The sky was overcast, and the rain poured down heavily.
Jiraiya, draped in a raincoat, stood amidst the torrential rain, watching a group of ninjas still slaughtering each other in the downpour, and a sigh of regret arose in his heart.
This is the war of the Ninja World.
One side refuses to stop, and the other side will not back down.
Without an order from above to cease fighting, these ninjas will never stop until death, let alone when it's just torrential rain.
Even if meteors fell from the sky, these ninjas must continue the fight.
Jiraiya sighed, reached out, and began forming hand seals, intending to seize the opportunity of the rain obscuring visibility to capture two individuals with scratched ninja headbands and see if he could extract information about the Akatsuki Organization from them.
Splash, splash...
The sound of heavy boots wading through puddles was heard.
Was it reinforcements for one of the parties?
Jiraiya immediately hid, looking at a group of Hidden Rain ninjas appearing in the distance wearing gas masks, and also saw the man they were clustered around!
"Lord Hanzo has arrived!"
This voice immediately caused a commotion among the Hidden Rain ninjas!
"Salamander... Hanzo!"
Jiraiya's expression suddenly changed!
Even though the rain made it hard to see the whole face, Jiraiya instantly recognized the silhouette of that man and recalled his terrifying nature!
As expected.
The appearance of Salamander Hanzo on the battlefield immediately turned the tide!
As the morale of the Hidden Rain Village's ninjas surged, the group of ninjas gathered by the Akatsuki Organization instantly became vulnerable, beginning to scatter and flee!
Salamander Hanzo didn't even need to make any moves; just standing there scared everyone. The Hidden Rain ninjas defeated the enemies and captured many prisoners, planning to execute them on the spot.
"Don't kill them."
Salamander Hanzo's deep voice stopped his subordinates from killing the prisoners. He walked up to the captured group himself and asked in a deep voice, "Why did you become traitorous ninjas?"
"Pah!"
This prisoner had a lot of backbone!
After all, under the rule of a ninja demigod, rebelling was something that required great courage; only a defiant ninja could face such difficulties!
"You bastard!"
A Hidden Rain ninja drew his ninja sword, wanting to kill this prisoner directly to uphold Salamander Hanzo's prestige!
"Hold it."
Salamander Hanzo stopped his subordinate and did not question the other prisoners, ordering, "Take these people back and imprison them. Once I destroy the Akatsuki Organization, they will still be the ninjas of the Land of Rain."
"Lord Hanzo…"
"Follow my orders!"
Salamander Hanzo reprimanded his subordinate and looked up at the cloudy sky: "I must end this war quickly; I will not let the Land of Rain remain in turmoil any longer."
"Yes, Lord Hanzo!"
A group of Hidden Rain ninjas was instantly overjoyed.
Since a few years ago, when Salamander Hanzo suddenly went into seclusion, the Jonin in the village oppressed their subordinates, internal disputes arose, plunging the entire Hidden Rain Village and the Land of Rain into chaos.
These Hidden Rain ninjas believed that as long as Salamander Hanzo was willing to emerge to calm the situation, the civil war could soon be resolved, and the Land of Rain could be restored to peace.
A group of Hidden Rain ninjas led the prisoners away from the battlefield.
Salamander Hanzo waved his guards away, staying alone on the spot, looking toward Jiraiya's hiding place.
"That guy…"
Jiraiya inexplicably felt that he had been discovered.
"Konoha's youngster…"
It seemed Salamander Hanzo had long sensed Jiraiya was hiding there.
Whether it was due to Salamander Hanzo's age or the events of the past, this ninja demigod could entirely regard Jiraiya as a youngster.
"You don't need to hide from me."
Salamander Hanzo looked at Jiraiya's hiding place, a tinge of recollection in his eyes: "Just as I once foresaw, you and those two youngsters have indeed become renowned ninjas in the Ninja World…"
"Long time no see, Lord Hanzo."
Jiraiya stepped out and stood in front of Salamander Hanzo.
Since being discovered, continuing to hide held no meaning, and it didn't seem like Salamander Hanzo intended to order his subordinates to besiege him.
"Jiraiya."
Salamander Hanzo looked at the white-haired man before him, who had grown into a middle-aged figure, seeming to ponder for a moment before asking, "I should have gotten your name right, correct?"
"Yes."
Jiraiya, now no longer the young rookie he once was, still maintained respect for Salamander Hanzo: "I never expected Lord Hanzo still remembers me…"
"I will never forget the excellent young men of the Ninja World."
Salamander Hanzo shook his head, adopting a serious demeanor: "Konoha sent you to the Land of Rain to hunt down that youngster Orochimaru, or to handle the repercussions of the past?"
"Oh? I need to handle the repercussions?"
Jiraiya's eyes subtly shifted, following Salamander Hanzo's words, hoping to probe some information from this ninja demigod.
Jiraiya understood the 'hunting down Orochimaru' part. It seemed Salamander Hanzo also knew about the Akatsuki Organization and that Orochimaru had joined them...
And handling the repercussions?
What had Konoha done in the Land of Rain that needed cleaning up?
"Of course."
Salamander Hanzo nodded, speaking of past matters: "Back then, assassinating that young man named Yahiko and the subsequent thorough eradication of the Akatsuki Organization were all things that your Konoha's Hokage Assistant, Shimura Danzo, asked me to help with…"