Maybe it was the atmosphere.
For the next few days, the Land of Rain was hit with seven straight days of torrential downpours, covering an enormous area. From indoors, it looked like a sheet of steel—visibility reduced to something like heavy fog.
At the same time, the Sunagakure shifted from fighting on two fronts to one. With Bunpuku arriving from Sunagakure to take command at the border base, a huge amount of manpower was redirected to the White Fang line.
To deal with the Land of Wind's swelling forces, Konoha had no choice but to pull troops from its other two fronts and send reinforcements to the White Fang line.
For the Hidden Rain, this situation—and this weather—was practically a gift from heaven.
The Rain shinobi, experts in assassination, had already begun moving.
Four-man squads slipped closer to the Land of Fire's border base, as if they were merging with the curtain of rain itself.
The downpour washed away scent trails, crippling the Inuzuka and Aburame clans' tracking… but their movements were still caught by the Hyūga clan's Byakugan.
"Orochimaru-sama, Jiraiya-sama, Yoru-sama—the Amegakure's combat units are closing in."
The report reached the three of them immediately.
Orochimaru stared at the rain wall stretching over the forest outside the window and murmured, "So they really couldn't hold back."
"Has Hanzo moved?" Jiraiya asked.
"Our sensing teams haven't detected Hanzo of the Salamander's chakra," the messenger answered honestly. "We also haven't picked up any massive, oversized energy signatures underground. But we can't rule out the salamander burrowing deeper, or a barrier being placed underground to block sensing."
Yoru looked at Orochimaru. "Orochimaru-sensei—do we fight?"
"We fight," Orochimaru said, "but not here."
He laid it out calmly: "With Hanzo's level, he has more than one way to evade the Byakugan's long-range sight and penetration. No one can be sure he won't appear out of nowhere. In this weather, Rain shinobi have a natural advantage. Fighting them here is like cutting off our own arm."
Then he gave the order: "Have the support corps withdraw supplies to the forest zone outside the rain belt. The combat corps will escort them. If the Rain shinobi pursue, we'll fight them on our home ground."
Orochimaru turned to Yoru. "If they don't chase, they'll strike here instead—trying to destroy and loot our headquarters. Yoru, make a few Flying Thunder God kunai and hand them to the support and combat units. We'll reinforce them whenever needed."
"Yes," Yoru said.
The western line immediately sprang into motion.
The support corps began pulling out from the tower-like base, retreating toward the forest region that wasn't being smothered by Amegakure weather.
Combat units split up—some escorting the withdrawal, others laying traps in the forest to delay any pursuers and buy time.
A full-line fallback is a huge disturbance. Rain shinobi with sensing picked it up fast and reported to the ambush squad's leader.
"Sagawa-sama, should we chase?"
"No. Our mission is already done."
Sagawa didn't seem surprised at all that the Land of Fire line was withdrawing.
In shinobi warfare, you don't just rely on intelligence—you weigh terrain and environment. Often, that matters even more.
Why did Hanzo use the Land of Wind to gauge Amegakure's strength against the Five Great Nations?
Not just because the Land of Wind is widely considered the weakest of the five—also because the salamander is perfectly at home in the desert.
Why did the Land of Earth, whose true target is Fire, dare to raid the Hidden Rain without fearing Hanzo?
Because the Land of Earth is all rock and mountains. A burrowing salamander gains no special edge there.
Likewise, in a world of nonstop downpour, Rain shinobi become top-tier assassins—every bit as lethal as Mist shinobi in a land of perpetual fog.
And fighting in the Land of Rain gives Hanzo an absurd home-field buff; he can casually throw out lake-scale Water Release.
That's what "home advantage" looks like.
Konoha's home field, on the other hand, is dense forest.
The probing phase lasted for months precisely because no one wanted to fight inside the other side's terrain.
Hidden Rain's ambush force pressing forward now wasn't because they wanted a real war with Fire. They were assassins meant to kill in one strike—not berserk brawlers like Land of Iron samurai or Land of Lightning's lightning-body types.
Sagawa pulled off the oversized scroll strapped to his back and unfurled it. A jutsu formula was drawn across the surface.
"Someone cover me from the rain," he called.
A paper umbrella appeared overhead at once.
He took out a small bottle from his pouch, pulled the stopper, and poured its contents into the center of the formula.
A vivid red liquid splashed onto the scroll—blood.
Sagawa formed seals at high speed, slapped both palms onto the scroll, and barked, "Ninpō—Summoning Jutsu!"
BOOM.
A massive cloud of white smoke appeared—only to be shredded apart by the downpour almost immediately.
And then, a huge salamander—like a lizard missing its tail—filled the Rain shinobi's view.
Their eyes burned with fanatic reverence.
In their minds, that beast—together with Lord Hanzo—was why Amegakure hadn't been invaded for years… why they could even declare war on great nations.
To them, the salamander was a guardian deity.
"Good work. I'll take over the battlefield from here."
Hanzo's figure emerged from the salamander's mouth.
He left only that line—and then, man and beast turned into a massive stream of water and vanished.
In the entire shinobi world, only Hanzo could use Water Shunshin while carrying his summoned partner.
The Hidden Rain ambush force didn't withdraw. They used Shunshin to enter the rainforest and moved toward the forest perimeter around the border base.
"Our lords—we've detected Hanzo's chakra closing in fast. Distance: under three kilometers."
Sagawa's summon point was just inside the sensing barrier's range. The salamander's appearance was caught immediately by the sensing and barrier teams who hadn't withdrawn, and the report was relayed directly into the leaders' minds.
