Uchiha's personal opinion

"...However, the situation the village is currently facing is indeed not optimistic." The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, seemed to choke on the thick smoke from his pipe, coughing a few times before exhaling the smoke from his mouth.

"Therefore, there is a special combat mission that the mobile force needs to carry out..." The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, said solemnly, "I urge you both to consider the village's well-being..."

"Please enlighten me, Hokage-sama, what kind of mission is it?"

Sakumo Hatake, equally solemn, spoke in a loud voice.

Uchiha Tokumitsu didn't have time to answer and had to give up.

"The northern border of the land of rivers."

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, casually picked up a pen from the table and tossed it onto the ninja world map on the wall.

"sieve!"

The pen was placed in the northern part of the Land of Rivers, on the border with the Land of Rain.

"The operational objective is..."

The third generation leader spoke slowly and deliberately.

"Sunagakure and Amegakure!"

……

At this time, in the Rain Village of the Land of Rain.

The gray sky continued to rain as always.

The continuous rain is like the endless suffering and tears of this tragic country sandwiched between three great powers.

The towering iron tower is covered in colorful rust and has been repaired everywhere.

Like the wounds of this country, despite constant attempts to heal, new wounds keep appearing, and it can never be completely cured.

The most fortunate thing about Amegakure is that it has a strong figure like Hanzo the Salamander.

He held up the sky for Amegakure and even the Land of Rain.

Under the leadership of Hanzo the Salamander, the Rain Ninja, who were originally as mediocre as the Grass Ninja, quickly grew stronger and rose to prominence. They fought in all directions, annihilating the underground forces within the Land of Rain that did not obey the Rain Ninja Village, and took the initiative to attack various small countries in the surrounding area in order to plunder resources and expand their territory.

The most unfortunate thing about Amegakure is that it has a powerful figure like Hanzo the Salamander.

The powerful and proud Hanzo of the Salamander dedicated half his life to the rise of Amegakure and the strengthening of the Land of Rain, earning him unparalleled prestige within the country.

At the same time, it also attracted the ill-intentioned covetousness and probing of the three great nations of fire, earth, and wind.

The major powers were unwilling to see the rise of the Rain Ninja, which was originally intended as a battlefield.

They were even less willing to see the emergence of the "sixth great nation" that Hanzo the Salamander had pursued throughout his life.

So, war broke out.

"They're here...they're here with swords and weapons, and they're here with ill intentions!"

Standing atop the tallest iron tower in Amegakure, Hanzo the Salamander's loud voice echoed throughout the entire village.

The Rain Ninja and villagers, standing solemnly in the rain, gazed at the Rain Ninja hero atop the tower with boundless worship and fervor.

In Amegakure, a village perpetually soaked in endless rain, Hanzo the Salamander, revered as a "demigod," shines as the brightest light.

His ideals illuminated the future of the Land of Rain; his guidance led the Rain Village to expand and grow stronger.

It was because of his existence that the generation of Rain Ninja, undaunted by dangers and sacrifices, bravely drew their fish knives to display their ferocity and sharpness in the face of the great nation's ninjas.

"Whether it's the Sand Village that eats sand in the desert, the Rock Village that mines in the mountain valleys, or even the Leaf Village that lives in the fertile lands, they are all watching us with covetous eyes!"

Hanzo the Salamander spoke again.

"They, the ninjas of the great nation, are full of conspiracies and scheming. Every moment they are thinking about breaking the backbone of the Rain Ninja, devouring the flesh and blood of the Land of Rain, seizing our resources, and enslaving our children!"

On the sorrowful faces of the Rain Ninjas, it was impossible to tell whether the water was tears or rain.

The suffering of the Land of Rain stems from the countless atrocities committed, both openly and covertly, by powerful ninjas within its borders.

"Heroic Rain Ninja, do you agree or not!"

Hanzo the Salamander's voice grew louder and louder.

"Absolutely not!"

Filled with endless hatred and sorrow, the Rain Ninja brandished their weapons and shouted wildly.

"Our people are enduring the torment of famine, paying taxes to provide us with food; although the rice balls in their hands are not tasty, and may even be moldy, all of that is painstakingly scraped together by the people of the Rain Kingdom from between their teeth."

The grain store owner, whom the Yu Rens usually saw as unscrupulous and immoral, was now in tears.

"Our people lack the most basic necessities of life, yet they still go hungry, traversing those barren mines, searching for every piece of ore from which metal might be extracted, to forge these less-than-perfect ninja tools for us."

The hot-tempered blacksmith, the hammer he was gripping tightly fell to the ground, his strong hands covering his rugged face, and he wept uncontrollably.

"Our villagers entrust their children to us, hoping that we will raise them to be successful and enable them to fight for our future!"

"Then, the children also died in battle..."

Countless couples, grieving the loss of their children, embraced and wept.

