The friction between various countries had cooled down shortly after the Rain Mountain incident, but now tentative actions began again.
The Land of Iron had originally planned to bypass the difficult-to-attack Land of Waterfall and attack the Land of Grass. However, before the samurai of the Land of Iron could even reach the Land of Grass, they encountered Ninja troops sent by the Land of Rice Fields' Daimyo to attack the Land of Iron.
Although the Land of Rice Fields had no Shinobi Village, it had numerous Ninja clans. Under the Land of Rice Fields' Daimyo's recruitment, they decided to become the Daimyo's sharp sword, conquer the Land of Iron for him, and at the same time prove their strength to the Ninja World and establish their family's name.
Mifune didn't expect the Land of Rice Fields, which he looked down upon, to actively attack the Land of Iron. He immediately abandoned the idea of attacking the Land of Grass and led his samurai to engage the Land of Rice Fields' Ninja troops.
In the forest, which had become a battlefield, shouts of killing and painful screams continuously echoed. Blood stained the grass, and the converging blood flowed in winding streams into the distance.
Seeing that they could not defeat the Land of Iron's samurai troops, the Land of Rice Fields' Ninja troops retreated.
Mifune naturally wouldn't miss the legitimate opportunity to attack the Land of Rice Fields. After a brief rest in the Land of Iron, he led his samurai to attack the Land of Rice Fields.
The Hidden Grass Village in the Land of Grass, originally targeted by Mifune, seemed to have learned that the Land of Iron was targeting the Land of Grass. The Land of Grass's Daimyo was enraged and immediately contacted the Hidden Grass Village's Village Head.
While Mifune was leading his samurai to attack the Land of Rice Fields, the Hidden Grass Village's Village Head sent Hidden Grass Ninja to carry out harassing attacks within the Land of Iron, very cleverly choosing not to engage in direct combat with the Land of Iron's samurai.
Boom, boom, boom—!
A series of exploding tags explosions destroyed buildings in the Land of Iron's towns. By the time the samurai responsible for protecting the towns arrived, the Hidden Grass Ninja had already retreated.
Mifune, who was slaughtering in the Land of Rice Fields with his samurai troops, learned of the Hidden Grass Ninja's actions against the Land of Iron. Enraged, he abandoned his operations in the Land of Rice Fields and turned around to attack the Hidden Grass Village in the Land of Grass.
The Ninja clans of the Land of Rice Fields were terrified by the Land of Iron's samurai. When the Daimyo tried to recruit them again, they all refused. Are you kidding? They had been beaten so badly; why would they provoke the Land of Iron's samurai again? Did they think they were sick?
What about attacking the Hidden Hot Water Village in the neighboring Land of Hot Springs?
The various Ninja clans discussed it and thought it was highly feasible. The Hidden Hot Water Village in the Land of Hot Springs wasn't very strong, and they might get some good spoils of war.
On this side, the Land of Rice Fields' Ninja troops began to move against the Hidden Hot Water Village in the Land of Hot Springs. On the other side, the Land of Iron's samurai, led by Mifune, clashed with the Ninja of the Hidden Grass Village in the Land of Grass.
The small countries were fighting fiercely, making the tension in the Ninja World grow thicker and thicker.
In the brightly lit Laboratory, Orochimaru looked at the scroll in his hand, truly unable to understand what the Land of Rice Fields' Daimyo was thinking. Did he think the Ninja clans living in the Land of Rice Fields were too powerful and threatened him, so he wanted to reduce their numbers through war?
Or was the Land of Rice Fields' Daimyo simply insane?
Of all people to provoke, he chose to provoke the Land of Iron, which wanted to move against the Land of Grass.
A meaningless war.
This was Orochimaru's assessment of the war between the Land of Iron, the Land of Rice Fields, and the Land of Grass.
"Lord Orochimaru, the Jiongu modification has been successful."
Imu walked to Orochimaru's side and said respectfully.
"Let's go, let's take a look."
