Chapter 43: The Truth Behind Konoha Ninja's Decline.

Shimura Danzo and others accompanying him also had grave expressions. The dire situation on the battlefield was something this generation of Konoha's high-ranking officials had collectively failed to anticipate.

In pre-war predictions, the combat capabilities of Konoha's grassroots ninjas and even the Anbu were considered superior to Sand and Rain ninjas by more than just a little.

This war was supposed to be one-sided, with a sweeping victory already achieved.

The Third Hokage narrowed his eyes, recalling the pre-war analysis materials, perplexed as to where things had gone wrong.

From past Anbu reports, the quality of Konoha's ninjas was decidedly higher than that of other ninja villages.

The Anbu of other villages stood no chance against Konoha's Anbu.

The Anbu, gathering Konoha's core strength, primarily composed of Chunin and Special Jonin, was a good reflection of the average combat strength of Konoha ninjas.

The Third Hokage pondered irritably. The combat power analysis provided by Nara Shikama logically had no issues.

But now, whether it was the combat will or capabilities of Sand and Rain ninjas, they overshadowed Konoha by a margin.

What exactly was causing this? It couldn't be that even the Anbu reports were falsified, right?

The Third's confusion fueled his anger; he had a bad feeling.

As the Hokage, he felt deeply deceived on critical matters.

The truth of the matter, of course, involved Hanma. In Konoha, he pioneered the profession of "carry services."

Back in the Anbu, Hanma found that no matter how many enemy Anbu he killed, he couldn't gain any substantial benefits.

The Third would only give him some Konoha-style Body Techniques to placate him, telling him, "The path of Taijutsu holds limitless potential. Keep forging new paths."

Valuable ninjutsu, notes—none were handed out, not even chakra metal rewards were withheld, always scarce.

In the end, a laughable Anbu internal commendation ceremony was organized for mental encouragement.

There were no tangible promotions or rewards; otherwise, Hanma wouldn't have waited until he was twenty-three to be promoted to Jonin.

Against this backdrop, Hanma started seeking benefits through military exploits, treading an unprecedented path in the ninja world.

His attacks grew increasingly "gentle," erasing palpable battle evidence, and making enemy deaths appear more "normal," disguised as the work of other Konoha ninjas.

In the Anbu, this direct unit of the Hokage, as long as one had accomplishments, they received rewards, except for the Uchiha.

The enemies Hanma killed were attributed to other ninjas, who then paid him substantial sums, causing their ranks and positions to rise.

Everyone was happy, everyone had a promising future.

"Mid-level Chunin position carry, 3 million Ryo."

"Special Jonin position carry, 10 million Ryo."

"Anbu squad leader carry, 20 million Ryo."

"Jonin carry requires custom orders, starting at 15 million Ryo. Bounties for individuals from exchange houses priced accordingly."

Hanma accepted all business, big or small, striving to contribute to Konoha by any means possible.

To some extent, Hanma's "individual carry studio" could be considered the pioneer of carry services in the ninja world, a form of self-entrepreneurship.

The person who benefited the most was the Third Hokage's son, Sarutobi Shinnosuke.

Using the Sarutobi family's ample financial resources, he placed many large orders with Hanma, earning numerous feats of killing enemy Anbu leaders.

This allowed the Third, despite Danzo's opposition, to smoothly push his eldest son to the position of Anbu Commander.

"After all, my son is quite excellent, and as Hokage, I should promote capable individuals without avoiding favoritism."

The Third's words remained deeply etched in Danzo's heart, making him regret not having a son, feeling one step behind Hiruzen.

But such revelry could be maintained during peacetime. When faced with real wars, enemies wouldn't show Konoha ninjas any mercy.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke understood this well, but after becoming the Anbu Commander, he realized many others were in the same situation, all bound by this web of interests.

Whoever dared to break this balance would face collective backlash from other ninjas, akin to the saying "putting one's livelihood at stake."

Thus, the matter was brushed aside, with more and more people seeking "carry services," making the Anbu's achievements increasingly dazzling.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke's stature kept rising, hailed as "the most responsible Anbu Commander in recent years" and "a future Hokage successor."

He even thought this model was not entirely unworkable, though it required further "hard work from Hanma."

What they all overlooked was if Hanma chose not to act in the war, who would step up?

However, due to the arrogance of the Hokage faction, they never considered that anyone would dare defy the Hokage's orders.

The Third stood up, pacing back and forth. The uncertainty and tension of the situation immersed him in a state of frustration.

Starting with grand ambitions, dreaming of becoming the reviving ruler of Konoha, he now anxiously struggled to sleep, fearing the disgrace of history.

This war, the joint attack by Sand and Rain ninjas, showed their deep understanding of Konoha's war and diplomatic style, putting him in a very passive position.

Sand and Rain ninjas did not attack Konoha directly but also did not withdraw from the Land of Rivers, making their intentions clear: telling Konoha to stay out of their business.

Hanzo of the Rain Village also shed his usual arrogance, not leading frontal assaults.

Instead, he sent small groups to conduct harassment attacks along the borders of the Land of Rivers and the Land of Fire, closely watching Orochimaru and others.

Once Konoha mobilized large-scale forces for battle, all Rain ninjas would unhesitatingly retreat back to the Rain Village.

Combining Hanma's earlier reports, the Third was deeply apprehensive about Hanzo's abilities, hesitating to order an attack on the Rain Village.

According to Hanma's reports, Hanzo could, with the help of the Rain Village's unique environment, release terrifying large-scale Water Style jutsu on the battlefield.

Thinking of Hanma's description of those overwhelming poisonous rain clouds, the Third quickly discarded any thoughts of invading the Rain Village.

"We can't keep dragging this out; otherwise, Konoha's prestige will vanish."

"Sacrifices must be made; we can't continue like this."

He still hesitated, his indecisive nature seemingly ingrained in his very bones.