Hanzo stared fixedly at the line reading "Sarutobi Hiruzen."
A heavy feeling welled up in his chest.
"Why…"
"Why is it that even after you've already fallen, you can still stand back up again… and become even fiercer than when you were young? What exactly is supporting you?" Hanzo muttered to himself.
He could not understand it.
Back then, in Hanzo's eyes, Hiruzen had merely been mediocre. He had only lucked into becoming Hokage by virtue of being Senju Tobirama's disciple.
His strength, too, had simply come from being born into the Sarutobi Clan and having access to the resources of a great hidden village.
Whether in talent or spirit, he had been far inferior to Hanzo!
Hanzo closed his eyes and recalled his younger days.
When he had still been a youth, he had taken an enormous gamble and implanted the poison sac of a salamander into his own body in order to grow stronger.
Fortunately, he had won the gamble. Hanzo developed immunity to the poison, and through that, forged a summoning contract with the salamanders.
But every breath he exhaled carried poisonous gas, causing everyone around him to fear him.
In the end, Hanzo had no choice but to wear a breathing mask.
"After that, I discovered I possessed the bloodline of the Hōzuki Clan…"
"I exhausted every possible method before finally learning the Hydrification Technique and the Great Water Arm Technique to enhance my speed and strength."
"And I also absorbed the essence of the samurai… My blade became faster than anyone else's. No one could form hand seals once they got close to me—not even one or two seals…"
Hanzo suddenly let out a nostalgic laugh.
He realized that, in a way, he and Konoha really did share some strange connection…
This close-quarters combat style—using the blade to interrupt hand seals—had been inspired by the fighting style of Uchiha Izuna, which he had once read about in old records before adapting it into his own method.
"Learning from Uchiha Izuna's approach really was an ill omen…"
"He was a loser, after all…" Hanzo mocked himself softly. "And I failed too."
His thoughts drifted to the time when he had ignited the Second Shinobi World War.
Back then, although Hanzo knew he could not compare to Hashirama or Madara, he still believed himself to be a shinobi standing in a class of his own—someone capable of determining the course of an entire war.
The Hydrification Technique that rendered physical attacks ineffective, overwhelming speed, exceptional strength…
Combined with the salamander poison formations capable of inflicting devastating large-scale casualties.
It was an unbelievably luxurious setup.
And because of that, when small-scale conflicts broke out between Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Konohagakure, Hanzo deliberately chose to intensify the tensions and escalate them into the Second Shinobi World War.
His goal was to display his military might through the war itself…
Not to unify the shinobi world, but to make the great hidden villages recognize his ability to influence the tide of war, then use that power to forge a peace alliance through negotiation—thereby indirectly putting an end to warfare.
He hoped the great hidden villages would fear him, this "alliance leader," enough to sit down and talk before resorting to war.
It was a brilliant idea.
But reality was cold.
Once the war truly began, Hanzo realized that while he really was powerful…
The foundations of the great hidden villages were far more terrifying than he had imagined.
And the hatred between shinobi, along with the inertia of endless killing, was not something that could simply be halted.
At first, his salamander poison achieved tremendous strategic results, but soon both Chiyo and Tsunade developed counters against it, greatly diminishing its effectiveness.
His swordsmanship, Body Flicker Technique, and masterful Water Release were certainly formidable, but the powerful shinobi of the other villages were no pushovers either.
All kinds of secret techniques, Kekkei Genkai, combinations of wartime ninjutsu, superior logistics that far surpassed Amegakure, along with the financial support and manpower reserves of the great nations…
All of it taught Hanzo a brutal lesson.
He alone truly was powerful, but not to the point of complete overwhelming dominance.
And although Amegakure was often praised as the "Sixth Great Hidden Village," in reality, even compared to the weakest among the Five Great Villages—Sunagakure—it still lagged behind in nearly every aspect.
They simply were not on the same level.
A trace of melancholy appeared on Hanzo's face.
"After that, I became complacent…"
"A man is like a blade, and willpower is the sharpness of that blade. From that point onward, my will began to dull."
Hanzo let out a sigh.
After the Second Shinobi World War ended, his dreams had been shattered by harsh reality. The lofty ambitions of his youth dissolved just like the salamander poison that others had learned to counter.
His vision changed from becoming the "leader of the shinobi world" to simply ensuring that Amegakure could avoid war and protect its own land and people.
After all, given his fighting style, he still possessed tremendous dominance within the rainy, water-rich terrain of the Land of Rain.
If he took a step back, merely protecting his homeland should have been possible, right?
"But that path doesn't work either…"
Leaning back in his chair, Hanzo stared at the ceiling. "I've become less and less like myself. My body hasn't deteriorated much yet, but both the blade in my hand and my will have dulled together."
The moment he closed his eyes, the name Sarutobi Hiruzen flashed repeatedly through his mind like a genjutsu.
Because in Hanzo's eyes, the two of them were simply far too alike.
They had both once made names for themselves across the shinobi world. In their youth, both had possessed grand ambitions and towering aspirations, only to be crushed by the cold reality of the world and forced onto the path of mere preservation…
Hanzo slowly exhaled.
