The Land of Rain.
The Rain Village.
A country where it rains all year round.
A ninja village where it rains without end.
Hanzo, currently at the peak of his power, was flipping through the intelligence in his hands.
"Hmph. Konoha, Iwagakure, Sunagakure. These are the so-called Five Great Nations? Yet your wars just have to take place on the territory of our Land of Rain. Is this the arrogance of great powers? Ridiculous."
A surge of massive chakra crushed the intelligence scroll in his hand into powder.
"For so many years, the structure of the ninja world—the Five Great Nations and the Five Great Ninja Villages—has stayed the same. It's time for that structure to change. The people sitting in those positions should be replaced."
"Prepare for a meeting."
"Yes, Hanzo-sama."
...
The Land of Rain borders the Land of Fire, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Wind.
In peacetime, it serves as a buffer zone between the three nations.In wartime, it becomes their arena.
For those three nations, it protects their own territories from the devastation of war to the greatest extent possible.
But for the Land of Rain, it is an unending disaster.
During wartime, the people of the Land of Rain are slaughtered at will by ninja from the three nations, while their resources are plundered.
After the war ends, they must clean up the ruined land left behind, only to be killed or injured by the Explosive Tags, traps, and poison that remain scattered everywhere.
And once the land is finally cleaned up, the ninja from the three nations come again.
Some people even say that the endless rain of the Land of Rain is nothing but the tears shed by its people.
...
"Hanzo-sama, I think we should attack Konoha. A few years ago, Konoha's ironclad ally—the Land of Whirlpool—was destroyed. Konoha only dared to confront Kirigakure afterward, which shows they're strong on the outside but weak on the inside. Besides, Konoha is rich in resources. As long as we seize even a small piece of territory, it'll be worth it."
One of the Rain Village's high-ranking officials spoke.
"Attack Konoha? We should attack Sunagakure instead! Over the years, how many innocent citizens of ours have died under their ninja tools, puppets, and poison? Besides, if we attack Konoha, Sunagakure will definitely seize the chance to ambush us."
Another high-ranking official immediately refuted him.
"What about Iwagakure's Ōnoki? Sunagakure might only ambush us, but once Ōnoki sees our war reach a stalemate, he will absolutely attack. And once they come, they'll firmly occupy our land. For the people of the Land of Earth, land is their lifeblood. Once they take it, it won't be easy to drive them out. Compared to that, Sunagakure only plunders resources—they aren't interested in territory. The Stone ninja are the bigger threat."
An elderly official spoke up.
"Then what if we first annex the Land of Demons behind us? If we seize one meter of land, that's one meter gained. If we seize a kilometer, that's a kilometer gained. Step by step, devouring territory and developing slowly—isn't that better?"
A new strategist wearing glasses proposed a different view. Why chase after the Five Great Nations? Wouldn't it be better to attack smaller countries?
"Harada, that place—the Land of Demons—is very poor. And it's also suppressing a monster. If we talk about annexing it, the daimyo of the Land of Demons would immediately pack his bags overnight and join the Land of Rain. After that, what about the hundreds of thousands of civilians from the Land of Demons? Can the Land of Rain afford to feed them?
"And even if we annex a small country, what does that change? Last year I defeated the leader of the Land of Iron, Mifune. But so what? Those people still start wars in our country whenever they feel like it."
Hanzo explained patiently.
He thought highly of this young man named Harada—this was the future of the Land of Rain. Naturally, he did not hesitate to spend his patience guiding him and helping him grow.
"I'm very sorry, Hanzo-sama. I didn't think it through enough." Harada apologized respectfully.
"It's fine. Making mistakes isn't scary. The most valuable quality is recognizing your mistake and correcting it."
"Understood, Hanzo-sama."
"The national strength of the Land of Rain has already reached its limit. Most of our citizens still can't even get enough food. If we continue to allow the three nations to fight on our land, the destruction of the Land of Rain won't be far away.
"So this time, we must fight back. And not only that—we must start the war ourselves. In this battle, we must truly make those great nations feel pain. We might not win, but as long as those great nations suffer enough losses in the Land of Rain, they won't start wars here again."
Hanzo spoke each word slowly and firmly.
"Hanzo-sama, just tell us what to do, and we'll do it."
"Hanzo-sama, we all follow your command."
"So this time, the targets of our declaration of war are the three great nations—Konoha, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure. We will fight all of them. And we will do it with great fanfare, announcing to the entire ninja world that we are formally declaring war on Konoha, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure at the same time.
"The minor skirmishes of the past few years—how could those count as the Second Great Ninja War? The true Second Great Ninja War will be officially ignited by our Land of Rain.
"After this battle, the name of the Land of Rain will resound throughout the entire ninja world."
Hanzo spoke with boundless ambition.
Just as the others were about to voice their agreement, Harada raised another objection.
"Hanzo-sama, that would be unwise. The Land of Rain has just over eight thousand active ninja, and most of them are genin. We have fewer than a hundred jōnin. It is impossible for us to face three great nations at once.
"And if we declare war first, what if the three nations join forces to destroy us? Even if we squeeze our national strength to recruit more troops—accepting genin early, recalling disabled ninja, and bringing elderly ninja back into service—we would only reach about twelve thousand at most.
"With such a force, we have absolutely no chance of winning."
"Shaking the army's morale before the battle—punishable by death."
"Defying Hanzo-sama's orders—punishable by death."
Some of the higher-ups remained silent, but they had already drawn their ninja swords.
Yet Hanzo burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha!"
"Harada, at first I merely thought you were somewhat capable. But now I officially recognize you as the future successor of the Rain Village."
"Hanzo-sama!"
"Hanzo-sama!"
"Hanzo-sama, I'm not worthy."
"No—you are the most worthy one. You understand our national strength, you know our strengths and weaknesses, and you even remember the numbers of reserve ninja, disabled ninja, and elderly ninja. You are a man who truly holds the Rain Village in your heart."
Hanzo was in an exceptionally good mood. Perhaps it was because he had found a future successor.
He spoke more than usual.
"Harada, what you lack now is only experience. Listen carefully to what I say next."
"Yes, Hanzo-sama."
"The reason our Land of Rain has twelve thousand ninja is because of our national strength. Our resources can only support this many ninja. In other words, this is the strongest our country can ever be.
"Even if we develop for a few more years and new ninja rise through the ranks, older ninja will also die. The overall number will remain about the same.
"We are different from other countries. In our case, the Rain Village is the Land of Rain, and the Land of Rain is the Rain Village. The daimyo has long desired a seat among the Five Great Nations, so he will spare no effort in supporting us."
"As for why we openly declare war—after the declaration, the arrogance of those three great nations will prevent them from believing that we truly have the strength to attack all three of them at once. Instead, they will become more cautious and guard against the other great nations.
"After all, among the Five Great Nations, there are still two others left.
"As long as we gain a slight advantage in the early stages, those three nations will be stuck like a bone in their throat—uncomfortable, but unable to focus entirely on us.
"Compared to us, their lands and resources are far more tempting targets.
"And while they're distracted, we can take the opportunity to grow stronger and plunder resources.
"Then, as long as we hold out until the war ends, our objective will be achieved.
"This is called snatching chestnuts from the fire.
"Harada, do you understand now?"