Villagers of the Land of Rain

Through Uchiha Xiao's True Sight Eye, Tsunade's squad largely bypassed the main forces of the Rain Ninja. Although they occasionally encountered smaller squads, they crushed them every time with their numerical advantage.

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

By now, this thousand-man force remained unscathed, and they even arrived at a village in the Land of Rain without the enemy ever noticing their presence.

Uchiha Xiao climbed down from Long Yi's back and faced his team members. "Everyone has been marching for a day. There is a village ahead where you may rest, but I will say this plainly: we are soldiers, not bandits."

"Therefore, I am laying down these rules. Anyone who violates them will be executed without mercy! 1. Trespassing into private homes: death. 2. Plundering supplies: death. 3. Violating the local women: death. 4. Bullying the weak: death. 5. Forcing trade: death."

"These are the Five Killings. I hope you all keep them in mind. I do not want us to be comrades in the morning and criminals 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 Xiao's voice rang out with authority. The members of the Senju clan looked at one another.

Eventually, Tsunade spoke first. "Understood!" Following her, the Senju clan members shouted in succession, "Understood!"

Uchiha Xiao did not care much for their reaction; he guessed that some ninjas disagreed with these rules and only agreed because of the voice of Tsunade, the Princess of the Senju. However, they did not know that this was wisdom from another dimension.

"Now, everyone follow me into the village! Step lightly and move slowly!" Uchiha Xiao 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 Xiao looked around and noticed the villagers watching them through windows and door cracks, not daring to make a sound.

Uchiha Xiao then spoke in a loud voice, "Fellow villagers, we are ninjas from Konoha. I know that in your eyes, the ninjas of the great nations are cold-blooded killers. I will not deny this."

"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 the night. Please rest assured, we will only borrow the streets on both sides 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 him to justice on the spot!"

After speaking, Uchiha Xiao 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 occasional battles, 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 Konoha ninjas being so disciplined, the villagers of the Land of Rain felt a stir in their hearts. The ninja lords of the past had always burned, killed, and looted, committing every evil imaginable. Why was this unit so disciplined today?

They were somewhat skeptical, so while the Senju unit slept soundly that night, the villagers felt uneasy, or perhaps, felt that the situation was unreal.

It was not that they hadn't experienced the chaos of 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 picked a house and were about to open the door to seek 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 ninjas nearby, who then drew their weapons and looked at the two battered Konoha ninjas.

"We are ninjas from Jiraiya's unit. After a major 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 smiled.

"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 with all his heart; without him, their unit would have suffered countless casualties. Now that ninjas from another team wanted to break Xiao's rules, he didn't care whose unit they belonged to—he would take them down first and leave them for Xiao to handle!

"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 attempting to break into a private home?" Long Yi used the Senju clan's martial art, the Heavenly Foot Pain, kicking the two-tomoe Uchiha unconscious, then followed up with a Mountain Crushing Strike, slamming his elbow down to strike 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 unbelievable.

The ninjas of Konoha protected us?

The nearby villagers were also observing through windows or door cracks. After witnessing this scene, they felt an indescribable joy in their hearts.

Uchiha Xiao was under an eave, contemplating how to deal with Salamander Hanzo. After all, he was a Kage-level powerhouse known as a demigod, and that title was no mere fabrication.

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

The Rain Country'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 various organizations within the Land of Rain, Hanzo chose to declare war on the three great nations to expand his influence and become the de facto leader of the Rain Ninja Village. Regardless of the outcome, he wanted everyone to see that he was the leader capable of guiding the Rain Ninja Village!

Second, the battlefields of wars between the great nations were always in small 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, due to 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 within a week of his declaration of war, Konoha, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure would send troops to fight from the borders all the way into their territory.

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