The Land of Rain was wet all year round, and the air was heavy with moisture.
After Shanks and Hatake Sakumo entered the Land of Rain, they waited at the contact point.
Tobirama had described the mission so seriously that it was definitely not going to be easy.
Sure enough, on the third day of waiting, Shanks’s Observation Haki sensed five or six Rain shinobi chasing one ninja who was not wearing a forehead protector.
He could not tell which village that person belonged to.
“Get ready.
They’re coming,” Shanks said to Sakumo.
“There are six jōnin on the other side.
This is going to be difficult.”
“When they arrive, you take the person and leave first.
I’ll hold them off,” Sakumo said.
“No.
You don’t have enough endurance.
You take the person and leave.
I’ll hold them.”
Shanks rejected the idea immediately.
“But let’s see if we can kill one or two first.”
“All right.”
Sakumo did not argue.
Compared to Shanks, he really was not suited for a prolonged battle.
“Same old routine.
You stay hidden.
I’ll take the front.”
After saying that, Shanks drew his sword and charged forward.
Because they had to rescue the target and receive the intelligence, Shanks could not use large-scale Water Release right away.
He could only rely on swordsmanship.
“One-Sword Style: Three Thousand Worlds!”
Swish, swish, swish!
Several arcs of sword energy slashed toward the left side of the Rain shinobi.
“Careful!”
The Rain jōnin at the front reacted quickly.
“Ah!”
Two Rain jōnin were struck by the sword energy, though neither wound hit a vital point.
“Red-haired brat.
Special swordsmanship.
Konoha’s supernova, Uzumaki Shanks.”
The leading jōnin stared at him coldly.
“This is a matter of the Land of Rain.
Does Konoha intend to interfere?”
“I just hate seeing people bully someone with numbers.”
Shanks looked toward the ninja being chased.
“Brother, are you all right?”
“Ah, I’m fine.
Just small injuries.”
The pursued ninja’s face was pale.
They were indeed small injuries.
He only had kunai wounds in his thigh and arm.
“Then stand farther away and watch this young master perform.”
After speaking, Shanks stopped wasting words and attacked.
“One-Sword Style: Random Slashing Edition!”
Sword energy swept out again.
This time, the Rain shinobi were prepared and did not fall for it.
“White Fang Pursuit!”
Swish!
One of the Rain jōnin who had been wounded by Shanks’s sword energy dodged the next slash, only for Hatake Sakumo, who had been hiding in the dark, to cut him down in one strike.
“Ameda!”
The leading jōnin roared.
“Good.
Both of Konoha’s supernovas are here.
Then die here together!”
After shouting, he charged directly at Shanks.
“When it comes to one-on-one, you’re still my little brother!”
Shanks shouted, “Sakumo, hold the other four!
I’ll deal with him first!”
“…”
Hatake Sakumo looked up at the sky.
I really want to cut him down.
Still, Sakumo drew his blade and rushed forward.
After all, he only needed to delay the others, not defeat all four of them.
He was confident he could do that much.
“Chakra-Enhanced Armament: Random Hammering!”
Shanks punched the charging jōnin.
Bang!
His fist struck the jōnin’s body, but water splashed everywhere.
“Water Clone!”
“Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!”
From behind Shanks, the jōnin fired a Water Dragon Bullet.
Bang!
The Water Dragon Bullet struck Shanks, but Shanks turned into a piece of wood.
“What?”
The jōnin’s eyes widened.
His vision blurred.
Slowly, he saw a headless body.
“Inoue!”
The four shinobi being delayed by Sakumo shouted in grief and anger.
They had not expected Inoue to be killed so quickly.
“Sakumo!
Withdraw!”
The moment Sakumo heard Shanks’s voice, he quickly retreated to the pursued ninja’s side, grabbed him by the collar, and sped away.
“Water Release: Super Great Waterfall Technique!”
The four remaining Rain jōnin were just about to give chase when a massive wave surged toward them.
They immediately jumped back to avoid it.
After the wave passed, the ground where they had been standing had become a small lake.
“Damn Konoha.”
One of the jōnin gritted his teeth.
“Go.
We report this to the leader.”
After Shanks and the others entered the Land of Fire border, they found a cave and rested.
“Brother, how did you end up being chased?” Shanks asked.
The other person suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of two-tomoe Sharingan.
“I am Uchiha Yamada of the Uchiha Clan.
The clan head sent me to receive intelligence from our spies in the Land of Rain, but I was discovered and chased.”
“Where is the intelligence?” Sakumo asked calmly.
“The Uchiha clan head requested Lord Hokage to send us to receive you.”
“Here.”
Uchiha Yamada did not suspect them.
