When Hyūga Akira returned to the watchtower, it was completely empty.
Everything looked exactly the same as when he and Kusen had left—tightly shut windows, a cluttered desk, and heavy rainclouds outside dimming the already poor lighting inside.
None of the others had come back to submit reports yet. The only documents on the table were leftovers from the past few days, still waiting to be sorted.
"What a shame."
Akira smacked his lips.
He'd actually hoped a few people would be here—so they could question where he'd gone.
As someone suffering from amnesia and violent mood swings, he would've had a perfectly reasonable excuse to kill them and harvest a bit of experience.
Unfortunately, these people were far too dedicated to their jobs.
Since when were workhorses this conscientious? Couldn't they learn something from him—if you can slack off, then slack off?
Why work so hard?
With no one to trouble him, Akira had no choice but to give up the idea. He sat down at the desk, took out a sheet of paper, and began to write.
"To the esteemed Lord Hanzō…"
He wrote down the entire sequence of events—how he had proactively set traps, how the ambush unfolded, everything.
The goal was simple: show his value.
From start to finish, the letter boiled down to one message—Kiyu (his Rain Village identity) was impressive, extremely capable, and had assisted Kusen in successfully carrying out the assassination.
Only the ending was slightly altered.
In the report, Kusen was no match for Akijima. In the end, he could only resort to an explosive tag and die together with his enemy.
There hadn't even been time for final words.
Left with no other choice, Akira had followed Kusen's original method and contacted Hanzō directly.
"…This should be fine."
He set down his pen and carefully reread the letter, double-checking every line.
This was Akira taking the initiative.
If he just waited around, whoever came next might not be from Hanzō's faction.
More likely, it would be someone sent by Rain Village's official leader—Shōzō. After all, Shōzō still held the legitimate title.
As for Shōzō himself, Akira didn't know much. In canon, the man barely even existed.
But from what Akira did know, Shōzō was gentle—and stupid.
In the end, Hanzō would take full control of Amegakure. Shōzō's fate was obvious.
Akira had no intention of standing on the losing side.
Even if history stayed unchanged, Shōzō would only hold power for another year or two at most.
Now it was already close to the end of the year.
In the 37th year of Konoha's calendar, the Second Shinobi World War would erupt.
By the 38th year, Amegakure would officially become a battlefield.
After finishing the letter, Akira took out Kusen's ninja pouch and dumped its contents onto the desk.
Three kunai.
A dozen shuriken.
Three explosive tags.
One summoning scroll.
And a wallet.
"So poor."
Akira looked at the pile with open disdain.
None of this even counted as real assets to him.
The stone-textured wallet contained just over three thousand ryō.
"Pathetic."
He muttered under his breath, spread the summoning scroll on the table, placed the letter in the center, and rapidly formed the summoning hand seals.
Poof.
Smoke billowed out, and the letter vanished from the scroll.
"Now we wait."
In a dimly lit room, Hanzō's figure was almost completely swallowed by darkness.
Candles illuminated the space, but unless one looked carefully, his silhouette was barely visible.
The flickering flames cast uneven light over the intelligence files on the desk.
Behind a respirator mask, Hanzō's expression remained unreadable.
"Teacher… yielding will only make them push further."
Hanzō growled, his voice thick with suppressed fury.
He didn't particularly respect this so-called teacher of his.
After all, the poison corroding his body—forcing him to live with this breathing apparatus—had been inflicted by that very man.
Shōzō.
The current leader of Amegakure.
Thanks to that poison, Hanzō's strength had already surpassed his teacher's in every aspect.
If not for Shōzō's dual status as both village leader and mentor, the man would have died long ago.
What truly enraged Hanzō was this—
Out of fear of the Three Great Ninja Villages, Shōzō had chosen non-resistance.
This decision—
"This is betrayal!"
"Betrayal of Amegakure! Betrayal of the Land of Rain!"
But even so, Hanzō couldn't act yet.
If he killed Shōzō now, he would be cutting himself off from the village entirely. The next leader would never be him.
Just as his anger simmered, a shadow emerged silently from the darkness.
A Rain ninja knelt on one knee before him.
"Lord Hanzō. Kusen, the shinobi guarding the city near the Land of Fire border, is dead."
The ninja presented a letter with both hands.
"Kusen?"
Hanzō forced his anger down, frowning slightly.
He remembered that place—a forward observation post monitoring Konoha's movements.
He took the letter and skimmed it quickly.
"Kusen… Kiyu…"
He had approved Kusen's plan to assassinate Akijima.
The city's economic value was insignificant. Shinobi lived off missions; noble patronage only meant a handful of extra commissions.
That city was remote, poor, and barely produced any work.
What mattered was that the noble there supported Shōzō—and that the city served as a frontline observation post against Konoha.
It had to be under his control.
He hadn't expected Kusen to die there.
Hanzō stared at the letter in silence for a long time before looking up.
"Did you read it?" he asked.
"Yes." The Rain ninja nodded.
This was standard procedure. All messages delivered via summoning were thoroughly checked—for poison, traps, or hidden mechanisms.
Hanzō valued his life greatly. He was cautious to a fault.
He had to be.
He couldn't kill Shōzō, but that didn't mean Shōzō wouldn't try to kill him.
The man had been hunting for his true location for a long time.
"What did you see?" Hanzō asked, placing the letter on the desk.
The kneeling ninja thought for a moment.
"I saw a mere genin trying to steal a jōnin—no, a chūnin's credit."
The letter's wording was subtle, but it clearly diminished Kusen's contributions while exaggerating Kiyu's role.
Hanzō shook his head.
"No. What I saw was ambition."
"Unrestrained ambition."
He had seen countless people like this.
Either their ambition outweighed their ability…
Or they truly had the strength to back it up.
In the 36th year of Konoha's calendar, what did Amegakure lack the most?
Talent.
"Give him a chance," Hanzō said coldly. "Summon him to see me."
"If he dies along the way, then that only proves he wasn't worthy."
"And that won't be my fault."
"Yes, Lord Hanzō."
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