"Sigh! Why did you have to do this?"
Aoki Tsuki sighed, then crouched down and closed Satō Ichirō's eyes.
He greatly admired Ichirō for dying in battle as a ninja for his own beliefs.
He silently swore to himself, Captain, rest easy. I'll take care of Sister Mimoto for you and never let her suffer the slightest grievance.
The deaths of these Jonin were only the beginning. Nagato's hatred for Hanzō would not disappear with the deaths of just a few people. Many more would be killed next.
The battle inside had begun in haste and ended unexpectedly quickly.
One side had come prepared and launched a surprise attack, while the other had been completely unprepared.
The room was already cramped, and his escape route had been cut off. Hanzō found that there was simply no room to use his prized Water Body Flicker.
Even so, as a veteran powerhouse, he reacted quickly despite being forced into a hasty battle.
"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
If the right conditions were lacking, he would create them, and then he could escape. Yes, he had no intention of fighting head-on.
The Preta Path stepped forward and activated Sealing Technique: Absorption Seal, devouring the vast torrent Hanzō had created with chakra, without leaving a single drop.
"This... how is this possible?!"
Hanzō was stunned. He immediately realized that ninjutsu would not work and hurried to change his strategy.
As long as he summoned Ibuse, he could buy himself some time.
"Summoning-"
"Banshō Ten'in!"
How could Pain keep giving his enemy opportunities? He pulled Hanzō toward him. The Asura Path had long been ready, and a serrated tail sprang from his back.
Puchi...
"Ah...!!" Hanzō screamed as a huge wound was sawed into his chest, blood pouring from it.
That sobered him up completely.
"You... who exactly are you? To think you could do this to me..." Hanzō said in fear.
Pain looked down at his enemy lying on the floor, his eyes wide with anger. "Look carefully. Have you forgotten my face so soon?"
"You're Yahiko, the leader of Akatsuki... impossible. Weren't you already dead?"
At that moment, the scene of forcing Yahiko to his death at the cliff that morning appeared in Hanzō's mind again, along with those terrifying Rinnegan.
He distinctly remembered that the owner of the Rinnegan was that red-haired brat. Why did all six people before him have Rinnegan?
It made no sense at all.
"You joined forces with Danzo to surround and kill us. All you cared about was protecting your own position. Now you're nothing but a piece of trash."
Deva Path Pain could not be bothered to explain anything to this enemy. He only said, "I once respected you so much, but now you've completely lost your beliefs."
"Who on earth are you? Why do you possess such tremendous power?!"
Hanzō could not believe that, after dominating the Shinobi World for half his life, he was about to be killed so quietly.
"Hmph. Even now, you still can't see why you lost to me. You're not even the equal of your own guards."
Deva Path Pain raised his hand and pronounced Hanzō's fate. "Disappear, Hanzō!"
"St... stop."
Hanzō refused to accept ending his life like this.
Puchi...
A black iron rod plunged straight into Hanzō's heart, pinning him dead to the floor.
The legend of the Land of Rain had thus reached the end of his eventful life.
At that moment, Aoki Tsuki followed Konan into the room and saw that the old man who had once been so composed and imposing had become a corpse.
His eyes were wide open, refusing to close.
He was a gruesome sight in death.
Konan stared at Hanzō for a long time, the satisfaction of having avenged a great grudge in her eyes.
Deva Path Pain, however, acted as though he had done something insignificant. He turned and said, "Next, we'll clean them up one by one according to the list. Lead the way."
"Yes, leader."
Having killed Hanzō, Pain had become the new leader of Amegakure.
Aoki Tsuki chose without hesitation to act as their guide. This was also the pledge of loyalty he offered. As captain of the outer guard, he was very familiar with the personnel of the village's various organizations.
For Hanzō's friends and relatives, this would be a cruel night of reckoning.
But for ninjas outside the core faction, Aoki Tsuki's screening could prevent innocent people from being caught up in it as much as possible.
Otherwise, Pain really would go on a wild killing spree, preferring to kill a thousand by mistake rather than spare a single person close to Hanzō.
That would be a true disaster.
This was the choice Aoki Tsuki had made after weighing the pros and cons.
Although he had little attachment to the village, he had lived there for several years and could not bear to watch so many innocent people be killed.
"First, the person in charge of the mission office: Jonin Takenaka Osamu, a staunch supporter of Hanzō," Konan read aloud from the list in her hand.
Aoki Tsuki turned and glanced at the purge list, and the muscles in his face twitched involuntarily.
It was densely packed with names.
He actually saw the name of Satō Ichirō's wife, Kikuno Momo, the dream woman of countless men in Amegakure.
Speed was essential in war. Before news of Hanzō's death could spread, the Six Paths of Pain split up in six directions and began the purge.
Tsunodahara was a veteran guard and more familiar with Hanzō, so he was put in charge of leading the Asura Path to where Hanzō's relatives lived.
Aoki Tsuki, meanwhile, led Deva Path Pain and Konan to deal specifically with the village's upper ranks.
When they reached Takenaka Osamu's front door, Deva Path Pain went straight inside and quickly subdued him.
"Bastard... what are you doing? Lord Hanzō won't let you get away with this..."
"Senior, Lord Hanzō has already gone to meet the great goddess Amaterasu."
"Impossible!!... Wait, Aoki Tsuki, it's you... how could you...?"
