The rain-drenched Hidden Rain Village, the center of the village.
Corpses, regardless of age or gender, all hung from ropes strung between the towers, clearly visible to all passing Hidden Rain ninjas and villagers.
The ninjas and villagers dared to be angry but did not dare to speak, then lowered their heads and walked away, unable to bear looking directly.
Beside those corpses stood four ninjas from Konoha Anbu Root. They stared coldly at the passing Hidden Rain ninjas and villagers, intending to use the corpses to expose any dissenters among them.
On top of a tall tower, wrapped in a black cloak and with the right side of his head bandaged, Danzo stood on the edge of an open-air observation deck, looking down at the village and also seeing the corpses hanging in the center of the Hidden Rain Village.
"In this way, all traces of Hanzou will be erased from this village. Many years from now, there will be no more rumors about 'Hanzou' here."
"This is all due to the excellent leadership of Lord Danzo and Lord Orochimaru."
The new leader of the Hidden Rain Village, Kanzo, approached Danzo and spoke in a humble tone.
He had been directed by Konoha to betray his superior, Hanzou, leading to Hanzou's death at the hands of Hidden Sand ninjas. After that, with the help of Konoha's power, he naturally became the new leader of the Hidden Rain Village.
"Although we assisted you in becoming the leader of the Hidden Rain Village, there are still many voices against you in this village. Be cautious."
"Yes, just give me five years, and I can..."
"At most, you have three years. I don't want there to be any Konoha opposition in this village three years from now. If you can't accomplish this, this village will cease to exist."
Any threat to Konoha's existence must be eradicated.
This is the shared will of Danzo and Anbu Root.
"But..."
Kanzo hesitated slightly.
"Hiruzen has already decided to expand Root's personnel. You know what that means, don't you, Kanzo?"
Danzo's face was expressionless, his cold eyes staring at Kanzo beside him.
"That Third Hokage..."
Kanzo's expression darkened slightly.
He had thought the matters regarding the Hidden Rain Village would be directly handled by the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Even though he had gained the position of leader of the Hidden Rain Village by leveraging the power of Danzo and Orochimaru, he had no desire to cooperate with these two ambitious men.
Kanzo shivered inwardly. Despite the rumors of the Third Hokage being kind and benevolent, he clearly wouldn't care about the struggling situation of the Hidden Rain Village when it came to Konoha's interests.
It was unexpected for Kanzo that the Third Hokage handed the ongoing management authority of the Hidden Rain Village to Root, progressively increasing Root's power.
"Put away your little schemes, do your job well, and Konoha won't mistreat you. If you do a good job, I can extend an invitation on Konoha's behalf for you to join as a Konoha Jonin."
Danzo promised.
Kanzo forced a smile without responding.
He wasn't foolish enough to give up being the leader of the Hidden Rain Village just to become a powerless Jonin of Konoha.
Though bound by Konoha, as long as Danzo wasn't present, the Hidden Rain Village was under his sole command, far more agreeable and liberating than being a Konoha Jonin.
He had already tasted the sweetness of power.
What was already in hand, how could he lightly give it up?
"By the way, Lord Danzo, what about Hidden Sand?"
Kanzo shifted the conversation.
"They will be submitting a peace treaty soon. They no longer have the strength to attack Konoha."
Moreover, after this battle, Orochimaru's achievements and fame will be elevated further. Coupled with his contributions during the Second Great Ninja War, it's a foregone conclusion that he will become the Fourth Hokage, with no other contenders.
Orochimaru is expected to take a major role in Anbu, preparing to become the Fourth Hokage. Danzo considered the next steps in his plan.
As a direct unit of the Hokage - Anbu, it selects seventy elite members from the thousands of ninjas in the village, with a captain and vice-captain, plus seventeen teams, each with four members. This is the entirety of Anbu.
Currently, both the captain and vice-captain of Anbu are ninjas from the Yuanfei Clan, also the sons and daughters-in-law of Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi. While they are also excellent Jonin in the village, they're no match for Orochimaru, the Fourth Hokage candidate.
Hence, one of the top positions in Anbu is surely Orochimaru's. Allowing him to gain management rights in Anbu, establish prestige, and then becoming the Fourth Hokage is a natural progression.
After all, Anbu is the strongest elite force directly controlled by the Hokage and the most crucial power within the Hokage system, which must be overseen by the Hokage himself.
Orochimaru taking control of Anbu is an inevitable outcome with no surprises.
The era of Root's expansion will also fully commence.
Danzo envisioned an incredibly bright future.
Joining forces with Orochimaru, they must eradicate conservative thinking and use absolute force to intimidate other nations, preventing them from coveting Konoha.
Any threats to Konoha's talons must be severed!
As Danzo dreamt of this wonderful future, a Root member suddenly appeared, kneeling with one knee in front of Danzo.
"Lord Danzo, an urgent message from the village."
The Root ninja respectfully offered the letter with both hands.
Danzo, unconcerned about Kanzo's presence, opened the letter and frowned while reading.