"That's roughly how it is, Chief Yahiko!"
Looking at Uzumaki Rieko, who was calling him "leader," Yahiko turned his head to the other side and looked at Konan, whose head was hanging low.
This time, the Akatsuki is truly in danger!
Hanzo was able to accept a purely Akatsuki to demonstrate his magnanimity, but he would never allow an outside force to challenge his position!
"Well!"
Yahiko sighed deeply, leaning back in his chair, feeling utterly exhausted, even though he had emphasized it repeatedly.
"I sent the request to my superiors before I came here, and we should get a definite reply in a few days!"
"They wouldn't dare to attack us these next few days!"
Rieko emphasized this to Yahiko, as a way of comforting him.
A powerless Yahiko nodded listlessly; this was all he could do now.
The capital of the Land of Rain.
A special meeting is underway in a luxurious room.
"What are your thoughts on the Akatsuki's contact with the Golden Consortium?"
An elite Rain Ninja wearing a gas mask addressed the group of elite Land of Rain ninjas before him.
A man also wearing a gas mask twirled the Kunai in his hand and said nonchalantly.
"What else can we do but wait?"
Not only them, but most of the other Rain Ninja in the room were dressed like this, all imitating Hanzo's appearance.
Wearing Rain Ninja Forehead Protector and a gas mask is practically standard equipment for Rain Ninja!
This demonstrates Hanzo's prestige in the Land of Rain!
"Yes, let's wait!"
"After all, we don't know what they really mean. If they don't object, they won't live more than three days!"
An elderly man, Rain Ninja, leaning on a wooden cane, spoke slowly.
However, the other Rain Ninja in the room clearly disagreed with this cautious suggestion.
"Fool! Now is the perfect time!"
One of the Rain Ninja spoke, pointing directly at the old man.
"Their request has only just been sent back. If we don't deal with them now, are we going to wait for the Cloud Ninja to arrive?"
The old man wasn't annoyed; instead, he laughed and said to him, "So, do you intend to kill them by force?"
"Their presence here represents the Cloud Ninja! Acting rashly will only give the Cloud Ninja an excuse to send troops to attack the Land of Rain!"
"What, do you want our Land of Rain to be plunged into war again?"
"If you want to die, go ahead and do it yourself. I'm not going with you!"
The young Rain Ninja's face flushed red as she retorted, "She's just a Jonin! And now she's getting involved in our Land of Rain affairs. I don't believe the Cloud Ninja can attack using that excuse!"
"Besides, we have Lord Hanzo, so we're not afraid of those great powers!"
The young Rain Ninja spoke, his eyes gleaming with admiration. In his eyes, what was Hanzo, who dared to declare war on a major power during Second Shinobi World War and drive out the ninjas from various countries who were ravaging the Land of Rain, compared to a mere major power?
No problem!
The old man burst out laughing upon hearing this, "Heh! We always call you stupid, and you won't admit it!"
"Listen to what you just said!"
"That's a major power, one of the Five Great Nations!"
The old man spoke, his expression revealing sorrow.
To these young people, Hanzo may be an unparalleled hero, but for those who actually experienced the Shinobi World War, Hanzo? He has long been demystified!
So-called demigods are nothing in the face of great powers, which is why Hanzo sought the status of a great power!
But the young Rain Ninja refused to give up and continued to argue her case.
"They only have one Jonin squad in our Land of Rain. Under these circumstances, killing them would be an absolute breeze for us!"
"As long as we act quickly enough, and as long as we don't kill them, why would the Cloud Ninja attack us?"
The old man nodded, acknowledging that what he said made sense. "You're right, but for people like us, ordinary methods are no longer effective in killing ninjas from powerful nations of the same level!"
As for using strength...
The old man paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present before finally settling on the young Rain Ninja.
"Do you think many of those people here will survive?"
Upon hearing this, the entire conference room fell silent; even Rain Ninja, seated at the head of the table, remained silent.
They were well aware of the gap between themselves and the ninjas of the great powers, both in terms of Ninjutsu Hand Seals and knowledge reserves.
After all, most of the powerful people in the Land of Rain died in Second Shinobi World War; they were just promoted.
The young Rain Ninja was so overwhelmed by the criticism that she couldn't utter a word of objection; all she could do was resentfully say...
"So what do we do now?"
"What do we do? Didn't I say we should just wait?"
The old man grinned and sneered, "You really are incredibly stupid!"
"Hanzo's right-hand man, Heiji, who shelters from the Heiji!"
After the meeting ended, only the two of them remained in the room.
One was the elite Rain Ninja who chaired the meeting, and the other was the old man.
"Lord Hanzo!"
The elite Rain Ninja bowed respectfully to the old man.
Bang!
The old man nodded slightly, then deactivated the Transformation Technique and returned to his original appearance.
It was Hanzo of the Salamander, the uncrowned king of the Land of Rain, known as the Demigod of the Ninja World!
"Based on intelligence from various sources, we have now dispatched people to pursue that letter!"
"Judging by the time, Xiao and his men should have caught up by now!"
The elite Rain Ninja bowed and answered.
Xiao is an elite Anbu of their Rain Ninja's ANBU, and his strength is no less than that of a typical Jonin a major country!
He rose to prominence during the Second Shinobi World War and quickly became Hanzo's confidants!
"Um."
Hanzo calm. He knew Xiao's strength; he was more than Jonin of dealing with the Jonin who delivered the message.
It's just a pity I'm not one of his.
"Prepare for the arrest operation, Jiro!"
"Now is definitely the best time to capture those guys!"
Hanzo calmly instructed, "This meeting is nothing more than a smokescreen!"
"Yes!"
"Spread out to the left and right, and encircle and attack from both sides!"
In a dense forest in the eastern part of the Land of Rain, Xiao was directing a squad of Rain Ninja Anbu in a pincer attack.
This was a lean man wearing a strange mask, holding a katana with a sharp edge.
The man they were chasing was now exhausted.
"Yes!"
The other two agreed, and immediately swung their blades up and down, one to the left and one to the right.
Xiao sat behind them, guarding against any unforeseen events.
"Puff!"
Two flashes of light landed one after the other, and the pursued Cloud Ninja fell to the ground, lifeless.
"Thanks to the captain's idea to have us stall him until he was exhausted, otherwise how could we have killed a ninja from a major country so easily!"
One of the Anbu, panting heavily, sighed, a glint of light flashing in the corner of his eye.
The other member of the three-man squad slowly collapsed.
"Team... Captain!"
The Rain Ninja from the Anbu Guard stammered as Xiao swung his sword down again.
"Sorry, I'm an undercover agent!"