Several days later,
Hanzō of the Salamander led the Amegakure forces back to their village.
Once he returned to his private quarters, he removed his armor, changed into a loose-fitting kimono, and poured himself a cup of tea. Watching the guards outside already taking up their patrol positions, he finally allowed himself a small sense of relief.
Ever since his meeting with Danzō, Hanzō had felt uneasy. He had refused Danzō's proposal for a joint assault on Iwagakure and was concerned that Konoha might retaliate by mobilizing a large force to surround and eliminate his troops.
But now that he was back in Amegakure, the tension eased.
Konoha couldn't possibly deploy a large force to attack all the way into the heart of Amegakure, that would give Iwagakure the perfect opportunity to strike on the main front.
And if it were a small force, Hanzō didn't fear them at all, not here, in his stronghold.
"Konoha's power has become truly terrifying. The Yellow Flash, the Silver Flash... even Jiraiya and Orochimaru, those two brats, have produced such formidable students."
Hanzō gazed pensively at the table in front of him, concerned in his eyes.
Back during the Second Great Ninja War, he had judged that Konoha was destined to win and, not wanting to provoke them into continuing hostilities, had decided to let the Sannin go free.
What he hadn't expected was the far-reaching consequence of that choice.
Those three had all grown into top-tier shinobi as he anticipated, but now, even their students had risen. Both the Yellow and Silver Flashes were now names that struck fear across the ninja world.
If things continued like this...
Once the other great nations fell, Konoha might well begin the process of unifying the shinobi world, starting by annexing small neighboring countries and gradually consuming the remaining powers.
And the Land of Rain, sharing a direct border with the Land of Fire, would surely be their first target.
This was the very conclusion that had led Hanzō, after weighing all the pros and cons, to ultimately choose an alliance with the Tsuchikage.
He had to stop Konoha.
Otherwise, the Land of Rain was doomed.
"Soon, Konoha will probably make a move. The next steps must be taken carefully. It's best to wait for intelligence from Iwagakure before making any further decisions."
Hanzō mused quietly to himself.
But just then, urgent footsteps echoed from outside, and a panicked voice followed.
"Hanzō-sama! We have an intruder!"
"An intruder?"
Hanzō paused mid-sip of his tea and said calmly, "Send the security forces to deal with it."
"H-Hanzō-sama… I fear the security forces won't be enough…"
The kneeling Amegakure ninja outside the door spoke in a trembling voice. "We can't stop him. He's already heading this way."
"…Huh?"
Hanzō's expression changed. He stood up at once. "You can't stop him? Is this a full-scale Konoha invasion?!"
"N-No… it's just one man…"
The voice trembled with barely concealed terror. "That ninja… he's probably Konoha's Silver Flash!"
….
Amegakure.
Kaede made no attempt to hide his approach.
Wearing only a straw hat and a rain cloak, with the Kusanagi sword strapped to his back, he walked straight up to the main gates of Amegakure.
The village was protected by a barrier, and stealthy infiltration would be difficult, not to mention, stealth wasn't his specialty. So why bother hiding at all? Just enter through the front gate.
As long as he knew where Hanzō of the Salamander was, sneaking in or fighting his way in made no difference to him.
After all, Pain had once stormed Amegakure and slain Hanzō, so could he.
Huh?
The gate guards stared in confusion the moment they saw him.
He had a Konoha forehead protector strapped to his right arm!
"Halt!"
"Are you a Konoha envoy?!"
The guards quickly shouted, snapping out of their daze.
But in the next instant,
The figure that had been far in the distance vanished in a blur. In the blink of an eye, Kaede was standing directly in front of them!
One of the Amegakure shinobi froze in shock, eyes wide as he instinctively thrust a kunai forward, but Kaede casually flicked his fingers, sending the weapon flying into the air.
Kaede looked at the ninja coldly and spoke:
"I'll ask one question."
"Has Hanzō of the Salamander returned?"
Now face-to-face with Kaede, the ninja could see him clearly, his silver hair, the unmistakable Kusanagi blade.
That speed…
Silver hair…
The Kusanagi sword…
"You… you're… from Konoha, "
The words barely left his lips before,
Shing!
