"Since that's the case, once we enter the village to rest, no one is allowed to rampage around or disturb ordinary civilians from Amegakure."
Kotarou's eyes shone with a cold light.
"So I'm laying down the following rules. Whoever breaks them, I will not spare.
Those who force their way into civilian homes: executed.
Those who loot supplies: executed.
Those who violate civilians: executed.
Those who bully the weak: executed.
Those who extort or force sales: executed."
"These are the five capital offenses. I expect all of you to remember them.
I do not want comrades who are fighting side by side in the morning to become enemies by nightfall.
Next: our unit must maintain discipline.
We do not take even a needle or a thread from the civilians.
Is that clear?"
Kotarou's voice rang out like a hammer striking stone.
The Senju looked at one another, unsure.
In the end, Tsunade was the first to answer.
"Understood."
The Senju followed in a wave.
"Understood!"
Kotarou did not mind their hesitation.
He had already guessed that some shinobi did not agree with these rules; they had only voiced assent because of their princess Tsunade's lead.
What they didn't realize was that this was wisdom brought over from another timeline.
"Now, everyone, follow me into the village. Light steps, slow movements."
Kotarou took the lead.
As the battlefield commander, he naturally had to take point.
Tsunade, uneasy about his safety, walked right beside him.
Once they entered the village, Kotarou swept his gaze around.
He saw civilians peeking at them through windows and cracks in doors, too afraid to make a sound.
So he raised his voice.
"Civilians of the Land of Rain, listen up. We are ninja from Konoha.
I know that, in your eyes, ninja from the great nations are butchers who kill without blinking.
I will not deny that.
But I can promise you this: in this unit, discipline is strict.
We will not harm the people in the slightest.
We only wish to rest here for one night.
We will bed down at the sides of the street and leave the middle of the road clear so that you may move freely.
Please, don't be afraid.
If any ninja commits evil, come to me. I will execute him on the spot."
When he finished, Kotarou ordered the men to set up rain shelters along the roadside.
Some ninja leaned against the walls of civilian homes, others simply lay down on the ground.
They had been marching the whole day without rest, with fights breaking out from time to time.
Their bodies and minds were already thoroughly exhausted.
He then picked twenty ninja to patrol.
After all, the safety of the unit still had to be ensured.
Seeing the Konoha ninja behaving so strictly and orderly, the villagers of the Land of Rain couldn't help feeling shaken.
In the past, the "lord ninja" who passed through were all the same: burning, killing, looting, committing every possible evil.
Why was this unit so disciplined today?
They found it hard to believe.
That night, the Senju unit slept soundly, while the villagers lay awake, hearts unsettled, unsure whether they were dreaming.
They had experienced war before.
But this was the first time they had met such a unit, such a commander.
It felt unreal.
…
Late into the night, two Konoha ninja, covered in wounds, staggered into the village.
They casually picked a house and were just about to open the door to slip inside and take shelter when a voice barked from the darkness.
"Hey!
What do you think you're doing?
Which unit are you from?"
The shout from the patrolling Senju jōnin instantly woke over two hundred nearby ninja.
They leapt up, weapons drawn, turning to face the two battered Konoha shinobi.
"We're from Jiraiya-sama's unit.
We got separated from the main force after a big battle.
When we saw there was a village nearby, we thought we'd grab a bite to eat."
One of the two Konoha ninja gave a casual grin.
"That's right, that's right. We're just here to fill our stomachs, brothers. No need to be so tense."
The other tried to smooth things over with a laugh.
"Men, tie them up."
The patrolling ninja was Ryuichi.
His respect for the commander ran bone-deep.
Without Kotarou, who knew how many casualties their unit would have taken by now.
So when ninja from another unit tried to break Kotarou's rules, he didn't care whose banner they marched under.
He would take them down first and present them to Kotarou for judgment.
"What are you doing? We're comrades from the same village!"
One of them suddenly flared with chakra, scarlet tomoe spinning into existence.
He had awakened a two-tomoe Sharingan, kunai clenched in hand, glaring at the surrounding Senju.
"Don't tell me you Senju still have grudges against us Uchiha?"
The other Uchiha also opened his Sharingan, his only at one tomoe.
"Hmph. You break into a civilian home and still dare to resist?"
Ryuichi snorted.
He stepped in with Tsūten Kyaku (Heaven-Smashing Kick), slamming his heel directly into the two-tomoe Uchiha and knocking him out cold.
Then he followed up with Hōzan Geki (Mountain-Crushing Strike), driving his elbow into the one-tomoe Uchiha and smashing him to the ground.
The other ninja rushed forward and quickly bound them both.
Inside the house, a red-haired child watched all this through the crack in the doorway, eyes wide with disbelief.
Konoha ninja… had just protected them?
The nearby villagers, peeking from their windows and doors, saw the same scene.
A strange, hard-to-describe joy rose quietly in their hearts.
…
Under the eaves of one house, Kotarou was sitting alone, pondering how to deal with Hanzo of the Salamander.
This was, after all, a Kage-level shinobi, a man called a "demigod."
That title was no exaggeration.
True, he could not compare to Hashirama or Tobirama, the true Gods of Shinobi and the God of Speed of the ninja world.
But in the current era, in terms of overall power, calling him a demigod was not an overstatement.
This war that the Land of Rain had launched against the Lands of Wind, Fire, and Earth came down to three main reasons.
First, within the Land of Rain, many factions and organizations were vying for power.
To expand his influence and become the true leader of Amegakure, Hanzo chose to declare war on the three great nations.
No matter how the war ended, as long as everyone could see that he was the one who dared to stand up to the great nations, they would recognize him as the man capable of leading Amegakure.
Second, every time the great nations fought a large-scale war, the battlefield was always chosen in small villages like the Hidden Rain.
It drained the country's strength and bled the common folk dry.
This time, Hanzo had to fight.
Even if he couldn't win, he had to show the world that the Land of Rain would not allow itself to be bullied.
Third, resources.
The Land of Rain was poor and lacking.
War was the most effective way to divert internal pressure caused by resource shortages.
Through plunder, he could make the Land of Rain stronger and richer.
What Hanzo had not expected was that less than a week after his declaration of war, Konoha, Iwa, and Suna had each dispatched troops that pushed rapidly from the borders straight into the heart of his territory.
It was only then that he truly realized: the strength of a single man could not decide the strength of a nation.
Or, to put it another way…
He was still not strong enough, not on the level of a true God of Shinobi.
Someone like that could, by themselves, suppress all five great nations.
"Commander-dono!"
A member of the Senju clan rushed over, dropping to one knee.
Kotarou, who had been deep in thought, lifted his head at the shout and looked at the newcomer.
"Ryuji, what's going on?
What's got you so flustered?"
Kotarou stood up, smiling faintly as he walked forward to meet him.
(End of Chapter)
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