Bang! Bang! Bang!
The two squad members walked up to the high tower's gate without hesitation and knocked loudly. "Hey, is anyone there?" they shouted.
The gate was quickly pulled open. Yamabiko Yuto, wearing a mask, squinted at the Amegakure ninja before him and said coldly, "Of course, there's someone here. What do you want?"
"That's a stupid question! If we didn't want something, who would waste their time coming to find you?!"
"Let me ask you, has anyone in an Amegakure uniform come by here?"
"No. You two are the only people from Amegakure I've seen today," Yamabiko Yuto replied swiftly. He stood with his body angled away from them, his expression tense beneath the mask.
"Only us two? Are you sure?"
"Of course."
The two Amegakure ninja exchanged a look, then ignored Yamabiko Yuto, turned, and walked away, leaving him completely bewildered.
Returning to Kanda, they reported what had happened. "Lord Kanda, it seems Yamaki really didn't go inside."
"But that makes no sense," Kanda frowned. "If Yamaki didn't go to the sanctuary, where could he have gone?"
"He's right here!"
A strange voice came from behind them. Kanda and his men were startled and whirled around, assuming defensive stances. To be able to approach them so silently, the newcomer's skills were not to be underestimated.
Kanda focused his gaze and found the person before him somewhat familiar. When he saw the man holding the unconscious Yamaki, he immediately became alert and said in a frigid tone, "You must be Kaito from the sanctuary. Why did you attack a ninja from our village? Are you trying to start a war?!"
"Oh?" Kaito dropped Yamaki to the ground and said with a half-smile, "But I heard this guy is a rogue ninja from your village."
"How is that possible?!" Kanda's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly denied it. "He is a proper Amegakure ninja!"
"Is that so? Then why did I happen to see you all chasing him from behind? Besides, he admitted it himself."
"Impossible! Don't try to shift the blame! We're discussing whether you intentionally harmed a ninja from my village!" Kanda shouted sternly. "Kaito, are you trying to go to war with our Village Hidden in the Rain right now?!"
Kaito sneered. "And what if I say yes?"
"No? You don't need to argue... huh?" Kanda came to his senses, shocked. "Did you just say yes?"
"Mm-hm. Isn't this exactly what you were hoping for?" Kaito said.
"Er..."
Seeing Kaito so composed, Kanda was filled with alarm and suspicion. After a moment's thought, he gritted his teeth. "What do you mean by that?"
"Was I not clear enough? Then let's just get to it."
Kaito snapped his fingers, and a thick layer of frost suddenly spread out from under his feet.
"Get back!" Kanda roared, retreating rapidly.
All but three unlucky men, who were frozen into ice statues, managed to dodge Kaito's attack. But before they could feel a moment of relief, a large fireball appeared in Kaito's hand, and he hurled it at them.
BOOM!
With a deafening roar, the massive fireball exploded in front of them. A blinding white light flared, and an endless torrent of flames shot into the sky, dyeing half the heavens red.
The people from the sanctuary also noticed the commotion and a large crowd quickly appeared. As they reached the edge of the forest, they arrived just in time to see Kaito haul the dust-covered Kanda to his feet.
"Lord Kaito, what is this?"
As Kanda stared in terror, Kaito answered with a grim face, "They ambushed me here, but I ended up capturing them instead."
"What?!"
Everyone was shocked, and their faces filled with righteous indignation and fury.
"I was wondering why they suddenly showed up here! So they were planning to harm our lord!"
"Did these guys get their brains fried fighting other villages? How dare they attack us?!"
"Heh, so pathetic when fighting enemies, but so tough when dealing with their own. Can't they even give us this little bit of space to survive?"
Hanzo's attempt to wipe them out had clearly enraged the residents of the sanctuary, who only wanted to live in peace. This had crossed their bottom line.
"Everyone, please calm down," Kaito said placatingly. "This may just be a misunderstanding, the actions of these individuals alone. Perhaps Leader Hanzo knows nothing about it. After all, Leader Hanzo once promised me that he would not interfere in the affairs of the sanctuary."
Poor Kanda, with Kaito's hand clamped around his neck, tried to speak and explain himself, but could only manage a series of muffled, gurgling sounds.
"Therefore, I plan to go to the Village Hidden in the Rain and ask Leader Hanzo about this matter in person."
"My lord, you must not!"
The crowd immediately cried out in protest. "If you go to Amegakure, won't that be like a sheep walking into a tiger's den?"
"Even if you are powerful, my lord, you can't possibly stand against a siege of hundreds or thousands of people!"
"If you insist on going, my lord, then we will go with you and clear the way!"
Faced with their willingness to die, Kaito couldn't bring himself to disappoint their earnest hearts. He nodded helplessly. "Sigh, alright. We will go together and demand an explanation from Hanzo!"
"Yes!"
They rounded up all the barely-breathing Amegakure ninja on the ground and gathered almost all of the sanctuary's armed forces, leaving only a few behind for defense. A large contingent of over a hundred people marched toward the Village Hidden in the Rain, braving the heavy downpour.
After only one night, Kaito and his group arrived before a wide lake.
"Lord Kaito, the Village Hidden in the Rain is in the middle of this lake. Usually, the Amegakure ninja use a connecting bridge to travel back and forth, but the method to open the bridge changes daily. I don't know how to open it now."
Gazing at the lake shrouded in rain and mist, Kaito shook his head. "There's no need for such trouble. Everyone, just follow me."
He took a step forward onto the lake. The moment his foot touched the surface, an intense cold emanated from him, instantly freezing the lake water into a solid sheet of ice that spread continuously forward.
The people behind him gasped in admiration and followed in Kaito's footsteps, stepping onto the frozen lake.
After advancing for several kilometers, the silhouette of the Village Hidden in the Rain became faintly visible in their field of vision.
"So this is the Village Hidden in the Rain?"
Kaito increased his pace, and the crowd couldn't help but quicken their steps as well. Soon, Kaito successfully set foot on the soil of Amegakure. At the same time, the village's ninja spotted him.
A piercing alarm siren blared. One by one, Amegakure ninja rushed out of their houses and landed in front of Kaito, surrounding him and the people behind him.
"Who are you? How dare you trespass in the Village Hidden in the Rain?!"
"Look! Isn't that Lord Kanda he's carrying?"
This discovery immediately put the Amegakure ninja on high alert, and they all drew their kunai and pointed them at Kaito. The atmosphere on the field instantly grew tense.
Kaito didn't answer. He raised his head and looked toward the tallest building in the village. There, Hanzo opened a window and leaped straight to the ground.
After more than a year, the two strongest men on this land met once again.