A few days later, the three of them raced through familiar woodland, with Arai in the lead.
They had just crossed the Land of Rain's border and were now avoiding Amegakure's patrols and reconnaissance.
Thanks to Arai's extensive battlefield experience and familiarity with the Land of Rain's border, this infiltration went smoothly too... they simply had to be especially careful near the Land of Rain's front lines.
Their route inward required several detours... they could not head straight in.
Once they broke through this area and approached the country's heartland, the pressure would ease considerably.
Until then, besides taking a roundabout route, they also had to keep sprinting at full speed.
Although the Land of Rain's wartime deployments were no longer as tight as before... slipping in unnoticed was still extremely difficult.
Suddenly, Arai made a hand signal up ahead.
The next second, the three racing along in an arrowhead formation scattered into streaks and vanished.
A few seconds later, an Amegakure squad, also consisting of three people, appeared nearby. After checking their surroundings, they quickly withdrew.
But Arai's group still did not reveal themselves.
Only after waiting a while longer and confirming it was safe did Arai give a very soft, peculiar whistle, like some sort of birdcall... Yubi and Sasori then emerged from their respective hiding places and continued on.
A day later, Arai led the two over a hill. Just as they reached its foot and stepped out of the woods, he noticed something amiss again and stopped.
A light rain pattered down from the sky, with a thin layer of dark clouds overhead.
Ever since they entered the Land of Rain, the weather here seemed to have been constantly gloomy... there was no sun in sight, and the air was rather damp.
It was completely different from the Land of Wind.
It certainly lived up to the name Land of Rain.
Rain really did visit it all year round.
The three held their breath and focused, remaining motionless in a concealed spot in the woods for a long time. Under their watchful gazes, the surface of a seemingly ordinary little pool of accumulated rainwater on a patch of mud ahead suddenly rippled... a human head emerged from the water and surveyed the surroundings.
After confirming there was no one around, the Amegakure ninja fully emerged from the water, then left.
This was clearly some sort of nature transformation with exceptionally effective camouflage, allowing its user to blend naturally into the environment.
Arai lived up to his reputation as a seasoned elite jōnin, noticing something wrong immediately.
Chakra sensing...
Yubi found the other ninja's ninjutsu somewhat familiar... it was very similar to the method used by those two minor characters Naruto encountered during his first mission outside the village.
But there were some differences in the ninjutsu's form and effects.
It was difficult to spot any flaws with the naked eye alone... Arai's keen awareness showed that his chakra perception was also very strong.
This place... was more or less the area around Amegakure's last line of border defenses.
Once they crossed this perimeter, they would officially be in the Land of Rain's heartland.
After the other ninja left, the three immediately emerged from the woods and sped away.
All in all, although the journey had been rather troublesome... they had encountered scares, but no actual danger.
Once they reached deeper into the Land of Rain, the three could relax somewhat.
"Let's take a break."
After a while, Arai found a relatively safe place and instructed them.
Although breaking through the Land of Rain's entire defensive line had not taken long, it had still consumed a considerable amount of physical and mental energy.
Yubi and Sasori closed their eyes to rest.
Arai kept watch... for a jonin like him, the mission up to this point could hardly be called difficult.
After all, there were only three of them. The fewer people, the safer they were.
With enough experience handling such situations, given the current circumstances and his abilities... his chances of successfully penetrating deep into the Land of Rain were quite high.
But if there had been seven or eight of them, it would probably have been dangerous.
A few hours later, they had briefly recovered some of their "vigor."
The three set off again... the sooner they reached the Land of Grass, the better it would be for them.
Later... the three also disguised themselves, changing into civilian clothes and posing as locals or traveling merchants in the Land of Rain.
They walked along the Land of Rain's roads, wearing outer garments to keep off the rain. Along the way, they passed villages and small towns, but the sights that greeted them... were utterly desolate.
Most villages had already been ravaged and damaged by the war... in some, only one or two households remained, living under extremely harsh conditions.
By comparison, although Sunagakure was currently mired in an economic slump, it was already far better off.
