As Kazuya and Sanda led their squads to eradicate the Root's temporary base in the Land of Rain, Shin led his own force in a powerful assault, effortlessly clearing all of Hanzō's outposts and encampments along the southern border.
Compared to Root, the average skill of the Ame ninja was much lower, and their resistance almost laughable. Some were entirely oblivious to the danger until the battle began, abandoning their posts and fleeing back to town.
It was only when Akatsuki breached the city's defenses that they realized the gravity of the situation, scrambling out of taverns and pleasure quarters in the entertainment district, scattering across rooftops in panic.
Akatsuki pursued them ruthlessly through the streets, on rooftops, and down narrow alleys, slaying them one by one. Blood sprayed across walls as kunai found throats.
Most townspeople shut their doors tightly, terrified by the sudden combat and bloodshed, but a few bold souls watched with fascination.
One young man, dressed in fine clothes with an aristocratic air, stood on his half-covered balcony, holding a glass of wine and gazing down at the street massacre with great interest. The rain beaded off his expensive silk robes as he watched another Ame ninja fall to Akatsuki's blades below.
A butler approached, cautioning him, "Master, you shouldn't watch. Those ninja below might be crazed from the killing and end up hurting you."
The noble laughed dismissively, swirling the wine in his glass. "How could they? They wouldn't dare harm me. I'm a noble of hereditary title, granted by the daimyō himself!"
He took another sip, watching as an Ame ninja's throat was opened in a spray of red. "Wars are the business of ninja. Let them kill and die as they please; afterward, they'll still come begging for commissions from us."
To this, the butler nervously wiped his hands, well aware that Akatsuki weren't like ordinary shinobi and had, in fact, dared to kill nobles in the south.
Many graves of nobles from last year already had tall grass growing over them. Yet his master, far too sheltered and fond of frivolous indulgences, had no awareness of these recent changes.
Just as the noble enjoyed his perceived intellectual superiority, the gates of his mansion were forcibly breached.
"Who's there?" A guard stumbled back, dropping his spear.
"This is private property! Leave at once!" Another raised his weapon with shaking hands.
"You have no right to be here!" The captain of the guard tried to maintain some semblance of authority.
But Shin's team ignored the shouts entirely. He merely gave a look, and Kakuzu, along with the tax officer, barged through the guard line.
Minutes later, they reported back to Shin with an estimate. "The estate's assets are worth approximately 500 million," the tax officer announced deferentially.
He was followed closely by Kakuzu, who gave a similar figure. The two exchanged a glance, understanding each other as men who valued honesty in financial matters.
Then, the noble, finally realizing the gravity of the situation, marched out to confront them, his face twisted in indignation. Wine glass still in hand, he stumbled slightly on the wet stones of his courtyard.
Shin withdrew a scroll from his vest, holding it up. "Do you recognize this?"
The noble squinted, shaking his head. "What nonsense is this?"
"This is the mission contract you submitted," Shin said coldly. "You have assets worth 500 million in this estate alone, yet you intended to pay us only ten thousand for retrieving your cat?"
The butler was already shaking in fear, backing away slowly toward the mansion's entrance, but the noble snapped back, "So what? How much more payment do you think you deserve?"
Shin gave him a calm, almost lazy look, waiting a moment before asking, "What does your cat look like?"
Thinking he had gained the upper hand, the noble sneered, lifting his chin haughtily. The wine in his glass sloshed dangerously close to the rim. "My precious Bananya is a purebred, black with unique markings on its face—"
Before he could finish, Shin suddenly drew his blade and, without warning, decapitated him. The wine glass shattered on the ground, its contents mixing with the spreading pool of blood.
The servants were left stunned, their horrified screams piercing through the rain. Some fell to their knees, others tried to flee, slipping on the wet stones. "I don't like the name," Shin said simply.
His companion nodded approvingly, finding no fault with his decision. She moved silently to block the servants' escape routes.
