A few days later.
Outside Amegakure.
Hanzō was conducting a field inspection with Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan.
"See this?"
Hanzō pointed at the ground.
"To deal with the extreme weather in the Land of Rain, the entire surface drainage system needs a complete overhaul..."
"The core drainage pipeline network also needs to be upgraded to improve discharge capacity and prevent backflow..."
"Flood-control systems are thirty percent construction and seventy percent maintenance. Given the year-round rainfall and the tendency for facilities to become clogged and corroded, we need to establish a permanent operations and maintenance mechanism."
"I've already allocated the necessary funds. As for material selection and personnel assignments, Yahiko, it's time for you to shoulder more responsibility and start training yourself in these matters."
Yahiko couldn't help staring with his mouth slightly open.
The Akatsuki Organization they had founded had plenty of idealistic slogans and dreams, but very little that actually translated into concrete improvements for the Land of Rain...
After all, they were just a group of teenagers on the verge of adulthood.
Their combat ability wasn't bad, but they lacked any meaningful political or economic resources. There was only so much they could accomplish.
Behind him, Nagato and Konan wore equally stunned expressions, both looking impressed despite not fully understanding what they were hearing.
Seriously...
If Hanzō-sama had always been this farsighted and spent his time doing this many practical things...
Why would we have founded the Akatsuki Organization in the first place?
"I..."
"Can I really do this?" Yahiko couldn't help doubting himself for a moment. Then he took a deep breath.
"Hanzō-sama, I'll give it everything I've got!"
"Don't put too much pressure on yourselves..." Hanzō chuckled.
"To be honest, there are plenty of terms here that I don't understand either. I asked the Hokage-sama to put this plan together. It contains the collective wisdom of both him and the Nara Clan..."
"I've already spoken with the Hokage. Your senior fellow disciple will be coming to guide you. You should integrate with the Konoha shinobi as quickly as possible. If another war breaks out in the shinobi world, Amegakure and Konoha will be comrades who fight side by side."
Yahiko nodded, half understanding and half confused.
So this was the handiwork of the Hokage-sama?
Truthfully, he hadn't thought Hanzō possessed this much wisdom either...
"Wait, senior fellow disciple?" Yahiko blinked. "Who is our senior fellow disciple?"
Konan spoke softly.
"Probably one of Jiraiya-sensei's students in Konoha. Someone he took on before us..."
Yahiko nodded thoughtfully.
"That's right. Jiraiya's first disciple. His name is Namikaze Minato."
"He's already a candidate member of Konoha's council and one of the absolute elites among the jōnin. He's mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, the space-time forbidden technique created by the Second Hokage..."
Hanzō continued slowly: "You are the future leaders of Amegakure, while Namikaze Minato is one of Konoha's brightest young talents. Since you share the same sensei, you already have a natural foundation for communication."
"The deep cooperation and alliance between Amegakure and Konoha must be built on a stronger foundation by your generation."
Nagato let out a sigh and muttered: "It's time to let the past go. We were all victims."
When he first learned that relations between Amegakure and Konoha had improved dramatically, he had felt somewhat uncomfortable about it...
Because of what happened to his parents, Nagato had always harbored some resentment toward Konoha.
But after Jiraiya's teachings, Hanzō's vigorous campaign explaining the true causes of the Second Shinobi World War, and now Konoha's tangible support through real action...
Nagato had finally let it go.
Yahiko nodded solemnly.
Though hot-blooded, he was fairly perceptive.
He could see what kind of earth-shaking transformation this crying nation would undergo if these cooperative projects were successfully implemented.
Everyone would have a relatively stable job, and the environment would improve dramatically.
More importantly, as a village trapped at the crossroads of major wars, Amegakure would finally have an ally after joining forces with Konoha, rather than being forced to serve as a buffer zone and getting turned into a battlefield every time conflict erupted.
But will Konoha really become a companion that fights alongside us?
Yahiko couldn't help wondering.
The arrogance of the great hidden villages was deeply ingrained in his mind—or rather, in the minds of shinobi from all the smaller villages.
In his view, the fact that Konoha was willing to spend money supporting them was already revolutionary. But if war broke out, they would probably still be treated as expendable cannon fodder.
Of course, he kept those thoughts to himself.
Even if that turned out to be true, Amegakure would still have no choice but to accept it.
The village couldn't simply refuse to become stronger.
"Konan, your Paper Release is quite interesting..."
"This time, I want you to focus on exchanging ideas with Namikaze Minato. See whether your technique can be expanded further and contribute to Amegakure's production plans."
Hanzō spoke seriously.
One of the major areas of cooperation between Amegakure and Konoha involved producing blank medical chakra scrolls.
