Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

"Given his knowledge, he must be aware of the hidden information here. Why doesn't he write it down? Is he worried that I might have unnecessary thoughts about it?"

Hanzo wondered.

To be honest, he was really curious about who Konoha's White Fang was protecting now, or rather, who would need this Kage-level powerhouse to act as a babysitter.

There must be some huge secret hidden in this.

If he could obtain what's hidden in this secret, could it make the Land of Rain quickly become powerful?

Making the Land of Rain stronger—that is the meaning of Hanzo's survival.

As things stand, the Land of Rain is far from recovering to its pre-war strength before the conflict with Konoha, but thanks to his and Hattori Masanari's efforts, the situation in the Land of Rain is improving, which is evident.

However, he knew in his heart that the reason why the Land of Rain was able to improve so quickly in such a short time was actually related to a series of plans made and facilitated by Hattori Masanari, and had little to do with him, the leader of Amegakure.

For example, improving the relationship between Iwagakure and Amegakure, restoring normal trade between the Land of Earth and the Land of Rain, and enabling many unemployed people in the country to find jobs again.

Because it was Hattori Masanari who brought about this relationship, the people of Iwagakure only recognized Hattori Masanari as a person, and were indifferent to him, the real leader of Amegakure. The people of the Land of Rain were also very grateful to Hattori Masanari, and the legend that he was the savior of the Land of Rain still circulates among the people.

For example, the book "The Spirit of Rain," which is now popular among many young people in Amegakure, was written by Hattori Masanari alone. After reading the book, many young people in the village seem to have been brainwashed and greatly admire Hattori Masanari.

For example, the ample funds that Amegakure has now obtained were actually brought in by Hattori Masanari, which has caused many of the village’s elderly people who originally supported him to gradually change their stance.

Who is currently making the greatest contribution to Amegakure?

it goes without saying.

Whenever Hanzo thought about this problem, he couldn't help but feel a sense of irritation, as well as a deep sense of jealousy.

He actually felt jealous of Hattori Masanari, a former subordinate whom he had defeated.

It's a disgrace.

Hanzo desperately wanted to get rid of these shameful feelings, but he found that he simply couldn't.

How can he get rid of these shameful feelings?

There is only one answer.

That would mean making a greater contribution to Amegakure than Hattori Masanari.

The information hidden in this intelligence report might present an opportunity.

"Ziri, what's Hattori Masashige up to lately?"

Hanzo turned his gaze to the female ninja in front of him and asked in a gentle tone.

He trusts Hattori Masanari, but not completely. Especially after he gave Hattori Masanari's intelligence department a lot of autonomy, that trust is rapidly diminishing. Therefore, he has to send some of his trusted subordinates into Fuchibe to keep an eye on Hattori Masanari's movements.

Zili was the spy he secretly sent to Hattori Masashige's side.

Her true identity is that she was a disciple he secretly took in a year ago, and he has been secretly training her ever since. Her loyalty is absolutely reliable.

"Reporting to the teacher, Lord Hattori Masanari has been busy expanding the Fuchibe intelligence network to the surrounding Grass Country lately, and there hasn't been any particular activity. However, I'm not sure if the Lord Hattori Masanari at the Fuchibe base is him in person."

Upon hearing this, Zili hesitated for a moment, then looked up at Hanzo and honestly gave her answer.

"I understand. Go back and tell Hattori Masanari that I know what to do."

Hanzo looked into Shiri's eyes and nodded.

"Yes, teacher."

After receiving a reply, Zili quickly left, but a heavy expression appeared on her face, as if she were preoccupied.

"Shenda".

After Zili left, Hanzo suddenly spoke.

The next moment, a long-faced ninja with a red birthmark appeared in front of Hanzo.

Jinta, the Salamander, is a Jonin of Amegakure. He is a member of Hanzo's clan and is known in the original story as the man who is Hanzo's right-hand man, deeply trusted by Hanzo.

However, the reason why the Salamander Jinta is now deeply trusted by Hanzo is because he played a significant role in Hanzo's efforts to clean up spies and traitors in Amegakure, personally uncovering many traitors and remaining very clean himself.

"Lord Hanzo, please give your orders."

"I can say that," Shinta said respectfully.

"Immediately send members of the Anbu to find out where Konoha's White Fang is and who his companions are."

