No matter how unbelievable or hard to accept it felt...
After cross-checking intelligence from several sources, Sayan still had to acknowledge the truth.
He acknowledged that the current ceiling of the Ninja World—Hanzou—had died at the hands of Hiruzen Sarutobi, who hadn't lifted a finger since taking office as Hokage.
He also acknowledged the culprit behind the present situation: Sayan himself.
That's right—himself.
In trying to milk Konoha for money, the rumor he spread had struck Hiruzen right between the eyes.
It forced Hiruzen into a choice between two options.
One: act as the rumor claimed and send his own Ninja to their deaths, then be driven out by public opinion.
Two: prove that the Land of Rain was truly weak—fit only to be a training ground for Konoha's new generation.
Obviously, Hiruzen chose the second.
And the simplest way to prove the Land of Rain's weakness was to personally and swiftly behead Hanzou—the faster, the better!
Facts proved the effect was excellent.
Not only did it overturn the previous rhetoric, it also gave his prestige a huge boost.
Among Konoha's younger generation, whispers of "strongest Hokage" had already begun.
"Tsk tsk—who'd have thought the mighty demi-god Hanzou would die so suddenly?
"Kazekage-sama, outsiders are already calling you the 'Chess Master,' saying with a mere flick of your wrist you caused a demi-god's fall. Tsk tsk…"
Beside him, Ebizo skimmed the compiled intel while teasing Sayan.
It left Sayan wearing the classic "old man on the subway" grimace.
"Kazekage-sama, Konoha is now plundering the Land of Rain with gusto; even Iwagakure has sneaked in some disguised Ninja to loot. Should we…"
After the banter, he turned to business. With Rain leaderless and its Ninja mostly slaughtered—only a few stragglers escaping—the country was now a plate of meat on the table; anyone could take a bite.
Hearing Ebizo's serious point, Sayan furrowed his brow in deep thought.
Truthfully, he had quite the headache right now.
Hanzou's abrupt death could invalidate the previously signed agreement; those three iron mines weren't important in themselves.
The Land of Wind had plenty of underground iron, and with Sasuke around any iron ore could be refined into pure iron sand.
What mattered wasn't the mines, but the mountain range above them.
That range acted like a dam, trapping water inside the Land of Rain and locking moisture-heavy clouds within its borders.
Outside the dam, the Land of Wind had nothing.
Sayan's real goal was to breach that range, letting Rain's excess water and damp clouds flow into Wind.
The three iron mines were the public excuse, justification for Sunagakure Ninja to garrison the area.
In short—steal the water!
But Hanzou's death had thrown Sayan's plans into chaos.
He'd figured ten years would be enough to create a vast fertile belt along Wind's border; Sunagakure could found a new city there, radiate into neighboring countries, and absorb cheap labor from Rain, Birds, and Rivers to feed Sunagakure itself.
As for ten years later—why would Sayan still need to watch anyone's mood?
By then, just station The Three Little Ones and Sasori in that new city—whoever came would be out of luck.
But that was all for later; right now he had to secure the mountain range and rescue as many people as possible.
Rescue—yes, rescue!
Present-day Rain was practically a destroyed nation.
Burning, killing, looting filled this weeping country; unarmed civilians, having watched their homeland perish,
either had their spines utterly broken or rose reborn from the flames.
Sayan wanted both types.
The broken would be cheap labor; those burning for revenge would be his sharpest blades.
After all, the original Akatsuki Organization had plenty of skilled fighters… In a small Rain village.
"Damn it, someone's already combed this place."
A Konoha squad arrived, cursing at the sight of scorched houses.
"Captain, let's go. Even the drainage pipes have been pried up—clearly nothing's left."
The squad leader glanced around after hearing his teammate.
Half-burned houses, soil dug open where the drainage pipes had been wrenched out, dark-red stains still in the dirt.
After confirming nothing of value remained, the captain led his men elsewhere.
Half an hour later, inside the now-surely-empty house,
a small boy tremblingly pushed aside the charred plank covering him.
My name is Kyūsuke, an ordinary Rain country kid. My dream is to become a Ninja like Lord Hanzou, to lead Rain's people to a happy life, to give them a better future.
Mom once told me Rain used to be utter chaos,
with warlords fighting and folk living day-to-day in fear.
Until… until Lord Hanzou arrived.
He alone quelled the turmoil, brought peace, founded Hidden Rain Village, repaired drainage, channeled the endless rainfall elsewhere so the water no longer rose to our knees. The land stayed muddy, roads hard, but the people believed in Lord Hanzou,
believed he could make Rain better.
Years ago Lord Hanzou said Rain's growth was limited: with rain falling day and night, ordinary cement roads couldn't be built, and merchants stayed away.
Because Rain sits between three great countries, they didn't want a united, developing Rain, so they began to restrict us.
Thus Lord Hanzou started a war. If peace couldn't win Rain's people a future, he'd fight to carve one out for them.
Everyone was fired up. Though the war plunged Rain's exhausted people back into hardship, they never blamed Lord Hanzou—they believed their leader Hanzou would lead them to victory!
But Lord Hanzou failed. His corpse was hung high on Hidden Rain's tower; Konoha declared it the price of defiance, forcing him to watch his village perish.
At first no one believed it, but as more refugees fled, they had no choice.
Their sky—had collapsed!
Then turmoil began. Without Lord Hanzou's protection, chaos returned.
The invading Ninja were like… starved, chain-bound mad dogs set free after three days.
Now the chains were broken—they killed at sight, burned at sight, robbed at sight,
venting the rage of confinement, tearing apart everything in their path.