The scroll in his hand spontaneously combusted into ashes. Orochimaru stood up and went to the room where Kakuzu and the masked monsters were.
In a room in the Laboratory, four masked monsters and Kakuzu were immersed in cultivation tanks. Not only were Zero-Tails Cells implanted, but Transformation Formulas were also carved on them.
"How do you feel?"
Orochimaru tapped the cultivation tank, making a clanging sound.
"Excellent… This feeling is unprecedented…"
Kakuzu opened his eyes and looked at Orochimaru, Hyuga Mio, and Imu. He was glad he insisted on keeping his pants on. Otherwise, he would now be naked in the cultivation tank, just like the chunks of flesh cultivated with Zero-Tails Cells.
That feeling made him feel as if he wasn't there to receive Jiongu modifications, but rather had become Orochimaru's experiment subject.
"Orochimaru, how much longer do I have to stay in the cultivation tank?"
Kakuzu didn't want to stay in the cultivation tank for too long; this feeling was very unpleasant.
"Once all data is stable, you and your little monsters can leave the cultivation tank."
Orochimaru took the document handed to him by Hyuga Mio, looked at the data for Kakuzu and the four masked monsters, and said with satisfaction, "Not bad. At this rate, you'll be able to leave the cultivation tank soon."
"Oh, by the way, I've seen the information on that girl from the Chinoike Clan named Ran Do. As a child, she mischievously fell into the boiling spring water in Hell Valley, leaving large areas of blood-red burn scars on her body. It's very simple to treat: just extract the heavy metals from the scars and formulate a scar removal medicine."
Orochimaru tapped the cultivation tank with the document in his hand, then spread his hands and said with a regretful look, "I didn't expect you, this guy, to be cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and quite caring. Unfortunately, you no longer have that ability."
Hyuga Mio raised her hand to her forehead. Thinking of Orochimaru often writing forbidden books, she didn't find it strange that Orochimaru would say such a thing.
It must be me who has become strange!
No, I must have been influenced by Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru! I don't have those kinds of thoughts about that little girl!"
Kakuzu was about to explode with anger. This wasn't the anger of having his secret exposed, but the fury of being slandered. He no longer had such needs, so how could he be interested in some little girl?
"Let's just assume that's the case."
Orochimaru handed the document in his hand to Imu, looking at the masked monsters in the cultivation tank. Each masked monster represented a type of Chakra nature transformation, while Kakuzu himself represented Earth Release Chakra nature transformation.
Orochimaru guessed that before Kakuzu used the secret Ninjutsu Jiongu to turn himself into a tentacle monster, his Chakra nature transformation should have been Earth.
The interesting thing was that the masked monsters' masks had self-repairing functions, meaning they could be repaired even if damaged.
So the question arose, where did the masked monsters protruding from Kakuzu's back go when he wore a suit?
"Enough! Stop slandering me!"
Kakuzu was so angry that he wanted to rush out of the cultivation tank and fight Orochimaru to the death. It was very likely he would be severely beaten, though. After he witnessed Orochimaru's Sage Mode, he no longer believed he could defeat Orochimaru in terms of raw strength.
He used to think his strength was not inferior to Orochimaru's, but now he didn't want to be unilaterally abused.
"You really can't take a joke."
Orochimaru glanced at Kakuzu, "I still understand your personality a little."
"Your personality is truly vile."
Kakuzu's mouth twitched, getting even angrier.
"What do you plan to do with these adorable little monsters?"
Orochimaru pointed at the four masked monsters in the cultivation tank and suggested, "I think your fighting style is quite good. After no longer needing hearts to provide vitality and Chakra, you alone are equivalent to five people, and it's also very convenient for performing combination Ninjutsu."
"Indeed, without the weakness of a heart, as long as the Jiongu tentacles exist, I will not die."
Kakuzu paused here. He suddenly realized that he was almost unkillable, so why endure such humiliation? He could just fight Orochimaru, since she couldn't kill him anyway.