Hanzo gave the order.

The funds Kirito obtained for Amegakure were naturally allocated by Hanzo, the leader of Amegakure. In order to suppress Hattori Masanari and his Fuchibu, he invested most of the allocated funds into establishing the Amegakure Anbu.

The Amegakure Anbu is a ninja armed force entirely under Hanzo the Salamander. Most of its members are elite veterans who have seen battle, possessing great strength and unwavering loyalty to him.

Therefore, in Amegakure, the Amegakure Anbu is currently the most powerful armed force in Amegakure and is Hanzo's greatest asset in ruling Amegakure.

Sanshoku Shinta is now the head of the Amegakure Anbu.

"Ha~"

Shinta immediately replied, and then quickly used the Water Instantaneous Body Technique to leave.

"Hattori Masanari, is your true form in Amegakure? If not, where are you? And who exactly are you?"

Immediately after Shinta, Hanzo murmured.

……

Meanwhile, in the Land of Water, in Kirigakure, in the Mizukage Building, in the Mizukage's office.

The Watermelon Pufferfish Demon was kneeling on the ground, head bowed, with a look of fear on his face.

The reason he was acting this way was that the Third Mizukage, who was sitting in the chair in front of him, was staring at him with his eyes half-closed, emanating a terrifying killing intent and chakra fluctuations.

Suigetsu Hobuki, as the wielder of Samehada, was already a top Jonin in Kirigakure, but at this moment he still felt deeply helpless in front of the Third Mizukage. He had a strong intuition that if he dared to make a rash move or say even half a wrong word, his head would be blown off by the other party.

"Tell me, what happened? Seven of you went to kill a ten-year-old brat, and five of you died, including Mizuki Yoru, who came to your aid. Tell me, is that Senju Hashirama's grandson really that powerful?"

The Third Mizukage suppressed his anger and said coldly.

He initially disagreed with sending the Seven Ninja Swordsmen to assassinate Senju Nawaki, but the Blood Mist faction, led by Suigetsu Hozuki, insisted on going, even threatening to reduce the Daimyo's funding to Kirigakure. For the sake of the village's stability, he had no choice but to allow them to go.

To be honest, he was quite worried that another Hashirama Senju would appear in Konoha. If he could kill Hashirama Senju's grandson, Nawaki Senju, it would be a happy thing for everyone.

However, the mission failed, and in the end, only Suigetsu Hobutsuki and Raiga Kurosuki, who had not yet returned, survived.

Tongcao Yeren, Kurihara Kushimaru, Biwa Juzo, Murashi Jinpachi, Hozuki Zangetsu, and Minazuki Yoru all died.

Among them, Tsukakuno Erin, Hibiki Juzo, Hozuki Zangetsu, and Minazuki Yoru are all his people.

Having lost four elite Jonin and five invaluable ninja swords in one fell swoop, the Third Mizukage was extremely distressed and desperately wanted to vent his anger on someone.

He really wanted to blast that bastard, Suigetsu Hozuki, through with a single Water Gun Technique.

If it weren't for the fact that Kurisugimaru and Jinpachi Murashi, who both support the Blood Mist faction, are confidants of Suigetsu Hobutsuki, he would have thought this was a conspiracy orchestrated by the Blood Mist faction to target the conservatives.

"Lord Mizukage, this is all the fault of those bastards in the intelligence department. Their intelligence on Konoha's White Fang and Senju's Nawaki was quite accurate. We were able to easily hold off Konoha's White Fang and successfully carry out the assassination of Senju's Nawaki. We almost succeeded. However, the intelligence on Tohsaka Kirito and Uchiha Chizuru was seriously flawed."

Especially that brat named Kirito Tohsaka, his strength is unbelievable, he doesn't seem to know only sealing techniques and Magnet Release as the intelligence reports suggested.

He also knows puppetry and possesses a defensive puppet with extremely strong defense. After activating his chakra shield, he can ignore Kurosuki Raiga's lightning ninjutsu. The puppet can also release powerful lightning ninjutsu. It was he who killed Biwa Juzo with the lightning ninjutsu released by the puppet.

In addition to Magnet Release, he also possesses another bloodline limit, which is a pair of eyes that can manipulate blood and use genjutsu. The blood he manipulates gives me a very dangerous feeling, and his genjutsu ability is amazing. After the incident with Juzo Biwa, the four of us were instantly trapped in genjutsu when our eyes made contact with his.

