"Why did you hold back?" Hanzō asked, spitting out blood as he was slammed against a rock wall.
An Yan stood beside Tsunade, his arms crossed.
"I admire you. Just as you spared Mifune's life, I will spare yours. Let me see if your conviction will change with the passing of years."
An Yan, of course, knew that Hanzō's conviction did indeed change later on. He became indulgent and was easily provoked by Danzo into killing Yahiko.
The real reason he didn't kill Hanzō was that he had a soft spot for heroic figures like him.
Besides a lapse in judgment in his old age, Hanzō was a hero. And if An Yan were to become Hokage in the future and wanted to unify the ninja world, having someone like Hanzō as a vanguard would be a good thing.
An Yan didn't just let him go either. He had already placed a Flying Thunder God marker on his back. If he ever stepped out of line, he could kill him instantly.
Seeing that An Yan had no other demands, Hanzō was relieved and gave an order.
"All personnel, retreat."
The Rain ninja withdrew from the battlefield. They had fought the Sand and now Konoha, and their numbers were dwindling. But the ones who remained were all elites.
They gathered around Hanzō, not like defeated soldiers, but like warriors ready to die for their country.
"We have been defeated. Konoha is indeed strong. Just a few of the younger generation were enough to defeat me. From now on, we will retreat to the Rain Village. However, I hope that in the future, when Konoha fights other ninja in the Land of Rain, you will consider the civilians. Otherwise, even if I am no match for you, I will fight to the death."
After Hanzō finished speaking, his subordinates looked at An Yan and the others with hostility. In their eyes, the Konoha ninja were the aggressors.
But that was the nature of war. Although they had defeated Hanzō, the war was not over. Konoha still had a tough fight ahead with the Sand and the Stone.
The war between the great nations was not as simple as fighting a small village. It was a long-term battle of attrition.
After his threat, Hanzō and his men retreated. An Yan and the others immediately set up camp, occupying a strategic position, forming a three-way standoff with the Stone and the Sand.
After defeating Hanzō, Konoha's morale soared. An Yan's reputation skyrocketed. He had already accumulated a large amount of reputation points, nearing one million. All he needed now was a good wish pool.
In another month, it would be time for the annual wish pool update. Hopefully, it wouldn't be another first-person shooter game.
An Yan clasped his hands together and prayed silently.
As An Yan and the others were cleaning up the aftermath of the battle, deep underground in a small country.
In the darkness, Madara Uchiha sat grimly on his throne. His long hair was disheveled, revealing only one eye. His pale purple Rinnegan stared at the White Zetsu before him.
"My body has grown so old that it can barely withstand the power of the Rinnegan, yet you have still not found a suitable vessel?"
The White Zetsu Zetsu looked helpless. "Lord Madara, the most suitable vessel for your Rinnegan is naturally the Senju clan, which has the strongest life force. But the Senju have already integrated into Konoha, and we don't know who is a Senju. The few known ones are all being watched. We can't get to them. We can only settle for the next best thing."
Madara didn't speak, just stared at him coldly.
The White Zetsu felt a cold sweat break out. He didn't want to die. His mind raced, going through the characteristics of each clan.
"Lord Madara, the Uzumaki clan's life force is also very strong. And the Akimichi clan also practices Yang Release secret techniques. They might be able to handle the Rinnegan."
Madara said faintly, "The Rinnegan must not fall into Konoha's hands."
With Konoha's strength, if the Rinnegan fell into their hands, it would be a one-way trip.
The White Zetsu said, "Then there's only one way. We kidnap a Senju or Uzumaki and control them with genjutsu."
Madara gave him a disdainful look. "What genjutsu are you going to use to control a Rinnegan user? You have no brain. You're useless."
He held out his hand, and a pool of black goo flowed from it onto the White Zetsu.
"I'll leave this to you, Black Zetsu."
Black Zetsu enveloped the White Zetsu, writhing, forming a half-black, half-white body. It smiled. "No problem. I'll handle it perfectly."
Black Zetsu began to sort through the White Zetsu's intelligence network.
Konoha had been consciously hunting White Zetsu. That area was off-limits for now. So, the only targets were the Senju or Uzumaki on the battlefield.
Black Zetsu quickly scanned the data and soon his eyes landed on An Yan's squad.
"A Senju and an Uzumaki... excellent."
He began to think. An Yan was the husband of Hashirama's granddaughter, Tsunade. His strength must be considerable. But maybe he could use that. His gaze shifted to the data on the Stone and the Sand.
With a little guidance, he should be able to get what he wanted.
As An Yan and the others were fighting Hanzō, the Sand Village had been making its own moves.
Under the orders of the Third Kazekage, Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law led a large elite puppet brigade into the Land of Fire, intending to launch a sneak attack while Konoha's defenses were down.
They ran into Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake. Brother Sakumo was very annoyed. He had just been rotated back to Konoha from the front lines and hadn't even had a chance to get intimate with his wife when he was suddenly ordered to intercept the invading enemy.
Annoyed at being interrupted, Sakumo was furious. He unleashed 120% of his power and completely routed the puppet brigade.
The two elite Jonin puppet masters wanted to have a go with him, but Sakumo was a speed-type ninja. There were only two outcomes when fighting him: either you could keep up with his speed and fight to a draw, or you couldn't and were instantly killed.
The puppet masters were clearly the latter. The Sand's elite puppet brigade was wiped out near Konoha. The elites they had painstakingly trained during the first war were sent to the Pure Land before they could even show their skills.
Sakumo, who had single-handedly slaughtered an entire elite brigade, became famous. The other ninja villages issued orders that if their ninja encountered Konoha's White Fang, they were permitted to abandon their mission.
And under the brilliant shadow of the White Fang, An Yan and the others' victory over Hanzō seemed insignificant.
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