October 2nd, Year 43 of Konoha. 11:58 a.m.
A gloomy sky drizzled with light rain.
At the gates of Konoha stood five full brigades—180 ANBU elites—lined up in perfect formation, each wearing animal-faced masks of different designs, fully equipped and ready to depart.
Seven more ANBU stood beside the overall commander of this operation—Danzo Shimura.
"Is Kūryū not here yet?" Danzo's tone carried a trace of impatience.
"…Not yet," replied a short-haired blond ANBU in a low voice. Then he suddenly looked into the distance. "He's here."
Danzo turned toward the street in the distance, seeing no sign of any approaching ANBU shinobi. He was just about to reprimand the blond for speaking carelessly—
A sudden gust of wind swept through, stirring ripples in the falling drizzle.
"Made it in time." Shimizu, wearing a red-and-white cat mask, let out a quiet breath of relief. He had nearly been late for such an occasion. Fortunately, all preparations were finally complete.
After nodding briefly to his three teammates, he addressed Danzo:
"We're ready to depart, Elder Shimura."
For a moment, silence fell over the scene.
Fast.
Too fast.
So fast that—aside from the blond ANBU—no one had even sensed the direction from which Shimizu had arrived.
Could a mere D-rank Body Flicker Technique truly reach such a level?
Rumor had it that among the active Anbu, there was a cat-masked shinobi whose mastery of the Body Flicker was so profound he had earned the moniker "Flash God."
Could it be this man?
"…Very well. Move out!"
Danzo quickly regained his commanding presence and swept his hand forward, signaling the army to depart.
...
From Konoha to Amegakure in the Land of Rain would take approximately three days.
On the evening of the second day, as this elite ANBU force was about to cross into the Land of Rain, they suddenly spotted a hawk from Sunagakure flying toward Konoha overhead.
"Intercept it!" Danzo barked.
The hawk was immediately shot down by Root operatives. The message tied to its leg was swiftly delivered to Danzo.
After reading it, he growled, "A handwritten letter from the Third Kazekage. The ten tons of gold Sunagakure sent as war reparations to Konoha have been intercepted by an unknown force! The incident occurred in the capital of the Land of Rivers."
What?!
Shock rippled through the ranks. Ten tons of gold—compensation from Sunagakure to Konoha—had been hijacked?!
If true, not only would both the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire suffer humiliation, but an enormous fortune would be lost. No one could possibly let such a matter go unanswered.
Danzo immediately issued orders:
"Minato, take your squad along with the Sixth Brigade of the First ANBU Corps. Proceed at once to the Land of Rivers. Investigate the truth and recover the stolen gold!"
"Yes!" the blond shinobi responded.
Soon, forty ninja broke away from the main force and headed south toward the Land of Rivers.
"Send word to Hiruzen. Inform him of everything here."
"Yes!"
A Root operative stepped forward to carry out the order.
"The rest of you—continue with me to the Land of Rain."
Shimizu felt a shroud of darkness descend over his thoughts. Ten tons of gold hijacked? The timing is far too perfect.
It happened exactly while they were en route to a coup-threatened Amegakure, and they just happened to be the ones to find out!
Minato Namikaze had been siphoned off. The Third Hokage's direct Anbu were gone.
Now, aside from Shimizu's four-man squad, every remaining shinobi in this force belonged to Root.
If this was merely to deal with him alone…
Wouldn't such a deployment be absurdly excessive?
Shimizu shook his head and gave a self-mocking smile.
Shimizu Uzuki, you're overestimating yourself.
He tightened his grip on the kunai at his waist and followed the marching force onward toward Amegakure.
...
The Land of Rain existed in a state of perpetual rainfall. Geographically, it lay in the border region between three of the Five Great Nations—the Land of Earth, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Fire—an otherwise nameless small country caught between giants.
Yet during the Second Great Ninja War, it had risen to fame by repelling the formidable Konoha shinobi forces. Its leader, Hanzo, was hailed as a symbol of the very peak of the shinobi world.