Back in his younger days, Sarutobi Hiruzen had been known as the "Professor." Many believed he had become Hokage with the goal of surpassing Senju Tobirama himself.
But honestly speaking, even Hanzo—an outsider—knew just how complicated Konohagakure truly was…
The competing powers and ambitions of the various shinobi clans, the massive destabilizing factor that was the Uchiha Clan, and even his own deputy, Shimura Danzō, who was notoriously difficult to control…
Hanzo felt that the fact Hiruzen had managed to hold things together at all already spoke volumes about his ability.
Under this strange sense of shared hardship, Hanzo had quietly kept a close eye on Hiruzen ever since the end of the Second Shinobi World War.
It was almost as if, so long as Hiruzen also failed to manage things properly, Hanzo himself could feel a little more justified in his own resignation…
And Hanzo's expectations had not been wrong. After the war, the internal conflicts within Konoha only grew more intense.
But everything changed a little over three years ago…
Konoha began soaring upward at an astonishing pace!
The village gradually united into a cohesive whole, its economy rapidly flourished, and its military achievements became increasingly remarkable.
They even dared to break the traditional shinobi code without provoking backlash from the nobility—in fact, they had gained support instead…
That development completely stunned Hanzo.
Weren't they supposed to lie flat together and just coast through life? What the hell was with all this effort?
Of course, Hiruzen had no idea what Hanzo was thinking.
Just like he had no idea that he himself was actually Madara's rival…
The two of them really were not close at all. Hanzo was basically forcing a sense of camaraderie onto the Hokage by sheer willpower!
And in the shinobi world, even forced bonds could still become effective so long as one side acknowledged them…
After Hiruzen began devoting himself wholeheartedly to reforming Konoha, Hanzo—who had always secretly watched him—could no longer sit still.
He felt as though he had somehow been abandoned, an unbearable itch crawling beneath his skin.
Originally, he had convinced himself that reality was simply too cruel, that no amount of effort would ever matter.
But now Hiruzen had actually achieved results.
Which meant Hanzo's own attitude of lying flat and giving up…
Didn't that simply prove that he had abandoned his ideals despite still being capable of pursuing them?
"I originally thought Konoha's rise came from Hiruzen selling off the legacy of the God of Shinobi—that it was merely one final burst of madness…" Hanzo sighed.
His initial assumption had been identical to the rhetoric Madara used when deceiving people like Kisame.
But the problem was—
Kirigakure was isolated overseas and had long remained a semi-closed, even fully closed hidden village. Their understanding of other villages had always been shallow to begin with, making it easy to craft convincing narratives through information gaps…
But Amegakure was different.
The Land of Rain sat at the crossroads of three great nations and directly bordered the Land of Fire. Merchant caravans and information constantly flowed through the region with great speed.
Not only that, but small hidden villages possessed their own unique advantages.
The great nations and great hidden villages maintained complete systems and correspondingly powerful control structures.
Take Iwagakure and Kumogakure for example. Their Daimyō and Kage operated almost as two sides of the same coin, deeply cooperating with one another while maintaining extremely strict control over domestic ideology and resources.
After news spread that Hiruzen had become the "Shōgun of the Land of Fire," many foreign nobles became curious about how shinobi had entered the ranks of the highest aristocracy.
And when Madoka Masamune launched his impeachment campaign, he had also mentioned the "Sage Region Pills."
As a result, some nobles across various nations had already learned of Konoha's flagship product.
But neither the Daimyō nor the Kage of the great nations were fools.
They understood perfectly well that while the Sage Region Pills could grant nobles enormous benefits in terms of longevity, they would also severely destabilize the economic systems of their nations.
Once a nation and its hidden village weakened, even a longer lifespan would merely turn them into helpless meat on the chopping block.
Both Kumogakure and Iwagakure maintained extremely hostile and wary attitudes toward the Sage Region Pills. Discussion of them was heavily suppressed, and domestic nobles rarely voiced opposition.
But small nations like the Land of Rain were different.
Small countries suffered constantly under the devastation of war. Their noble factions remained loose and weakly controlled, while personal safety was repeatedly threatened by conflict. Because of that, they became far more obsessed with extending their own lives.
Thus, within the Land of Rain, the legend of the Sage Region Pills only grew more widespread. Quite a few nobles had even approached Hanzo personally, begging him to negotiate peace with Konoha so they could import some…
"So they combined ninjutsu with civilian livelihood and turned it into something the nobility could no longer live without?"
"What a terrifying concept…"
On countless nights, Hanzo had wondered whether Amegakure could replicate such a model, but every time he ultimately abandoned the idea.
Forget Amegakure—even Iwagakure and Kumogakure would struggle to pull it off…
The technical hurdles alone were enormous.
And the endorsement of the Three Sage Regions was something unique to Konoha. Calling them "Sage Regions" was not false advertising in the slightest!
Hanzo slowly rose to his feet and walked before a mirror, staring directly at his reflection.
In truth, he had not aged that much.
