How could this be? Lord Hanzo was defeated!
Outside the gates of Amegakure, with the enormous salamander, Ibuse, looming overhead, the pale-faced Hanzo and Kizaru stood in front, with Tsunade and her two companions behind them.
Just moments ago, Hanzo had gathered all the Amegakure ninjas and announced the order to surrender.
Collapse! Anger! Despair!
Various negative emotions surged within these Amegakure ninjas!
Already not a match for the Konoha ninjas, they were being pushed back relentlessly. The only one they could rely on was their leader, Hanzo.
Now even Hanzo had been defeated, and so miserably, losing an entire arm in the process!
He was Lord Hanzo! A deity in the eyes of everyone, a top-tier warrior in the ninja world!
How could such a powerful ninja be defeated? Just how strong were the ninjas of Konoha?
"Lord Hanzo, we can't surrender! We haven't lost yet!" one of the Amegakure jonin couldn't accept this reality and jumped in front of Ibuse, his face flushed with excitement.
Did this guy want to get himself killed?
At that moment, Hanzo wished he could just make Ibuse crush him where he stood.
"You might not want to live, but I do!"
"Amegakure and I are sincerely surrendering!" Hanzo said firmly, glancing at Kizaru who stood beside him, smiling.
"Well, well! How interesting!" Kizaru chuckled, looking down at the eager Amegakure jonin below. He continued, "Then handle it yourself! Uncle Hanzo!"
Nodding slightly, Hanzo used the Body Flicker Jutsu to appear in front of his subordinate.
"Think about the village and the village, calm down, Yuyuki!" Hanzo said, lifting his remaining right hand and giving his subordinate a slap.
The crisp sound quieted the somewhat chaotic scene.
Seeing this, many Amegakure ninjas shed tears of unwillingness.
"Live well, this village still needs us!" Hanzo proclaimed loudly, trying to shape himself into the image of a hero who endured humiliation for the sake of the village.
"Lord Hanzo!" Yuyuki, the Amegakure jonin, looked at Hanzo before him and shouted in grief and indignation.
Tears streaming down, Yuyuki suddenly knelt on the ground, repeatedly pounding the muddy earth with his fists.
Unwilling! Truly unwilling!
As a ninja from the small village, Yuyuki felt deep despair for the first time!
"Shimura Kizaru! It seems Konoha has produced another powerful ninja!" Hundreds of meters away, a black-and-white head emerged from the earth.
With a calm tone, as the biggest puppet master behind the scenes in the ninja world, the first-born Kaguya, the enigmatic Zetsu, who had lived for countless years, contemplated only one thing in his mind upon seeing Kizaru from a distance: whether Kizaru's appearance would affect his plans.
This time, Zetsu came to the Amegakure village to monitor and protect Nagato, the host of the Rinnegan.
But unexpectedly, he happened to witness the clash between Kizaru and Hanzo.
Seeing another super-strong ninja born in Konoha, one who might even reach the level of Senju Hashirama, Zetsu prepared to report this news to Madara.
Having made his decision, Zetsu, who didn't possess much combat power himself, once again submerged into the earth.
The head tilted slightly to the left, and Kizaru, who was using his Sage Mode, sensed an unfamiliar presence from the distance on the left side.
"Kizaru, what's wrong?" Tsunade stepped forward, noticing Kizaru's slight movement, and asked quietly with concern.
"It seems there's a little mouse spying on us," Kizaru said, retracting his gaze and smiling.
"Sunagakure ninjas?" Tsunade speculated, remembering the recent battle between Amegakure and the Sunagakure.
"I don't know!" Kizaru turned his head back to Tsunade, grinning, "But that mouse has already fled."
"Fled!" Tsunade frowned slightly, looking in the direction Kizaru had just turned, but she couldn't perceive any traces.
Stretching lazily, Kizaru said casually, "Don't worry about it, Tsunade-senpai! Let's focus on handling the matters of Amegakure for now!"
Nodding, Tsunade, who understood the gravity of the situation, exchanged a glance with Kizaru and looked down again.
At this moment, Hanzo had already made the Amegakure ninjas around him accept the reality of their defeat.
These ninjas stood dispersed on both sides of the village gate, some covering their mouths and sobbing lightly, some hanging their heads in tears, and some defiantly raising their heads, unwillingly gazing at Kizaru and the others standing high above.
The Konoha ninjas were truly dazzling, making others envious and feeling despair at their strength!
At the border of the Land of Wind, the elder of the Sunagakure, Chiyo, sat inside a tent, watching a sand table in front of her.
"Big Sis, Konoha and Hanzo are at war," Chiyo's younger brother, the strategist of the Sunagakure, Ebizo, said with a hint of joy from the entrance of the tent.
Hearing this news, joy spread across Chiyo's face.
Supporting the strongest Kazekage, the Sunagakure had been striving for years with only one goal: to defeat Konoha of the Land of Fire.
Restricted by the resources and stinginess of the nobles of the Land of Wind, the development of the Sunagakure had always been very difficult.
For the lords and nobles of the Land of Wind, as long as the Sunagakure maintained enough strength to defend itself, it was sufficient.
The lords, who enjoyed luxury and extravagant living, didn't have the ambition to dominate the ninja world.
But the ninjas of the Sunagakure didn't share this sentiment.
Born and raised in the desert-shrouded, desert-surrounded Sunagakure, these ninjas had long cultivated tenacious fighting spirit and ambition.
Defeating the strongest of the ninja world, Konoha, seizing the fertile territory of the Land of Fire, and improving the harsh conditions of the Sunagakure had been the ideals of generations of Sunagakure ninjas.
It was precisely because of such ambitions that since the Second Kazekage, the Sunagakure had been striving for this goal.
During the First War, the Sunagakure had almost not participated. The Second Kazekage had focused on developing the Jinchuriki weapons while also creating the puppeteer combat system to reduce ninja casualties and compensate for the shortage of ninja numbers in the village.
By the time of the Third Kazekage, who had mastered the Bloodline Limit Magnet Release, he was hailed as the strongest Kazekage, determined to achieve great deeds for the Sunagakure in the ninja world!
And now, they had an excellent opportunity!
Amegakure's Hanzo had ceased hostilities with the Sunagakure and reached a reconciliation, while simultaneously engaging in a war with Konoha.
Having clashed multiple times and having a deep understanding of Hanzo's strength, Chiyo, who also highly approved of him, believed that Hanzo would certainly be able to restrain and deplete a significant portion of Konoha's manpower.
Taking advantage of Konoha being tied down by Hanzo, the Sunagakure could declare war on Konoha, and perhaps even ally with Hanzo to defeat Konoha together.
"Immediately relay the message to the Kazekage; we mustn't let this opportunity slip!" Chiyo, being proactive, immediately stood up and spoke out.
"I've already informed the Kazekage, sis." Ebizo, as the Kazekage's advisor and strategist, naturally recognized this as a rare opportunity.
"Assemble the troops and prepare. When the Kazekage arrives, we can directly assault Konoha." Stepping in front of Ebizo, looking at the sand table in front of her, Chiyo said somewhat impatiently.
Nodding, Ebizo also looked at the sand table in front of him, deep in thought.
"Konoha's new genius, Shimura Kizaru, single-handedly defeated the Kumogakure forces and even captured the Third Raikage. We must devise a plan to deal with him," Ebizo said in a low voice, expressing his worries.
"Shimura Kizaru can be left to the Kazekage to deal with!" Chiyo had great confidence in the strength of the Third Kazekage.
As the strongest Kazekage in history, the Third Kazekage had no problem dealing with Shimura Kizaru, who single-handedly defeated Kumogakure's forces.