As expected, just two hours later, Ebizō returned—with someone in tow.
The Suna shinobi looked utterly confused. While he had been on his way back to the village, he suddenly received an urgent high-priority message via hawk.
By the time he arrived, Sunagakure was already surrounded by water.
Waiting for him at the entrance… was Ebizō.
After a brief round of questioning, Ebizō broke out in a cold sweat.
Then, after spending a few more minutes explaining the current situation, the shinobi's heart sank.
Before sending him in, Ebizō gave him one final instruction:
—Remember. Push everything onto Konoha. Say it was their frame-up.
---
After hearing his account, Hanzo's gaze flickered slightly.
"You're saying Konoha disguised themselves as me and Amegakure shinobi… and forced you to retreat?"
The Suna shinobi nodded.
"That's right. Konoha was extremely cunning. At the time, they were operating within the Land of Rain, so I didn't dare get too close. I couldn't tell the difference."
"Later, when we returned, we found a small Amegakure garrison there. We thought they were Konoha forces left behind to cover the retreat, so we attacked."
"But our goal was to capture them—we had no intention of killing them. They… almost looked like they ran straight into our attacks themselves."
"Considering everything that happened earlier, it's very likely Konoha manipulated them with genjutsu—forcing them to fight us and deliberately creating conflict between Sunagakure and Amegakure."
Nine parts truth, one part lie.
Convincing enough to be nearly indistinguishable.
Hanzo had already more or less deduced what really happened.
"But even so… your Suna shinobi did kill several of my Amegakure men. That part is true, isn't it?"
"That was our mistake," Ebizō immediately took over.
"We will provide compensation that satisfies you."
"This was ultimately Konoha's scheme. Sunagakure has absolutely no intention of becoming enemies with Amegakure."
"Compensation?"
Hanzo flicked his finger.
The massive water spheres suspended above Sunagakure came crashing down instantly, smashing buildings below into ruin.
However, the ring of water encircling the village sank back into the earth.
"As you've said, Sunagakure fell into Konoha's trap and attacked Amegakure, causing casualties on our side."
"And now, because of that same trap, I've mistakenly attacked your village."
"You don't have any objections, do you?"
"You're absolutely right, sir," Ebizō said quickly.
"This was all Konoha's scheme. Our negligence caused losses to Amegakure and provoked your anger. Compensation is only natural."
Hanzo rose from the Kazekage's chair and looked at the two of them.
"Good. Remember this lesson."
"Next time… it won't be a Shadow Clone that comes."
A puff of white smoke dispersed.
Hanzo's clone vanished.
The Kazekage Building fell silent once more.
...
If only it had been the Third Kazekage… or my sister sitting here…
Ebizō's face was filled with worry.
The villagers had already taken shelter earlier, so the Water Release had only destroyed buildings.
But the real issue—
A mere Shadow Clone had infiltrated Sunagakure, eliminated all the hidden guards in the Kazekage Building…
And they still had no idea how he got in.
...
Soon, the situation settled down.
Ebizō convened a new council meeting.
After explaining the events of the night, he turned to the shinobi in charge of military affairs.
"How much combat strength do we currently have available?"
"Ebizō-sama, excluding the forces defending the village, we still have nearly five thousand."
"We still have to guard against Iwagakure, so a large portion of our forces are stationed along the Land of Earth border."
"Since we destroyed their supply line, the Iwa forces have already withdrawn. The threat there is reduced, but we can't rule out a sudden counterattack."
"I recommend leaving behind a mobile reserve."
Ebizō considered for a moment, then nodded.
"Even without a Kazekage, Sunagakure is not to be trifled with."
"Leave half our forces to guard against Iwa and Mist."
"Send the rest toward the Land of Fire."
---
Back on the Mist Battlefield...
As the Shadow Clone dispersed, Hanzo's real body received the feedback.
A flood of memories poured into his mind—along with a wave of exhaustion.
"So much has happened…"
After sorting through it, Hanzo turned his gaze toward a group of Konoha shinobi in the distance.
Considering the special nature of this target, he had already set a trap ahead of time.
As the Konoha group stepped into the designated area, Hanzo formed hand seals.
"Fire Style: Exploding Flame Formation!"
Hundreds of explosive tags detonated at once, blasting the entire group into the air.
After confirming with the Byakugan that there were no survivors, Hanzo sent a Shadow Clone to retrieve the bodies.
"Which one is Dan Katō… that face and hair color should be easy to recognize."
Among the mangled corpses, Hanzo finally found the target.
The once light-blue hair had been blown away on one side. The handsome face was charred black and red.
But his Byakugan quickly picked up something wrong.
This man…
was not Dan Katō.
"Transformation Jutsu?"
"No… just ordinary human skin. It's just crafted with extreme precision."
Looking at the dead "Dan Katō," Hanzo felt an instinctive sense of danger.
With one motion, he signaled his main body to withdraw immediately.
At the same time, he grabbed the unknown corpse and disappeared with Flying Thunder God.
---
Elsewhere.
"Tokuma, what's the situation?"
Seeing Hyūga Tokuma suddenly return, the Konoha commander immediately felt something was wrong.
"As you predicted, they were ambushed," Tokuma replied.
"There was no warning. Explosions erupted beneath their feet. None of them survived."
"Afterward, someone did appear at the scene to inspect it. That should be the culprit. But because of your instructions, I kept my distance—I couldn't see their face clearly."
...
After a moment of silence, the commander spoke.
"Spread the word… Dan Katō has been killed in action."
Tokuma lowered his head, clearly understanding something, and vanished.
"Shinku… nothing went wrong over there, right?"
"There were no issues. What now?" came a voice from behind him—though no one was visible.
"The mission has already been given. Tell him… until the war ends, he is dead."
"He is not to appear."
After thinking for a moment, the commander summoned another shinobi.
"Gekkō Hayate. Tonight, you will leave secretly and deliver these to the Hokage."
A confidential letter, along with the evidence Tokuma had gathered, was handed over.
"This is a top-secret mission. Only you are to know of it. It must not be revealed to a third party."
"Yes."
Watching Hayate disappear silently, the commander sat back down.
"No matter how careful you are… it's always the traitor within that's hardest to guard against."
He looked at the remaining fragments of evidence on the table.
These were pieces of proof suggesting someone was colluding with the Mist.
Not as strong as the earlier evidence—but still something.
Destroying them would be a waste.
Using them wouldn't achieve much—unless they were verified with the Mist.
Useless… yet not entirely.
"Shinku, after some time, give these to Dan Katō."
"Someone has died in his place. His mood won't be good."
"…Understood."
The items on the table vanished instantly.
---
At the Bounty Exchange.
Hanzo's Shadow Clone appeared, dragging the corpse of "Dan Katō" with Flying Thunder God.
This place could already have been turned into a trap by Danzō. He couldn't afford to be careless.
"This is the man you wanted dead."
He threw the corpse in front of the two operatives.
Their shocked expressions didn't look fake.
"Do you actually not know… or are you pretending not to?"
"Or was Danzō himself fooled by one of his subordinates?"
The two exchanged a glance, immediately understanding the severity of the situation.
"This was an intelligence error on our part, Hanzo-sama."
"The bounty promised to you will still be paid in full."
After taking the body, they immediately summoned an emergency creature, sealed the corpse into a scroll, and sent it away.
"One more thing," Hanzo said coldly.
"Konoha shinobi deliberately provoked conflict between Sunagakure and Amegakure."
"Our cooperation ends here."
"Pass that message to Danzō as well."
-----------------------------------///
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