While Tsunade was unconscious.
In the tower in the Land of Rain.
Hanzo the Salamander sat on a wooden chair, listening to his subordinate's report, while the scene of Iwagakure attacking Amegakure automatically played in his mind.
"Of the three pharmaceutical workshops, two processing workshops were looted by Iwa ninjas. Only the secret workshop closest to the tower, which no one except you, Hanzo-sama, is allowed to enter, had its outer sensing barrier damaged."
At this point, the Rain ninja kneeling on one knee was filled with regret: "I didn't expect that besides Iwagakure, there were also Konoha ninjas taking the opportunity to infiltrate. Due to a moment of negligence, we didn't strengthen the guard of the secret workshop. Please punish me, Hanzo-sama."
"Don't blame yourself, Sakawa. You did well. Protecting the village is the most important thing."
Hanzo the Salamander played with a storage scroll, his gaze seemingly piercing through the scroll to look at the Flying Thunder God kunai and stones sealed inside. He said in a deep voice, "Without intelligence in advance, anyone facing a Flying Thunder God user for the first time would have a slim chance of survival."
"In front of that technique, the more people there are, the easier it is to create opportunities for the opponent. Whether it's seven or seventy people, they're just dying in vain."
Clenching the scroll in his hand, Hanzo the Salamander snorted coldly: "It's actually a good thing that the three workshops were divided up by Iwagakure and Konoha. I split the formula and drugs, with each workshop responsible for a part, and the final step completed by me."
"Unless they can loot all three workshops simultaneously, no one can get the complete formula. This time, this old man won't give them time to develop the formula like I did with Sunagakure."
Sakawa immediately looked up, his eyes full of admiration: "As expected of Hanzo-sama, you anticipated this moment long ago."
In fact, Hanzo the Salamander was habitually cautious, believing that one shouldn't put all eggs in one basket.
If manufacturing the antidote didn't require so many herbs and steps, and if he didn't have to manage the village leaving him little time, and if Shadow Clones didn't increase his fatigue, Hanzo the Salamander wouldn't even want to entrust the formula and pharmaceutical work to his subordinates; he would do everything himself.
"Slug, Princess Tsunade, Flying Thunder God Technique, and the Raijin Sword..." Hanzo the Salamander murmured, "Undoubtedly, those two were Konoha ninjas. That summoning beast, that technique, that sword—they can't be hidden or disguised."
"White hair... is that brat a descendant of the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama? Even if not, he should be a member of the Senju of the Forest."
"Konoha quietly cultivated a new generation 'Senju Tobirama.' If this news spreads, I believe those major powers won't be able to sit still."
Hanzo the Salamander suddenly formed seals with one hand and cast a Genjutsu on Sakawa.
Sakawa's eyes glazed over for a dozen seconds.
When he recovered his senses, he saw Hanzo the Salamander instructing: "Draw this person's appearance and mass-produce the portraits. At the same time, announce to the outside world that Iwagakure raided our Amegakure and snatched the complete antidote formula."
"Yes!"
Sakawa lowered his head slightly, then looked up in confusion: "Hanzo-sama, aren't we going to spread the identity of that Flying Thunder God user and the news that Konoha also looted the pharmaceutical workshop?"
"Saying it now is meaningless; those two major powers will only be skeptical. If Konoha wasn't trying to steal the antidote formula, they probably wouldn't have played this card. Who knows when they will confirm this news." Hanzo the Salamander stood up and sneered, "After I return from a trip to the Land of Fire's border, they will have to believe it."
"Since they chose to enter the game, none of them should think of escaping. This old man will take this opportunity to weaken the national strength of these three major powers simultaneously."
Under Sakawa's gaze, which looked up at him as if he were a god, Hanzo the Salamander turned into a blur and disappeared.
He didn't use the Salamander's burrowing ability to leave Amegakure secretly; that would be meaningless.
The Hyuga Clan's Byakugan, the Aburame Clan's insects, and the Inuzuka Clan's ninja dogs... just these three ninja clans possessed long, medium, and short-range sensing, X-ray vision, scent tracking, etc.
Not to mention other ninja clans had members skilled in Sensing Techniques or signed blood contracts with various summoning beasts.
Moreover, Konoha was an ally of the destroyed Land of Whirlpools. They definitely possessed the best sensing barriers in the Ninja World. Such barriers were probably set up far from the border base.
To infiltrate the border base of this country silently, let alone the burrowing Salamander, even Onoki who could fly couldn't do it.