A flash of silver.
His head flew into the air.
"You took too long to answer."
Kaede said flatly, then vanished again, reappearing in front of another guard. His blade pointed straight at the man's forehead.
This second ninja, holding a kunai, froze the moment he felt the sharp edge press against him.
Trembling with fear, he stammered:
"H-Hanzō-sama just returned…"
"Good."
Kaede gave a neutral nod, then swung his blade once more and strode through the gates.
By now, panic had already erupted around him.
Alarms blared throughout Amegakure, an intruder had entered! Ninjas began pouring out from all directions.
"There's an intruder?!"
"Where?!"
Shouts echoed from across the village.
The shinobi closest to the gate had already spotted Kaede.
They stared in disbelief, someone had actually invaded through the front gate?!
Then they snapped to action, moving to intercept.
Shing! Shing! Shing!
Dozens of shuriken and kunai came flying toward Kaede, some wrapped with explosive tags.
Kaede's expression remained calm. He took a single step forward, and vanished.
Clang! Clink! Thud!
The storm of weapons missed entirely.
Without a sound, Kaede appeared on a rooftop.
He didn't attack any nearby shinobi, nor did he try to question them.
Instead, he raised his left hand and formed a seal with one hand.
"Let's find out where you are."
Poof!
A cloud of white smoke erupted,
Nearly a dozen shadow clones appeared around him.
Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu.
The clones immediately scattered, some engaging enemy shinobi, others rushing deeper into the village.
"Shadow clones?"
"He's wasting chakra like this?"
Some Amegakure ninja scoffed after the initial shock.
They'd thought the intruder must be incredibly powerful to attack head-on,
but this guy was an idiot, burning through chakra by summoning so many clones!
Shadow clones split the user's chakra. Most ninja couldn't handle more than a few before collapsing from exhaustion.
To summon this many at once, was he trying to get himself killed?
But then,
Their smirks froze.
Kaede didn't stop. Maintaining his seal, he unleashed another round of clones.
Poof! Poof! Poof!!
It was like a summoning ritual gone wild.
An endless stream of clones erupted outward, flooding Amegakure like a swarm of locusts.
This wasn't just Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu anymore,
It was something only Kaede could do:
Infinite Shadow Clones.
"Impossible!"
"That… that's not just shadow clones! What kind of jutsu is this?!"
The Amegakure shinobi stared in disbelief.
Unless the caster had near-infinite chakra, this kind of unlimited clone technique shouldn't even exist!
But every one of these clones was solid, able to attack and emit chakra just like the original.
They were real shadow clones!
Though the clones couldn't use the Eight Gates or time acceleration, they could use basic taijutsu and ninjutsu.
Even with limited chakra, they weren't something your average Chūnin could handle.
"What the hell is going on?!"
One shinobi, barely surviving an exchange with a clone, watched more rushing toward him.
They were supposed to be outnumbering a single intruder…
But now it felt like they were the ones outnumbered!
Is he a jinchūriki or something?!
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several Jōnin tried to close in on Kaede to stop the summoning,
But they were instantly intercepted by multiple clones.
The tide of clones surged like a flood, overwhelming every shinobi in their path and spreading across Amegakure in all directions.
In the blink of an eye,
The entire village descended into chaos.
Even though Kaede hadn't used any signature techniques, many rain ninja still recognized him from close up.
"T-That's Konoha's Silver Flash!"
The name exploded among the ranks of Amegakure.
Fear spread like wildfire.
Everyone froze, the ones charging at Kaede, the ones hesitating, all came to a halt.
Silver Flash.
The man who killed the Third Raikage, one of the Five Kage!
This unbelievable wave of clones now made sense.
This was no ordinary ninja.
This was a monster.
Now they knew why he dared walk into Amegakure alone.
None of them dared advance anymore. They grit their teeth and focus on fighting the clones instead.
Only Hanzō-sama could face a monster like this!
Meanwhile, in the center of the village,
Kaede stood motionless, having summoned who knew how many clones.
He closed his eyes, receiving the information his clones relayed back to him.
Then,
His eyes snapped open, a gleam flashing within.
Found you...
Hanzō of the Salamander!
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