The Yellow Dog Unit pushed hard for an entire day before finally reaching the outskirts of Amegakure.
Yellow Dog deliberately revealed himself, standing calmly atop the water outside the village gates.
His subordinate Fox and the others remained hidden, crouched inside a tangle of abandoned pipes nearby.
Amegakure was a strange place indeed—pipes ran everywhere, massive vertical columns and thick horizontal lines twisting through the city like veins. The houses themselves had been carved out of these colossal pipes, reshaped into crude dwellings.
Before long, a squad of Kumo-nin emerged from the village.
At their head was a man named Shiyu, a senior of Amegakure.
Fixing his eyes on Yellow Dog, Shiyu demanded, "What are you doing here, ANBU of Konoha? Don't you know our two villages are at war?"
Yellow Dog tossed him a scroll.
"Our Lord Danzo met with your leader, Hanzō. Hanzō said if Konoha showed its sincerity, Ame would consider a ceasefire. This scroll contains our sincerity—take a look."
Shiyu unfurled it, only to see the ink smearing, blotted by the falling rain. He knew at once this was one of Konoha's little tricks—forcing him to read quickly before the message blurred away.
Skimming it in haste, Shiyu's confusion lifted.
The Suna-nin had been skulking around the Yoshigane Mountains for some time, and now it was clear why—they had discovered several connected caverns. If opened, they could divert the waters of the Land of Rain into the Land of Wind.
Shiyu's mind raced. If we control this, we can choke Suna by cutting or diverting the Yoshimizu River at will. With this, Ame holds the upper hand.
It was valuable intel.
Shiyu let the ruined scroll drop into the mud.
"I understand. I'll report this to the leader. But you're too slow—Hanzō-sama is already clashing with Konoha forces. Let's see how many of yours survive before we arrive."
Yellow Dog's eyes flickered, and without a word, he led his men toward the battlefield.
Hours later, Yako glimpsed the distant shimmer of poison mist hanging thick over the jungle canopy. Skirting the densest haze, they broke through into a clearing—where the battlefield lay revealed.
Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade stood panting in the muck, surrounded by heaps of the dead—Konoha shinobi and Ame-nin alike. Every subordinate had been spent, both sides annihilating each other.
High atop his great salamander, Hanzō swept his gaze across the carnage. From his vantage, he spotted Shiyu and Yellow Dog together.
He remembered Yellow Dog from the previous encounter and had been impressed. Seeing him again, standing beside Shiyu, Hanzō understood at once—Ame had received what it wanted.
Looking down at the three surviving Konoha jōnin, he realized he couldn't finish them quickly. Sarutobi Hiruzen has raised fine disciples. Enviable…
Better, then, to cut his losses. Hundreds of his men lay dead—true loyalty was scarce, and the Land of Rain was crawling with rebels. Wars between villages were not won in single battles, but through lasting strength.
He had suppressed the three, but even with his aid, seven hundred Ame-nin and four hundred Konoha shinobi had perished together.
Konoha could field another battalion. Ame could not.
Drawing his sickle back, Hanzō declared, "This battle… let's call it Konoha's victory. I'll spare your lives."
Jiraiya shouted back, "Take your pity and shove it! Come on! I can still fight!"
Hanzō's voice rang like iron:
"You've endured this long under me—your strength is proven. From this day forth, I, Hanzō the Salamander, name you the Three Sannin of Konoha. Bear this title bought with blood and life itself."
Turning his mount, Hanzō withdrew, leaving the field of corpses behind.
Jiraiya tried to charge after him, but Tsunade caught his arm.
"Jiraiya! Calm yourself!"
Yellow Dog flickered to Orochimaru's side with a Body Flicker Technique.
Orochimaru's pale eyes narrowed, at first believing Yellow Dog had brought reinforcements. But when he saw the half-empty ANBU unit behind him, his smirk returned.
After hearing Yellow Dog's report, Orochimaru exhaled faint relief. Ironically, the negotiations he had sneered at had been what forced Hanzō to pull away.
The Yellow Dog Unit began clearing the battlefield.
Yako barked at a figure standing still—only to realize it was White Ram. At his feet lay his fiancé, Aburame Chima, dead and swarmed with kikaichū. Most were lifeless, a few still writhing.
White Ram knelt and extended his arm. Tiny holes opened along his skin. Chima's surviving insects, one by one, crawled into him.
He had once said his kikaichū despised hers. But now she was gone—the two colonies fused into one, never to clash again.
The low, endless drone of their sorrow filled White Ram's body.
Meanwhile, Yako located the logistics squad's corpses and retrieved sealing scrolls from their packs. Inside were over four hundred body bags—a grim contingency plan for the worst.
Four hundred fallen comrades. It took hours to seal them all, leaving Yako exhausted. He found himself staring at the uncollected Ame-nin corpses. Left in the water, they would soon rot.
Orochimaru arrived once more, summoning the Fox Unit. Yako's heart sank—but it was only to aid in corpse collection.
In war, the bodies of the enemy were prizes. Among them might be secrets, kekkei genkai, bloodlines.
Orochimaru moved methodically, pointing at corpses for Yako's men to seal away. Out of hundreds, he deemed only thirty-some worth taking—likely bloodline heirs.
Hanzō had spit venom on his way out, but the fact that he allowed this spoke volumes. Ame had lost.
The next day, Konoha reinforcements arrived and took their dead. Yellow Dog's unit joined them, retreating to the main camp in the Land of Grass.
Days passed, and only Orochimaru and Tsunade returned.
Orochimaru announced, "Jiraiya remained in the Land of Rain. He encountered the Child of Prophecy the Great Toad Sage foretold."
Yako turned his gaze toward the Land of Rain. The wheels of fate are beginning to turn. Nagato's power will soon grow—and quickly.
Why was Uchiha Madara so certain Jiraiya would shelter Nagato? Perhaps, if the Sannin had turned against him, Madara himself would have emerged, slaughtering them to safeguard his pawn. With Black Zetsu and White Zetsu feeding him constant intel, Madara's grip over the Rinnegan never wavered.
Nagato was far too important.
Hanzō declared a ceasefire. The war in the Land of Rain was over—for now.
And Yako set foot on the road back to the village.
The Yellow Dog Captain had already resolved: he would recommend Fox for promotion to Tokubetsu jōnin.