"We are poor, but we fight on. Even when rain washes away the farmland we have painstakingly built and destroys the factories we have worked so hard to construct, and when spies destroy our arsenal countless times, we still stand up strong every time!"

Gazing at the Rain Ninjas atop the peak, his breathing gradually became heavier.

His hand, gripping the weapon, was trembling.

Hanzo the Salamander quickly covered his gas mask and calmed his rapid breathing caused by excitement.

"We eat those moldy rice balls, wield rudimentary ninja tools, and perform half-baked ninjutsu, fighting tirelessly against powerful enemies who intend to destroy the Land of Rain and Amegakure in every part of the Land of Rain—on the border, in the cities, in the fields, in the rainforest, and everywhere else in the Land of Rain!"

"Even if their ninja tools are superior to ours, even if their ninjutsu is more powerful than ours, even if their supplies from afar are more abundant than those of our Rain Ninja fighting on our home turf..."

"But so what!"

Like a crazed salamander, Hanzo brandished his chain sickle and shouted at the top of his lungs, "So what!"

"kill!"

The emotions of everyone in Amegakure were stirred to the extreme. The ninjas wildly brandished their weapons, letting out a roar of vengeance after their deepest sorrow.

"Heroic Rain Ninja, would you rather live on your knees or die standing?"

"Fight to the death!"

The battle roars, almost overwhelming, resounded throughout the heavens and earth.

"The enemy is a well-equipped and highly trained ninja from a major power. Are you afraid?!"

"Fight to the death!"

"You may be less skilled than others, you may die silently in a ravine, are you afraid!"

"Fight to the death!"

"Your children and family members may die in endless fighting because of the war. Aren't you afraid?"

"Fight to the death!"

The desperate roar seemed to shatter the thick clouds that had lingered in the sky for years.

"You might die, and I might die..."

Hanzo the Salamander's words immediately silenced the entire Amegakure village.

Everyone was watching this hero of the Rain Ninja.

"But the spirit of the incessant rain will guide us to fight to the very end!"

"Demigod! Hanzo!"

An elderly rain ninja with only one leg, leaning on a cane, suddenly threw off the cane and, with a thud, half-fell and half-knelt down, ignoring the rain on the ground, kowtowed to Hanzo the Salamander at the top of the tower.

The Rain Ninja knelt down on one knee in unison, offering their highest respect to the "demigod" Hanzo the Salamander.

"I hereby declare—"

Hanzo the Salamander raised his chain sickle high, his imposing presence almost piercing the clouds.

"Declare war on the Sand Village of the Wind!"

"Declare war on Iwagakure in the Land of Earth!"

"Declare war on Konoha, the Village of Fire!"

"Heroic Rain Ninja, please fight to the death with me!"

"Fight to the death!"

Filled with sorrow, hatred, and an indomitable will to die, the battle cry of the Rain Ninja, united as one, resounded through the clouds.

A ray of sunlight broke through the heavy obstruction of dark clouds and shone on Hanzo the Salamander, who was swinging his sickle and roaring.

They looked like gods.

Chapter 85 The Western Expedition! The Frenzy of Total War Sweeps Through the Shinobi World

Hanzo of the Salamander's declaration of war ignited a war that spread throughout the Land of Rain and even the entire ninja world overnight.

Inspired by Hanzo's declaration of war, Amegakure, the strongest of the five great ninja villages, gathered all its ninja forces, took out all its resources, and distributed all its accumulated and captured weapons to all the ninjas who could throw kunai.

Although many of them are indeed not very capable.

Whether due to their young age and lack of strength, or because they had been injured and retired, the Rain Ninja, inspired by Hanzo, united as one, launched an attack with the Sunagakure and Konoha ninja forces entrenched in the Land of Rain with the utmost enthusiasm and filled with hatred.

Even in several border cities in the northern region of the Land of Rain, which were originally intended as negotiation terms for the retreat of the Hidden Stone Village, allowing the Land of Rain to reclaim areas where ninjas could not be stationed, the Rain Village also tore up the treaty without hesitation and redeployed its ninja army.

Blood and rain, iron and fire, intertwined to create a vivid picture of the ninja world.

Uchiha Tokumitsu and Hatake Sakumo's mobile unit had just returned to the village and hadn't even had time to rest when they received a special mission to carry out support operations in the border region where the Land of Rivers and the Land of Rain meet in the north.

"Mr. Deguang, I'm sorry, I didn't think it through..."

Sakumo Hatake apologized to Tokumitsu Uchiha, somewhat embarrassed.

Uchiha Tokumitsu had an extremely strong resistance to the mission that the Hokage forcibly assigned to him.

Ninjas aren't made of iron; their health is more important than the mission! Having just experienced a fierce battle, Uchiha Tokumitsu truly didn't want to answer the Hokage's call to fight again.

In particular, he was transferred to the unfamiliar Land of Rivers to fight against potential enemies such as Sunagakure and Amegakure.