Blitzkrieg! Hidden Rain Advances!

Another month passed quickly.

At the entrance to Rain Village, three thousand Rain shinobi had assembled and stood ready. Not a single one was a Genin; all were elite shinobi of Chunin rank or above.

"Depart now. Half of you will follow me to the Rain-Wind Border, while the other half will follow Heiji and Shinda to the Rain-Fire Border. Launch the surprise attack precisely at eight o'clock on the evening of September 18. Make sure to eliminate every one of their border guard shinobi!" Hanzō appeared before everyone in a Body Flicker and issued the order loudly.

He then turned to Shinda and Heiji, who stood behind him. "Tell everyone not to conserve chakra. Recover only after all Konoha shinobi have been eliminated. Do not let any news leak out. Use the salamanders to contact me immediately if there is any progress!"

"Please rest assured, sir!" Heiji and Shinda, Hanzō of the Salamander's right-hand men, answered loudly.

"Dismissed!" At Hanzō's command, the elite Rain shinobi swiftly departed in two different directions.

Near the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire, Shinda and Heiji had finished their preparations. Behind them stood the fifteen hundred Rain shinobi following them.

Meanwhile, Konoha's border defense forces were completely unaware that danger was about to descend. The only orders sent from the village were for them to maintain the status quo.

As the current leader of the Shinobi World and the victor of the First Shinobi World War, Konoha interpreted Hanzō's recent actions as nothing more than a display of military might.

Though storm clouds of war already blanketed the Shinobi World, and Konoha had prepared to go to war with the other major shinobi villages at any time while strengthening its defenses along the borders of the major nations, it had never imagined that Hidden Rain, a tiny insignificant country, would dare be the first to stroke Konoha's tiger whiskers and become the first shinobi village to make a move.

At eight o'clock, three signal flares rose into the sky, and Hidden Rain's shinobi launched their surprise attack on the Land of Fire's border defense forces right on schedule.

Water Style: Water Shockwave!

Over a hundred Chunin-level Rain shinobi formed hand seals together, creating a body of water of terrifying proportions. Frightening chakra fluctuations spread throughout the Rain-Fire Border.

"Not good, enemy attack!" Konoha finally realized something was wrong. The shinobi on duty quickly shouted a warning and prepared to send a signal that they had come under attack.

But it was already too late. Rain shinobi's next wave of attacks came immediately after.

Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!

This was an A-rank Water Style jointly unleashed by all of the Rain shinobi's Jonin. The most important characteristic of Water Style ninjutsu was that its power could increase along with the amount of water available.

With the Water Shockwave having laid the groundwork beforehand, combined with the joint casting of so many Jonin, the A-rank Great Waterfall Technique erupted with power far beyond that of an ordinary S-rank ninjutsu.

Towering waves surged across the Rain-Fire Border at tremendous speed, rushing toward the Konoha shinobi and creating a scene on land comparable to a tsunami.

The densely packed Rain shinobi followed closely behind the massive waves they had created, rapidly running across the water as they pushed swiftly into the Land of Fire.

Under the tactical guidance of the two so-called crouching dragons and fledgling phoenixes back in Konoha Village, the Konoha defense forces stationed along the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain had made virtually no preparations for Hidden Rain's surprise attack.

Under Hidden Rain's ambush, which amounted to saturation bombardment, they were wiped out in a single stroke. The Konoha border defense forces along the Rain-Fire Border were carried away in one wave by the Rain shinobi.

"Chunin, sweep the battlefield immediately! Sensory shinobi, expand your sensing range. Make absolutely certain that not a single fish slips through the net!" Shinda ordered loudly. "Everyone else, restore your chakra at once. I'll contact Lord Hanzō for further instructions."

Summoning Jutsu!

Shinda formed hand seals and summoned a small salamander. He quickly wrote their situation on a scroll and placed it into the salamander's mouth.

Not long afterward, Shinda sensed a disturbance in the contract. He used the Summoning Jutsu again to summon the salamander and removed the scroll from its mouth.

After opening the scroll, Shinda quickly skimmed through Hanzō's orders, then called over Heiji, who was meditating nearby to recover his chakra.

"Lord Hanzō's latest orders are for the troops to split into two groups. You and I will each lead one group and swiftly seize all towns in the Land of Fire near our border!" As Shinda spoke, he handed the scroll in his hand to Heiji.

Heiji took the scroll and confirmed its contents before saying to Shinda, "Good. Then we'll begin moving in five minutes. Let them recover a little more chakra first!"

The situation at the Land of Wind's border was the same as on the Land of Fire's side. Although Iron Sand, the Third Kazekage, had become more vigilant because of Hanzō's earlier actions and reinforced the border defenses, Hanzō had personally taken action here. Hidden Sand's border defense forces were completely wiped out by the Rain shinobi in just twenty minutes.

On September 19, Year 34 of Hidden Mist, every town along the borders of the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire facing the Land of Rain had fallen. It had taken less than a day since the surprise attack began at eight o'clock on the evening of the 18th.

Through his actions and successful example, Hanzō taught the entire Shinobi World a lesson called blitzkrieg.