Because of the Land of Rain's strategic location, it often became a battlefield whenever the surrounding great nations went to war.
This time, due to Sunagakure's blunder, Konoha had secured a strategic alliance with Amegakure, effectively stripping the Land of Rain of its neutral status. As long as the Land of Fire harbored sufficient ambition, it could use the Land of Rain as a forward base to invade either the Land of Earth or the Land of Wind at any time.
That would grant it considerable initiative in power struggles with the other two nations.
For that reason, Konoha's upper leadership placed immense importance on Amegakure's request.
Danzo was even willing to risk his life by personally leading the support force to Amegakure—so much so that even the Third Hokage had little choice but to believe he was genuinely sacrificing himself for Konoha.
Perhaps among everyone present, only Shimizu had never believed that Danzo was here for Konoha's benefit.
Who could say whether the stolen gold wasn't a scheme he had orchestrated himself?
If it were, then every "coincidence" would make perfect sense.
Shimizu had always been adept at judging others with the greatest possible malice.
The forces set up camp on the outskirts of Amegakure and waited for Danzo's next orders.
From a distance, the architecture of the Land of Rain was entirely different from any country Shimizu had seen before. It carried a strange aesthetic—a blend of Gothic and modern industrial styles.
Every building towered high and sharp, exuding an eerie, hollow quality. Yet at the same time, their roughness and rigidity conveyed intimidation and cold-blooded severity.
At dawn the next morning, a stranger appeared in the camp—a shinobi from Amegakure. He was undoubtedly a subordinate of the village leader.
After a brief exchange, Danzo immediately issued new orders:
"The Sixth Brigade will follow me into Amegakure. The Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Brigades remain outside the village—await my signal and be ready to respond at any time. Kūryū, you and your squad will stay close to me at all times."
"Yes!"
After entering Amegakure, Danzo dispersed the Root members of the Sixth Brigade in squads around a tall building—each position a key strategic point. It was clear that the area surrounding this structure would become the main battlefield.
Everything unfolded in perfect accordance with Danzo's will.
Shimizu's squad, together with another Root squad—a total of eight people—followed Danzo into the building. Soon, they arrived at a conference hall.
At the head of a long round table sat a man wearing an exaggerated respirator mask.
This was the leader of Amegakure—the man hailed as the "Demigod": Hanzo.
Seeing this legend again after so many years, Shimizu carefully sensed his presence... Hanzo's Chakra reserves far exceeded those of Orochimaru or Jiraiya.
Perhaps even the Third Hokage did not possess such an immense chakra reserve.
He merely sat there, yet an invisible pressure radiated outward. One could almost hallucinate that, if he wished, he could crush everyone present like ants.
What a terrifying presence.
To Hanzo's right sat another middle-aged Rain shinobi. Danzo took a seat beside Hanzo.
With a wave of his hand, Danzo ordered:
"Hide yourselves completely. Wait for my signal. Strike at any moment."
"Yes!" ×8
The eight Konoha ANBU immediately concealed themselves.
"As expected of Konoha's elite ANBU. Impressive movement," Hanzo praised casually.
"All for the sake of quelling the rebellion," Danzo replied.
"Yes… those brats have overreached themselves. Today, this must end," Hanzo sighed.
"I heard they were originally just a group of mercenaries. How did they become so troublesome?" Danzo asked.
"Only three among them are somewhat difficult… Of course, compared to the elite ANBU you've brought, they are nothing worth mentioning," Hanzo said dismissively.
"…Naturally."
Not long after, two Rain shinobi escorted three youths into the conference hall—two boys and one girl, around fourteen or fifteen years old.
One boy had long, dark red hair; the girl had rare, purple hair. The boy leading them had vibrant, short orange hair that shone as brilliantly as Minato Namikaze's blonde locks.
Shimizu stared at the orange-haired boy, a sense of déjà vu washing over him. He was certain he had seen him before.
But the boy was only fourteen or fifteen. Shimizu had never encountered anyone matching that description during missions.
That meant—
It had to be from the storyline of his previous life.
But who was he?