Chapter 67: This Demigod Is Overrated!
War always leaves behind some scars.
Back then, Konoha Village, Iwagakure (Village Hidden by Stones), and Sunagakure (Village Hidden by Sand) used the Land of Rain as their battlefield. Countless innocent people died; Nagato's parents died at the hands of Konoha ninjas.
After so many years, even after being taught by Jiraiya, Nagato still couldn't forget the hatred for his parents, let alone an ordinary Ame (Rain) Jonin like Hattori Hirakawa.
"If Lord Hanzō wanted to eliminate the Akatsuki organization, I would give my life for his command; but he chose to ally with Konoha ninjas!"
Hattori Hirakawa hatefully clenched his fists and continued gravely, "Back then, when Lord Hanzō allied with Konoha's Shimura Danzō to eliminate the Akatsuki organization, I left the village, refusing to follow him, precisely because I couldn't accept cooperating with Konoha ninjas!"
"Luckily you didn't go at that time..."
Uehara Naraka slowly sighed.
If this guy Hattori Hirakawa had participated in the annihilation of the first-generation Akatsuki back then, he probably wouldn't have escaped the fate of being slaughtered by the enraged Nagato, right?
"However..."
Uehara Naraka suddenly looked at the uncontrollably furious Hattori Hirakawa and asked in a low voice, "You've said so much, do you have any proof?"
"Of course."
Hattori Hirakawa nodded and continued gravely, "Salamander Shinda, known as Lord Hanzō's right hand—that bastard will arrive at the eastern canyon tomorrow. He will make contact with Konoha ninjas there. I originally wanted to lure you there to eliminate them..."
"Interesting..."
Uehara Naraka's lips curled slightly. He patted Hattori Hirakawa's shoulder, "Hope what you said is true! If there's some conspiracy... it's useless anyway."
"Tomorrow I will go meet them."
Hattori Hirakawa shook his head and said gravely, "This matter isn't a particular secret, but only the Jonin squads know this information, because Lord Hanzō requires us to be responsible for protecting the safety of that bastard Salamander Shinda and the Konoha ninjas during their meeting."
"Mm..."
Uehara Naraka nodded and said in a low voice, "Then after this matter is concluded, give me that set of Make-Out Paradise."
"...I understand!"
Hattori Hirakawa instantly showed a lewd smile.
Uehara Naraka couldn't help pursing his lips. You understand shit!
After Konan learned the news from Uehara Naraka, although she was still somewhat conflicted, under her disciple's persuasion, she reluctantly agreed to spare Hattori Hirakawa's life. After all, this was the first Ame ninja they encountered willing to cooperate.
Regardless of whether Hattori Hirakawa was telling the truth or lies, there were ways to manipulate the situation.
If Hattori Hirakawa was telling the truth, Konan and Nagato were very interested in being able to kill two enemies, Shimura Danzō and Hanzō of the Salamander, in one fell swoop;
If Hattori Hirakawa was lying, even if he concealed some conspiracy, it was useless in the face of absolute strength.
Konan and Uehara Naraka finalized the plan.
Since Hattori Hirakawa's subordinates were all dead, their small team would impersonate Hattori Hirakawa's subordinates to attend this meeting.
The only problem was...
Konan looked around at her team members, frowned, and asked, "Naraka, what do you think we should do?"
Could this group of little puddings impersonate adult ninjas?
Uehara Naraka, twelve years old, height 165cm.
Haku, eleven years old, height 150cm.
Kaguya Kimimaro, ten years old, height 155cm.
After all, maintaining the Transformation Technique for a long time is a technical skill. Uehara Naraka's build was okay, but what if Kaguya Kimimaro and Haku were exposed?
"Then it can only be me and Teacher going..."
Uehara Naraka smiled, looked at Kaguya Kimimaro and Haku, and said softly, "Besides, if anything goes wrong, Teacher and I can also escape at any time."
Eastern canyon.
This was the meeting place for the Ame ninjas and Konoha ninjas.
