Uchiha would be like a long night for eternity. (Hands on hips, Uchiha maniacal laughter.JPG)

Every time Fucheng encountered Uchiha ninja in the camp, they would beat their chests in salute and shout "Loyalty" with high morale.

As for the final [exclusive artifact] for the Uchiha ninja, one must mention the thirteen Misaka Sisters who had already been successfully converted...