Of course, that was nothing more than a beautiful fantasy.
If Hyūga Akira's shuriken could really fly eight hundred li, then in theory—even Senju Hashirama, if completely unguarded, could indeed be killed by one.
But if you had the strength to throw a shuriken eight hundred li, you'd probably be able to fight Hashirama head-on anyway.
Akira broke into a run, charging downhill.
At this distance, he didn't dare use the Substitution Technique. Once he arrived, it would completely drain his chakra.
The chakra cost of Substitution scaled with distance.
At this range, his chakra truly wouldn't be enough—he'd be drained completely, down to the last drop.
His figure raced down the mountain and into the forest, where he picked up the two dropped items.
[Exorcist Skill Fragment (1/10)]
A great start.
Only three fragments left now.
He picked up the second drop.
[Skill: Clone]
Completely useless.
As if he didn't already know how to make clones. Even if it was a Nen-based clone ability, it was still worthless.
Akira ran onto the main road.
The original guards were already gone.
Their noble master was dead—why would they stay here waiting to die?
He picked up the final dropped item.
[Skill: Indoor Fish]
"Another trash skill," Akira sighed.
He lifted the carriage curtain and glanced once at the lavishly dressed corpse inside.
"Mission complete."
Letting the curtain fall back into place, he took out a summoning scroll from his inventory.
This scroll had been given to him by Hanzo.
Earlier, the scroll had twitched slightly in his inventory, but he hadn't had time to check it.
Compared to grinding mobs, which was more important?
Obviously grinding mobs.
The summoning scroll dropped a letter onto the ground.
There was only one line written on it:
"Come to the Rain Village immediately."
"…What now?" Akira muttered, his head full of question marks.
Rain Village
A dense drizzle fell over the Rain Village, plunging the entire settlement into an eerie silence.
It was only daytime under cloudy skies, yet it felt like the dead of night.
As Akira entered the village, all the doors around him were tightly shut. Not a single person could be seen.
It was as if the entire Rain Village had turned into a ghost town.
"What happened here?"
Akira immediately activated his Byakugan.
With his 360-degree vision piercing through layers of obstacles, he could see villagers hiding inside their homes.
Just then—
A figure suddenly appeared in front of him.
Murakami Hana stood there, his expression grim.
"Come."
"Where to?"
"Just follow me."
He offered no explanation. With a few swift movements, he leapt onto the rooftops.
Akira hurriedly followed.
Instead of heading toward the village center, they moved toward a more remote area.
Murakami Hana pressed on in silence, soon jumping down in front of a single-story house.
He stepped forward and pushed the door open.
The first things to emerge from inside were two blades.
"Who goes there?"
A voice demanded from within, its owner still hidden.
"Murakami Hana."
Only then did the door slowly open.
The two of them entered one after the other.
What stunned Akira was the cramped space.
A house of less than fifty square meters—and yet more than ten people were packed inside.
How was that even possible?
At the table in the center sat Hanzo.
Seeing Akira enter, Hanzo spoke softly:
"You're here."
"Hanzo-sama… what is this?"
Akira looked around, completely baffled.
Hanzo said gravely:
"The situation has changed. The three great ninja villages have begun openly entering the Rain Village. War is about to break out."
Akira rubbed his chin.
It was already nearing the end of the year—war erupting soon made sense.
Should he return to Konoha to prepare?
If war broke out, staying in the Rain Village would yield less gain. Meanwhile, Konoha would be fighting one against four—how could the experience there be low?
"So this means…?"
"We must take complete control of the Rain Village before the war begins."
Akira stroked his chin.
It looked like Hanzo intended to join the Second Shinobi World War directly.
And a full year earlier than in the original timeline.
That would definitely cause massive changes to the future.
His little butterfly wings had finally started a storm.
Hopefully it wouldn't blow anyone out of existence—gender-swapping was acceptable, but outright deletion was not.
"You're going to make a move on Shōzō?" Akira asked curiously.
Hanzo shook his head.
"How could I raise a hand against my teacher?"
Even if that was the truth, it couldn't be said outright.
"I only intend to take control of the Rain Village. Muyū—no, Muyu—I need your help."
Help him grind mobs?
That, Akira was good at.
But Hanzo clearly had something else in mind, and Akira felt an ominous premonition.
"I need you… to kill the traitor, Shōzō," Hanzo said in a low voice.
—That's completely different from what you just said!!
Wait.
It's just not you killing him—it's me.
So it doesn't count as you killing him, huh?!
Akira swept his gaze around, deeply suspicious. Was it really okay to say something like this so openly?
"Don't worry," Hanzo said, seeing his concern.
"These are all my people. Nothing said here will ever leak."
Akira scratched his head.
He didn't really care about leaks. What he really wanted to know was—
"Why me?"
Hanzo replied meaningfully:
"Because you're the most suitable."
"…Then explain it properly!!"
Enough with the riddles—get out of Gotham—no, get out of the Rain Village!!
Suppressing his frustration, Akira said:
"But I'm no match for the village head."
Shōzō's chakra was at the jōnin level. Even aged and declining, he wasn't someone Akira could defeat right now.
"We will assist you."
Akira was quickly briefed on the current situation.
Hanzo had acted on sudden inspiration after receiving critical intelligence—he intended to seize full control of the Rain Village before the war began.
Shōzō, caught off guard, never expected Hanzo to launch such an open offensive.
He immediately gathered his forces and fortified himself inside the central tower.
Now, the Rain Village had split into three factions:
The Conservative Faction, led by Shōzō, entrenched inside the main tower.
The Radical Faction, led by Hanzo, hidden throughout the village and awaiting orders.
The Neutral Faction, who shut themselves indoors, waiting to see who would win.
On the rain-soaked streets, the silhouette of the tower loomed faintly ahead.
"So you want me to attack a building guarded by a bunch of ninja?"
Akira stared at Hanzo in disbelief.
He was just a chūnin.
In Konoha, he was still officially a genin.
"No," Hanzo shook his head.
"I'll take you inside."
Under the rain curtain, figures emerged one after another behind them.
Some stood on the ground.
Some crouched on rooftops.
Some clung to power poles or lay across buildings.
Hanzo slowly raised his hand—
Then brought it down sharply.
"Attack!!"
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