The Rain Ninja Village was always shrouded in silence and endless rain. At the very center of the village stood a tall tower. Compared to the plain and worn buildings that surrounded it, the tower looked far more refined, almost out of place. It was not grand in the way the great villages built their structures, but in Rain Village it was the most imposing sight anyone could see.
Inside that tower lived the leader of the village, Hanzo.
The tower was guarded heavily day and night. Ordinary villagers never had the chance to get close, and even most ninjas could only stand at a distance and look up with respect. To them, the tower was more than just a residence. It was a symbol of protection, the reason their village had not been wiped out long ago.
Without Hanzo, a small country like the Land of Rain would never have survived the constant wars that surrounded it.
Among all the shinobi in the world, who else could be called a demigod?
Even the Five Kage of the great nations did not receive such a title.
Because of that, the ninjas of Rain Village often raised their heads to look toward the tower at dusk. When they saw the lone figure standing high above, their expressions were filled with admiration and quiet fanaticism.
Hanzo rarely showed himself in public. He was cautious by nature and never trusted crowds. Still, he had one habit that he never changed. Every evening, when the rain became heavier and the sky darkened, he would step onto the roof and stand alone, overlooking the entire village.
The rain poured down endlessly, striking his body again and again. Even so, he did not move. It was as if the storm itself had become a part of him.
Some people said that the rain of the Land of Rain was the country crying.
Hanzo did not believe that.
To him, the rain was something else entirely.
It was washing away filth. It was the only thing that could clean a land filled with blood, betrayal, and endless conflict. The Land of Rain had been dragged into far too many wars. Every day there were schemes, lies, and assassinations. It had become a place where the darkest parts of a ninja's nature gathered.
If there was any place in the world that could be called dirty, it was here.
That was why he liked the rain.
Hanzo leaned lightly against the railing and looked into the distance. His eyes were calm, but deep enough to feel ancient. If he had been someone who traveled through time, he might have raised his hand proudly and said that the land before him was his conquest.
But he was not such a man.
And more importantly, he had no successor.
For someone who was called a demigod, the fact that he could not find a single person worthy of inheriting his position felt almost humiliating. Rain Village was powerful for a small nation, stronger than most minor villages, yet none of its younger generation could stand out enough to take his place.
Thinking about it only made him more envious of the Five Great Nations.
Their geniuses appeared endlessly. One generation had not even finished growing before another one appeared. It was as if talent grew there like weeds, impossible to suppress.
Yet those same great villages did not even know how to value their own people. Kirigakure once implemented the Bloody Mist policy, forcing their own students to kill one another just to graduate. Even now, the brutality of that era still lingered.
Hanzo could never understand such behavior.
It felt like a poor man watching a rich man waste food. The difference between them was simply too large.
Because of that, he had always looked down on the Five Kage deep inside his heart.
If he had been born in one of those great villages, he believed he could have done far better than any of them.
That confidence did not come only from pride. It came from strength.
Before the Second Shinobi World War began, Hanzo had already fought against both the Hokage and the Kazekage. During that battle, he faced the two of them at the same time. Even though the fight ended without a clear victory, Hanzo was the one who suffered the least injuries.
That was the reason the title of demigod spread so quickly throughout the ninja world. Konoha and Sunagakure never denied it. Even if the title carried hidden malice, it could not change one fact.
At that time, Hanzo truly was terrifyingly powerful.
He had risen from a small country with nothing. Compared to the Kage of the Five Great Nations, his path was far more difficult and far more legendary. When the older generation of powerful shinobi gradually disappeared, especially after several great figures passed away, Hanzo became one of the strongest living ninjas.
The title of demigod did not feel exaggerated at all.
Unfortunately, that confidence was shattered once the Second Shinobi World War truly began.
Hanzo had joined that war because he was dissatisfied. He was dissatisfied with his own position, and even more dissatisfied with the position of the Rain Village in the ninja world. Under his rule, the village had grown stronger and more stable. Because of that, he wanted something greater.
He wanted Rain Village to stand on equal footing with the Five Great Ninja Villages.
He wanted the Five Great Nations to become the Six Great Nations.
At the time, the idea sounded exciting.
Reality was cruel.
It took only two years for the Land of Rain to be completely defeated.
During the decisive battle, Hanzo was blocked by three young ninjas working together. He could not break through them even after using everything he had. Outside the battlefield, the war continued, but Hanzo himself could not move forward even a single step.
After that war ended, four heroes rose to fame. The three legendary Sannin of Konoha, and Konoha's Lightning Flash.
And Hanzo became the biggest joke in the entire ninja world.
That defeat forced him to face the truth he had avoided for years. The Land of Rain was trapped between the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Earth. It had almost no resources, and its economy was fragile. No matter how strong he was personally, he could not change the fate of the entire country alone.
Strength alone could not challenge the structure of the world.
After the war, Konoha sent Shimura Danzo from the Root organization to negotiate. In the end, the Land of Rain was forced to sign a humiliating agreement. According to the terms, Rain Village had to pay an enormous amount of compensation. With the country's current finances, it would take at least two hundred years to repay the debt.
The defeat itself had already crushed Hanzo's confidence.
The agreement destroyed what remained.
He had supported the entire country by himself for years. Once his spirit broke, the country began to decline along with him. More and more ninjas in the village began to oppose his leadership. Some left entirely and became rogue ninjas. In their eyes, Hanzo was no longer strong enough to lead them toward prosperity.
Did he not want to remain strong?
Of course he did.
But what had strength brought him in the end?
Only a debt that could never be repaid, and the constant threat of another war.
If he continued to pursue strength blindly, the Land of Rain might disappear completely.
In the end, Hanzo chose to endure.
Later, after the Five Kage Summit ended, the Third Shinobi World War broke out. Once again, the world was thrown into chaos. This time, Hanzo did not rush into battle. Instead, he stayed in the village and waited carefully, watching the situation develop.
Soon enough, envoys from the great nations arrived one after another. Each of them wanted Rain Village to join their side. If several great nations fought together against Konoha, victory seemed possible.
At least, that was what they claimed.
Hanzo did not move. He continued waiting.
As expected, Konoha also sent a peace envoy shortly afterward.
The person who came was still Shimura Danzo.
His attitude had not changed at all. He still acted with the arrogance of a powerful nation speaking to a small one. Even though Hanzo felt anger burning inside him, he could not deny that Konoha had the strength to support such arrogance.
Small countries had no real diplomacy.
What Hanzo could not accept, however, was the agreement.
Danzo was only willing to reduce the two hundred years of compensation by seventy years. He refused to give even a single step more. The material support Hanzo hoped for was never mentioned.
Even if the repayment period was reduced to thirty years, the Land of Rain still would not be able to afford it.
War and peace were usually seen as opposites, but sometimes they existed together.
Hanzo longed for peace, yet reality kept pushing him toward war.
Because only war would bring supplies into the Land of Rain.
It was nothing more than a transaction. A transaction that Konoha refused to accept, but the other great nations were willing to offer. If that was the case, then perhaps breaking the agreement with Konoha would not be such a terrible choice after all.
Hanzo slowly spread his arms. The rain gathered on his mask, turning into thin streams of water that slid down silently.