So Hanzo the Salamander didn't hide his purpose at all. He wanted to openly notify the surrounding three major powers that he was going to the Land of Fire's border base next, not to take revenge on the Land of Earth that attacked Amegakure not long ago.
This news quickly reached the headquarters of the three major powers.
Neither the Land of Wind nor the Land of Earth gloated or watched the show; instead, they raised their vigilance.
"Could it be a diversion?"
At the border base headquarters of the Land of Wind, Chiyo looked at her brother Ebizo, who was responsible for intelligence and espionage work, with a frown: "He just fought with us not long ago, and Amegakure was attacked by Iwa ninjas. Instead of retaliating against the Land of Earth, he went straight to the Land of Fire's border. Could it be just a smoke bomb, and his real target is us or the Land of Earth?"
"Whether it's a smoke bomb or not, we cannot relax our vigilance." Ebizo analyzed, "Although you have developed the antidote formula, Sister, every tube of antidote and every set of anti-poison equipment is an extra military expense, requiring a lot of manpower and resources."
"And the Salamander's poison only takes five minutes to refill."
"Unless we are confident of killing that existence standing at the pinnacle of the Ninja World, we should stick to the original tactics: disperse combat units and avoid if possible."
Ebizo's gaze was deep: "Now that the Land of Earth has entered the game, I don't believe they attacked Amegakure just to loot the wealth of the strongest military base among small countries."
"Barring any accidents, Onoki's goal was to take advantage of us tying down the Salamander and Hanzo to snatch the antidote or the antidote formula."
"Daring to act so decisively means Iwagakure's reconnaissance team and Anbu have grasped definite intelligence and are highly confident."
"Regardless of whether the Land of Earth succeeded, their action is equivalent to declaring war on the Land of Rain."
"Now the Land of Rain is in a one-against-two situation. Hanzo the Salamander didn't retaliate against the Land of Earth, which doesn't have an antidote production line yet, but went straight to the Land of Fire's border base... Either it's as you said, Sister, this is actually just a smoke bomb; or Hanzo the Salamander wants to force the Land of Fire to enter the game."
Ebizo looked at Chiyo and suddenly asked, "If the two surrounding major powers have the antidote and only we don't, while that deadliest poison in the Ninja World keeps releasing poison towards us all day, what should we do?"
Chiyo's eyes flashed, and she said coldly, "Snatch!"
"Right, we can only snatch, and we must snatch!" Ebizo said, "Whether snatching from Amegakure like the Iwa ninjas, or snatching from us or the Land of Earth, the Land of Fire will enter the game."
"By then, Hanzo just needs to control the quantity of antidotes, or even stop producing antidotes, and keep stalling with Konoha. They will be left with only snatching from us and Iwagakure."
"If Konoha doesn't choose this but gathers a large army to attack Amegakure, forcing Hanzo to fight head-on and dare not release poison on a large scale, we can't sit back and watch either. Otherwise, it would be handing over the Land of Rain, the junction of three countries, on a silver platter."
"Once the Land of Rain becomes the territory of the Land of Fire, we, who are already separated by the buffer zone of the Land of Rivers, will be even more passive, and so will the Land of Earth." Ebizo said coldly, "This is a blatant open conspiracy."
Hearing this, Chiyo couldn't help but sigh sincerely: "Impressive. Even in this situation, his reason wasn't affected by hatred, and he came up with a countermeasure so quickly. As expected of the man called 'Demigod.' It's a pity he wasn't born in our Sunagakure, but also fortunate he wasn't born in the Five Great Ninja Villages."
"Actually, besides the above two situations, there is another possibility." Ebizo suddenly said faintly, "That is, Konoha didn't sit and wait for death. Seeing Iwagakure act, they also acted immediately and snatched something too, giving Hanzo a reason to act against them."
"If Konoha also obtained the formula, this would undoubtedly be the worst situation for us."
Chiyo's face instantly turned ugly, understanding Ebizo's meaning.
If all three major powers had the antidote formula, unless a truce was called right there, would there be any need to choose whom to fight?
Although she didn't want to admit it, their Land of Wind was indeed the weakest among the Five Great Nations in terms of comprehensive strength.
Previously, balance could be maintained because of the Land of Rain and Hanzo the Salamander acting as checks and balances in the middle.
Now that everyone had the confidence to not fear the Salamander's poison, if Hanzo the Salamander still focused on beating the Land of Wind...
Continuing to stall with the Land of Rain, the Land of Wind's already imbalanced economy would only get worse.
