At that very moment, however, an unexpected incident occurred.
A merchant from another village who was being questioned by Uchiha En suddenly hurled a smoke bomb onto the ground.
His body burst forward like lightning.
A faint layer of electrical energy covered his skin, clearly the result of using Lightning Release chakra to stimulate and enhance his body.
He sprinted away at full speed in the opposite direction.
He was a Kumogakure spy.
The moment he saw Hanzō and Hiruzen approaching side by side, his expression had changed noticeably.
En had caught that reaction immediately.
Combined with the lingering scent of Kumogakure that he couldn't completely wash away—a scent already flagged by Inuzuka ninken—the man had been under surveillance from the moment he entered Konoha.
After only a couple of questions, the spy had cracked.
"Not bad, kid! Fast reaction!"
En barked as the three tomoe of his Sharingan spun into view.
It had been a long time since he'd seen anyone cause trouble inside Konoha.
And of all days, it had to happen during Hanzō's visit.
Those damned Kumogakure bastards.
Weren't they deliberately making both him and the Uchiha look bad?
In truth, this had nothing to do with whether the Police Force was competent.
The shinobi world simply operated that way.
Infiltration and counter-infiltration never stopped.
But the Uchiha cared deeply about appearances.
"Hokage-sama?"
Hanzō frowned.
The Kumogakure spy was clearly an elite specialist in speed.
His other capabilities were difficult to judge, but his movement speed alone surpassed that of most jōnin.
Without question, he was one of Kumogakure's best.
"It's nothing."
Hiruzen remained calm.
He didn't move.
He trusted Konoha's defense system.
An enemy wouldn't be allowed to escape.
And just as the words left his mouth—
A lightning bolt compressed to the absolute limit shot down from above like divine judgment itself.
The attack pierced directly through the Kumogakure spy's throat with terrifying precision.
The one who fired it was Hyūga Hizashi.
Even against a target moving at such speed, Hizashi's accuracy and predictive abilities were clearly superior.
En glared with his three-tomoe Sharingan.
"Tch..."
"Whatever. Dead is dead."
"Aburame boys, give me a hand and send this disgusting piece of trash to the Intelligence Analysis Division. I'd bet good money he's from Kumogakure."
Though somewhat annoyed, En was even more shocked.
He had seen that Hizashi was the one who fired the attack.
But the distance had been absurd.
The Hyūga had been using Gentle Fist for nearly a thousand years.
Since when had they gained a trick like that?
Hanzō was stunned as well.
What kind of technique was that?
He couldn't help imagining what would happen if Amegakure ever went to war with Konoha.
With nothing more than that kind of ultra-long-range precision strike, there were very few shinobi in Amegakure who could withstand it.
And if even elite shinobi struggled...
The village's mid-level forces would fare even worse.
If they encountered Konoha forces in the forests of the Land of Fire and got drawn into a long-range engagement, wouldn't they simply be picked off one by one?
Meanwhile, Hiruzen looked thoroughly pleased.
Who didn't appreciate a good student?
Clearly, Hizashi had taken Hiruzen's lessons on chakra control, compression, and release seriously.
And by combining those principles with the strengths of the Caged Bird Seal and the Byakugan, he had developed a style that was uniquely his own.
'What an astonishing technique...'
Hanzō muttered to himself.
"Who was that?"
"That would be my eyes and my right-hand man."
Hiruzen answered with a smile.
Hanzō let out a sigh.
He had trusted subordinates of his own.
But compared to Hiruzen's, they seemed to fall a little short...
The small incident quickly passed.
After all, cleaning up a corpse didn't take long.
The two men continued into Konoha's inner district.
Their first stop was the Ninja Academy.
After seeing the students' baseline abilities, Hanzō's expression gradually became numb.
These were Academy students?
Many of them were already on par with the chūnin Amegakure would send.
Hanzō also quickly noticed the densely packed schedules of public classes taught by Konoha's shinobi parents.
"Let's take a look at today's menu."
Hiruzen led Hanzō into one of Konoha's kitchens.
A dazzling variety of dishes was being prepared in an orderly fashion, filling the air with rich aromas.
"All of this is for the Academy students?"
Hanzō couldn't help asking.
"It can be for the two of us as well."
Hiruzen chuckled.
"The children are still growing, so naturally they should eat well. The village provides it free of charge."
Hanzō's expression became somewhat unnatural.
Amegakure was poor.
Most children there struggled just to fill their stomachs, let alone eat meals like these.
That reality was inseparable from both the country's harsh environment and the devastation caused by the Second Shinobi World War.
Next came a tour of Konoha's various districts.
The only place Hanzō was not shown was the highly classified Research Department.
He spent a very long time standing before the Uchiha Clan's model public notice board.
Much like Kisame had done before him, he carefully read every single policy and benefit Konoha provided.
His expression shifted from disbelief...
To numbness...
And then to something approaching fanaticism as he reread everything again and again.
Was this really how shinobi lived?
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Hanzō never would have believed it.
Then came Konoha Hospital.
