But the Amegakure ninja moved faster.
He did not even form hand seals, merely raising his hand and sweeping it through the air.
The rain in the air instantly condensed into dozens of ice spikes, shooting toward the three scouts at speeds rivaling senbon.
"Water Release? No, he didn't form hand seals-" The captain's words cut off abruptly.
An ice spike pierced his throat.
The other two scouts tried to use the Substitution Technique, but the mud beneath their feet suddenly came alive, forming hands that seized their ankles.
A moment later, more ice spikes pinned them to the ground, killing them.
The battle ended in under five seconds.
The Amegakure ninja crouched down, checked their bodies, and pulled an unfinished intelligence scroll from inside the captain's clothes.
He glanced at it, a flicker of mockery passing through his pitch-black eyes.
"Did you really think you could pry into the secrets of Las Noches?"
He stood, his mouth twisting into a warped grin beneath his bone mask.
Then he dragged the three corpses away and vanished into the rain.
Three days later, in Iwagakure, Land of Earth.
The atmosphere in the Tsuchikage Building's conference room was heavy enough to wring water from.
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, hovered in midair, his small frame radiating suffocating pressure.
He held a scroll that a secret envoy from Konoha had just presented.
"Amegakure... possesses a weapon that threatens the Five Great Nations?" Ōnoki's voice was as cold as stone.
"Does that old bastard Sarutobi Hiruzen think I'd believe such a crude attempt to sow discord?"
"Lord Tsuchikage, this is no attempt to sow discord." The Konoha envoy knelt on one knee, his voice respectful but firm.
"We have conclusive evidence that after Hanzō's death, Amegakure fell under the control of a mysterious organization