Recently,
Nōshin Kongō
developed a severe skin condition. From his neck to his chest, thick layers of psoriasis covered his body. The relentless itching tormented him day and night. He scratched at it with his hands, causing flakes of skin to fall off in clumps. Even when he tore the skin until it bled profusely, the itch persisted.
When the skin was torn open, the wounds began oozing yellow pus. In the perpetually rainy and humid climate of
Amegakure (Hidden Rain Village)
, the wounds became even harder to heal. Nōshin sought help from several medical-nin and applied countless ointments. While the bleeding would eventually stop and the wounds would scab over, once healed, another layer of psoriasis would form. The cycle repeated endlessly.
However, what troubled him most was not this maddening skin condition.
Since assuming the title of
Amekage
,
Nōshin Kongō
had felt that something was amiss, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Currently,
Amegakure
was free from the ravages of war. There were no uprisings by starving citizens, neighboring nations were at peace, and the village treasury was well-stocked. The documents piling up on his desk each day never exceeded ten pages, and he could finish reviewing them in just about an hour.
Every month, the village received a tax revenue of two million ryō from the
Hourglass Corporation
, which he could spend however he pleased. On top of that, during festivals or holidays, he would receive personal gifts from the corporation. These days, his most frequent task was visiting the families of previous
Amekage
to offer his condolences.
With such a peaceful and effortless governance,
Nōshin
began to feel that he might surpass even
Hanzō of the Salamander
as the most successful
Amekage
in history.
But
Nōshin Kongō
was no fool who merely coasted along. Although he had rarely been on the battlefield or taken on missions—having risen through the ranks as a civilian strategist responsible for assigning missions—he had served under
Hanzō
for many years. Later, he became Hanzō's personal bodyguard and steward (though his primary role was as steward, with the bodyguard title being more honorary). His instincts told him that danger was looming, though he couldn't pinpoint what it was.
The answer soon revealed itself.
During the inauguration ceremony for his succession as
Amekage
, the
Third Kazekage
,
Jinghang
, and the
Third Hokage
,
Hiruzen Sarutobi
, jointly announced the
Wind-Fire Peace Declaration
. They also revealed plans to conduct a joint military exercise in the
Land of Rivers
. This completely stole the spotlight from
Nōshin's
inauguration. Naturally,
Nōshin Kongō
was displeased, but these two were titans whose strength far exceeded his own. Starting a conflict? He didn't dare.
Moreover, how had he even become
Amekage
in the first place? Wasn't it all thanks to the financial and political backing of the
Hourglass Corporation
?
Still, as a seasoned steward,
Nōshin
quickly devised a plan. On the spot, he declared his unwavering support for the
Wind-Fire Peace Declaration
and pledged to dispatch 800 troops to bolster the effort.
His reasoning was as follows:
First, by supporting the declaration and contributing troops,
Amegakure
would be recognized as one of the declaration's initiators. This would restore some of the prestige lost during his inauguration.
Second, aligning actions with
Konohagakure
and
Sunagakure
was a strategic move. With these two major powers as allies, who would dare provoke
Amegakure
in the future?
Finally, deploying 800 troops was a balanced decision—not too many, not too few. If
Kirigakure
retaliated later, the larger nations would bear the brunt of the conflict, leaving
Amegakure
relatively unscathed.
It was a triple-win strategy.
Nōshin Kongō
was so impressed with his own quick thinking that he celebrated by drinking a few extra cups at
Hanzō's
farewell banquet and even stayed overnight in a drunken stupor.
However, as the deployment date approached and
Nōshin
began preparing to assemble the troops, he was shocked to discover that
Amegakure's
ninja roster was as thin as the documents on his desk—barely ten pages. And they were single-sided.
Altogether, the village only had about a thousand ninjas!
If 800 were deployed, wouldn't
Amegakure
become a defenseless ghost town?
His bodyguard,
Rō
, twisted the knife further by pointing out that among these thousand ninjas, 88 were fresh graduates from the ninja academy.