It had all happened too suddenly. Powerful Lord Hanzō had actually been killed, and Takenaka Osamu's first reaction was disbelief.
What shocked him even more was that Aoki Tsuki, a representative figure among the village's young people, had actually taken the lead in switching sides.
"That's right, it's me. This is the village's new leader. He's bringing divine punishment down upon the village."
Takenaka Osamu was not interested in the new leader. A remnant of the old era like him was destined to be eliminated anyway; even if he kowtowed and begged for mercy, he could not possibly survive.
"Why would you do that? Lord Hanzō valued you so highly... you've ruined the Land of Rain..."
"Oh, please. Hanzō was just an old man who clung to life and feared death. How many people did he kill to cement his rule? He abandoned his original purpose long ago.
"Senior, go in peace. The village will keep turning no matter who's gone."
With that, Aoki Tsuki turned and left the room to get some air, lighting himself a cigarette while he was at it.
A scream came from the room, followed by the sound of drawers and cupboards being rifled through.
Takenaka Osamu had controlled Amegakure's mission office for so many years that there was no telling how many secrets he had hidden away. Konan uncovered them all.
Once they had finished there, they hurried to the next purge site.
On the way, Aoki Tsuki took the opportunity to move up beside Konan. "Lady Konan, I saw Satō Ichirō's wife on the list too. As far as I know, she's just an ordinary woman. There's no need to kill her as well, is there?"
"You like her too?" Konan asked abruptly.
"Uh... what are you talking about? She's my superior's wife. How could I possibly..." Aoki Tsuki nearly lost his composure.
"Don't try to fool me. I know a lot of men in the village have a secret crush on this woman. From what I've learned, she joined Amegakure as a refugee after the Second Shinobi World War.
"She then married Satō Ichirō and has run a grilled fish shop ever since."
"What do you mean? You suspect she's a spy? Impossible, she's just an ordinary person."
"A spy doesn't have to be a ninja. I've watched her for a long time. There's definitely something wrong with this woman. We can't let her continue operating in the village."
"I've watched her for a long time too, and there's nothing wrong with her..." Aoki Tsuki protested weakly.
"It was her body you were watching, wasn't it?"
That left Aoki Tsuki speechless. Konan continued, "Of course, if you're willing to vouch for her, we can spare her life for the time being."
Aoki Tsuki's performance that night had been satisfactory, and Konan was willing to do him that favor.
Aoki Tsuki scratched his head and secretly glanced at Deva Path Pain, who was walking ahead. Had he discovered something?
He was not quite sure.
As everyone knew, vouching for someone was risky.
But then he thought of how Kikuno Momo had helped him before, and how she was also his superior's widow. It would be such a pity for her to be killed like this.
After all, he had only just sworn to take care of Kikuno Momo, yet here he was, shrinking back at the first difficulty.
A true man had things he would do and things he would not.
After much deliberation, Aoki Tsuki finally made up his mind. "I can vouch for her. She should be innocent."
"There's no rush. We'll soon know whether she's innocent."
No one could keep secrets from the Rinnegan, not even secrets buried in the deepest reaches of their soul.
After that, they purged the village's upper ranks and Hanzō's diehard loyalists one by one according to the list. Important departments such as the medical department and the logistics and resources department were all taken over.
The most important secret vault was also seized. It contained the ninjutsu, records, secret letters, and secret missions Amegakure had accumulated over the years.
Aoki Tsuki tactfully refrained from following them inside. He knew when to avoid suspicion.
Elsewhere, the place where Hanzō's clanspeople lived had become a sea of flames. Not one of them survived, whether man or woman, old or young.
Wherever the Asura Path went, corpses piled up and blood flowed. Homing missiles launched from his body in rapid succession; whenever he detected someone in a room, he fired a shot into it.
Some tried to fight back, only to be run through by the serrated tail.
He was freely venting his hatred.
Tsunodahara, following behind the Asura Path, trembled at his brutal methods, realizing that Amegakure might be headed for a reign of terror.
Sounds of activity came from the other directions as well, one after another. The village's ninjas were all alerted and came out to investigate.
But at a time like this, anyone who dared show their head would be crushed, without exception.
Even so, no one was afraid. Lord Hanzō would step in.
They all waited in silence.
They waited until daybreak, but Lord Hanzō never appeared. Instead, an order came for all ninjas to assemble in the mission hall.
Now everyone knew that Amegakure was about to undergo a change of power.
Just before dawn, Pain had completed his campaign of revenge and purge of the village. Because he needed to maintain an air of mystery, it was inconvenient for him to appear before everyone.
Thus, Konan handled the subsequent takeover and reorganization of the village.
Konan could not possibly manage everything by herself, so Aoki Tsuki temporarily took on the role of adviser.
Tsunodahara took over Takenaka Osamu's job, handling assignments at the mission office. He was already good at dealing with people, and he could not have been better suited to the position.
He was the one who had issued the order to assemble.
As the appointed time drew near, a sparse crowd gathered in the mission hall. Most were Genin, with even Chunin few and far between.
The moment Kurokawa, Umatsu, Takuno Jin, Shioame, Ryōta, and Shinichi, Hanzō's six guards, appeared, they drew everyone's attention.
Everyone wanted to know what had happened, but no one dared approach them to ask.
Rumor had it that the village had a new leader, and they worried that associating with these remnants of the old regime would implicate them.
The six were just as bewildered. They did not know what had happened either and had hidden at home until daybreak before daring to come out.