Hanzo of the Salamander narrowed his eyes as he watched the Sunagakure shinobi retreat without warning.

What exactly was the Village of Sand up to?

Was this a trap? Some kind of hidden ploy?

But before he could dwell on it for long, he was bombarded with urgent distress calls—Amegakure forces scattered across the frontlines were requesting reinforcements. The Konoha army, led by the three young rising stars—Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru—had already pierced through their outer defenses and were advancing deep into the Land of Rain.

If left unchecked, Amegakure itself could fall.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Hanzo no longer hesitated. He immediately changed course and rushed to intercept the invading Konoha forces himself.

Even so, Hanzo wasn’t too concerned.

With his lethal poison mist and the monstrous strength of his Summoning Technique: Ibuse, the giant salamander, he was confident in his ability to annihilate enemy troops—even in overwhelming numbers.

Unless Konoha had brought along a medical-nin as skilled as Chiyo from Sunagakure, their defeat was practically assured.

— — —

One week later, as Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru spearheaded a fierce battle against Amegakure and Hanzo…

A separate elite unit from Sunagakure had quietly infiltrated Konohagakure itself, led by two high-ranking Jonin.

They weren’t just anyone. They were the son and daughter-in-law of Chiyo, the famed puppet master. Both were top-class puppet-nin, their skills nearly rivaling Chiyo’s own.

Their mission was clear: create chaos within Konoha while its main fighting force was deployed abroad. It was the perfect opportunity to destabilize the village from within.

After all, Konoha had long acted like the “strongest village in the shinobi world”—profiting from war, soaking up glory, yet still wearing the mask of moral superiority.

Like a prostitute pretending to be a saint.

Of course, this wasn’t an all-out declaration of war. If Sunagakure truly intended to face Konoha head-on, this number of infiltrators wouldn’t even scratch the surface. Unless they could assassinate the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, there was no chance of lasting damage.

Even the Third Kazekage knew—killing a Kage from the most powerful village in the world? That was just a pipe dream.

— — —

At exactly 1 a.m., when most of Konoha was fast asleep…

Inside the Hatake residence, Tachibana Kyūjō’s eyes suddenly snapped open.

He had sensed unfamiliar chakra approaching his surveillance perimeter.

Even while asleep, his auto-detection radius extended a full kilometer. And this chakra? It definitely didn’t belong to Konoha shinobi.

Fully alert, Kyūjō activated his Infinity Perception system. In the blink of an eye, he swept through the intruders’ chakra signatures like a tidal wave.

Within seconds, he had analyzed everything.

An elite unit from Sunagakure—supposedly Konoha’s current allies.

Not a single Genin among them. Eight were elite Chūnin-level, and four had chakra levels on par with Jonin. Two of those even exceeded average Jonin capacity, bordering on Jonin Elite.

Kyūjō’s gaze sharpened as he focused on the two leaders.

So… these were Sasori’s parents?

Minor characters destined to die by his brother’s blade in the original timeline—Hatake Sakumo, the White Fang of Konoha.

Since they were already fated to fall to his brother’s sword, Kyūjō decided not to interfere—unless they crossed the invisible line surrounding the Hatake residence.

If they were stupid enough to do that… then they had no one to blame but themselves.

After all, his brother was away on an Anbu mission. The house was currently inhabited only by elderly, women, and children…

Watching as the Sunagakure squad drifted away from his home, Kyūjō exhaled softly, his gaze settling on the window.

“The real war for Konoha is just beginning… Should I get involved?”

He paused for a moment… then slowly shook his head.

Even though he couldn’t yet take on the entire shinobi world, his strength—firmly within the Super Kage class—was already enough to leave his mark on this Second Ninja World War.

Still, Kyūjō had come to this world for one reason: to train, to master chakra, and to reach greater heights.

Spreading his name meant nothing. Only strength mattered.

If he wanted to step onto the battlefield using only chakra, he could. It wouldn’t be impossible.

Chakra, after all, held limitless potential.

If he looked far enough into the future—toward the Ōtsutsuki Clan—the true limits of chakra were frightening. It was a power that could surpass even his Colorless Haki from the One Piece world.

Colorless Haki—a fusion of all three types of Haki into one transcendent force—was the pinnacle of physical might.

But chakra… chakra was spiritual in nature.

What would happen if he fused the raw physicality of Colorless Haki with the metaphysical nature of chakra?

Could he create something entirely new? A form of power that fused body and soul completely?

That was his goal.

But to do that, he needed his chakra to reach the level of the Six Paths.

And unlike those anime characters who obtained that power through plot armor or external gifts, Kyūjō rejected shortcuts.

