Less than ten seconds later, the call was answered. "Hello, Leader, do you have any instructions?"
Torifu cleared his throat. "No, not exactly. Minato executed a mission today and mentioned encountering a group of rogue shinobi in the Land of Fire that had fled from your territory. I wanted to ask what's going on. As far as I know, rogue shinobi haven't appeared for a very long time."
Hearing that term suddenly gave Torifu a sense of 'tears of the era.' Ever since the Land of Rain was partitioned by the three great nations, the numbers of rogue shinobi had gradually dwindled. Now that they had reappeared, Torifu was naturally curious and wanted to get to the bottom of it.
When Torifu asked, Kakuzu fell silent. After a long moment, he finally spoke. "It's like this, Leader. Rogue shinobi started to resurface in the original Land of Rain territory about two months ago."
"Moreover, they appear to be resurfacing in an organized and premeditated way. They're secretly trying to build connections in various districts, leading to some small villages being entirely recruited into their rogue ranks."
Torifu frowned. He had originally just wanted to hear some gossip and perhaps tease Kakuzu about being unable to handle a few rogue shinobi. Why did this turn into such a big chain of events?
But that didn't seem to be the end of it. Kakuzu continued, "These rogue shinobi aren't causing destruction; they're just relentlessly trying to win people over. The entire Amegakure region, including the sections under the control of the other two nations, is in chaos."
"Massive numbers of villages are being completely cleared out, with the entire population becoming rogue. Plus, there's a rumor that the leader of these rogue shinobi is Hanzō, who escaped back then."
Hanzō? Good grief, that was another blast from the past. It had been about five or six years since the Land of Rain was divided. Torifu was surprised that old man Hanzō wasn't dead yet. That woman, Blaze, truly must have thought highly of him.
Torifu mused to himself. His strength was far beyond what it had been back then. If this Blaze and Hanzō dared to stir up trouble again, Torifu could kill them both with his own hands.
"Leader! Leader! Leader! Are you listening?"
"Cough, cough! What? Listening to what?" Torifu had been deep in thought and hadn't actually heard what Kakuzu said.
A helpless voice came from the other end of the line. "I was asking you what we should do about this. The men are swamped and are scrambling to prevent these rogue shinobi from continuing to recruit people."
Torifu chuckled with a hmph. "Prevent them from what? Why not just kill them? I'll send some shinobi to assist you. Kill all the rogue shinobi you encounter."
"The Amegakure region is part of the Land of Fire. These guys are dreaming if they think they can use such a low-level tactic to try and reclaim the Land of Rain for themselves."
Kakuzu briefly considered this and decided Torifu was right. While these rogue shinobi hadn't hurt anyone or attacked members of the Lotus Organization, their actions were disrupting the unity of the Land of Fire and had to be eradicated. As the Governor of the Amegakure region, he had to take decisive action!
"I understand, Leader. Just one more thing: how should we deal with the villagers who were recruited to become rogue shinobi?"
Kakuzu could kill the rogue shinobi outright; in fact, he had already killed quite a few, and several of his current hearts belonged to young rogue shinobi. However, he couldn't bring himself to decide the fate of the seduced villagers.
Torifu didn't hesitate for a moment. He said directly, "Any villagers who voluntarily became rogue shinobi can be directly killed or captured. If they were forced, investigate thoroughly to confirm the truth, and then arrange for their safety with care."
Kakuzu committed this to memory and immediately nodded. "Understood, Leader. I'll get started right away."
He had already investigated: all the recruited villages were the original villages of the Land of Rain. The newer villages were established by immigrants from the Land of Fire, so they had not been targeted for recruitment. It seemed these rogue shinobi knew there was no benefit in recruiting people from the Land of Fire. If they caused trouble and people died, Konohagakure would immediately dispatch forces to suppress them, destroying their plan for quiet development.
However, their plan had already been foiled.
Torifu hung up the phone and immediately dialed Anka's mobile phone.
"Hello, Hokage-sama, what are your instructions?"
As the Hokage's secretary, Anka didn't just handle miscellaneous tasks; she could manage any matter in Konohagakure with the Hokage's command.
Torifu meticulously relayed the situation in the Amegakure region to Anka, instructing her to issue a mission under the official name of Konohagakure that could be accepted without limit. The mission was to assist the Governor of the Amegakure region in maintaining the peace and stability of the region and to eliminate anyone who threatened its peace.
"This… such a thing has happened? I'll take care of it right away!"
Anka was shocked by the events in the Amegakure region. Torifu had told her everything in detail, including the possibility of Hanzō being behind it. Hearing the name Hanzō, Anka was reminded of the previous war—the first time since the founding of Konohagakure that villagers had died in a conflict. This budding rebellion had to be swiftly crushed!
Anka immediately put aside all her current tasks and rushed to the Mission Assembly Hall to post an unrated mission. The moment this mission appeared, it immediately topped all the mission boards.
The shinobi in the hall who were looking for missions for the next day were naturally drawn to it, wanting to see what kind of high-profile mission it was—perhaps from a wealthy patron. However, once they read the details, their expressions suddenly changed. "What, a rebellion is starting in the Amegakure region?! How can I allow that! That's land we fought for together! Who dares to start a rebellion without my permission!"
A middle-aged Jōnin roared, then stormed over to the counter to accept the mission! He decided to leave immediately for the Amegakure region! More and more shinobi saw the information, their hearts swelling with fury! The horrors of the previous war were still fresh in their minds. Now, after only a few years of peace, these malicious people were causing trouble again! How could their fallen comrades rest easy?
"Fine, fine. A rebellion, is it? I was just thinking all these other missions were too childish and boring. I'll make an example out of you!"
Subsequently, more and more shinobi walked towards the counter, their faces etched with pure anger. They wished they could instantly rush to the Amegakure region, kill all those despicable rogue shinobi, and drag their mastermind out for a slow, painful death.
The sight of these veteran shinobi in a rage also made some of the novice youngsters curious. They weren't familiar with that previous war and didn't understand why the older shinobi were so worked up.