Chapter 37

Shimura Danzo left the scroll behind and departed, taking any potential evidence with him. Hanzo's frustration boiled over.

**Who does he think I am? A pawn to be played?**

Hanzo wanted to end Danzo then and there, but he restrained himself. Danzo wouldn't have come to the Rain Village without having an escape plan or leverage. His parting words echoed in Hanzo's mind:

**"You have no choice unless you're willing to watch the Rain Country become a battlefield and see your people suffer."**

Hanzo's fists clenched. The reality of their situation made him seethe with anger, but he knew Danzo was right. The Rain Village was positioned precariously, surrounded by the three great nations—Konoha, the Sand Village, and the Rock Village. Inaction would invite disaster.

"Danzo, you enjoy manipulating people, don't you?" Hanzo muttered bitterly.

---

Far away, Shinki carefully tied a message scroll to the foot of his puppet crow and sent it soaring toward the Rain Village. **If Danzo thought he could use Hanzo as his weapon and escape unscathed, he was mistaken.**

---

The crow reached the Rain Village, circling above until it found its target. Spotting a ninja on duty, it dropped the scroll and flew off into the night sky.

The guard instinctively caught the falling scroll and looked around suspiciously. **Who had sent it?** The rain and dark sky concealed any sign of the sender.

"A scroll?" the ninja muttered, eyes narrowing. **Was someone spying on them?**

Heart pounding, he ducked into a sheltered area to read the contents. The moment he opened the scroll, his eyes widened, and he bolted toward Hanzo's office.

---

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Enter," Hanzo said, his voice tense with irritation.

"Leader, an intelligence scroll has just been delivered."

Hanzo took the scroll, scrutinizing it. "Who sent this?"

The guard hesitated. "I don't know, sir..."

Hanzo's eyes narrowed. "Fine. Leave me."

As the guard departed, Hanzo's initial irritation turned to curiosity. **Who would dare send a scroll into the Rain Village so brazenly?**

He opened the scroll and read. His eyes widened behind his respirator.

**Shimura Danzo had been dismissed as Hokage's assistant?**

Hanzo's face contorted in anger as the pieces fell into place. **Danzo had used him, knowing full well that he had no influence left in Konoha. His so-called "promise" to lobby against sending forces to the Rain Country was empty.**

"Danzo, you dared to manipulate me for your own schemes!" Hanzo growled.

The realization that he had wasted time debating a deal with no actual leverage enraged him. Hanzo felt like a puppet on strings, played by a man who had already lost his power.

"Come here!" Hanzo called to his guards. "Seize Danzo's men, interrogate them for any information, and send the results to Konoha's camp."

The guards nodded and rushed out. Even if Danzo's men were trained to resist interrogation or die rather than talk, Hanzo was confident he'd learn enough from them. **There were many ways to extract information, even from the dead.**

---

Two hours later, a report landed on Hanzo's desk, confirming what the scroll had claimed. Danzo had been stripped of his position and was now nothing more than a sidelined conspirator.

"Shimura Danzo!" Hanzo slammed his fist on the desk. The more he thought about how he had been played, the angrier he became. **The medical ninja Danzo wanted dead wasn't significant enough for such machinations, unless there was more to him.**

Hanzo made his decision. **If Danzo thought he could use him and walk away, he was gravely mistaken.**

"Prepare a team. I'm going to the Konoha camp myself."

His subordinates blinked in shock. "Leader?"

"I'll deliver this news personally."

---

At dawn, the Konoha camp stirred to the sound of alarms. Scouts reported that Hanzo the Salamander, leader of the Rain Village and reputed demigod, was approaching. He came openly, carrying a body over his shoulder.

The captain, Little Honda, stepped forward to meet him. Tension crackled through the camp like electricity. **If Hanzo had come to fight, they were in deep trouble.**

Shinki, alerted by Sarutobi Mishima, stood ready in the medical room. "Hanzo of the Salamander is here? Did the information reach him?"

Honda, trying to keep his composure, greeted Hanzo respectfully. "Leader Hanzo, may I ask why you have come to the Land of Fire unannounced?"

Hanzo's eyes glinted coldly as he threw the corpse to the ground in front of Honda. "A few days ago, Shimura Danzo came to the Rain Village, offering Konoha's intelligence in exchange for my help in assassinating Hyuga Shinki, a medical ninja. I refused. This man was left behind by Danzo to ensure my compliance."

Honda's jaw dropped. "What?!"

The camp buzzed with shock. **A Konoha ninja, dead, and Danzo involved in an assassination plot against one of their own?**

"I bring this information so you can pass it to the Hokage," Hanzo continued. "I have no intention of being Konoha's enemy. Danzo's schemes are his own. Let this serve as my proof."

---

The revelation hit the camp like a storm. Shinki, listening from within the medical room, exhaled slowly. **The plan had worked. Hanzo now knew the truth about Danzo's deception.**

**Now, it was time for Konoha to deal with Danzo once and for all.**

>>>>>

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