But words once spoken couldn't be taken back. After much deliberation,
Nōshin Kongō
gritted his teeth, steeled his resolve, and appointed
Jōnin Matsumoto
to lead the 800 ninjas to the
Land of Rivers
.
For a time,
Amegakure
entered the most precarious period in its history, with only 172 ninjas left to protect the entire nation.
Fortunately, the military exercise concluded smoothly within a little over a month. The
Amegakure
ninjas mostly stayed on the outskirts, providing auxiliary support and avoiding significant losses.
Jōnin Matsumoto
even managed to kill a small outpost leader, earning a 50,000 ryō reward from
Jinghang
(with an additional 50,000 from
Konohagakure
, totaling 100,000 ryō).
It wasn't until the expeditionary force returned home that
Nōshin Kongō
could finally breathe a sigh of relief. He immediately launched an investigation into the matter. What he discovered nearly caused him to faint: the population of
Amegakure
had dwindled to less than 60,000!
As a former steward,
Nōshin
knew exactly what these numbers signified.
During
Hanzō's
peak reign,
Amegakure
boasted a population of nearly 200,000 and a ninja force of 4,000. Back then, smaller nations wouldn't dare provoke them, and even the major powers of Fire, Earth, and Wind had to tread carefully.
But now?
The
Amekage
, officially appointed by the
Land of Rain's
daimyo as the nation's governing official, was on the verge of having no citizens to govern! And as the supreme military leader, he barely had any soldiers under his command!
This was absurd! Investigate! This had to be the work of foreign sabotage!
The results of the investigation came swiftly, and to
Nōshin's
dismay, it wasn't sabotage but a blatant, open conspiracy.
The culprit? None other than his financial backer and "father figure," the
Hourglass Corporation
!
To be fair, the root of the problem didn't lie with
Nōshin
himself. He had only recently taken office. The decline had begun during
Hanzō's
later years.
When the Second Shinobi War erupted, the
Land of Rain
became the primary battleground for
Amegakure
,
Sunagakure
, and
Konohagakure
. Later, when
Sunagakure
withdrew,
Iwagakure
joined the fray, leaving the already struggling
Land of Rain
in utter ruin.
As the war between
Iwagakure
and
Kumogakure
spilled over, waves of displaced refugees flooded into the
Land of Rain
, exacerbating the crisis.
Hanzō
, renowned as the "Demi-God of the Shinobi World," excelled on the battlefield but was inept at governance. Just as he was overwhelmed,
Sunagakure
extended a "hand of friendship," offering not only assistance with the refugee crisis but also generous financial aid.
Rasa
and
Maki
didn't hold back either. Through the
Hourglass Corporation
, they established a system: collecting refugees in the
Land of Rain
and relocating them to the
Moon Lake New District
. Skilled laborers stayed near the
Shule River
to work, while the unskilled were sent to the
Moon Lake
area to cultivate land. This effectively resolved the refugee crisis, albeit at the expense of
Rasa's
personal fortune.
By the time foreign refugees dwindled and domestic issues were resolved, the people of
Amegakure
found themselves penniless. Where had the money gone?
It was all in
Hanzō's
pockets, as he continued to revel in luxury.
With no wars to fight, ninjas lost their military stipends and had to take on missions to make ends meet. But in a war-torn economy, who could afford to hire them?
The
Hourglass Corporation
could. Their Damascus ninja blades, tactical vests, boots, and canned goods were selling like hotcakes across nations. As the corporation expanded along the
Shule River
, it absorbed a large portion of
Amegakure's
workforce into its factories. The wages earned there were comparable to farming, if not better. For those who still wanted to farm, the
Moon Lake New District
had plenty of land.
Both
Rasa
and
Yura
treated their workers well (under orders from
Jinghang
to maintain labor standards), so the villagers simply settled into factory life. With decent wages, meals, and housing, even their children had the opportunity to attend technical schools in the
Moon Lake New District
.
As for the ninjas, they were employed as security for factories, mines, and farms or as escorts along trade routes between the
Land of Rain
and the
Moon Lake New District
.
Rasa
welcomed them with open arms, offering steady employment opportunities.