Kakashi Hatake did not mind Hanzo's condescending attitude. He took a scroll from his chest and presented it with both hands to Hanzo.
Shenda stepped forward, intending to accept the scroll on his behalf, but Hanzo raised a hand to stop him. Even if he had to put on a brave front, he could not show the slightest fear.
Hanzo reached out and took the scroll himself, appearing calm while opening it with caution. If this scroll had been sent by Danzo Shimura, he would never have been so relaxed, given his past cooperation with Danzo Shimura.
But Hiruzen Sarutobi was not Danzo Shimura. He would not use such underhanded methods in a place like this, and the letter inside was earnest in tone.
"..."
As Hanzo scanned the contents, his eyes narrowed slightly. Kakashi Hatake and the others from Konoha watched his expression closely.
On the third day after sending their message, they had received a reply from the Third Hokage. As expected, Hiruzen Sarutobi had not refused and had permitted their actions.
There was only one point where Hiruzen Sarutobi's stance was vague, even meaningful in Kakashi Hatake's eyes. That was the alliance condition of "Konoha helping Hanzo deal with the remnants of Akatsuki."
The seasoned Hiruzen Sarutobi saw farther than the young Kakashi Hatake, understanding that only a troublesome neighbor was a compliant neighbor. If they truly helped Hanzo eliminate Akatsuki, then Konoha would become the next "problem."
Even if they allied with Hanzo and Amegakure, Akatsuki had to be kept as a restraint. As long as the threat of Akatsuki remained, Hanzo would not turn his edge outward.
Kakashi Hatake understood Hiruzen Sarutobi's meaning and had to admit that this Third Hokage was more thorough than he had expected. Still, would Hanzo really agree so easily?
"A letter of intent to form an alliance?"
Hanzo lifted his gaze and looked at the people from Konoha before him, his eyes cold. "You can barely manage yourselves, yet you still play petty tricks. Konoha truly never changes."
As soon as these words fell, the atmosphere inside the tower sank and grew tense. Most of the Amegakure ninja present quickly realized the true purpose of Konoha's visit.
An alliance?
More like wanting them, the Amegakure ninja, to serve as cannon fodder for Konoha.
With that thought, the Amegakure ninja tightened their grips on their weapons, ready to leap forward and hack these damned Konoha ninja to pieces at a single order from Hanzo.
"Hanzo-sama, why do you say that?" Kakashi Hatake asked, his expression unchanged.
"In the eyes of great nations, so-called alliances are nothing but scrap paper," Hanzo said coldly. "Once you lose your value, you tear them up without hesitation."
If such alliances truly mattered, the Third Shinobi World War would never have happened. Because of that, Hanzo did not believe a single word about "alliance" in Hiruzen Sarutobi's letter.
"Hanzo-sama, do you need me to remind you of something?"
Kakashi Hatake looked up at him, his tone still mild, but his words made the faces of Hanzo and the others from Amegakure change. "Once the Land of Fire goes to war with the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth, the Land of Rain will inevitably become the best route of attack for Iwagakure and Sunagakure, and I believe you know their nature well."
He paused briefly, then smiled faintly. "When that happens, will you lend them passage and let those desperate ninjas burn and plunder, or will you resist to the end?"
"And if you resist, where will you obtain the food, weapons, and other supplies needed to sustain your forces?"
This was the shared fatal weakness of Hanzo, Amegakure, and the Land of Rain.
"..."
Hanzo opened his mouth, yet no words came out. He had not expected Konoha to understand the current situation of the Land of Rain and Amegakure to such a degree.
Back then, during the Second Shinobi World War, why had he reached the point where he could no longer endure it and openly declared war on the Five Great Nations? At that time, the Second Shinobi World War had not fully erupted, and conflicts among the Five Great Nations were still restrained and limited to small clashes. The Land of Rain had not refused to act as a buffer zone for the great nations.
But the conduct of Sunagakure and Iwagakure had been unbearable, especially those Sunagakure ninja who were nearly driven mad by poverty. In the Land of Rain, they not only attacked other ninja, but during combat they showed no concern for civilian casualties, and many Sunagakure ninja even burned, killed, and looted, while the Kazekage turned a blind eye.
Sunagakure's finances had never been strong, and looting civilians actually reduced their burden. After all, they were not looting civilians from the Land of Wind. The lives of people from small countries were the cheapest of all.
That was why the still young Hanzo could no longer endure it and flipped the table, leading Amegakure to resist the Five Great Nations. At that time, he was truly young, proud, and full of ambition and illusions, believing he could change the Land of Rain and bring it peace by his own strength.
He thought he was special, and that he and his companions were like the heroes in stories, heroes and their companions who would never die. But when he was wounded in battle and reached out only to touch the blood-soaked corpse of a companion, and when he watched more and more people collapse and starve to death, he understood that no one in this world was special.
After facing reality, he spared his former enemies Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade. At that time, the Land of Rain and Amegakure were already on the brink of exhaustion, and they could not withstand the hysterical fury of Hiruzen Sarutobi after losing his students.
After facing reality, he joined hands with Danzo Shimura to kill Yahiko, who reminded him of his own youth. In his eyes then, everything Yahiko said was nothing but unrealistic fantasy that would shake his hard-won authority and push the Land of Rain into an endless abyss.
Now, however, Hanzo felt regret. If that young man were still alive, if the one called Nagato were still here, if he had not moved against the Akatsuki, if Amegakure had successors.
During the Second Shinobi World War, the reason the Land of Rain had managed neither victory nor defeat was solely because of Hanzo. At that time, he had still been at the peak of a ninja's strength, but now he was old and weary, meaning the Land of Rain had completely lost its final bargaining chip.
Facing the shameless plundering by Iwagakure and Sunagakure, unless he and Amegakure chose not to resist at all, any renewed resistance would quickly lead them back to total exhaustion. Thus, their only remaining choice seemed to be cooperation with Konoha.
No, calling it cooperation sounded better than it was. In truth, it was dependence.
"..."
After a long silence, Hanzo shifted his gaze to the Amegakure ninja behind him and spoke in a hoarse voice. "What do you think?"
The moment the words left his mouth, he felt a wave of disgust. He knew he was not giving them a choice, but pushing the responsibility onto them and avoiding the decision he should have made himself.
He was running from the burden he ought to bear and could not even face who he had become. He had turned into the kind of person he once despised the most.