Konoha.
Hokage Building.
High-level conference room.
"With the current trend of Ninja Sect's development, they will be a stronger Rain Village than during the last Ninja World War, and with the existing Rain Village, the Land of Rain will truly develop into a terrifying force capable of threatening the Five Great Ninja Villages." Shimura Danzo emphasized seriously the danger of the Land of Rain.
During the Second Ninja World War, Konoha had a war with the Rain Village.
Konoha's ninja squad defeated the ninja squad of Rain Village with unstoppable force, but under Hanzo's leadership, the Rain Village still gave Konoha considerable trouble, with many Konoha Ninja falling at Hanzo's hands.
If the opponent were to be a fully developed Ninja Sect, along with the Rain Village led by Hanzo, Shimura Danzo couldn't immediately estimate how much strength would be needed to secure victory.
"But aren't the Ninja Sect and Rain Village sworn enemies? How could they possibly unite?" Mitokado Homura adjusted his glasses and said.
Aside from Sosuke, who recently became famous, the Ninja Sect was seen by other ninjas as just a small organization of around a hundred members, so no one except Shimura Danzo, who had been closely monitoring the situation in the Land of Rain, knew that the Ninja Sect and Rain Village had already signed a treaty.
After all, as the high-level leaders of the Five Great Ninja Villages and still in the midst of war, they would certainly pay more attention to the latest news of the other Five Great Ninja Villages than to the Ninja Organization of a small, unrelated country.
"According to the latest intelligence from Root, the Ninja Sect and Rain Village have reconciled, signing a friendly cooperation treaty." Shimura Danzo immediately presented the Root's information.
"There are quite a few ninjas wearing Rain Village forehead protectors in Sosuke's class; such a thing couldn't happen if both sides hadn't reconciled."
Sarutobi Hiruzen pondered after reading the information.
Utatane Koharu frowned and said, "Isn't it possible that all of this is just an act by the Ninja Sect and Rain Village? How could such a deep hatred be resolved so easily?"
Utatane Koharu thought that since Sosuke gained fame, he might have been in cahoots with Hanzo all along, staging a fake conflict not long after Hanzo ambushed the Ninja Sect. It would take decades to resolve such a deep hatred.
"It's not impossible. The emergence of Sosuke was too abrupt, perhaps the Ninja Sect originated from the Rain Village, and everything was meant to strengthen the Land of Rain's power," Mitokado Homura contemplated.
He compiled all the events involving Sosuke since his emergence and concluded with the shocking revelation that the Ninja Sect and Rain Village were originally one.
First, Hanzo and Sosuke staged a play to help the latter and the Ninja Sect earn a reputation, then Sosuke took the opportunity to brand himself and the Ninja Sect on a large scale, attracting ninjas from all over to join the Ninja Sect.
Having witnessed the scene, Shimura Danzo couldn't hold it. During Sosuke and Hanzo's battle, they fought fiercely, with a Fire Release incinerating dozens of Rain Village elite, questioning how they could act such a play.
Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu's conspiracy theories made Shimura Danzo feel like they were impersonating Konoha's leaders.
Yet Shimura Danzo couldn't refute, as he knew things he couldn't disclose, notably the incident in Rain Village where he violated Konoha's rules.
"It probably isn't like that. How could Hanzo sacrifice his own reputation to fulfill Sosuke?" Shimura Danzo thought for a moment, then argued.
In the past, when mentioning Hanzo, ninjas thought of him as the Demigod, a top-class strongman with a broad mind.
Now, when mentioning Hanzo, people generally think of Sosuke, the man who defeated Hanzo using the Reverse Attribute of Fire Release.
Moreover, as the battle information spread further, everyone learned that the technique that defeated Hanzo was a Super High-level Fire Release known as Fire Dragon Dance, making Hanzo nothing more than the backdrop for ninjutsu.
"Why is it impossible? Perhaps Sosuke is Hanzo's protégé and the future leader of Rain Village, waiting to merge the two forces once the Ninja Sect becomes strong." Utatane Koharu believed her thoughts touched the truth of the matter.
Shimura Danzo's lips twitched; back then, Hanzo wanted nothing more than to stab Sosuke to death, much less make him His successor.
"According to Root Organization's intelligence, Sosuke seems to have killed quite a few Rain Ninja." Shimura Danzo continued.
To avoid exposure, Shimura Danzo deliberately spoke ambiguously.
"It should be Hanzo and Sosuke eliminating dissenters; those killed were all opposed to Hanzo." The more Utatane Koharu spoke, the more she felt this could perfectly explain all the events occurring in the Land of Rain.
Shimura Danzo: ...
At this moment, he really wanted to tell Utatane Koharu how dark her thoughts were.
Where did eliminating dissenters come from? For a Small Ninja Village like Rain Village, having someone as strong as Hanzo come out was rare, who would dare oppose Hanzo?
"It's not wise to underestimate Sosuke's strength; even if he has some alliance with Hanzo, defeating Pakura instantly is still a fact. Pakura would have no reason to jeopardize her own reputation by acting with Sosuke." Mitokado Homura expressed his view.
Though he acknowledged that Utatane Koharu's line of thinking was all right, he thought her comments too greatly underestimated Sosuke.
As a Hidden Sand Hero, Pakura had no reason to allow herself to be intentionally defeated by Sosuke; that would be too humiliating, damaging both her own and the Ninja Village's dignity.
"In any case, Sosuke and the Ninja Sect pose a massive threat to Konoha. We must find a way to deal with them." Shimura Danzo followed along with their conspiracy theory.
Shimura Danzo's fundamental goal was to mobilize Konoha's power against the Ninja Sect.
Since it was inexplicable, Shimura Danzo simply joined in, as the outcome he desired was the downfall of the Ninja Sect, with the Rinnegan and Ninja Sect's legacy falling into the hands of Root.