"This… might be the last thing I'm still good for."
Konan's face was bloodless. Her voice turned bitter as she spoke through trembling breath.
"Akatsuki is finished. The Hidden Rain Village is finished too… so kill me."
Shhk—!
As soon as the words left her mouth, her hands shifted slightly.
The countless paper bombs encircling Ren instantly scattered—then detonated one after another.
BOOOOM—!!
A thunderous roar tore through the sky.
Hundreds of billions—no, countless explosive tags—erupted into a catastrophic shockwave that made the very heavens above the Hidden Rain Village tremble.
Ren's mouth twitched.
What a spendthrift…
He hadn't expected her to set them all off so casually.
Explosive tags were expensive in the shinobi world—absurdly expensive.
A woman who could blow up hundreds of billions of them in one go…
Ren was willing to admit it.
Konan was the richest woman alive.
"This ends now."
After triggering the explosion, Konan stood on the tower platform, staring down at the utterly ruined Hidden Rain Village.
For the first time in years, a trace of relief surfaced on her face—as if she were finally free.
She raised a kunai.
But the moment she moved to stab herself—
Her vision blurred.
Ren was suddenly in front of her.
Before she could even react, he knocked the kunai out of her hand.
Clang.
"…You."
Konan stared at the fallen blade, confusion flashing in her eyes.
She couldn't understand it.
Why wouldn't he kill her?
Why would he stop her?
Ren rolled his shoulder once, as calm as ever.
"Once Konoha takes over The Hidden Rain Village, we'll be rebuilding and restructuring the place. You still have value."
"No."
Konan shook her head, jaw set.
"I will never defect to Konoha."
Ren smiled faintly, unbothered.
"If you don't cooperate, I'll go down there and slaughter every Hidden Rain shinobi and civilian who's lying unconscious right now."
Konan's body jerked.
Her face contorted with pain and fury, as if the threat had physically struck her.
"…You're a demon."
She hadn't expected it—someone this strong, this "godlike," resorting to something so shameless.
Using the entire village as a hostage.
Forcing her to submit.
Ren's expression cooled.
He didn't soften. He didn't hesitate.
"From today onward, you're Konoha's prisoner."
Konan struggled weakly—then all strength drained from her limbs.
She collapsed onto the stone platform, staring blankly into the wreckage below.
One day later, Konoha's main force finally arrived in The Hidden Rain Village.
When they saw the devastation, cold air was sucked in from every direction.
The tower structures were obliterated.
The ground was carved into jagged trenches and craters.
Even without being told, anyone could see it—this had been a battle on a scale beyond reason.
And in that moment, countless shinobi reached the same conclusion:
The Fifth Hokage was terrifying.
Not reckless.
Not bold.
Not arrogant.
Just… unquestionably overwhelming.
After that, the rest was simple.
With the cooperation of the "Angel of Akatsuki," Konan, it took less than half a day for Konoha's forces to fully seize control of The Hidden Rain Village.
Then Konoha issued a public statement to the entire shinobi world:
The Hidden Rain Village had been annexed.
From this day onward, it would exist as a subordinate territory under Konoha.
The shinobi world erupted.
No one had expected it.
Akatsuki attacked Konoha—
and Konoha answered by turning around and swallowing The Hidden Rain Village whole.
Swift.
Ruthless.
Clean.
It made every major village's scalp prickle with fear.
What was even more terrifying was this:
In all of Konoha's history—from the First Hokage to the Fourth—Konoha had never annexed another shinobi village outright.
But the moment the Fifth took power… he did it.
It was a signal.
A warning.
Konoha had changed.
And now it was no longer merely defending itself.
It was ready to devour.
Sunagakure
After the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, was killed by the Fifth Hokage, Sunagakure fell into chaos.
But at the critical moment, Elder Chiyo stepped forward, joining forces with Ebizo to stabilize the village at lightning speed and prevent collapse.
Now, inside the Kazekage's office—
Chiyo and Ebizo sat in silence, staring at a freshly delivered intelligence scroll.
Neither spoke.
Yet the room grew heavier by the second.
At last, Chiyo lowered the scroll and exhaled.
"The Fifth Hokage—Uchiha Ren—has fully bared his fangs. He annexed The Hidden Rain Village."
Ebizo's face was grim.
"Yes… It looks like Konoha is walking the path of hegemony and brute rule."
"Powerful enough to do whatever he wants," Chiyo spat, her voice thick with resentment. "Too domineering."
She narrowed her eyes, old anger and disbelief mixing together.
"What kind of monster is this Fifth Hokage? Does he not have even a shred of the Will of Fire?"
Ebizo's smile was bitter.
"The Third Hokage, who preached that Will of Fire… was killed by the Fifth."
Chiyo's wrinkled brow tightened.
"Then what do we do?"
"We already surrendered once… but if Konoha decides to annex Sunagakure next—what then?"
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