Wars between the great nations had brought immense suffering to the Land of Rain.
Yet at the same time, they had also created opportunities.
During times of peace, the great powers would never allow the Land of Rain to develop freely. They tacitly cooperated in suppressing its growth from every direction.
But once those great nations went to war with each other, the Land of Rain suddenly became a force each side tried to win over.
Even if they couldn't secure its support, they certainly couldn't allow it to fall into the enemy's camp.
That had been exactly the case during the Third Great Ninja War.
Although the livelihoods of the people in the Land of Rain had been devastated, Hanzo of the Salamander had still managed to extract significant concessions from the Land of Fire, Land of Earth, and Land of Wind.
From another perspective, as long as Konohagakure and Iwagakure continued fighting, both sides would inevitably grow weaker.
And as they weakened—
Amegakure would effectively grow stronger.
In chaotic times, even a small country could find opportunities to rise.
As these thoughts raced through his mind, Hanzo found himself gradually leaning toward cooperating with the man known as the "Darkness of the Shinobi World" — Shimura Danzō.
Seeing Hanzo's posture, Uchiha Ren immediately understood his decision.
It seemed that in the real world, one truly couldn't view these legendary shinobi the same way they appeared in the anime.
In the original story, Shimura Danzō had simply arrived with the corpse of a Rain ninja and easily sowed discord between Hanzo and the Akatsuki.
Hanzo, who had once held the organization in high regard, suddenly turned against them and agreed to cooperate with Danzō.
Viewed purely from that brief scene, it perfectly highlighted Danzō's sinister cunning and Hanzo's decline as a fading hero.
But in reality—
The situation was far more complicated than the manga portrayed.
Hanzo may indeed have admired the young Akatsuki organization.
But Danzō offered him greater benefits.
Faced with the interests of the entire Hidden Rain Village, Hanzo ultimately chose to sacrifice the Akatsuki to demonstrate his sincerity toward Danzō.
Thus—
Hanzo and Danzō reached a silent agreement.
Of course, that was under the assumption that Hanzo did not know Nagato possessed the Rinnegan.
If he had known about the terrifying potential and hidden dangers of the Rinnegan, he might have made a very different choice.
In reality, their cooperation would eventually collapse because they underestimated Nagato's power.
Danzō's Root elite would be nearly wiped out, and Hanzo's own forces would suffer devastating casualties.
After that, neither side would retain the strength to continue manipulating events within the Land of Rain.
A perfect example of trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used as bait.
Ren could not truly judge whether Hanzo's decision was right or wrong.
After all—
Their positions were different, and therefore the things they saw were different as well.
As the leader of Amegakure, Hanzo naturally had to prioritize the interests of his village above all else.
Whether that choice was right or wrong…
Who could really say?
"Senior Hanzo," Ren said calmly,
"It seems you've already made your decision."
The moment his words fell—
Boom!
Blazing flames erupted across his body.
Fire Release Chakra Mode — activated.
"So you came here to stop Shimura Danzō."
Hanzo narrowed his eyes and hooked his chained sickle back onto his waist.
"To be more precise…"
Ren nodded.
"I came here to kill him."
"Although I agree with Danzō's stance regarding negotiations with Iwagakure, this war must end regardless."
"And besides…"
"The Uchiha Clan has a long-standing grudge against him."
"It's time for him to die."
"Then there's nothing more to discuss."
Hanzo rapidly formed hand seals and slammed his palm onto the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
A cloud of white smoke burst outward.
A massive brown salamander appeared, lifting Hanzo onto its back.
"Ibuse! Use Poison Mist!"
Hanzo shouted as he grabbed his sickle and leapt from the salamander's head.
The giant salamander Ibuse let out a shrill cry that sounded eerily like a baby's wail.
Opening its massive jaws, it spewed out a thick cloud of purple poisonous gas.
In terms of raw power, Ibuse might not match Gamabunta of Mount Myōboku or Manda of Ryūchi Cave.
But with the addition of its terrifying toxins, Ibuse could fight all three giant summons simultaneously without falling behind.
Even Hanzo himself couldn't completely ignore Ibuse's poison.
"Mirror Flame Wall!"
Ren threw a punch forward.
An endless surge of scorching flames formed a massive wall of fire, blocking the incoming purple poison cloud.
Although Ren could use elementalization to avoid toxins, the world was vast and unpredictable.
Unless necessary, he had no intention of staying inside a toxic environment for long periods.
Besides—
Fire naturally countered many forms of poison.
Extreme heat could burn most substances into lifeless ash.
Toxins were no exception.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation Arrow!"
After blocking the poisonous gas, Ren exhaled a massive compressed fireball.
Wrapped in the remaining flames of the Mirror Flame Wall, it shot forward toward Ibuse.
Ren intended to eliminate the salamander in a single decisive strike.
But the attack missed.
Where Ibuse had stood moments earlier—
There was now only a massive crater.
Did it burrow underground?
Before Ren could think further—
Hanzo's attack had already arrived.
The blade of his sickle flashed coldly as it slashed toward Ren's face.
Ren barely managed to block the handle of the sickle with a kunai, using the force to push himself away.
Hanzo's blade was far too sharp.
A normal kunai simply couldn't withstand its edge.
Crack!
Before Ren could even regain his footing—
The ground beneath him suddenly collapsed.
Ibuse burst upward with its jaws wide open, attempting to swallow him whole.
At the same time—
Hanzo's chain whipped through the air like a frenzied serpent, sealing off every possible escape route.
Ren's feet erupted with flames.
His speed exploded instantly as he narrowly dodged Ibuse's bite.
"Hmph!"
Hanzo snorted coldly.
He pulled the chain sharply.
The chains surrounding Ren tightened abruptly—
Binding him completely.
Hanzo landed atop Ibuse's head, looking down at Ren from above.
"Uchiha brat," Hanzo said coldly.
"I admit your Fire Release techniques are impressive."
"But you seem completely incapable of using your clan's inherited kekkei genkai properly."
"You haven't used genjutsu once."
"And you haven't even taken advantage of the dynamic vision granted by the Sharingan."
"You're wasting that pair of three-tomoe Sharingan."
"Oh?"
Bound tightly by chains, Ren suddenly revealed a strange smile.
His voice was calm.
"When exactly did you start thinking…"
"…that I wasn't already using genjutsu?"
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