The moment he saw Konan's Paper Release, Hanzō had immediately thought of that possibility.
"I understand, Hanzō-sama..."
Konan nodded before hesitantly asking: "I've been thinking about how to expand the applications of Paper Release myself. Do you think it would be inappropriate if I asked Namikaze Minato about that technique?"
In Konan's vision, she wanted to push the Art of Origami to its absolute limit and reach what she called a divine realm.
The name was admittedly a little embarrassing, but Yahiko had come up with it for her, so she had kept using it.
The Divine Art of Origami was a technique in which Konan created a domain centered on herself. Within that domain, paper could rapidly replicate itself according to a designated physical template.
For example, explosive tags.
Using a few explosive tags as anchors, she could quickly generate a massive number of copies.
Konan had even wondered whether sealing talismans could be used as anchors as well, but she knew too little about Fūinjutsu.
"If you're only asking for someone else's knowledge without offering anything in return, then yes, that would be inappropriate."
Hanzō replied calmly.
"So when you ask Namikaze Minato, if he shows interest in your Paper Release, don't keep your own secrets hidden either. Then there won't be any problem."
"I thought about your technique after returning home."
"It has tremendous potential."
"In some ways, it's similar to the Hokage-sama's Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique. It also overlaps somewhat with Senju Tobirama's Mutual Multiplying Explosive Tags. At their core, all of them temporarily replicate objects through chakra."
"But what you're capable of goes even further!"
"But the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique disappears, whereas your Paper Release has the potential to make those copies permanently tangible..."
Hanzō thought very highly of Konan.
Despite lacking Fire Release chakra, this young girl could use Paper Release to replicate explosive tags.
The explosive tags she created were weaker than the originals, much like shadow clones, and would dissipate once the technique ended...
But she was still young.
Both people and techniques could grow.
Hanzō had never expected Konan to truly turn one sheet into hundreds or thousands. Simply being able to accelerate Amegakure's production capacity would already be an incredible achievement...
After all, those blank scrolls sent to Konoha would eventually become a ninja's second life!
Konan nodded.
"I understand, Hanzō-sama!"
Still, she couldn't help feeling a little regretful.
The Mutual Multiplying Explosive Tags Technique?
It really did sound somewhat similar to the ultimate technique she had envisioned...
'If it were the Second Hokage, he might actually have some useful advice about my Paper Release. I've never had any sensei or elder I could discuss these things with...'
Konan shook her head and sighed, feeling that she was still far too naïve.
That was the Second Hokage, not the Third Hokage-sama!
Even if Senju Tobirama were still alive, Konan felt that forget seeking his guidance...
Just the cooperation between Amegakure and Konoha alone would have to be viewed through an entirely different lens. There was no way she would be able to accept it as casually as she did now.
His reputation in Amegakure—and throughout the entire shinobi world—was truly difficult to praise. He was practically the complete opposite of the First Hokage!
At least in Konan's eyes, his ideals stood in direct opposition to those of the Akatsuki Organization advocated by herself, Yahiko, and Nagato. They simply weren't the same kind of people.
Who could possibly have a good impression of someone who used the Impure World Reincarnation?
Hanzō took in all of their expressions and smiled faintly.
Minato's arrival had been a decision he and his elder brother had reached together.
If they wanted the friendship between the two villages to warm up quickly, it wasn't enough for the two leaders alone to get along.
More importantly, the younger generation needed to form bonds with one another as well.
That would make it much easier to implement new policies in the future...
"Hanzō-sama, what is this reservoir for?"
After flipping through the documents all along the way, Yahiko finally couldn't hold back his question.
"It can certainly help regulate the village's environment, but if war breaks out and it's attacked, wouldn't that be extremely dangerous?"
Hearing that, Hanzō smiled.
"This reservoir is meant for flood control."
"But it's also one of our weapons."
"The Hokage-sama explained it to me. With both Fūinjutsu and engineering support, we'll establish a three-tier system consisting of elevated outer retention reservoirs, a central regulation reservoir inside the village, and emergency buffer pools."
"One-way sealing valves and blast-resistant barrier gates will be installed throughout the system. The moment war begins, we'll open the floodgates."
"The resulting flood surge will follow the river systems straight into the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning. The flood itself is a weapon. And for Amegakure shinobi, fighting in a water-rich environment is naturally advantageous terrain."
When Hiruzen had first proposed the idea, even Hanzō had been concerned.
But at that moment, the Nara Clan Head, Shikayama, had stepped up.
Working together with Mito and members of various clans, he had designed a reservoir system that could harm enemies without harming themselves!