Amegakure, the topof the high tower.
This was the highest point in the entire village, and also the residence of the "demigod," Hanzo of the Salamander.
Outside the tower, the rain never stopped.
Inside, however, it was as warm as spring.
Hanzo of the Salamander sat cross-legged on a tatami mat, quietly polishing his giant scythe.
Kneeling before him was a trembling Amegakure chunin.
It was the survivor who had escaped from Jiraiya and the others.
"...And that's what happened. Lord Hanzo, those three Konoha brats are... they're simply monsters!"
The chunin's voice was still laced with lingering fear.
Hanzo's polishing motions stopped.
He looked up. His face, hidden behind a giant respiratory mask, showed no expression.
But his eyes were as sharp as a blade.
"Monsters?"
He spoke slowly, his voice muffled by the respiratory mask.
"Three Konoha brats took out the three elite squads you were leading, so you call them monsters?"
"Y-yes, Lord Hanzo!"
The Amegakure ninja lowered his head even further. "The white-haired kid uses a large-range Earth Release; the blonde girl is terrifyingly strong. The scariest one is the pale-skinned one. His ninjutsu is very bizarre, and he specifically targets vital points!"
Hanzo was silent.
He put the scythe aside, stood up, and walked to the window, looking down at the village shrouded in rain.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen..." he murmured the name.
"Is this your response? Sending three brats as bait? Are you trying to tell me that your Konoha has no one left to use?"
A contemptuous smile touched the corner of his mouth.
In his opinion, Sarutobi Hiruzen's move was utterly foolish.
The Land of Rain was the main battlefield, a meat grinder.
Sending three prodigies to their deaths, what good would it do other than to prove that this new Hokage was naive and incompetent?
"It seems the death of the Second Hokage has indeed crippled Konoha."
Hanzo made his judgment.
"In that case, there's no need to waste any more time with them."
He would use a resounding victory to show the entire ninja world who the true master of this land was.
He would crush these three ignorant Konoha insects and hang their heads on the gates of Amegakure as a humiliation to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Relay my orders," Hanzo said, turning to the chunin kneeling on the floor.
"Yes! Lord Hanzo!"
"Send the Kijin Brothers."
Hearing the words "Kijin Brothers," the Amegakure ninja's body shuddered violently, and fear flashed in his eyes.
The Kijin Brothers.
Muryu, Uryu.
They were not native-born ninja of Amegakure, but elite jonin who had defected from Kirigakure in their early years.
The two brothers were telepathically linked and had a perfect rapport, specializing in combination attacks of Water Release and poison techniques.
They were cruel by nature, taking pleasure in torturing and killing their opponents. In all of Amegakure, they were feared even by their own comrades.
Because their methods were too bloody, Hanzo rarely used them.
But now, to give Konoha a show of force, he decided to unleash these two most ferocious mad dogs.
"Tell them," Hanzo's voice was cold and devoid of any emotion, "I want to see the heads of those three Konoha brats."
"Yes! Lord Hanzo!"
The chunin received his orders and scrambled out.
...
In another forest in the Land of Rain.
Two men, wearing Amegakure uniforms and looking about 70-80% similar, were leaning against a large tree, sheltering from the rain out of boredom.
They were the Kijin Brothers.
The older brother, Muryu, was relatively calm and had his eyes closed in meditation.
The younger brother, Uryu, seemed a bit agitated, constantly scratching something on the ground with a kunai.
"Big brother, what do you think Lord Hanzo is thinking? Sending us to deal with three Konoha brats is such an overreaction, don't you think?" Uryu complained.
"Shut up," Muryu said without opening his eyes. "We just carry out Lord Hanzo's orders."
"I'm just bored," Uryu pouted. "I heard one of those three brats is a pretty blonde. Hehe, when we catch her, we'll have to have some fun."
Just then, an Amegakure messenger ninja appeared before them.
"Lord Muryu, Lord Uryu, Lord Hanzo has an order for you to immediately set out for coordinates 236, 431, and eliminate Konoha's advance unit."
"Got it."
Muryu slowly opened his eyes and stood up.
Uryu also put away his kunai, a cruel smile on his face.
He stuck out his tongue and licked his short sword, which was coated with a deadly poison.
"Finally, some fun."
The two brothers' figures instantly blurred into afterimages and disappeared into the rain.
Their speed was extremely fast, and they moved through the complex forest as if it were flat ground.
Soon, they arrived at the designated area.
"Big brother, they're just ahead," Uryu's nose twitched. He could smell the scent of living people in the air.
"Mm," Muryu nodded. "Same old routine. I'll create the environment, you do the reaping."
"Alright!" Uryu rubbed his hands in excitement.
Muryu's hands flew through seals.
"Water Release: Hiding in Mist Technique!"
A mist, even denser than the surrounding environment and carrying a faint, sweetish smell, spewed from his mouth and rapidly spread towards the area where Jiraiya and the others were.
This mist not only obscured vision, but it was also mixed with a special poison he had concocted, which could slowly paralyze the enemy's nerves through the respiratory tract.
On a rainy day like this, this poisonous mist was practically an unbeatable technique.
"Konoha brats, are you ready... to die slowly in despair?"
Uryu looked at the forest shrouded in the poisonous mist and let out a neurotic, sinister laugh.
He licked his blade, his eyes filled with a bloodthirsty light.
"Ready to feel despair?"
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