By then, between major and small countries, which one would the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth choose to attack?
Thinking of this, Chiyo immediately said in a deep voice, "No, this old woman must report to the Kazekage immediately. We must prepare for the worst."
...
On the Land of Earth's side, the news didn't reach the border headquarters first for the commander to decide whether to report to the Tsuchikage.
Instead, it reached Onoki, who was overseeing Iwagakure, immediately.
"Existences capable of standing at the pinnacle of the Ninja World are indeed not simple."
Onoki also quickly understood Hanzo the Salamander's plan and gave a high evaluation like Chiyo. His tone was full of regret: "Such a powerful guy being born in that kind of small country is simply a waste. If he were a person of our Iwagakure, how great would that be?"
"No matter how powerful, isn't he still just a pawn in your hand, Dad?"
Kitsuchi, who was fifteen this year and still a teenager, looked at Onoki with admiration and flattered with a smile: "Just as you said, Dad, our Land of Earth's terrain, along with your Lightened Boulder Jutsu and Dust Release, are natural defenses and deterrents. Between retaliating against us and choosing to drag the Land of Fire into the game, Hanzo the Salamander decisively chose the latter."
"As long as Hanzo the Salamander starts this, and we add fuel to the fire, Sunagakure, which has already entered the game, will definitely not let go of this opportunity to kick them while they're down. The situation, originally Amegakure against the Land of Wind, will immediately turn into the Land of Fire being targeted by three countries."
"With the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain helping to consume the Land of Fire's national strength, our Land of Earth will definitely be able to bite off a piece of meat from the Land of Fire!"
Looking at his spirited son who seemed to disregard Hanzo the Salamander and the Land of Wind, Onoki lectured with a serious expression: "Brat, don't underestimate any existence standing at the pinnacle of the Ninja World, especially a powerhouse with strategic deterrence capable of fighting a country alone. That is the most terrifying type of person in the Ninja World."
"Do you know why Hanzo the Salamander is called the Demigod of the Ninja World?"
"Because if this guy goes crazy, he can plunge the entire Ninja World into misery and suffering."
"Neither I nor the Third Raikage of the Land of Lightning have such ability and deterrence."
"The last person who could make the Ninja World fear so much was the Asura of the Ninja World, Uchiha Madara, who could contend with the God of Shinobi."
Onoki said in a deep voice, "Although their combat power isn't on the same level, if Hanzo the Salamander wanted to, he is fully capable of turning the Land of Earth into a country with only Iwagakure left."
"When that time comes, what kind of situation do you think we will face?"
Hearing this, Kitsuchi subconsciously imagined such a scene in his mind. He shivered instantly, and his eyes showed a trace of fear: "Dad, is this why you strictly forbade mass slaughter and acting against the children and teenagers of Amegakure?"
"Correct. You destroy Amegakure's future, and he can destroy your future." Onoki said, "Unless we can kill that Salamander and confirm that there is only one Salamander in that summoning world, this is a hidden rule that all our Five Great Ninja Villages must abide by. If you want to become the Tsuchikage in the future, you must remember this, understand?"
"I understand, Dad." Kitsuchi nodded obediently immediately.
"Pass my order: disperse the combat units, leaving only the Sensing Squad and Barrier Squad to guard the border base." Onoki's gaze was deep. "If Hanzo the Salamander going to the Land of Fire's border is just a smoke bomb and his actual target is us, then have the combat units abandon the border base and retreat to protect the nearest towns. If he dares to go deep, this old man will take action personally."
At this point, Onoki emphasized his instruction: "Remember, before developing the antidote for the Salamander's poison, once any squad encounters Hanzo the Salamander, regardless of whether it's the real person, a Shadow Clone, or even someone else disguised using the Transformation Technique, as long as the truth cannot be distinguished, they must disperse and retreat at the fastest speed. Squads skilled in Earth Body Flicker should prioritize using anti-poison equipment and be responsible for covering the retreat of others, but do not linger in battle. Surviving is the most important thing!"
"Yes!"
Kitsuchi nodded, then used Body Flicker to disappear from the Tsuchikage's office.
Onoki's small body floated up and flew from the window to the rooftop of the Tsuchikage Building. Looking at the Iwagakure he had always protected, his silent demeanor made it unclear what he was thinking or if he was lost in some memory.
After a long time, Onoki's eyes suddenly became sharp and determined. Turning to face the direction of the Land of Fire, he whispered, "The Second Great Ninja War... has begun!"
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