To Haseo, the current leader of Amegakure was merely an obscure and unnamed figure, while Hanzo of the Rain Village was a name that rang like thunder—so naturally, there was no need to debate which life would hold greater value for assassination. Even if, hypothetically, the village leader were more valuable, he was already being bled dry and stripped of power at this point. So, no matter what, Haseo had only one target in mind.
"What I promise is naturally something I can ensure," Hanzo continued speaking with the Third Hokage. As he spoke, he raised one hand to point at his mouth and nose. "And if you still have any doubts, once everything is settled, feel free to send some of your people into the village to search. You can retrieve your captured ninja yourselves... naturally, after wearing gas masks."
"As for my control over Amegakure, there's truly no need for your concern. So long as this mist exists, then I—"
Hanzo wished to further increase his credibility when suddenly, from an oblique upper position behind him, a powerful chakra reaction surged forth. Immediately afterward, an intense sense of danger caused his heart to skip a beat. Yet precisely at that moment, his battle-hardened instincts kicked in, guiding Hanzo to react with perfect timing.
Without even attempting to turn around, he sharply curled his body, pulling Tanuki—who wasn't quite dead yet—toward himself. At the same time, gripping his blade tightly, he slashed Tanuki's body clean in half, using the motion to stabilize his sword tip directly upward.
At this moment, Hanzo kept his gaze lowered, so he did not actually see what transpired behind him.
Yet others saw everything clearly—both Konoha's side and the forces of Amegakure alike witnessed the exact same scene.
Actually, "seeing" might not be quite accurate. Everyone merely vaguely sensed something flashing through their field of vision, before blinking twice in confusion as their minds played catch-up, reconstructing exactly what had occurred:
Across the pale blue sky, lightning cascaded downward like liquid mercury.
That deadly attack felt like it froze time itself. Everything fell silent—as if reality had paused and turned into a painted scroll being slowly unveiled before their very eyes.
The lower half of the Amegakure leader's body remained standing on the ground exactly as it had been moments ago, while his upper body had already been sliced through and thrown aside. Then, the head of this supposed hero rolled twice near Hanzo's feet before finally coming to a stop—its wide-open eyes frozen in eternal horror.
Before both enemy and ally alike, Haseo delivered a breathtaking solo performance—but...
"I failed..."
Haseo silently sighed to himself. He looked down and saw the long, straight cut running clean across his chest armor.
He had initiated the attack deliberately, while his opponent had reacted purely in the moment. And yet the accuracy of that reaction was astonishing. If the tip of Hanzo's blade had risen just one inch higher, Haseo's assassination attempt wouldn't have succeeded—instead, he would've been the one killed.
As expected of a ninja worthy of the "Half-God" title, although Hanzo might pale in comparison to the true Ninja God and his reputation as the "Half-God" might have been boosted by being the tallest among short people, the fact that he had dominated the ninja world for twenty years definitely wasn't due to mere fame.
That last attack was the most satisfying move Haseo had ever performed since becoming a ninja. Yet, he failed to land the blow. What was meant to be a lightning-fast strike on Hanzo only ended up severing Tanuki's head.
This initial clash between them could barely be considered a draw. The two even pulled off a perfectly coordinated move, dismembering Amegakure's former leader with skill.
Yes, although every ninja on both sides was left speechless and stunned by Haseo's performance, what good did it do? A minor deviation led to a major mistake.
However, Haseo had indeed pushed himself to his limits just now. So although his defeat seemed unfortunate, there was nothing to regret. He was strong, but his enemy was simply stronger.
He took one last glance at Hanzo and realized there was no need for another big move at this point. So he let the lightning around him fade away, stepped past the Hokage without a word, and rejoined Konoha's group.
At this moment, the Konoha ninjas serving as the Hokage's guards finally reacted — they should have intercepted Haseo by now.
Hanzo sheathed his blade in a stylish pose, appearing calm and composed on the surface. However, the twitching eyelid and sweat trickling from his forehead betrayed his inner tension. On top of that, he had to keep a calm face and carry on dignified as if nothing had happened:
"As long as there is this kind of mist, I can ensure my control over Amegakure."
Everything looked like the assassination attempt had never taken place — in reality, he simply had no choice but to act like nothing had happened.
If Haseo's assassination had succeeded, everything would have taken a different turn. But having failed, both sides could only continue engaging under the theme of peace.
The Third Hokage first expressed appreciation for his opponent's performance, then subtly shook his head, thinking it wasn't quite perfect. Kid, your poker face really needs some polishing... At this moment, however, he momentarily forgot that he himself was barely two or three years older than Hanzo.
Yet he already was an old fox.
"Let's go; withdraw now. There's probably nothing more for us to do here unless you want to learn some dirty political tricks from the grownups," Haseo arrived beside the trio and said to them.
"Haseo, you're back," Tsunade said to him. Although even she herself wasn't entirely sure, at this moment her words carried a two-layered meaning — first indicating Haseo's safe return from Amegakure, and second...
Haseo seemed to have lost that unfathomable aura he had earlier.
Konoha had spent a long time preparing for this mission, yet it might end in a hurry — it almost felt absurd. But the toxic fog was genuinely a tricky technique — Konoha hadn't found a complete solution against it. If Haseo hadn't hidden inside Katsuyu's body, he wouldn't have survived the poison either.
Therefore, no matter how hard they continued fighting, the most likely final outcome remained a stalemate.
Still thinking about the Amegakure leader who died with eyes wide open in anguish, Haseo suddenly realized the truth. Hanzo of the Rain Village's act of betraying his superior fully revealed his ruthless ambition; however, the person he executed was none other than the revered and heroic leader of Amegakure—a figure regarded as a hero among heroes. The negative impact caused by this incident would linger for quite some time… Perhaps this very act planted the seed for the Rain Village's following thirty years of internal chaos.
"Well, I did my best," Haseo replied to Tsunade. Then he turned his gaze toward the pitiful sight that was Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya, what happened to you?"
Normally, Jiraiya wouldn't have been beaten this badly, but after being thrown around twice, he looked a lot worse for wear.
"It was… a natural disaster, that's all."
Orochimaru answered blankly while helping the dazed Jiraiya stand up. That's right. Just a natural disaster. No one had to take responsibility for how Jiraiya ended up.
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