With the retreat of the Land of Wind, Konohagakure did not need to bear immense pressure, and Fūmori Masaki also believed that leading just a few elite squads would suffice.
Consequently, a portion of the Medical Ninja were freed up, making it the perfect time to fulfill the promise Fūmori Masaki had made to Hanzou that day.
Under the orders of Tobirama, teams composed of Medical Ninja were sent to the Land of Rain. Their mission was to treat the local civilians suffering from the epidemic. Of course, more importantly, it was to use this as an opportunity to experiment with new medical models, record data, and provide information for medical development.
Since it was within another nation's territory, they naturally had to coordinate with Amegakure. Hanzou quickly learned of this news and felt a slight sense of relief.
Although he had received Fūmori Masaki's promise, he was still worried whether the great nations would take this matter to heart; now it seemed his worries were unfounded.
Most people in Amegakure were very happy. After all, the epidemic had always been a headache for the Land of Rain, and they had no way to deal with it themselves. This benevolent act by Konohagakure immediately won the approval of the populace, and much of the dissatisfaction previously caused by the carelessness of those samurai or Ninja dissipated at that moment.
However, some still believed that Konohagakure was not acting with good intentions, suspecting that they might just be using the Medical Ninja to enter the country and delve into the populace to gather intelligence on Amegakure.
To some extent, their guess was correct; Konohagakure was indeed not just doing charity, but also had other motives, yet they held no malice toward Amegakure.
At this time, Hanzou had not yet made a name for himself or become a threat that worried the Five Great Nations, and Amegakure was not yet worth such attention from Konohagakure.
Hanzou felt that the thoughts of those people were understandable; after all, small nations like theirs were often bullied by the great nations. Although the set of rules currently being implemented by the Land of Fire made it appear more approachable among the great nations, Hanzou knew this was done to win over the Land of Rain, not out of true, selfless dedication.
However, Hanzou felt that Konohagakure had brought benefits to the Land of Rain and solved a problem that had plagued them for years. As long as the populace could be protected, he felt that paying some price was acceptable. After all, the Land of Rain was just a small nation and could not hope to stand on equal footing with the great nations; as long as they could obtain its protection, it was a good thing.
The current Hanzou had not yet despaired over the merciless bullying of the Land of Rain by the great nations, nor did he attempt to change the situation of the Ninja World on his own. Therefore, he felt that as long as the attitude of the Land of Fire remained unchanged, they should try their best to maintain good relations with them; this was the most suitable path for the Land of Rain to take.
Therefore, regardless of the suspicions of those with ulterior motives, Hanzou requested to be personally responsible for contacting the Medical Ninja from Konoha. He did not want others to interfere; while being an Amegakure Ninja, he was also a part of the Land of Rain.
In the ceaseless heavy rain, Hanzou met with the Konoha Medical Ninja with his subordinates and quickly arranged accommodations for them. These were precious healers, and Hanzou knew that Medical Ninja were not particularly formidable in combat.
Therefore, they needed to be carefully protected, because in a war-torn land like the Land of Rain, anyone could get hurt.
The Medical Ninja did not expect to receive such courteous treatment. They originally only held a sense of responsibility for their mission, but seeing Hanzou, who had come to welcome them, being so dedicated, they felt a bit embarrassed and felt that they should work even harder.
Among all Ninja, Medical Ninja could be considered the type with a relatively stronger conscience. Although they were Ninja, they learned the knowledge of healers, and unconsciously, they would develop a benevolent heart.
Especially when heading to the places where the epidemic broke out and seeing the civilians suffering from the disease, their consciences became even more restless.
Having experienced war, they were definitely not people who hadn't seen the world, but the scene before them made them understand that what one saw while in a great nation was still different from what one saw at the bottom of a small nation.
Some felt the civilians were very pitiful, some felt the epidemic was too terrible and needed to be overcome early, and some felt these were challenges worth taking on. Regardless, when it came to action, there was only one word: Cure!
Although epidemics occasionally occurred in the Land of Fire, compared to the epidemic in the Land of Rain, it was like a dwarf standing before a giant. Even the Medical Ninja of Konoha dared not be careless; protective measures were fully in place, and the treatment of civilians was done with careful caution—isolation, observation, and drug development were all carried out without any chaos.
Watching the Medical Ninja immerse themselves in their work, Hanzou, who was responsible for their protection, could not help but be moved. Even if they really had other missions, at least at this moment, they were striving for the people of Amegakure, and they were even risking their lives—because of their lack of familiarity, several Medical Ninja fell ill, but they did not give up. Instead, they let their companions conduct clinical trials on them to ensure that the developed drugs were effective.
Hanzou was not a Medical Ninja and could not heal others. On the contrary, because of the Giant Salamander gallbladder inside him, even his breathing was enough to harm others. He was helpless when it came to medical treatment and could only help them in other areas.
As long as it could bring help to the Medical Ninja or improve their living conditions, Hanzou would go and find it for them. Some people felt that it was not worth helping Ninja from other nations and would show a slight reluctance, only to be threatened by Hanzou, which scared them into handing over the items immediately.
After the Leader of Amegakure learned about this, the leader felt somewhat dissatisfied. As the leader of a village, the leader did not have much goodwill toward people from other countries. Although the leader would not trip up the people of Konoha, the leader would not give them any benefits either. The leader called Hanzou over to question him, but Hanzou stated that this was the proper course of action and that he would continue to do so.
Although the Leader of Amegakure was annoyed, the leader could do nothing about Hanzou. His outstanding strength gave him a very high status within Amegakure, and the leader could not take action against him based solely on this reason, so the leader had to let it slide.
Hanzou knew that the Leader of Amegakure held a grudge against him, but it didn't matter. He himself did not like the Leader of Amegakure either, because he felt that the Leader of Amegakure did not put his heart into the welfare of the people in the country, and the conflict between the two had already begun to emerge.
Besides the aspect of Medical Ninja, Hanzou also wanted to help Konohagakure in other areas. The first target was the Land of Wind. Ninja Villages cared very much about war intelligence, so he knew that the Land of Wind had begun to retreat, and Konohagakure seemed to intend to strike the Land of Wind once more.
Therefore, Hanzou decided that he, too, would give the soon-to-collapse Land of Wind a push. After handing over the matter of the Medical Ninja to his trusted subordinates, he personally led a team to the other side of the Land of Wind to contain the forces of the Land of Wind and apply pressure.
There, Hanzou took the initiative and launched an attack on a logistics supply station of the Land of Wind. He performed exceptionally well in this battle, and as a result, he truly brought a painful defeat to the Land of Wind, and Hanzou gradually began to become known.
If it were in ordinary times, these losses would not have been enough to cause serious damage, but at this time, under the pressure of Konohagakure, these losses were very significant, just like the last straw that broke the donkey's back.
Originally, the Second Kazekage wanted to continue to persist and maintain a balance of power between the two sides, so that they would not be led by the nose during peace talks. However, with the dual pressure from Fūmori Masaki and Hanzou, the Land of Wind could no longer hold out.
At this time, the envoy who went to the Land of Wind also gained the approval of some peace factions. Moreover, because of the defeat of Sunagakure, the peace factions gradually gained the right to speak. Not long after, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind issued an order: negotiate peace with the Land of Fire, and Sunagakure and Konohagakure were to sign a military agreement to stop the war.
With the Daimyo's order, even if Sunagakure was unwilling and felt it was not a good time, they had no choice but to agree, having someone set a location with Konohagakure to prepare for peace talks.
the new third hokage of konoha