There, Hanzō witnessed Konoha's ongoing implementation of prosthetic limbs and Medical Chakra Scrolls.
"Sensei! I was just about to talk to you about this!"
Tsunade came striding over energetically.
The moment she saw Hanzō, her brow instinctively furrowed.
It couldn't be helped.
Any of the Sannin would probably react that way upon seeing him.
Hanzō looked slightly awkward.
Times had changed.
Back then, he had stood atop his giant salamander, looking down upon Tsunade and the others as he bestowed upon them the title of Sannin.
He had held the superior position.
But after witnessing Konoha's current strength, Hanzō finally understood why Hiruzen had insisted on showing him everything before discussing cooperation.
He didn't dare dream of making Amegakure equal to Konoha.
At this point, if Amegakure could achieve even half of Konoha's prosperity, it would feel like New Year's Day every single day.
"I didn't expect to see you here in the village."
Tsunade studied Hanzō with a complicated look.
"Sensei, what's going on here?"
"The truth is that Hanzō and I have been friends for many years."
Without changing expression, Hiruzen repeated the narrative Hanzō had been promoting within Amegakure.
"We were both misled by Sunagakure and Iwagakure and unfortunately ended up fighting amongst ourselves."
Hanzō's eyes lit up.
He knew it.
He had always paid close attention to Hiruzen.
And Hiruzen had clearly been paying attention to him as well!
The two of them had been kindred spirits from afar for years!
"I really don't understand you Kage-types."
Tsunade's mouth twitched.
"When I become Hokage, I'll just say what I mean."
Then she paused.
"Actually, that's not right. Hanzō isn't a Kage. He's just a village leader."
Hanzō's face darkened.
"Thank you for the correction, Tsunade-hime of the Sannin."
Tsunade nearly lost her composure and was about to say something else.
"Alright, alright..."
Hiruzen hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.
"Let's not dwell on the past."
The two of them were practically tearing open old wounds at this point.
"Sensei, the first version of the Medical Chakra Scroll is finished."
Tsunade's expression turned serious.
"I need some Academy students—or perhaps skilled shinobi sparring with one another—to test it and provide practical data and user feedback."
True user experience could only be gathered through extensive real-world use.
After all, Medical Chakra Scrolls were intended to save lives on the battlefield.
Even the smallest flaw could determine whether a Konoha shinobi lived or died.
Of course, Konoha's abundant finances also gave Tsunade the freedom to conduct testing on this scale.
"Don't worry. Every scroll contains an ample amount of medical chakra."
She grinned.
"As long as the head or heart hasn't suffered a fatal injury, it can save them."
"And I've prepared a special batch with even greater capacity for you."
"I know you enjoy sparring with the village's shinobi, but you're always holding back because you're worried about accidentally injuring your own people. Now you won't have to."
"When Jiraiya gets back, Sensei, you absolutely have to beat him up properly!"
Tsunade ground her teeth.
"He just won't stop hyping himself up. One minute he's claiming he's invincible, the next he's bragging about being a great author and talking about how he's going to 'Break Through the Shinobi Heavens'!"
Hiruzen couldn't help laughing.
Jiraiya really was a living source of amusement.
Clearly, after Mount Myōboku had saddled Hiruzen with the title of "Teacher of Prophecy," it had effectively cured Jiraiya's chronic overthinking.
Because Mount Myōboku and Konoha were now fully aligned.
Jiraiya no longer needed to agonize over vague, unresolved questions.
His personality had become increasingly cheerful.
In fact, he had grown downright lively.
Meanwhile, Hanzō had fallen into deep thought.
Medical Chakra Scrolls?
If those could be mass-produced for battlefield use, the strategic implications would be unimaginable.
And at this point, Hanzō felt he finally understood.
The reason Hiruzen was willing to pursue cooperation with Amegakure was probably because the two of them had admired one another from afar for years.
They understood each other's struggles.
That was why Hiruzen had extended a helping hand.
Otherwise, weren't there plenty of other candidates for cooperation?
Of course, the reality was more complicated than that. As the unofficial "Sixth Great Hidden Village," Amegakure possessed unique strategic value that could not easily be replaced.
But after being overwhelmed by one Konoha miracle after another, Hanzō couldn't help arriving at that conclusion.
"Hokage-sama..."
"I've seen Konoha's sincerity."
"And I've seen Konoha's prosperity."
"At this point, I'm sure you understand that Amegakure's greatest asset is me."
Hanzō fixed his gaze on Hiruzen.
"You also know that if we're going to achieve deep cooperation, military strength will always be the most important bargaining chip and the foundation of trust in the shinobi world."
"Since we've happened upon these Medical Chakra Scrolls developed by Tsunade..."
"How about we have a match?"
"Consider it serving as the first field test."
Tsunade's brow immediately tightened.
She knew exactly how powerful Hanzō was.
But what she hadn't expected was Hiruzen's reaction.
He agreed immediately, almost as though he feared Hanzō might change his mind.
"Sounds good!"