As Sunagakure continued sending elite ninja disguised as Amegakure shinobi to ambush and kill men from Iwagakure and Konoha, the string of assassinations cast an ever heavier, more oppressive shadow over the Land of Rain.
In Amegakure, Hanzo of the Salamander stood inside a room, his expression grim. "Who exactly is behind these repeated attacks on Konoha and Iwagakure?"
Beside him, Shinoda bowed as he answered, "Lord Hanzō, I've thoroughly investigated the matter. These attacks were not carried out by our people. I suspect this may be a Sunagakure scheme."
"Think about it. Their Kazekage died at your hands, so they must bear a grudge against us. But they have no way to counter Ibuse's poison, so they're impersonating our people and attacking the other two shinobi villages. They want to turn the Lands of Fire and Earth against the Land of Rain, using Konoha and Iwagakure to strike at us."
Shinoda paused, then cautiously asked, "Lord Hanzō, should we explain ourselves to those two villages? After all, no matter how strong you are, even you might struggle against the combined forces of the Three Great Shinobi Villages..."
Hanzō did not rebuke him. Instead, he fell into thought.
Indeed, the Land of Rain lacked the national strength to contend with three great nations at once. Shinoda was right: even with his own combat prowess added to Amegakure's forces, they would likely be unable to withstand the Three Great Shinobi Villages.
In the earlier battle in the river valley, they had eliminated that old bastard Shamon, the Second Kazekage, and inflicted devastating casualties on Sunagakure. But Amegakure had paid a terrible price as well, losing over a thousand ninja. Their entire force numbered fewer than five thousand, and that single battle had already crippled them.
He had intended to establish his