A day later, Hanzō had fully recovered.
He sat behind his desk in Amegakure, fingers tapping the armrest thoughtfully.
"Next on the agenda… the matter of the Land of Rain itself."
He muttered aloud, calculating quietly in his mind.
"The Land of Rain has a population of over a hundred thousand. Once war breaks out again, how are that many people supposed to survive? This terrain alone can't sustain them."
The perpetual rainfall, the infertile swamps, the endless gray skies—it was a land that could barely feed itself, let alone a nation at war.
"The three great villages have always treated this place as a natural buffer zone, a battlefield between them. That's the only reason they've continued supplying us with resources—they need the Land of Rain to exist. But now…"
His eyes narrowed.
Ōnoki's death should have been a windfall—a perfect opportunity to profit from the chaos.
But Konoha had already invaded the Land of Rain.
If he left now to raid the Land of Earth, by the time he returned, Amegakure itself might no longer exist.
After a long silence, Hanzō sighed deeply.
"This one's going to be harder to deal with than Ōnoki ever was."
---
Border of the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire
Deep within the forest, three masked figures raced through the misty trees.
Two wore fox-faced ANBU masks, escorting a kunoichi between them—their "mission target."
When they reached the rendezvous point, the group finally relaxed.
From the shadows ahead, another masked man stepped out to meet them.
The kunoichi said nothing. She simply handed over a scroll and moved aside.
The newcomer—also wearing a fox mask—unrolled the scroll, reading it carefully before nodding in satisfaction.
"As expected of Lady Nono Yakushi," the man said smoothly. "To gather such detailed intelligence on Amegakure in so short a time—Lord Danzō will be most pleased."
The woman—Nono Yakushi, the Wandering Miko of Konoha's Root—spoke in a calm, clipped tone.
"If there are no further issues, I'll report back to headquarters."
The masked man tilted his head slightly.
"There are still… a few questions."
Nono's expression didn't change, but a faint tension crept into her eyes.
"Regarding Hanzō of the Salamander," the man said, voice growing colder. "What did your investigation reveal about his strength?"
"He's powerful, of course," Nono replied steadily. "One of the few living shinobi acknowledged as a 'demigod' of the shinobi world. Why?"
The man's tone shifted, heavy with accusation.
"Then answer me this—if you truly encountered him, and he discovered your identity… how did you survive?"
"What?" Nono's eyes widened slightly.
"What do you mean, 'discovered'? What are you implying?"
The two ANBU who had escorted her suddenly stepped closer, flanking her sides.
The leader drew his blade in one smooth motion.
"Nono Yakushi," he intoned, "you stand accused of betraying Konoha and leaking classified intelligence. Your actions have caused severe damage to the village. You've been designated an A-rank missing-nin. By order of Root, we are to apprehend you. Do not resist."
The words had barely left his mouth before a barrage of kunai and shuriken filled the air.
"So that's how it is…" Nono hissed, her eyes flashing. Chakra flared around her hands, forming glowing scalpels. She deflected the incoming blades and leapt backward.
"If you've already decided I'm guilty, then there's nothing left to discuss!"
"Hmph. Enough talk."
Steel clashed in the darkness—blade against chakra scalpel—sparks scattering across the forest floor.
"Ninja Art: Super Beast Scroll!"
The Root leader unrolled a summoning scroll. From the inked surface, several tigers sprang to life, roaring as they lunged toward her.
"Ninja Art: Thousand Crimson Needles!"
Dozens—hundreds—of senbon needles erupted from Nono's mouth, sweeping through the air. The ink tigers were pierced mid-leap, dissolving back into black fluid that splattered across the ground.
One ANBU seized the moment to close in. Chakra crackled along his blade.
"Wind Style: Wind Slash!"
Nono met him head-on. Her chakra scalpels collided with his wind-forged blade—sparks flying—and she used the recoil to retreat several meters.
The leader landed opposite her, unhurried.
"As expected of Nono Yakushi. Without preparation, even three of us can't take you easily."
Her pupils constricted.
Something was wrong.
The moment her foot touched down, the ground beneath her flashed with blue light.
"Lightning Style: Earth Current!"
Bolts of electricity surged upward, wrapping around her body like chains.
Agony and numbness tore through her limbs as the current intensified—her skin blistering from the heat.
"This entire area was prepared in advance," the leader said coolly. "Lightning Style here is amplified severalfold, and the field automatically locks onto any target standing on it. You can't escape."
He raised his hand.
"Take your sins to the grave. Lightning Style: Pursuing Fangs of Thunder!"
Twin beasts of lightning materialized, snarling as they lunged toward her.
The explosion of light and sound was deafening.
When the thunder faded, smoke and dust filled the forest—and the three ANBU were already retreating rapidly.
Because beneath the shredded remains of Nono's cloak, countless explosive tags were visible.
"Tch—she rigged herself?!"
They barely had time to react before the world erupted.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The shockwave tore through the trees, scorching earth and air alike.
They didn't stop running until the heat on their backs began to fade.
When they finally returned, the site was unrecognizable—blackened earth, smoking craters, and scraps of flesh and blood scattered across the ground.
"She planned this," one of them said grimly. "A last resort—to take us with her if things went wrong. But in the end, she failed."
The leader nodded, staring at what was left of the corpse.
"Nono Yakushi, traitor of Konoha—confirmed deceased. As per mission protocol, destroy all remains."
"Fire Style: Flame Bombs."
"Wind Style: Breakthrough."
The resulting inferno consumed the clearing, reducing everything to ash.
Only after ensuring complete incineration did the ANBU depart.
...
Time passed.
When the flames died down, a faint shimmer appeared atop a charred tree.
From it, a woman's figure slowly emerged—Nono Yakushi, very much alive.
She let out a shaky breath, smiling faintly.
"If not for Illusory Body Concealment and Dead Soul Jutsu, I'd really be dead this time."
Illusory Body Concealment Jutsu — a jutsu she had developed after studying Transparency Jutsu, allowing her to render her body completely invisible.
Dead Soul Jutsu — a forbidden art enabling her to animate corpses for short periods, even making them perform ninjutsu if the death was recent enough.
If specially prepared beforehand, such corpses could be infused with chakra and remotely controlled—a perfect decoy.
She had long known too many of Root's secrets.
The moment she realized Danzō would never allow her to live, she had crafted a puppet body identical to her own.
When she departed from Amegakure, she had already switched bodies, following her escort invisibly from behind. Everything afterward unfolded exactly as she'd feared.
Now, standing amidst the smoldering ruins, she whispered,
"So… what now?"
She had worn many faces and lived many lives, yet for the first time, she felt utterly lost.
Konoha was no longer an option.
That man would have already erased every trace of her existence—rewriting the records, labeling her a criminal beyond redemption, and confirming her death.
War was on the horizon once again.
She looked up at the gray sky and sighed softly.
"Where… should I go now?"
The rain began to fall once more, washing away the soot and blood, leaving only silence—and the faint echo of a woman who no longer belonged anywhere.