The butler collapsed to his knees. His fine clothes soaked through as he knelt in the growing puddle of blood and rainwater. In a choked voice, he protested, "His...his grandfather was ennobled by the daimyō himself, forty years ago!"
"You all heard him; a third-generation noble family." Shin wiped his blade clean. "Track down any remaining family members. Leave no one alive."
"Make it quick; we're on a schedule."
Nearby, one of the few servants who hadn't panicked, was beckoned over by Shin. While others trembled or wept, this one stood straight.
"I've seen you before. You handle this family's business, don't you?" Shin asked, studying the man's composed demeanor.
"Yes... I do," the man replied cautiously. "Good. Can you read and write? Do arithmetic?"
"Yes, I can."
"Then, prepare a detailed report on this family's holdings—business operations, assets, finances, everything. If you perform well, you may continue managing it."
Shin's tone made it clear this was both an opportunity and a threat.
The servant knelt down in fear. "But I am just a servant; I have no standing, no access to the guilds, nor have I ever met the daimyō."
"That doesn't matter."
At that, the servant looked up. The rain continued to fall, washing away the blood from the courtyard stones.
Nearby, the tax officer and Kakuzu exchanged another wary look, feeling an increased pressure. They watched as Shin's people efficiently cataloged the estate's assets, transforming a noble house into a business operation.
"Good grief," Kakuzu muttered, shaking his head at the sight. "It's a shinobi organization—do they really have to excel in this line of business too?"
---
The reason why Shin took on the task of suppressing the Ame ninjas himself and left Root to his subordinates is that he worried his subordinates might lack the courage to turn their blades against the nobility at the crucial moment.
After all, the shinobi community had been disciplined for far too long, their minds shackled by generations of rigid hierarchy and tradition.
Few have the courage or guts to break the rules. Even Hanzō didn't have the courage to do something like this when he was young.
His approach in the northern regions had always resembled a gang structure. A system as old and rotten as the man himself. Hanzō himself was the leader, and the ennobled families acted as heads of various branches, each paying their dues like common thugs dressed in noble robes.
As long as these nobles paid him his dues on time, acknowledged his position openly, and praised his status, Hanzō wouldn't give them any trouble. He would even protect them. A perfect arrangement for a man who had lost his appetite for real change.
This arrangement spared him from the hassles of grassroots management, allowing him to relax in his vast mansion, watching the flowers bloom and the clouds roll by.
The suffering of the Land of Rain and the lives of others had no impact on him here.
That day, Hanzō had just watched a geisha perform a flower arrangement. A master craftsman knelt before him, presenting a blade.
"This blade, my lord, dates back to the era before the hidden villages," the craftsman explained. "See how the steel catches the light? They say it once belonged to—"
Just as he was enjoying himself, an Ame ninja abruptly appeared, panic-stricken, to report to him.
"Hanzō-sama, it's terrible!"
The Salamander's brows furrowed in displeasure beneath his respirator. "Can't I enjoy a moment's peace?"
He was about to gesture for the craftsman to continue when the next words from the Ame ninja froze him in his tracks.
"Akatsuki has invaded! We've lost the entire south district, and—"
"And what?!" Hanzō's voice, muffled by his respirator, grew even colder and more repressed.
"And they've killed every noble family allied with us in the city!"
Hanzō stood abruptly, the sword clattering to the floor. The craftsman scrambled backward, pressing himself against the wall. It was only then he realized he had underestimated Akatsuki.
He couldn't help but recall the negotiation he had led at the start of the year. At the time, that boy had rendered Ōnoki speechless several times. Looking at Shin, Hanzō had seen himself at eighteen.
But now, he had to grudgingly admit that this young man had surpassed his expectations.
"These brats, do they think they can wage a full-scale war with me, to destroy the Land of Rain? They have no idea what they're up against!" His fist slammed into a nearby table, splintering the expensive wood.
