As the poison mist poured in, Iwagakure—sealed inside its own barrier—became like a beast trapped in a cage.
"Fourth Tsuchikage, now we can have a proper talk."
Hanzō halted his assault, and the water mirrors split apart in the sky.
"From the moment this mist touches down to the moment it fully spreads—about ten minutes. That's our negotiation window."
Ibuse, the giant salamander, dispersed into white smoke. Standing atop the water mass, Hanzō looked down at Rōshi.
"My bargaining chip this time… is the lives of everyone in Iwagakure."
"Within ten minutes, I have a way to deal with this poison mist."
"But if you let it go past that time… then even I won't be able to stop it."
Rōshi stared up at Hanzō, then at the scorched earth left behind by that searing beam.
At the center of the village, a massive cloud of purple poison was descending slowly from the sky—like a judgement being carried down by the heaven.
A heavy helplessness, and a deep despair, surfaced in his chest.
…Looks like I don't have a choice.
He waved a hand, calling over the barrier unit captain.
"Shut the barrier down. Run—get out. Whoever can escape, escapes."
"B-But… Lord Tsuchikage, th-this…" The Iwa captain seemed to have no words left.
"Look up," Rōshi said, voice low. "Do we still have a chance?"
Following his gaze, that purple cloud radiated malice. The barrier that had once been their lifeline… had become their executioner.
Up on the floating water mass, Hanzō—mask on, eyes cold—looked down with contempt, as if mocking their weakness and incompetence.
"Hanzo of the Salamander…" Rōshi murmured. "You're… unexpectedly despair-inducing."
They had prepared for him. Two weeks in advance, they'd set up defensive formations.
They'd accounted for every possibility: a direct assault, a rear infiltration with Earth Style, a decapitation strike on the Tsuchikage, poison mist harassment—countermeasures for all of it.
They even had a response prepared for Hanzō's explosive forbidden technique.
But they never, ever expected this—
None of the intelligence reports said Hanzō could fly.
Water Style, with precise chakra control, could hover briefly and "fly" for short distances—like a Water Dragon Jutsu traveling through the air—but it burned chakra at an absurd rate.
Yet Hanzō had used a single Water Style technique to carry thousands of Ame ninja through the sky at speed.
How much chakra would that take? Rōshi couldn't even calculate it. Only Tailed Beast–level reserves could plausibly sustain that kind of consumption.
In short—every defense line outside Iwagakure had become meaningless.
"Eight minutes left."
Hanzō's voice slid into Rōshi's mind like the edge of a reaper's scythe.
Along the outer wall, the light faded. The battered barrier unraveled completely.
Inside the village, Iwa shinobi immediately fled outward in waves. Nearly all of Iwa's jōnin had been sent to the Suna front, and many of the more capable regular shinobi were stationed on the outer defense line.
What remained in the village were mostly genin, emergency wartime genin… and civilians.
Figures scattered in panic. Some ran right past Rōshi without even looking at him.
He could only let out a powerless sigh.
"Name your terms, Hanzo of the Salamander."
"Iwagakure… can't withstand any more."
"So you've lost your will to fight. How disappointing."
With a light gesture, Hanzō dropped a massive sphere of water from the sky. It descended slowly, settling onto the ground in front of Iwagakure.
Ame ninja poured out of it—dense, disciplined—and formed layers upon layers, surrounding Rōshi and the small group of Iwa shinobi near him.
"Five minutes left." As he spoke, Hanzō tossed down two scrolls.
"Two options. Choose one. Watch the time."
"So you prepared this in advance…" Rōshi said bleakly. "You never even considered the possibility of failure, did you? Everything was calculated."
"An enemy like you… is terrifying."
He opened the first scroll, skimmed it, and shook his head.
"These material demands as war reparations—on paper, they're 'normal.' But Iwagakure can't pay it anymore."
"You know it. Just holding back Sunagakure has drained everything we had."
"And earlier, Konoha and your Ame forces looted the Land of Earth—took who knows how many supplies."
"Most of all—Hanzo of the Salamander. You killed our daimyō."
"Just killing him already crippled our supply line. But you went further—you wiped out his entire bloodline, severing every remaining link between the village and the nobility."
"Now the supplies we have left can only sustain the Suna front."
"And we still have Takigakure… and Kumogakure."
Hanzō showed no trace of sympathy.
"That's your problem. Winners write the terms. If you can't accept this one, read the next."
Rōshi opened the second scroll.
Inside was a simplified shinobi world map.
A red line carved off the part of the Land of Earth bordering the Land of Rain—
A full one-tenth of the Land of Earth.
Rōshi's eyes widened. "That's impossible. It's not fair."
"Fair?" Hanzō looked at him like he was stupid.
"Fair is something I create by force. Got a problem with that?"
Rōshi's shoulders sagged, his face drained of strength.
"No… only the daimyō has the authority to decide that."
"Your daimyō already agreed." Hanzō's eyes narrowed.
"I'm telling you he did. Do you not believe the words of a 'demigod'?"
Behind Hanzō, Kakuzu wore an expression that said of course it's like this.
"Two choices. If you refuse both, then I'll wipe every last person in Iwagakure off the map—and search your village at my leisure for supplies."
"Don't doubt my methods. Or my cruelty."
"You know what's been happening in the Land of Earth."
"Erasing Iwagakure is nothing to me—just a few more rounds of poison."
Rōshi laughed bitterly.
"Do I even have the right to refuse?"
"One minute left." Hanzō's gaze pinned him in place.
"Once that mist spreads, even I can't contain it. Your answer is…?"
Rōshi's mouth felt dry.
"…The second option."
"…Iwagakure… can't protect the Land of Earth anymore."
"Good."
Hanzō lifted both hands. Chakra flowed through the ground like a current, and underground water veins erupted upward like fountains.
"Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu."
A surge of water rose into a massive pouch that flew upward, engulfing the poison cloud in the sky. It condensed into a single sphere.
The water—once crystal clear—instantly turned into purple toxic fluid.
With another wave of Hanzō's hand, the sphere was hurled into the forest outside the village.
"Done. Now it's your turn to honor the contract."
Rōshi took a pen. His hand trembled as he signed his name.
In that moment, it felt like he spent his entire body's strength—he dropped to one knee as if the ink itself weighed a thousand tons.
"Good. Contract sealed."
"Then there's nothing left in Iwagakure that interests me."
"Withdraw."
The Ame ninja who had just landed seemed stunned—leaving after only minutes?
But Hanzō's orders were absolute. They formed ranks and marched out through Iwagakure's gate.
Outside, Iwa shinobi clutched kunai, faces tight with fear.
Rōshi looked up at the sky, defeat and despair carved into his expression.
"Hanzo of the Salamander… I used to envy Konoha for having Senju Hashirama, Uchiha Madara, and Senju Tobirama."
"Now… I envy the Ame for having someone like you."
"You have Hashirama's strength and the people's support."
"Madara's ruthlessness and arrogance."
"Tobirama's intellect and talent."
"And each of them dragged their nation back from the brink… into prosperity."
"Why… does Iwagakure not have such a person?"
Hanzō looked at him.
"Man proposes. Heaven disposes."
"If Ōnoki hadn't died, things might look very different right now."
"A Kage of a great nation—envying another country."
"You really are desperate."
"…Yes," Rōshi said quietly. "Maybe Ōnoki was right to be Tsuchikage. He really was more suited than I am."
'This won't do.' Hanzō's thoughts were sharp.
'I still need you to keep this war dragging on. If you collapse and surrender to anyone who shows up, what 'time' is left for me to buy?'
"How disappointing."
"Even I can misjudge people?"
Rōshi blinked. "What…?"
"I've always trusted my eye for people."
"Rōshi—your will contains the power to change the world."
"But if you don't preserve it… that rare will disappear without a trace."
Rōshi stared. "What? Did you secretly monitor Iwagakure?"
Hanzō frowned under his mask.
"What are you talking about?"
"That line," Rōshi said. "Ōnoki said the exact same thing to me."
"…"
'…So it really got passed down, huh.'
'That was the First Tsuchikage's line to Ōnoki, then Ōnoki repeated it to Rōshi—damn it, it really became a 'family heirloom.''
Hanzō coughed lightly.
"That's not important. What matters is you've disappointed me."
"I thought even if I attacked Iwagakure, you'd at least try to strike back."
"Instead, you surrendered without hesitation."
Behind him, Kakuzu suddenly had a bad feeling. His eyelid twitched.
Here it comes…
Hanzō had opened with a grand move and poison—while floating in the sky where Iwa couldn't even touch him.
Iwa raised the barrier to negotiate, and Hanzō didn't choose—he burned a hole through it and dumped poison again.
Then he used half the village's lives as a chip, gave Rōshi ten minutes, and forced him to choose.
Now he claimed to be "disappointed" that Rōshi didn't counterattack—
From start to finish, he hadn't even given Rōshi a chance to counterattack.
And this "guidance"…
Kakuzu was certain: Hanzō was about to carve another slice off Iwagakure.
Kakuzu believed that even if you died and were reduced to ash, Hanzō could still squeeze profit out of the ashes.
Sure enough, Hanzō smiled warmly at Rōshi.
"Look—yes, Iwagakure lost this time."
"But other than that land, you didn't lose a single shinobi."
"You didn't even pay a single ryō."
"When you really calculate it, all that happened was a little chaos."
"Nothing else was actually lost."
"As for Sunagakure—can't you still keep them pinned? Then keep them pinned."
"As long as the Third Kazekage and Chiyo don't take the field personally, that front won't break quickly."
"Kumogakure, too—Third Raikage is strong, but he's just a brute."
"Give him an obvious trap and he'll be the first to jump in."
"If you can't beat him, can't you seal him?"
"Put a high-level sealing technique in the trap, lock him down for a few hours."
"Then, while he's gone, hit the Kumo forces with something like partial Tailed Beast transformation—one decisive blast—and the situation is basically settled."
"By the time the Third Raikage crawls out… it'll already be too late."
"And as for Takigakure… hahaha—]"
Kakuzu's heart lurched violently.
The moment he heard that laugh…
He knew.
This is it. Right here—
This is exactly where Hanzō starts "slaughtering" Iwagakure.
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