"If it weren't for Samehada's help, which allowed me to break the genjutsu immediately, I probably would have been killed by Konoha's White Fang."

When Suigetsu Hozuki heard the Third Mizukage speak, his anxious heart finally calmed down. He knew that the Third Mizukage probably wouldn't kill him, so he quickly shifted all the blame for the mission failure onto the intelligence department.

In fact, he was telling the truth. If it weren't for the intelligence department being incompetent and providing seriously flawed intelligence, leading to their misjudgment and insufficient preparation, how could the Seven Ninja Swordsmen have suffered such a crushing defeat?

"You also know puppetry and have mastered another unknown bloodline limit, the Eye. Is what you're saying true?"

The Third Mizukage was shocked to hear Suigetsu Hozuki's words.

He naturally paid attention to Kirito Tohsaka, the Konoha genius who had risen to fame in recent years. The information he had gathered was that Kirito was a disciple of Mito Uzumaki, possessed a powerful sealing technique, had developed Magnet Release ninjutsu, learned the Spirit Transformation Technique, and was also a medical ninja.

As for puppetry and bloodline limit eyes, he really knew nothing about them.

But if what Suigetsu Hobuki said is true, then in terms of the potential he's currently showing, this ten-year-old kid named Tohsaka Kirito is clearly much more dangerous than Senju Nawaki.

She's only ten years old and already knows so many amazing skills; what will she be like when she grows up?

“It’s absolutely true. If you don’t believe me, you can have someone search my memories.”

Seeing that the Third Mizukage didn't believe him, Suigetsu Fuguki decided to risk everything for his life.

As the initiator and leader of this mission, even if the failure was due to a major error in the intelligence information provided by the intelligence department, he is still culpable. Six elite Jonin died and five ninja swords were lost. He alone must bear the responsibility for this.

The Blood Mist Faction has no need for losers.

As the current leader of the Blood Mist Faction, Suigetsu Hobuki is all too familiar with their methods. After this mission fails, he will definitely face a purge within the Blood Mist Faction, even as their leader. If he wants to survive, he will have no choice but to join the Third Mizukage's side.

"Hmph, you're quite clever."

The Third Mizukage understood Suigetsu Hozuki's implied meaning and sneered.

Despite the mockery, he ultimately accepted Suigetsu Hozuki's defection. He was eager to see how the arrogant Blood Mist Ninjas would react when they discovered that Suigetsu Hozuki had joined his conservative faction.

However, the fact that Suigetsu Hobutsuki did this suggests that what he just said was definitely true, and not an exaggeration he made to save his own life.

"Following the deaths of Madara Uchiha, Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, and Mito Uzumaki, Konoha has actually produced such a powerful genius ninja. Konoha truly is a cradle of geniuses. On the contrary, Kirigakure is currently embroiled in internal strife, causing its new talents to wither away. What will become of Kirigakure...?"

The Third Mizukage thought bitterly.

He quickly composed himself and said, "Yagura."

As soon as he finished speaking, a young ANBU ninja carrying a strange, rod-shaped weapon appeared before the Third Mizukage. He knelt on one knee and respectfully said, "Lord Mizukage, please give your orders."

"Take the guys down there and make sure to get to the bottom of the truth about the information."

The Third Mizukage gave the order.

"Yes, Lord Mizukage."

Yagura answered immediately, then stood up and left the Mizukage's office with Suigetsu Hobutsuki.

Not long after Suigetsu Hozuki stepped out of the Mizukage Building, his previously meek and obedient demeanor immediately changed, and he reverted to his usual arrogant and unruly manner.

He bent down slightly, looking down at Yagura, who was only up to his stomach, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth, and threatened, "Yagura, you'd better know your place. Investigate what you should investigate, and don't touch what you shouldn't. Otherwise, you should know what will happen to you."

Upon hearing this, Yagura's baby face immediately broke into an understanding smile, and he said, "Don't worry, I know what to do."

"Haha~, you know that's good. Well then, I wish us a happy collaboration in the future, haha~"

Suigetsu Hozuki laughed loudly, then patted Yagura's shoulder forcefully, and walked past Yagura with a smile.