Hokage Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood upright with a pipe in hand, studying the battlefield situation map spread across his desk, his eyes filled with contemplation.
It was clear to see that the situation in the Land of Rain had become an utter mess. The front lines of every faction interlocked like jagged teeth, making it all too easy for chaotic melees—or even a decisive battle—to break out.
"Is this your way of courting death before rebirth, Hanzo?"
Glancing at Amegakure, firmly positioned at the center, Hiruzen Sarutobi raised his pipe and took a puff. What a terrifying opponent.
Although Amegakure possessed considerable strength and the Land of Rain was not weak in national power, otherwise it would not have become the battlefield tacitly accepted by the three nations. The Land of Fire, Land of Earth, and Land of Wind wanted to decide the war's victor while utterly crushing the Land of Rain, plunging it into chaos and destroying its chance of becoming the sixth great nation.
Wars between nations had always been about crushing threats in the cradle. There was never any room for mercy.
As the battlefield chosen by the three great nations, if Hanzo had overestimated himself and resisted, he would undoubtedly have died without a burial place. The destruction of his nation and village would have been inevitable.
Therefore, Hanzo had never intended to fight from the very beginning.
Hanzo had directly abandoned all Land of Rain territory outside Amegakure, gathering every Amegakure ninja to defend the area around the village. With their forces so concentrated, along with a peak Kage-level powerhouse like Hanzo, none of the three warring nations dared rashly provoke them.
After all, this was their home ground. Amegakure had made its stance clear: if anyone dared attack Amegakure now, they would almost certainly