He was jealous of Shin. Jealous of the vitality, confidence, courage, and spirit that the young man exuded. These were the very qualities that had once lifted Hanzō to the peak, yet now he had lost them all, traded for comfort and the illusion of absolute power.
When did I become so comfortable?
In the original story, this jealousy was perhaps also why he could not tolerate Akatsuki. They represented everything he had abandoned, every compromise he had made with his younger self's ideals.
"Gather all men! I'll personally tear those brats to shreds!"
The craftsman and geisha fled the room.
I'll show them the difference between youthful ambition and true power!
As though by killing them, he could deny his own decay and rottenness.
Before he stepped out, he turned and asked, "And where is Yuichi? Has he contacted the support from Konoha he promised?"
Yuichi, of course, was the Ame ninja whose mind had been replaced by White Zetsu. Not long ago, he had bragged to Hanzō about convincing Konoha to come to his aid.
Now, his subordinates could only reply awkwardly, "Not sure, he should be reaching out. He mentioned that it's due soon."
"Useless!" Hanzō cursed, walking off on his own.
All this was because Shin's attack had come too swiftly. There were still dozens of days left before the first predicted death date from the Fate System.
At that moment, Danzō had only just found a chance to step away from the front lines to enter the Land of Rain.
He and Hanzō hadn't even met yet, but Shin had already started the wheels of war. For these conspirators lurking in the shadows, everything was happening too fast.
---
In a remote camp in the mountains of the Land of Rain, Danzō, too, was livid.
"How did the advance troops lose contact so quickly? What do you mean, Akatsuki launched a sudden attack? How did you handle intelligence?!"
The ninja under him dared not speak but secretly grumbled in their minds— You didn't foresee this either. Why blame us? We're not the ones who underestimated them.
After venting his anger, Danzō finally calmed down enough to start looking for solutions.
"We can't give up here. This situation only proves that my judgment was correct. Akatsuki is certainly a huge threat to Konoha."
"Send a message to bring two more teams to the Land of Rain."
One of the Root ninjas looked up in disbelief, "More reinforcements? But...what about the front lines?" Have you lost your mind? The village needs those forces.
Although Root operated under Danzō's orders alone, they still bore some responsibility to the village. He had already angered the commander on the Suna front, Orochimaru, by withdrawing Torune without permission, causing a gap in intelligence.
The Snake Sannin's displeasure had been made clear in his last message.
Would they ignore the front lines against Iwa and Kumo now?
The Fate System had predicted that Shin's destined death would be in a few months, aligning with the battle at Kannabi Bridge from the original story. Once the bridge was destroyed, Iwa would struggle to supply its forces, forcing it into peace with Konoha and alleviating the pressure in the north.
At that point, Danzō would have enough manpower to act freely. But now, Shin's early declaration of war hit Danzō's Achilles heel.
"Are you telling me how to do my job?" Danzō's eye narrowed dangerously, his killing intent filling the tent like a poisonous fog.
The Root ninja quickly knelt, terrified. "No!" His forehead touched the ground, body trembling slightly.
"The commander in the north is Minato. He's young and wouldn't dare question my decisions."
Danzō had counted on his easygoing nature; if something went wrong, Minato would only step up to the front lines without ever questioning him openly.
Simply put, he was taking advantage of Minato's inexperience and good-natured personality.
But what he could not have foreseen was that even if Minato didn't stop him, someone else would.
The message reached Konoha's front lines, and just as Root was about to depart, they ran into an unexpected figure at the camp entrance.
Shisui!
"Where are you going? Is it to the Land of Rain?" he asked calmly.
"This is none of your business. Please, stay out of Root's affairs." the Root ninja said. But something in the Uchiha's stance made him hesitate to move any closer.
Shisui just stared at them. And as he did, his Sharingan activated.
"I wouldn't interfere with anything else, but going to the Land of Rain is out of the question!"
The Root ninjas found themselves unable to look away from those spinning tomoe.
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