"Uchiha…"
Why had a shinobi of the Uchiha clan appeared in the Akatsuki's camp?
And the mask the other person was wearing was clearly the attire of Konoha's Anbu.
"And those eyes…"
The last time he had seen a Sharingan with such complex, ringed patterns had already been more than twenty years ago. At that time, the owner of those eyes had been named—
Uchiha Kagami.
And that Sharingan was called—
The Mangekyō Sharingan.
A Uchiha shinobi with such a rare and powerful dōjutsu had specifically waited here for him.
So this was Konoha, leader of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. So this was the Third Hokage, hailed as a Professor of Ninjutsu. His schemes were actually this deep.
Earlier, Hanzō had thought the other party had truly come in an attempt to repair their relationship, making concessions in order to win his friendship.
He had never expected that they had only pretended to reconcile with him openly, lowering his guard while buying time. In secret, they had long since colluded with the Akatsuki and even dispatched an elite Uchiha shinobi to intercept and kill him.
That made sense. Only intelligence shinobi from an elite organization like Konoha's Anbu could easily see through the smokescreen that he and the Sunagakure-Iwagakure allied forces had prepared for so long.
In just an instant, Hanzō had completely reconstructed the "truth" of the matter and understood his current situation.
Even if he managed to escape again at this moment and return safely to Amegakure, there would probably be a large number of Konoha Anbu lying in ambush there.
He had never imagined that, even after forcing Konoha to compromise and seek peace with his "demigod" might during the Second Shinobi World War, he would still end up falling into their hands in the end.
Perhaps the Akatsuki had been supported by Konoha from the very beginning as a rebel army meant to remove him.
Yes. Only that explanation could account for why Danzō had betrayed him last time.
Konoha, you truly hid this deeply.
Today, the dream of Amegakure was probably going to shatter completely.
…
Madara glanced at Hanzō, who lay on the ground with his fate unknown.
"Zero, you did well."
"My lord, are we still not killing Hanzō?"
Zero's voice at this moment carried a deep exhaustion.
"A living Hanzō is more useful… How many more times can your Mangekyō still be used?"
"Three times, perhaps."
"Only three times left…"
"The consumption this time was simply too great, so it placed an enormous burden on the eyes."
If one looked closely, they could see a trace of blood-red still lingering on Zero's hand.
Those were bloody tears caused by overusing the Mangekyō.
"He is a demigod, after all. Even though Nagato and the others had already drained most of his strength earlier."
Madara glanced again at the sky, where the rain had stopped at some point.
"It seems things have already ended over there as well."
By now, the Akatsuki led by Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan had completely eliminated Hanzō's remaining loyalists and firmly taken control of all of Amegakure.
"Did Hanzō not want Amegakure to stand alongside the Five Great Shinobi Villages and become the sixth Kage?"
"Then I will fulfill that foolish wish for him."
And then, from there, true peace would be realized.
…
Land of Fire, Konoha.
Hokage's Office.
"The civil war in the Land of Rain has already been settled?"
The Third Hokage frowned and asked in a grave voice.
This important intelligence had come from an elite Anbu member of the First Anbu Battalion directly under his command.
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
"Did you discover the specific situation?"
"We do not know the exact process. We only scouted that Akatsuki shinobi had already stormed the building where Hanzō usually handled official matters. Hanzō himself never appeared from beginning to end."
"Is Hanzō planning something?"
But even the office building, a strategic location that stored countless classified documents, had been lost. What exactly was Hanzō thinking?
For a moment, the Third Hokage's frown deepened.
"What about those people who left Amegakure earlier disguised as Hanzō's army? Have we found anything?"
"They should be a joint force from Sunagakure and Iwagakure."
"No wonder…"
The Third Hokage suddenly understood.
Over the past year, he had sent envoys several times in an attempt to reestablish diplomatic relations with Amegakure, so they could further investigate Madara's traces hidden deep within the Land of Rain.
However, Hanzō's attitude had always been lukewarm, as though he were waiting for the best offer. As a result, the Third Hokage had been forced to increase his terms again and again, even willing to pay a considerable price in hopes of moving Hanzō, but all attempts had failed.
Previously, he had even thought Danzō's failure from several years ago had caused Hanzō to lose trust in Konoha. It turned out Hanzō had wanted to profit from both sides while already preparing an escape route.
It seemed that, at some unknown point, Amegakure had long since colluded with Sunagakure and Iwagakure. And if these three sides joined together, the only enemy they could target was Konoha.
That was why Hanzō had been so fearless.
"Then perhaps the enemy's retreat this time was originally planned together with Sunagakure and Iwagakure."
There was no reason Hanzō, with the support of two Great Shinobi Villages, would still lose to the Akatsuki.
The Rinnegan was indeed powerful, but its wielder was ultimately only one person.
Just as the Third Hokage was still considering their next move, an Anbu reported that Danzō had arrived.
Hadn't Danzō previously dispatched intelligence shinobi to investigate Amegakure?
Could there be results so soon?
Before long, Danzō's figure appeared at the entrance of the Hokage's Office. His right sleeve was empty.
"Hiruzen, you already know, don't you? About Hanzō of Amegakure."
"If what you mean is Hanzō's defeat and retreat."
"Not only that. Hanzō has already formed an alliance with Sunagakure and Iwagakure."
Danzō spoke at an unhurried pace and continued, "So I also believed earlier that his defeat was only a false appearance."
Hmm?
Earlier?
The Third Hokage raised an eyebrow.
"Hanzō sent a request for aid. He said he accepts our conditions and wants us to send troops to Amegakure again as quickly as possible."
"What about Sunagakure and Iwagakure?" the Third Hokage immediately asked.
"Their joint force of one thousand shinobi was defeated by the Akatsuki."
"The Akatsuki… has grown to this extent?"
"These years of continuous war have caused large numbers of civilians to be displaced. Add to that the Akatsuki's naive slogans that bewitch the people, and it is not surprising that they could attract so many people to join them."
"Mm…"
For a moment, the Third Hokage fell into thought.
"Hanzō's letter to us is here. You can read it."
The Third Hokage immediately took the letter and began reading it carefully.
So Hanzō believed that Sunagakure and Iwagakure had not truly exerted themselves to help him, which was why Amegakure had suffered its current defeat.
Now, with Hanzō at the end of his rope and no longer able to maintain the fragile balance in the Land of Rain, he could only ask Konoha for help.
At the same time, he also wanted to use Konoha's arrival this time to resolve the Land of Rain's civil war once and for all, and he sincerely hoped that the Third Shinobi World War could end as soon as possible.
Perhaps Hanzō still had other selfish motives, but it could not be denied that he was genuinely considering peace for the Land of Rain.
Otherwise, with the Land of Rain's tragic geographical position and fragile military strength, it would long since have been completely carved up by the three great nations.