One after another, Ame ninjas quickly arrived here. By noon, over thirty ninjas had already gathered.
There were seven or eight Jonin alone.
Uehara Naraka and Konan, wearing hoods and the special Amegakure gas masks, followed behind Hattori Hirakawa, surveying the situation.
Even without getting confirmed information, just killing all these ninjas loyal to Hanzō of the Salamander could be called a successful operation.
As the time gradually approached, the Ame ninjas gathered here also began to get noisy. Several leading Jonin captains were clearly somewhat anxious and impatient.
"Why hasn't that bastard Shinda arrived yet?"
"That trash will definitely arrive at the last possible moment!"
"Hmph, if not for that bastard being Lord Hanzō's clansman, I'd definitely chop that bastard into seven or eight pieces!"
"Who let Lord Hanzō trust him?"
This group of Ame Jonin mostly just started cursing angrily, completely disregarding that the person they were supposed to protect was a high-level figure in Amegakure.
Hearing someone nearby already starting to curse Salamander Shinda's wife, Uehara Naraka couldn't help asking, "Hirakawa, isn't Salamander Shinda Hanzō's right hand? How come his reputation in Amegakure feels not too good?"
"Not too good?"
A gloomy look flashed across Hattori Hirakawa's face. He said coldly, "Their cursing is actually too polite! That trash Shinda holds great power, and at every turn, raises the banner of 'for Amegakure's sake' to kill innocent ninjas and civilians in the village, framing them as spies. Basically every Jonin captain here has had their own relatives or close friends die under his butcher's knife..."
"..."
Uehara Naraka blinked perplexedly. Isn't this Salamander Shinda just Amegakure's version of a 'Shimura Danzō' type figure?
Hattori Hirakawa continued adding, "If that bastard were truly doing it for Amegakure, fine. But everything he does is actually to amass wealth for himself, so he can enjoy a luxurious life..."
So this guy is even worse than Shimura Danzō!
Konan asked curiously from the side, "Does that guy Hanzō just sit by and watch his own kinsman harm Amegakure's interests?"
"But what can be done?"
Hattori Hirakawa shook his head and sighed softly, "Because he is the most outstanding ninja among Lord Hanzō's clansmen, so the person Lord Hanzō trusts most is him."
This was actually normal.
After all, when Konoha's Third Hokage arranged personnel, he also placed his own people in the most critical positions first.
It's said Konoha's ANBU leader is the Third Hokage's eldest son's daughter-in-law, and the Hokage Advisor and Hokage Consultant are both old friends Hiruzen Sarutobi grew up with...
Hanzō of the Salamander probably really couldn't pick out a suitable and definitely trustworthy person to handle secret private matters, so he could only pick the tallest among dwarfs, choosing Salamander Shinda from his own kinsmen.
Hattori Hirakawa continued hatefully, "It's said this matter of continuing the alliance with Konoha's Shimura Danzō was that idiot Shinda's proposal... Lord Hanzō is the Ninja Demigod! Why would he need to ally with those bastards from Konoha!"
"...Uh..."
Uehara Naraka spread his hands, face full of helplessness, "Maybe you guys praise Hanzō of the Salamander too highly. Could it be Hanzō himself knows his own limits..."
To avoid Hattori Hirakawa becoming enraged and disrupting the plan, Uehara Naraka left half a sentence unsaid: This Demigod Hanzō of the Salamander is actually overrated!
Because in this era, not many people had truly seen Hashirama Senju's strength, so everyone believed Hanzō of the Salamander's power was the closest to Hashirama's, calling Hanzō the Ninja Demigod.
Because in this era, not many people had truly seen Uchiha Madara's Susanoo, the Raikage back then was also called the Strongest Defense and Strongest Offense...
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi could get the title of Strongest Hokage.
While Uehara Naraka was still lost in wild thoughts, Konan suddenly reached out and squeezed his fingers, reminding him in a low voice, "Uehara, they're here!"
(End of Chapter)
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