From time to time, they also encountered displaced people or fugitives on the road.
With the fig leaf of war stripped away, the Land of Rain's true internal circumstances lay fully exposed before the three.
They also came across a band of mountain bandits abducting civilians... and witnessed the vicious sight of two groups fighting with weapons in the rain. It seemed that two local factions had clashed.
However, the three did not intervene and simply kept moving.
"Outsiders only saw Hanzō overpower the Konoha Sannin on the battlefield, but the overall situation back then was that Konoha's military strength could easily destroy the Land of Rain's border defenses, allowing large numbers of Konoha ninja into the country's heartland... it was only because Konoha had to fight on multiple fronts that it couldn't devote all its strength to dealing with the Land of Rain... otherwise..."
These scenes prompted Arai to discuss the "truth" behind this war in the Shinobi World.
It was not just Konoha. During the early stages of the war, their Sunagakure forces had also repeatedly broken through the Land of Rain's defenses and entered the country.
Much of the Land of Rain's current devastation... had been caused by ninja from Konoha or other villages.
Of course, the unruly jumble of factions within the country was also one reason its misery had worsened.
Humanity's ugliness and dark side were laid bare under the ravages of war.
Although the Land of Rain produced a powerful figure like Hanzō, someone worthy of going down in history... the gap between them and the major ninja villages is still obvious. Not just Konoha... even Sunagakure could crush the Land of Rain one-on-one if it didn't have to guard against other hostile forces...
Yubi thought to himself. He also strongly agreed with Arai's assessment.
"The main reason for the Land of Rain's current situation is probably that Hanzō's trusted followers have ties to many local factions for their own private gain, squeezing everything they can out of the common people... the Land of Rain was forged through Hanzō's brutal, iron-fisted methods, and its entire leadership follows that same philosophy as a result. In their eyes, ordinary people's lives probably don't matter... whoever has the biggest fist gets the final say. These civilians in the Land of Rain only get to enjoy such a vast territory and Amegakure's protection because those people fought on the battlefield... so they ought to contribute some 'profits.'"
"There's no way Hanzō is unaware of all this... but Amegakure's forces, including his own expenses and pleasures, need enough money to sustain them... so he can only turn a blind eye."
"These local factions may seem like a disorderly mess, but they have countless ties to Amegakure's leadership... in other words, even if someone wanted to rise up, it would be difficult to change the Land of Rain's circumstances, because the enemy they would ultimately face is the demigod who single-handedly built the Land of Rain."
"It's a vicious cycle. Even if Hanzō dies... that belief in rule through force, ingrained in his very bones, will still influence many people and later generations... the Land of Rain is like a terminally ill patient. It's already difficult to save, and it will only get worse."
Yubi said, "The origin of this illness lies in a flawed philosophy of governance... sometimes, the impact a failed leader has on a nation's fortunes far exceeds that of a so-called war in the Shinobi World."
"Conviction, will... beneath the surface of war, those are the real keys that determine whether a village or country has a future."
When he finished, both Sasori and Arai glanced at him.
Arai in particular had a flicker in his eyes.
"..."
Partly, he felt that Yubi's words seemed to be alluding to something.
And partly, he had not expected Yubi to have such distinctive insights and analysis regarding political power structures.
They had only thought the Land of Rain's condition was the result of the war, compounded by Hanzō's poor management... they had never thought so deeply about it.
Now that Yubi had put it that way, they suddenly felt... that did seem to be the case.
Otherwise, even if the Land of Rain had only had a relatively short time to develop, as long as Hanzō was willing to act and sincerely pursue reform... sweeping away every source of disorder with overwhelming force, the Land of Rain could still take on a "completely new face" and have hope.
Yet now, Hanzō was both the reason for its success and the reason for its failure.
"You..."
Arai started to speak, then stopped.
"Haha... I'm just guessing. I don't know if I'm right."
Yubi seemed to know what Arai wanted to say. Beneath his dripping straw rain cape, he raised his head and flashed a row of little white teeth.