He took out a scroll.
If not for the two of them, he would already be dead, and the intelligence might have been taken.
Sakumo held the scroll but did not open it.
He only gave Shanks a slight nod.
“You… you…”
A sharp pain pierced Uchiha Yamada’s heart, and his life slowly faded away.
“This was decided by the higher-ups,” Sakumo said.
“We don’t have the authority to know why.”
After speaking, he pulled out his blade.
“Looks like the Uchiha Clan has started getting restless too.”
Shanks sighed.
Then he crouched down and searched Uchiha Yamada’s body.
Sure enough, he found another intelligence scroll hidden near his chest.
From the moment Shanks and Sakumo heard that this man was from the Uchiha Clan, they had already guessed why Tobirama wanted him silenced.
A struggle between the higher-ups was not something two brats like them could decide.
Sakumo used a small Fire Release to burn the body.
“Our mission is complete,” Sakumo said calmly.
“I never thought there would be a day when we’d act against someone from our own village.”
Shanks smiled mockingly.
“Politics isn’t something we can understand right now,” Sakumo said.
“And shinobi don’t need to understand too much.”
Shanks fell silent after hearing that.
The two returned to the village without speaking.
“You completed it well.
Go back and rest.”
Tobirama accepted the two intelligence scrolls and saw that neither had been opened.
Shanks and Sakumo quietly left the office.
Seeing Shanks in a bad mood, Sakumo patted him on the shoulder before going home.
He did not know how to comfort him.
Since childhood, Sakumo had been taught that shinobi were tools meant to protect the village.
Anyone the Hokage ordered killed was someone who endangered the village.
After all, every village had no shortage of missing-nin.
Shanks walked silently through the streets.
Along the way, he saw many children laughing and playing.
He saw civilians with happy smiles on their faces.
At some point, he arrived at Hokage Rock and looked down over the whole of Konoha.
In his previous life, when he watched Naruto, he had known that Konoha became darker starting from Tobirama’s era.
But he truly had not expected that one day, it would happen to him personally.
That made him deeply uncomfortable.
Still, when he thought about what the Uchiha Clan had done, he felt a little better.
The Uchiha Clan was arrogant and looked down on everyone.
In their eyes, no one outside their clan was worth much.
Even the Senju Clan only earned their respect because of the two Hokage.
From the moment Tobirama became Hokage, the dark side in their hearts had grown even more intense.
After all, Konoha had been founded by Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara together.
So why had both Hokage positions gone to the Senju Clan?
Once the Uchiha learned that Hashirama would not last much longer, some of their higher-ups began to stir.
In their eyes, after Hashirama died, the Uchiha Clan would be the strongest clan in Konoha.
Tobirama was powerful, but not so powerful that he could not be defeated.
“What a dark clan.”
Shanks stretched lazily while sitting on top of Hashirama’s head on Hokage Rock.
“No wonder Danzō gets them killed later.”
“Have you thought it through?”
At some point, Tobirama appeared behind Shanks.
“Ah, there’s nothing to think through.
I just feel the Uchiha Clan is too troublesome.”
“Yes,” Tobirama said.
“The Uchiha Clan’s power comes from those eyes.
And the power of the Sharingan comes from their darkness.
The deeper their darkness, the stronger their power becomes.”
Shanks said nothing.
If I hadn’t watched the anime, I might actually have been convinced by you.
“What do you think of Konoha?”
Tobirama looked down at the village below.
“It’s pretty good.
Beautiful scenery, elegant environment, fine mountains, clear water, and even prettier people.
A sacred tourist destination.”
Shanks answered lazily.
“Yes.
Konoha is good.”
Tobirama’s gaze remained on the village.
“Konoha is like the child of my brother and me.
It is also the child of everyone who died to build it.”
“The only thing we, the living, can do is protect this village for them.”
His voice became colder.
“Even if the enemy is the Uchiha.”
After speaking, Tobirama looked at Shanks.
“Yeah, yeah.
I know.”
Shanks stretched.
“One day, after you’re gone, I’ll cover Konoha.
And when you’re in a good mood, you can come back and stay for a few days.”
“You little bastard.”
Tobirama disappeared from Hokage Rock.
Shanks shrugged and lay down.
He knew Konoha would not be destroyed in the future.
Every era had chosen ones who stood up.
During the Second Shinobi World War, there would be Konoha’s White Fang and the Sannin.
During the Third Shinobi World War, there would be the Yellow Flash.
During the Fourth Shinobi World War, there would be the Konoha Twelve.
During the Fifth Shinobi World War, there would be the children of the Konoha Twelve.
So when Shanks said those words to Tobirama, he felt no pressure at all.