"I know, I'm just a little anxious, worried that those ninja won't go clean up the camps and will instead be wiped out themselves."
Naori looked helpless: "What nonsense are you talking about? You know full well how weak these camps are. How could they possibly counter-kill the allied ninja forces?"
"I'm truly not sure why they put such a large pile of garbage out in the open. It feels completely useless. Is it purely meant to be annoying?"
In fact, even Torifu himself wasn't sure about this. Perhaps it was a trick by Blaze, or perhaps it had another purpose. However, it didn't matter what the reason was, because they would all soon become ruins.
"Perhaps when the mastermind appears, everything will be resolved. Our own guesses are pointless."
Naori nodded helplessly: "That's all we can do."
...
In a certain secret underground base in the Land of Rain, a man and a woman seemed to be discussing something.
"Blaze-sama, almost all the Kage-level ninja we sent out are dead. What exactly is your plan?"
The man who spoke was Hanzō. In the years that had passed, he had aged considerably. This life of never seeing the light of day had almost become his norm. The once-glorious leader of the Land of Rain had become a mouse surviving in the shadows. This was a life he originally couldn't stand, but even he hadn't expected to endure it and live on.
Blaze, however, remained young and beautiful. Her charming features and fiery red hair were practically unchanged from years ago. She was smiling broadly, and only chuckled at Hanzō's question: "Don't worry. You should be able to tell that I sent them out to die, and they completed that mission very well."
"I must say, you played a crucial role in this plan. Once we defeat Kumotsuru Torifu, I can give his country to you to manage."
The promise Blaze gave was beautiful, enough to make one dizzy! But Hanzō seemed immune to it. After all these years, Hanzō had heard this promise countless times. Yet, until now, they were still rats hiding in the dark, and the citizens he had misled were being slaughtered one by one.
Hanzō was deeply uncomfortable. He had been defeated for so long, yet when he reappeared, so many citizens still followed him, believing in him wholeheartedly. But in return, he had sent all those trusting people to the battlefield—no, it couldn't even be called a battlefield, but a slaughterhouse. They were like pigs, cattle, and sheep, being casually butchered because most of them were just ordinary people.
Misled by Hanzō's few words, they had all picked up long swords and dressed up as rōnin, constantly shouting the slogan of 'restoring the nation.' In reality, they had no chance of restoring the nation; they were merely being used as bait.
Hanzō had been with Blaze for so long, constantly fleeing and dodging in the dimly lit underground base. His morale had long since vanished without a trace. Perhaps the day he was defeated by Torifu was the day he lost his spirit.
At this moment, he had no interest in restoring the nation, but he had to obey Blaze's orders in order to survive. Hanzō's current life was not good, but he at least had the motivation to keep living. That was why he listened to the orders, spread the word in the Land of Rain, and gathered a large number of former subordinates and ordinary citizens. Well... most of them should be dead by now.
"Blaze-sama, I no longer dare to hope for the Land of Fire or anything else. I just want to know, with the citizens of the Land of Rain being slaughtered like this, what exactly is your plan!"
Blaze instantly Shunshin'd in front of Hanzō. She looked at his aged face and laughed: "It's, of course, to prepare me to defeat Kumotsuru Torifu! The 'Lord' is waiting for his body!"
Hanzō had heard the 'Lord' mentioned by Blaze countless times, but he had never met him. From Blaze's tone, she was extremely respectful and fearful of this 'Lord,' whose strength should far surpass hers.
It was this 'Lord' behind Blaze that gave Hanzō a sliver of hope. He thought that if a subordinate as powerful as Blaze encountered danger, this 'Lord' would surely intervene.
But the truth was quite different. Only Blaze herself knew how anxious she was right now.
Last time, she had caused such a huge commotion, almost turning the entire ninja world upside down, but in the end, not only did the mission fail, but she also caused several countries to form an alliance that was as impenetrable as an iron barrel, giving her no idea how to proceed.
This time was Blaze's last chance. She still chose to declare war with great fanfare, just like last time. This was because the plan she had devised gave her enough confidence to believe she could definitely defeat Kumotsuru Torifu.
If she failed again this time, she would be erased. Her corpse would become material for researching the next artificial human. She absolutely would not accept such a tragic end! But from the moment she was created, a timer device had been implanted in her body. The researchers and Isshiki could instantly kill her at any time.
She had only lived in this world for less than a dozen years and had not yet experienced many beautiful things. She didn't want to die, so she only had one choice: capture Kumotsuru Torifu and bring him back to become the 'Lord's' new vessel. As long as he could freely use his abilities, the 'Lord' could take all of them back to his homeworld.
"That's enough, Hanzō. You don't have any real feelings for these people, so stop being hypocritical in front of me."
Blaze stroked her face, her words directly striking Hanzō's core.
"You just want to push the blame onto me, but I don't mind. In fact, I'm quite happy to do it. After all, if the mission succeeds, this is a great service, isn't it?"
Blaze's voice was piercing, penetrating Hanzō's eardrums and echoing in his mind.
Finally, he spoke with extreme difficulty: "I... didn't mean that!"
Blaze laughed even louder upon hearing this: "Hahaha, I just love your hypocrisy. It's exactly the same as when I first found you! You were willing to give me your most trusted subordinate for my concoctions, so what do these citizens even count for now?"
Hanzō turned his head, refusing to look at Blaze.
Whether it was his imagination or not, he always felt that Blaze's strength was growing stronger and stronger. Her power was changing almost daily. Although Blaze herself had never mentioned it, Hanzō could tell.
These people being sent out to guard the camps were definitely not merely being sent to their deaths. There must be something he didn't know about happening in the background.
However, Hanzō was in no mood to investigate.