Chapter 306: Sanzo
Land of Rain Central Tower.
Masahiko sat crookedly, flipping through the Land of Rain's intelligence reports.
In front of him, three Rain Jonin stood bowing, waiting for 'Hanzo's' orders.
"I know what you want to ask; I will tell you about the previous incident shortly!" Masahiko crossed his legs.
The three exchanged glances but didn't reply, their eyes fixed on 'Hanzo's' crossed legs.
"Ahem." Masahiko coughed and slowly uncrossed his legs. "What, are you going to dictate my sitting posture too?"
"We wouldn't dare!"
While speaking, Masahiko flipped through the Land of Rain's intelligence reports for the past two months, then finally stated his true purpose for impersonating Hanzo:
"Find the records of when I led you all to encircle and annihilate the 'Akatsuki' organization over five years ago!"
The three were startled. "Could it be..."
"Go find it!"
"Yes!"
The three Body Flickered away. Masahiko held back his laughter and pondered for a moment.
Actually, there was no need for Masahiko to impersonate Hanzo and enter the Land of Rain again. Doing so now was just to give Yahiko and the others a hand... his strikes earlier might have possibly been a bit heavy.
"Speaking of which, Yahiko's strength is greater than I imagined, and his talent seems quite good too. If Konan hadn't been taken in as my disciple, she would probably be around his level."
"This is destiny. Who told me not to find you back then?"
Masahiko muttered to himself, sitting quietly and waiting.
Two minutes later, the three returned via Body Flicker.
"Lord Leader, here are the records you requested."
Masahiko took them and flipped through a few pages. The information in the reports was almost identical to his personal guesses.
Hanzo was a cautious person; even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit. At that time, he mobilized half of the Land of Rain's forces to encircle and annihilate the Akatsuki organization. In the end, only Ameyuri Ringo managed to break out while protecting Yahiko, and she was heavily injured by Hanzo in the process.
Over the past few years, they must have been recuperating and training in a hidden location. Returning to the Land of Rain this time, they somehow ended up together with Obito and Rin, and the four of them successfully cornered and killed Hanzo.
As a result, just as they had recovered from their injuries and hadn't even had time to take control of the Land of Rain, a second Hanzo arrived...
"So this is still my fault. Otherwise, they might have already taken control of the Land of Rain."
"No, it wouldn't be that easy. Although the Land of Rain has no other S-rank ninjas, it's not that easy to control either."
Masahiko glanced at the three people opposite him. "You three guessed correctly. The ones who attacked me this time were that Akatsuki; they have risen from the ashes."
"It's really them?" The three looked at each other in dismay.
"This is already the second attack. The first time, I recuperated for three days. This time, I recuperated for one day, but I still let them get away."
"Lord Leader, we will send people to search for them immediately!" The three said in unison.
Unexpectedly, as soon as these words were spoken, their usually resolute leader 'Hanzo' suddenly sighed.
"Stop searching. What does it matter even if we kill them?"
"Lord Leader...?"
"I originally thought I could still lead the Land of Rain for another ten or even twenty years. But these two battles, where I almost died at the hands of a few brats, make me feel that I truly am old," Masahiko sighed deeply.
"Lord Leader, you..."
"No need to comfort me. People always get old. I am, after all, already over sixty. I'm not like Senior Masahiko Uzumaki, who gets younger the longer he lives. He is the only one in the ninja world who remains forever young."
The three opposite him were stunned. "Didn't you say before that the old who do not die are thieves, and Masahiko Uzumaki is nothing but a..." cowering in Konoha and the Land of Whirlpools?
"Did I say that?!"
"You didn't say it, you didn't say it."
Masahiko cursed inwardly. This guy Hanzo actually dared to slander me in front of his subordinates. He died right, he deserved to die!
Calming his emotions, Masahiko continued to speak.
"You probably understand what I mean. I plan to yield the position of the Land of Rain's leader."
The three were shocked. "Lord Leader, without you, our Land of Rain will probably..."
"I know," Masahiko interrupted. "I kept pushing myself before because the Land of Rain couldn't do without me. But it's different now. Although I don't want to admit it, the strength of those brats from the Akatsuki organization has indeed caught up to mine. And the leader of the Akatsuki organization, named Yahiko, is an orphan of the Land of Rain from the Third Ninja War era. He is qualified to serve as the leader of our Land of Rain!"
"Lord Leader!"
The three were about to persuade him further, but were interrupted by Masahiko waving his hand.
"My mind is made up. Prepare yourselves to assist the new leader!"
As if remembering something, Masahiko added, "Are you three perhaps dissatisfied with me handing the leader position over to an outsider?"
The three were startled and repeatedly said they wouldn't dare.
"That is good. You must know, only a person with solid strength is competent for the position of the Land of Rain's leader. You are still lacking."
"Yes!"
Masahiko stood up. "I will go find the Akatsuki organization to negotiate. You stay here; the emissary from the Rock Village will arrive soon."
"Yes!"
Stepping out of the tower, Masahiko breathed a sigh of relief. This kind of technical disguise work truly didn't suit him. But if he used martial suppression, he would only be leaving an empty shell of the Land of Rain for Yahiko... Masahiko was very curious to see how far the surviving Yahiko could go.
"Perhaps without Naruto, the ninja world can achieve peace? Speaking of the current Naruto... he still needs disciplining..." Mentioning this brought nothing but worries.
Activating his sensory abilities, Masahiko scoured every corner of the Land of Rain, and sure enough, he found Yahiko's group of four.
Without hiding his figure, Masahiko walked straight towards that dilapidated house.
Pushing the door open with a smile, a crisp shout rang out from behind the door.
"Hiya!"
Masahiko's right hand, enveloped in chakra, caught Rin's fist. Apart from his white hair blown by the wind of the punch, his entire body remained motionless.
Rin's expression changed, and she raised her right foot. Masahiko also raised his knee to block, causing Rin to stumble back a few steps.
"Obito, quickly take Big Brother Yahiko and run! This Hanzo is even stronger than the previous one!"
"Damn it, so each Hanzo is stronger than the last? Just what kind of monster is Hanzo, Big Brother Yahiko..."
"Don't worry about me." Yahiko sighed deeply, sounding somewhat resigned.
"Rin, Obito, I shouldn't have dragged you two into this. You two run. If you can take Ameyuri with you... even better!"
"What nonsense are you talking about? We might still have the strength to fight!" Ameyuri Ringo and Yahiko walked out, supporting each other. These words truly lacked confidence.
Masahiko merely wore a smile, listening to the four opposite him discussing: Fight or not? How to fight? Run or not? Who runs?
After a long while, Yahiko interrupted them loudly and asked Masahiko.
"I only wish to know who Your Excellency is! Exactly how many Hanzos of the Salamander are there!"
"Heh." Masahiko's mouth twisted, almost laughing out loud.
"There is only one Hanzo (Half-zo), but there's also Quanzao (Full-zo), Liangzao (Two-zo), Sanzao (Three-zo)... Huh? Sanzo?"
The four opposite him looked completely bewildered.
"So the 'Han' in Hanzo meant this all along?" Obito tentatively asked.
"Ah!"
Rin pinched Obito. "You're so stupid, Obito. Can't you see he's messing with us?"
"Haha." Masahiko finally laughed out loud. "I'm not messing with you. I am Sanzo."
"Are you willing to follow your master to the Western Heaven to obtain the true scriptures?"
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