Akatsuki

Amegakure.

A steady drizzle fell from the sky, unable to conceal the heavy atmosphere.

Wearing a mask to prevent poisonous gas from leaking out, the towering Hanzō stood before Amegakure's upper ranks.

"How has the investigation gone? Who is targeting Amegakure? Don't tell me it really was Iwagakure."

Hanzō's cloak whipped behind him in the biting wind, his voice carrying a trace of iron-blooded resolve.

Guards filled the area around him.

Before him, an Amegakure Anbu member heard Hanzō's words and replied in a deep voice, "Reporting to Lord Hanzō, according to the intelligence, some of them are from Iwagakure, while others are ninja from other villages. Someone is muddying the waters. We don't know which country it is, or perhaps... an organization within the Land of Rain itself..."

Hanzō narrowed his eyes. "It seems the enemy is quite clever. They actually dragged everyone into this. But since they dared run wild in the Land of Rain, I, Hanzō, cannot stand by and watch!"

Although he no longer wished to involve himself in war, as the leader of Amegakure, if he could not ensure the safety of his own ninja, no one would recognize his position as leader.

His gaze was sharp.

Just when he knew he could not change much about the Land of Rain and only wanted to spend his old age in peace, someone still wanted to force him into action.

It seemed this battle was unavoidable.

"Lord Hanzō, according to the Intelligence Division's analysis, the most likely possibility is that Iwagakure is putting on one face in public while acting differently behind our backs.

It is also possible that Konoha wants us to fight Iwagakure and ease Konoha's current situation.

Nor can we rule out the possibility that someone within the Land of Rain wants to exploit the chaos to seize power.

As for Sunagakure, the Third Kazekage's disappearance has caused immense losses. At present, they only dare station troops at the border to tie down Konoha's forces and do not dare launch a large-scale offensive. The likelihood of them attacking Amegakure is low.

The Land of Birds, the Land of Rivers, and the Land of Grass do not have the ability to provoke the Land of Rain either, though we cannot rule out the possibility that they have joined forces with another village..."

The Land of Rain was not merely where three nations met. With the other three smaller countries included, it bordered six nations in total. The Rain Anbu carefully explained everything gathered by the Intelligence Division.

Hanzō asked, "Could it be people from Kumogakure or Kirigakure, sent here to fish in troubled waters?"

"The possibility is low. That crafty Tsuchikage, no one knows what he is thinking. He has opened two fronts at once and launched a surprise attack on the Land of Lightning. Kumogakure's battle against Iwagakure is currently no less intense than its war with Konoha.

Kirigakure is overseas and too far from our village. They have little motive to attack us, though we cannot rule out intelligence we have yet to uncover..."

The Rain Anbu continued.

It was no longer just the four major ninja villages attacking Konoha. Villages were also attacking one another. They were not allies; they merely had an unspoken understanding to target Konoha, the ninja village with the richest resources.

If they had the opportunity to obtain more resources from other countries at a lower cost, they would not mind weakening their war effort against Konoha and directing it elsewhere.

And while everyone was attacking Konoha, launching a surprise attack on another village at such a time could very well yield enormous gains.

The Tsuchikage Ōnoki had done exactly that. That crafty old man had sent troops deep into the Land of Lightning, and now even the Third Raikage had led the bulk of his forces to respond.

According to the intelligence gathered so far, Kirigakure also appeared to be making moves. However, Amegakure was too far from Kirigakure and had little contact with it, so even the Intelligence Division did not know much.

"Konoha..."

Hanzō immediately focused on Konoha. The name made him frown.

But with Konoha's battle lines stretched so far, did it still have the strength to attack Amegakure?

"I am giving you three days. Gather every bit of intelligence you can on those who attacked our village. This time, I will act personally and slaughter them."

Hanzō clenched his fist. Had he gone too long without taking action, that others had already forgotten his fearsome reputation?

This time, he had no choice but to act personally and eliminate every invader.

Factory ruins, Land of Rain.

Moss dangled from the shattered buildings. At an uncovered window, several figures watched the scene outside.

Rain fell from above, forming a curtain beyond the window.

"Yahiko, I heard someone has been targeting ninja from the Land of Rain. Whenever they strike, they wipe them out completely. Only a few stronger people managed to escape. Based on the intelligence, they seem to be from Iwagakure."

A young woman with blue hair and a white flower in her hair spoke softly.

Across from her stood a blond man about her age. Hearing her words, Yahiko's expression darkened. "War... when will it ever end? Iwagakure, Konoha..."

As Akatsuki's current leader, seeing his fellow countrymen killed by people from other nations drew him back into his dream.

Peace was Akatsuki's dream.

Yet even after so long, despite gathering many like-minded people and making countless attempts, that dream had never been realized.

But he would not give up. As Teacher Jiraiya had said, the road to peace had not appeared only because no one had discovered it. He would find that road and fulfill Teacher Jiraiya's dream, as well as his own and Akatsuki's dream.

At the very least, he would bring peace to the Land of Rain.

He would lessen the harm war inflicted upon civilians.

This attack on Amegakure by people from other countries pained Yahiko deeply.

It meant that the Land of Rain was still suffering the agony of war.

"Konoha..." Beside them, a red-haired young man heard Konoha mentioned and a scene flashed through his mind.

It was the scene from his childhood, when his family had been killed by Konoha ninja. To him, that cruel scene was still happening.

His eyes settled on Yahiko.

No, it would not happen again. He would follow Yahiko and scatter the seeds of peace across the world, making everyone recognize Yahiko's dream.

"Konan, what do you think we should do?" Yahiko asked.

The current situation left him somewhat lost.

Akatsuki was still not strong enough. Against those great nations, their current strength was far from sufficient.

Konan said, "Although we are still too weak, we can gather intelligence and let Lord Hanzō take action. As long as we have enough intelligence, if Lord Hanzō acts, he can definitely drive the enemy out of the Land of Rain."

"Nagato, what do you think?" Yahiko asked the red-haired boy.

Nagato said, "Konan is right. Akatsuki is still too weak. We need Lord Hanzō to strike at the enemy."

They deeply respected Hanzō, the senior who had brought a brief period of peace to the Land of Rain.

They also knew that, with their current strength, they could only offer limited help in gathering intelligence.

They believed that if Lord Hanzō took action, there would definitely be no problem.

"Then it's settled. We'll gather intelligence and hand it over to Lord Hanzō. I believe Lord Hanzō can handle something like this."

Yahiko nodded.

He also hoped they would not encounter an enemy too troublesome to deal with.

Akatsuki's ability to respond was still lacking.

Ahhh~ She actually let me meet her mother in today's video. Hm~ Could she really like me?