Jiraiya's face changed. "That close?! How did he evade the Hyūga Byakugan's detection?"
"Reverse Summoning," the voice in their minds answered.
Orochimaru wasn't surprised. "So the ambush was just a feint. Hanzo's real goal is to destroy this place."
This border base wasn't just headquarters—it was a signal tower, a sensing "radar," and a supply depot.
With the signal tower and barrier network, Rain's assassins couldn't just blanket the area in chakra fog and slip through unseen—Konoha would still have eyes.
With communications and barriers, Yamanaka transmissions could appear in any Konoha shinobi's head instantly.
And because this line sits in forest terrain, Konoha has a brutal home-field advantage: it's hard to take, easy to defend.
If Sunagakure were assaulting this line, Konoha wouldn't even need to pull troops from two other fronts—just send elite reinforcements and hold.
Earth and Wind also hadn't invaded via Waterfall or River routes partly because of buffer geography—but also because this base is a final lock.
Months ago, Orochimaru and Jiraiya went into Rain to intercept Hanzo for the same reason: they didn't want to fight him here, and they especially didn't want him leveling the base.
Because Hanzo is the one man across three lines who can ignore human-wave tactics and simply erase a border base.
If it weren't for this extreme rain, the line—now with several antidote vials per person—might actually dare to fight Rain's forces and Hanzo on Konoha's own terrain.
But the heavens were helping the Hidden Rain.
This level of rain brutally ruins visibility and signal quality, and the enemy are first-class killers.
Outside of sensory and Water Release specialists, most shinobi become little more than livestock in front of Rain assassins in weather like this.
Orochimaru would rather abandon the base than lose huge manpower.
So he made the call. "We can't hold this place. Everyone withdraw. Jiraiya, Yoru, and I will stay behind to cover the retreat."
"Yes!"
The sensing and barrier teams cut the mental link and vanished after the main force.
The enormous base was left with only the three of them.
"Are we really abandoning it?" Jiraiya asked.
"It was always going to happen sooner or later," Orochimaru said flatly. "Even if we hold it this time, there will be a next time, and the next."
"If Hanzo can't destroy it, he'll never commit to a full invasion. He'll just keep hitting us with raids."
"But if Rain had the manpower to truly match us, he wouldn't still be fighting alone in a situation like this."
Jiraiya clicked his tongue. "We finally have the antidote formula, and we still have to run from one man. Feels awful."
"Relax. This humiliation is temporary," Orochimaru sneered. "This base is both a shield and a shackle. As long as we cling to it, we keep defending cautiously."
"Once it's gone, we don't have to turtle in the forest. When the rain eases, our numbers will matter. We'll march into the Land of Rain."
"Then the roles reverse. I want to see how long the so-called 'demigod' can withstand us."
He flashed Jiraiya a confident grin. "Besides, we haven't been standing still these past months. It's time to 'reacquaint ourselves' with the top of the shinobi world."
Jiraiya grinned back. "Now you're talking."
Yoru suddenly asked, "Do you want me to fetch Lady Tsunade and Sakumo-sama for reinforcements? Or even bring the Hokage?"
Orochimaru and Jiraiya both stared. Orochimaru asked, "Can your chakra sustain it?"
Yoru thought for a moment. "Tsunade-sama and Sakumo-sama, yes. That distance would drain me dry. The Hokage… I haven't tried. It's either Tsunade and Sakumo, or him—not both."
Orochimaru finally shook his head. "No. The ripple effects are too big."
"Enemy recon and Anbu aren't idiots. If Tsunade and Sakumo show up, Land of Wind gets an opening."
"And the Hokage can't come. He and the village aren't just a last wall—they're the biggest deterrent."
"If the Hokage personally moves, it signals we've deployed our final trump card. Lightning and Water might start thinking… and then we're back to First War conditions with invasions from the north and east."
"Until we're truly forced, we can't activate the jinchūriki and the Hokage at once."
"More importantly—Hanzo's Shunshin is unmatched. Even if Sarutobi-sensei comes, there's no guarantee we can keep Hanzo from escaping."
Yoru nodded, understanding.
Orochimaru's mouth curled. "In fact, this rain might not be entirely bad for us."
"Our vision is limited—but Hanzo's is, too, unless he uses sensing or Water Release. And in this kind of weather, your skill set becomes even more dangerous."
"Same as last time—you and I will create an opening. See if you can kill the salamander… or Hanzo."
BOOOOM—
Before Yoru could answer, a massive rumble shook the ground.
"He's fast," Orochimaru sighed. He glanced at Jiraiya and Yoru. "Move."
The three of them pulled out their gas masks and goggles and put them on.
And if you looked closely, you'd notice: their masks weren't standard issue anymore—they were custom models, like Hanzo's.
After their last fight, Orochimaru and Jiraiya had come prepared.
What happened next proved it.
CRASH—
A tidal sound rolled in. A terrifying surge of water flooded from outside, swallowing floor after floor in an instant.
From outside, it was spectacular: in the rain-drenched forest, a lake formed out of nowhere.
It didn't spread—it condensed into an oval, prison-like sphere, wrapping part of the forest and half the border base inside.
Worse, it kept drinking the rain and swelling.
With the water prison blocking the rain curtain, you could finally see clearly.
Inside the lake-scale cage, the salamander moved like a tiny fish. Hanzo looked like a single scale beside it.
Man and beast hovered near the top. He wasn't even trying to use the rain as cover for assassination.
Instead, he'd poured chakra into a massive water prison—clearly to counter Yoru, not just to smash the base.
Only assassins truly understand assassins.
And Hanzo—cautious to the bone—had come fully prepared this time.
~~~
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