True strength had to be owned. Fully controlled.

Power borrowed from others was just an illusion—and illusions vanish.

He didn’t yet know how to reach Six Paths level through his own efforts, but he wasn’t in a rush.

He would climb, step by step, raising his power above even the highest Kage… the natural way.

After all, his greatest advantage was his own body—a vessel perfectly tailored for combat.

He was born with Lightning Breathing 3.0—a system akin to an “Innate Dao Body” in cultivation novels. His energy pathways were flawless. His physical form, refined to perfection.

His elemental affinity with lightning was at its peak. And when combined with his soul—tempered across multiple worlds—his potential was on par with the descendants of the Ōtsutsuki Clan themselves.

Or even the Sage of Six Paths.

With this foundation, it wasn’t a matter of if—only when.

Of course, if he hadn’t possessed such a monstrous body and soul… he wouldn’t hesitate to take shortcuts.

But that wasn’t necessary.

— — —

That night, the infiltration by Sunagakure’s elite ninja ended without major incident.

However, from that moment onward, one name began to spread across the entire shinobi world…

Konoha’s White Fang—Hatake Sakumo.

Twelve elite Sunagakure shinobi.

All slain with just two sword strikes.

Sasori of the Red Sand became an orphan that night.

His grandmother, Chiyo, was forced to witness the deaths of her own son and daughter-in-law.

The other ten elite shinobi? Their bodies were strewn across the streets like ripe melons, cleanly sliced open.

By morning, spies from the other four great villages—hidden deep within Konoha—scrambled to report what they’d seen.

Twelve elite ninja, wiped out in seconds… by a single man.

From that day forward, Hatake Sakumo’s name was etched into the “do-not-provoke” lists of every village.

To rogue ninja and enemy forces alike, he became a living nightmare.

Yet even with that glorious victory, the bitter truth remained—

Konoha’s front-line troops had lost the battle against Hanzo.

And the title “Legendary Sannin,” given to Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru by Hanzo himself?

That nearly made Hiruzen Sarutobi explode with rage.

But before he could react—

The Third Kazekage, furious that his assassination plot had failed, ordered Chiyo to lead 2,000 Sunagakure shinobi into the Land of Fire.

Hiruzen had planned to send reinforcements to punish Amegakure’s arrogance…

But now, with both Amegakure and Sunagakure moving in unison, he had no choice but to hold back and reconsider.

— — —

At the same time, two other great villages—Kumogakure and Iwagakure—began to move.

The Third Raikage, “A,” and the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, both mobilized their forces and launched large-scale offensives.

Ironically, the cause of their war… was Hanzo himself.

As mentioned earlier, the Land of Rain sat at the crossroads of three great nations—Fire, Wind, and Earth. It was only natural that their shinobi would clash there.

Usually, Kirigakure and Kumogakure stayed out of it—too far removed to bother.

But if Konoha and Sunagakure were both attacking Amegakure… why wasn’t Iwagakure doing the same?

Did that mean Tsuchikage was… kind?

Of course not.

If given the chance, he would’ve loved to claim a piece of the Land of Rain for himself.

But Hanzo had already anticipated that.

Following the principle of “ally with the far, attack the near,” Hanzo had secretly formed an alliance with the Third Raikage—asking him to strike Iwagakure just as their forces were being deployed elsewhere.

The sudden assault caused massive casualties in Iwa’s ranks, leaving Ōnoki seething.

Another war erupted.

Originally, Hanzo had also planned to involve Kirigakure. If they’d agreed, they could’ve launched a naval invasion along the Land of Fire’s coast.

That would’ve forced Konoha to retreat from the front lines to defend its homeland.

And in that scenario, Sunagakure might’ve shifted its aggression entirely toward Konoha.

But not all plans work out.

Kirigakure never responded.

And Konoha’s hidden strength was far greater than Hanzo had anticipated.

Without Kirigakure, and with Sunagakure’s failed infiltration exposed to the entire shinobi world…

The truth became clear.

Konoha really was the strongest village.

Without the Hokage even lifting a finger, just one man—Hatake Sakumo—had turned the tide and slaughtered twelve elite ninja.

But was that all Konoha had?

Everyone knew the answer: no.

They still had two great clans—Uchiha and Hyuga—plus dozens of powerful family lineages left untapped.

To make such a village your mortal enemy?

Hanzo wasn’t that stupid.

Even if he could survive… could Amegakure?

Unless several major villages united against them, he would never consider turning Konoha into an eternal enemy.

That’s the real reason he didn’t kill the Sannin.

It wasn’t sentiment.

It was strategy.

A painful truth for all small villages to swallow.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep