Then, the blood-red giant sword swung wildly, slashing at the stone sphere, causing chunks of stone to fall. The gravitational pull on the three bodies grew weaker, and the stone sphere trembled violently under the impact.
Rumble!
The stone sphere completely shattered, and the blood-red giant fell towards the ground. During its descent, it flipped its body and landed steadily on the earth, creating a terrifying shockwave that spread out in all directions, toppling a section of the forest.
"The Chakra reaction disappeared, probably that dark-bodied guy's doing."
Ayane surveyed the surroundings with her Byakugan, not spotting Nagato's figure.
"There's no mention of that guy in the information. It's my first time encountering him, and it seems he has an exceptional ability to hide and infiltrate."
Hakushi frowned, sensing the situation becoming troublesome.
Unexpectedly, under Madara's command, there was a scout with even stronger stealth capabilities than White Zetsu.
"His shape is very similar to White Zetsu. What's next, should we continue to pursue?"
Ayane carried Madara's corpse, knowing that continuing the search now wouldn't likely lead to discovering Nagato.
Hakushi rubbed his slightly numb neck and said, "Since the opponent has such powerful stealth capabilities, continuing the search is pointless. Let's go back; we've already accomplished the most important goal."
Moreover, seeing Nagato like that, it's clear there's no room for negotiation.
At least for now, negotiating with him is impossible.
"Should we leave the Rinnegan alone?"
Ruri frowned, thinking that compared to the aging Madara, the younger Rinnegan seemed more threatening.
"If we can't find it, there's nothing we can do. Besides..." Hakushi looked up at the sky, now turning a fish-belly white, and said, "As long as his ties with the Land of Rain aren't severed, traces of him can always be found in that country."
"Indeed, who would have thought the Demigod would fall in such a way? Now both the Land of Rain and the Hidden Rain Village are in tatters."
Ruri sighed.
As Hakushi stated, as long as Akatsuki's ties with the Land of Rain aren't cut off, staking out there isn't a bad strategy.
Many towns in that country, including the Hidden Rain Village, have military intelligence personnel from the Land of Demons.
"With such a poor geographic position, there's no helping it. The surrounding three great nations need these small countries to stabilize their internal affairs, regardless of justice or evil—just a necessity for survival. There's no such thing as peace in this world, only the strong surviving and the weak perishing. In this regard, I'm actually not confident I could persuade the Rinnegan's bearer because I'm a staunch anti-peacemaker, and Akatsuki's peace ideology is deeply ingrained."
In any era, it's always been this way: nations are either at war or preparing for war.
In some sense, he, Madara, and Nagato all stand as opposites, impossible to convince one another.
Even in recently mentioned negotiations, there was an underlying thought of resorting to violence if persuasion failed to make the opponent yield.
Therefore, even sincere communication might not necessarily change the opponent's peace ideology.
This Ninja Realm has always been so: only with strength can peace arise; the weak can only be trampled upon.
Living tenuously among the great nations, no country better epitomizes a weak nation than the Land of Rain.
After suffering the ravages of the three Ninja World Wars, the Land of Rain's sole guardian, the Demigod leader of the Hidden Rain, died on the battlefield. The Hidden Rain Village's system nearly collapsed, and the new leader, Kanzo, would submit to Konoha.
The Land of Rain would become a vassal of the Land of Fire, and the Hidden Rain Village would become an object of Konoha's exploitation.
The Hidden Rain Village's secret techniques and research data, it's easy to imagine where they would eventually end up.
"Let's go; now we only need to tend to the Land of Water. Judging by the progress there, that guy Yagura should launch a coup within the next two years. We need to be ready to welcome allies."
The Hidden Mist Village is a crucial pawn within the system of the Five Great Nations.
"No need to manage Konoha there? Should I go over and fan the flames a bit more, stir things up even more fiercely?"
Ayane played with a Kunai in her hand, licking her pink tongue.
"No need to bother there. With the Demigod dead and the Land of Rain thoroughly reduced to a subordinate of the Land of Fire, that Rinnegan won't sit idly by. Surely, he'll use some means to regain power in the Hidden Rain Village, confronting Konoha overtly or covertly."
In the aftermath of the Ninja World War, making Konoha enmeshed in the quagmire of the Land of Rain isn't necessarily a bad thing. A gleam flashed in Hakushi's eyes.
◎
The Land of Rain war concluded with Konoha emerging victorious.
During the Sand's siege of the Hidden Rain Village leader Hanzou, Orochimaru's Konoha squad abandoned support for the Hidden Rain forces, instead maneuvering to attack the Sand's main base in the Land of Rain, causing the complete annihilation of all thousand Hidden Sand Ninja defending the camp. All supplies were either taken or burned to ashes, leaving not a single item behind.
And to eliminate Hanzou's Hidden Rain forces, the Sand paid with the lives of nearly two thousand ninja, perishing in battle against Hanzou.
The seven thousand Hidden Sand Ninja gathered on the Land of Rain battlefield suddenly reduced by three thousand, while on the other hand, Konoha, with the sacrifice of a few hundred ninja, achieved nearly ten times the victory.
These few hundred were sacrificed during the assault on the Hidden Sand Camp.
And the new leader of the Hidden Rain Village, Kanzo, officially submitted a surrender document to Konoha, expressing his willingness to lead all remaining Hidden Rain Village ninja to become a subordinate ninja village of Konoha.