"Hanzo, we came as agreed. What exactly do you mean by this so-called 'eternal peace'?" the orange-haired boy asked, his voice steady and full.
"Young man, no need to rush," Hanzo replied calmly. "Let us sit and talk at ease, shall we?"
He gestured for the three to take their seats and instructed his subordinates to serve tea.
"Men, pour tea for our guests from the Akatsuki!"
The purple-haired girl standing to the right of the orange-haired boy suddenly tugged at his sleeve. The boy turned back with a reassuring smile.
"I'm here. It's fine.
The three of them took their seats.
The orange-haired boy spoke again.
"You know why we're here, Hanzo. Let's not waste time."
"Of course." Hanzo paused thoughtfully before continuing. "Tell me, how do you view the Land of Rain, caught as it is between the Three Great Nations?"
The orange-haired boy replied steadily:
"Though the Land of Rain suffers from natural geographic disadvantages and relatively weak national strength… as long as we share a common goal and work together, we may yet carve out our own future within these cracks."
"Do you know that Konoha has dozens of times more shinobi than we do? That the Land of Fire has over a hundred times our population?" Hanzo challenged. "How do you intend to bridge such a gap?"
"As long as we focus on cultivating elite ninja and devote ourselves to development, one day we can grow into—"
"Well said!" Hanzo suddenly interrupted. Then he pressed further. "But if I am already focusing on cultivating elite ninja and developing our strength, why have you repeatedly interfered with my grand plans?"
"Because your methods are wrong. War and bloodshed cannot bring lasting peace," the orange-haired boy answered without hesitation.
"If you had not obstructed me, why would I have been forced to launch a civil war?" Hanzo countered.
"So many years have passed since the Second Great Ninja War, yet I see no fundamental change in the Land of Rain. Refugees displaced from their homes, war orphans left behind—they are still everywhere. If your approach were truly correct, those people would already be living in peace and prosperity!" The boy's voice rang with conviction.
Hanzo shook his head.
"The problems left behind by war are not merely physical and psychological trauma. There is also a massive fiscal deficit. These things cannot be resolved overnight…"
"No!" the orange-haired boy shot back, his momentum rising like a storm. "It's because resources are monopolized by those who benefit from them. Power is hoarded by the ruling class. You have never cared about the lives of the common people!"
He's certainly not pulling any punches with the truth, Shimizu commented inwardly.
The orange-haired boy clearly possessed a strong sense of justice. To speak so fearlessly in front of Hanzo—whose presence pressed upon the room like a tangible weight—required immense courage.
From Shimizu's chakra perception, the boy's reserves even seemed to slightly surpass his own. At such a young age, to possess this level of strength—he was undoubtedly a genius.
The girl to his right was no weakling either; she carried the level of a jōnin.
But what about the silent boy on the left, the one with dark red hair?
Why was his chakra signature so faint?
How could someone so unimpressive stand alongside such talented companions in a setting like this?
Shimizu didn't understand.
But he knew one thing—
These three youths were the targets of this mission.
The moment Danzo Shimura gave the order, all three would die here.
Such a simple task—did it truly require this much mobilization?
Yes, the orange-haired boy was strong. But not monstrously so. Shimizu did not believe that Hanzo, standing at the peak of Kage-level power, would be unable to deal with three teenagers.
Was there something he had overlooked?
Or did these youths have some hidden backing?
"Say what you will," Hanzo concluded at last. "I will ask you one final time. Are you willing to submit to me—serve under my command—and thereby bring a complete end to Amegakure's internal strife?"
"So this is your idea of eternal peace?" the orange-haired boy replied coldly.
"As long as the Akatsuki disbands and you become my subordinates, Amegakure will have no civil war. And naturally… there will be eternal peace."
"But the displaced civilians and orphans are still living in misery…" the orange-haired boy said, enunciating each word.
"I will change all of that. I swear it," Hanzo replied solemnly.
"Two years ago, I believed you once. But I saw no action from you… So today, I don't believe you, Hanzo."
The orange-haired boy rose to his feet, effectively declaring the collapse of the negotiations.
"What a pity. In the end, you still choose to plunge Amegakure into civil war… Since you have chosen war…" Hanzo sighed regretfully.
The previously silent Danzo Shimura suddenly opened his sharp left eye and coldly ordered:
"Strike!"
Eight Konoha ANBU moved instantly. Eight kunai shot toward the nearest targets.
In Shimizu's calculation, the first wave of surprise attacks should at least have taken down the silent red-haired genin.
But in that briefest of moments, a wall of water surged abruptly within the room, encasing the three youths and intercepting every kunai.
It was the B-rank Water Release defense: Water Formation .
To cast it in a place without an existing water source—and almost instantaneously at that—
And at a speed perhaps even faster than his own.
It was the orange-haired boy's doing.
Shimizu hadn't expected Amegakure to possess such a young shinobi so proficient in Water Release.
Then—
A violent explosion erupted.
The water wall vanished at once.
In the blink of an eye, the three youths had disappeared. A massive hole had been blasted through the spot where they had stood.
They had clearly prepared for this.
"When did those brats set up explosive tags…?" Hanzo muttered bitterly.
Even with the assistance of the Konoha Anbu, the targets had escaped.
"No need to worry. I've laid a dragnet outside," Danzo said confidently. "Kuryū. Zero. Take your respective squads. You must capture the three of them!"
"Yes!" ×2
Shimizu and Zero, the captain of another Root squad, responded simultaneously.
When they rushed out of the building, the sight before them was shocking.
In the distance, hundreds of shinobi were launching an assault on the tower. Scattered Root members and Amegakure ninja were scrambling to form defensive lines.
They were just three teenagers—
How could they possibly wield such influence?
"Two years ago, those three began operating throughout the Land of Rain," Hanzo explained calmly. "They shouted naïve slogans—claiming they would change the country, build bridges of understanding between people, and pave a road toward world peace. Heh. Such unrealistic, hollow ideals… and yet so many fools were willing to believe them."
"By now, their mercenary organization has gathered at least five hundred members."
For a small village like Amegakure—even at the height of the Second Great Ninja War—the total standing ninja force would not have exceeded two thousand. That meant, at most, five fully staffed ninja regiments.
After years of warfare and population loss, maintaining three to four regiments would already be considered considerable.
With such strength behind them, it was indeed difficult for Hanzo to eliminate the rebels without paying a heavy price.
And according to Hanzo, those three youths were as slippery as loaches, always managing to escape his encirclements.
For Amegakure, the worst-case scenario had arrived.
A new war was about to once again wash over this battered land.