"Kakuzu, you wouldn't think I have no way to deal with you, would you?"
Orochimaru, as if seeing through Kakuzu's thoughts, said casually, "I am very skilled in the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Technique. Sealing you for a few hundred years is easily achievable."
"The company cannot do without a Chief Financial Officer. When can I leave here?"
Kakuzu decisively gave up the idea of annoying Orochimaru. He didn't want to be sealed by a Sealing Technique.
"Don't worry, you'll be able to leave this glass jar soon. The Zero-Tails Cells implanted in Jiongu require sufficient nutrients, unless you want to eat soldier pills like candy."
If Kakuzu wasn't so stingy with himself, Orochimaru would have kicked him back to the Land of Waves long ago.
"Uh... it's not like I can't leave the company for a few days."
It wasn't that Kakuzu wasn't eager to leave, but he was reluctant to spend money on soldier pills. All his current salary, except for maintaining his extravagant gold-colored car, was saved. He was very frugal in all his expenses.
It's worth mentioning that Kakuzu's clothes were all paid for by the company.
A few days later, Kakuzu put away his mask-like face and left Orochimaru's Laboratory, returning to the Land of Waves.
From arriving at the Laboratory to returning to the Land of Waves, he never knew the exact location of Orochimaru's Laboratory.
While marveling at Orochimaru's extreme caution, Kakuzu highly approved of his prudence. If such an important place as a Laboratory could be easily found by others, the research results would very likely become someone else's.
Meanwhile, the war between Kusagakure and the samurai of the Land of Iron continued.
Perhaps the war within the Land of Grass had too great an impact on its civilians, so Kusagakure wanted to shift the battlefield from the Land of Grass to the Land of Rain.
Hanzou, who initially had no intention of getting involved in wars between smaller nations and only wanted to protect his own territory, truly couldn't sit still any longer.
It was one thing for the Great Nations to use the Land of Rain as a battlefield; they could have that part of the territory to fight over!
But what kind of insignificant nations were the Land of Grass and the Land of Iron, daring to cause trouble in my Land of Rain!
Hanzou did not summon the Amegakure Ninjas; almost all Ninjas had their own jobs, either working in White Snake Electric Town or White Snake Hub Town. The crucial Chakra Battery production and hub transportation could not be stopped. He alone was enough to fight against Kusagakure and the samurai of the Land of Iron.
Hanzou took off his business suit and changed into his old battle attire. He stretched his limbs; he hadn't neglected his training just because the Land of Rain was living in peace. He knew very well that if anything happened in the Land of Rain, he would be the first to step up.
"What lovely weather. Rainy days are Ibuse the Salamander's favorite."
Hanzou stood on a high platform, looking up at the overcast sky, his eyes radiating killing intent.
Since Rain Mountain became the Rain Mountain Range, the Land of Rain was no longer a land of perpetual rain.
The weather in the Land of Rain was now normal, and the planted crops had yielded a bountiful harvest.
"Lord Hanzou!"
"Hmm?"
Hanzou looked down to see a large number of Amegakure Ninjas spontaneously gathered on the street below.
"Lord Hanzou! When have we, the Land of Rain, ever feared war!"
"Lord Hanzou! Let us fight with you!"
"Lord Hanzou!"
"Enough!"
Hanzou waved his hand and reprimanded, "You still have important work to do. Protect the towns! Dealing with the Ninjas of Kusagakure and the samurai of the Land of Iron is my responsibility!"
Just then, a light rain began to fall from the sky.
"Summoning Technique."
Hanzou cut his finger with the tip of his scythe, summoned Ibuse the Salamander, who lived in the Rain Mountain Range, jumped onto Ibuse the Salamander's back, and formed hand signs.
"Ibuse the Salamander, let's go!"
A current of Water Release Chakra formed a water vortex, enveloping Ibuse the Salamander and Hanzou, and they vanished before the eyes of the Amegakure Ninjas.
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