But as a person, he had become uglier.
"In the past, whenever I encountered talented young people, I would generously provide them with resources, hoping they wouldn't suffer through the same hardships I endured in my youth…"
Hanzo stared at his reflection in the mirror.
"Because back then, I was confident I could keep people like them under control. I needed more capable subordinates to make Amegakure stronger, so I never cared if young people became powerful…"
"But after I lost my ambition, Amegakure became the last territory I had left. Instead, I started fearing that once talented young people grew up, they would threaten my position…"
"I even became wary of some vague, mysterious Rinnegan nonsense. What a complete joke!" Hanzo recalled the rumors circulating through the Land of Rain.
There was a rapidly rising organization called Akatsuki, merely one among the many shinobi factions within the Land of Rain.
And among them was supposedly a shinobi who possessed the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths…
"When I first heard about it, my immediate thought was actually to kill him!"
"Even if it was only an instinctive thought that I later rejected, the fact I reacted that way at all proves there's something wrong with me now…" Anger toward himself surged within Hanzo.
For hundreds, even thousands of years, the Rinnegan had existed as nothing more than a legend in the shinobi world.
Every few decades, rumors would surface about someone possessing strange ripple-patterned eyes.
People would claim it might be the Rinnegan, only for it to turn out to be some physical abnormality or worthless mixed-blood Kekkei Genkai.
After all, if they truly were the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths, there had to be overwhelming power to prove it…
And the current Akatsuki had yet to display any shocking combat strength, which was exactly why Hanzo found himself so laughable.
To think he had let some unsubstantiated rumor about a dōjutsu disturb his state of mind enough to give rise to murderous thoughts.
Where was the calmness expected of a leader in that?
How was someone like that worthy of being called a hero?
Calling himself a clown would be more accurate!
"I need redemption…"
"I need to atone to my younger self. Otherwise, if this continues, I'll probably end up dying in a truly ugly way one day."
"Sarutobi Hiruzen possesses a heart that seeks peace…"
"He struck at Kusagakure, yet he neither annexed their secret techniques nor took their prisoners. He merely supported the dovish faction instead…"
"That alone is enough to show how different he is from Iwagakure and Kumogakure. Even toward the nobility, his approach is cooperation rather than coercion through force."
Just as a tree trunk must grow over time, a person's reputation was built piece by piece through countless actions.
And over these past few years, Hiruzen's reputation had clearly become extremely solid in Hanzo's eyes.
Hanzo withdrew his gaze and slowly exhaled. In that instant, he seemed to grow several years younger!
He made a decision.
He would ride alone to Konoha!
That way, he could display the utmost diplomatic sincerity and eliminate Konoha's wariness from the very beginning…
Though it would place him in danger.
But Hanzo did not care. In fact, he felt a long-forgotten excitement stirring within him.
This feeling of risking himself for the sake of his village made his heartbeat feel stronger than it had in years!
"Sarutobi Hiruzen…"
"You bastard… don't disappoint me."
"I can't wait to meet you already!" Hanzo curled his lips into a grin as he looked toward the direction of Konohagakure.
He immediately threw himself into work.
Restoring himself to combat readiness, drafting the details of cooperation with Konoha, considering what Amegakure could provide and what it needed in return…
All so that when he finally met Hiruzen, he would have something meaningful to say and could present himself in the best possible state!
...
Konoha.
Research Department.
Tsunade wore a tense expression.
Before her lay an unfurled scroll.
Pale green chakra steadily seeped from it at a controlled pace, diffusing evenly like a thin mist.
The flow remained smooth and stable, hovering continuously above the scroll.
Then the gentle chakra slowly descended, covering the severely damaged area of a cloned limb and repairing it steadily at remarkable speed.
The readings on the instruments also showed that the wounds were being comprehensively restored.
Tsunade suddenly clenched her fist, overflowing with joy.
"Success!!"
The "Nawaki Model" Medical Chakra Scroll had finally overcome the two technical hurdles of "sealed storage" and "controlled release," producing the first prototype.
They had already established the foundation for mass production!
"If we simplify the production process further and have the industrial shinobi below each master only a single module, then we can create the kind of assembly-line large-scale production Sensei talked about…"
"If that happens, every Konoha shinobi going to war will effectively have a second life!"
Tsunade could already see the future.
A Konoha shinobi, gravely wounded in battle, slapping a Medical Chakra Scroll onto their injuries and restoring their fighting capability right before the enemy's shocked eyes!
"The problem now is…"
"We urgently need more blank scroll bases for the production shinobi to practice with…"
"Earlier, Kakuzu said Amegakure could serve as a manufacturing contractor… but how exactly are we supposed to negotiate that?"
Tsunade pondered deeply for a while before decisively giving up on thinking about it.
She would just leave it to Sensei!
Sensei would definitely find a way to solve it…
Her own task was to seize this momentum and perfect the technical specifications of the Medical Scrolls…
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Research Department—
Orochimaru stared at Tobirama's work, his expression gradually becoming strange.
Wait…
You actually know how to do scientific research?!
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