Upon learning that Danzo had arrived at the Rain Village, Hanzo personally received him.
In the eyes of other Ninja Villages, Danzo is the second-in-command of Konoha and can represent Konoha.
"Hanzo, I truly feel indignant on your behalf." Danzo suddenly spoke with a face full of indignation, as if Hanzo had suffered a great injustice.
"Why would you say that?" Hanzo looked at Danzo in confusion.
No matter the status or strength, they could be considered figures of the same level, so Hanzo did not mind Danzo addressing him by his name directly.
"You have such an appreciation for the young talents of the Land of Rain, you would actively help them gain fame, yet they have not inherited your aspirations for peace and instead have brought war to the Land of Rain." Danzo began to deliver the carefully prepared rhetoric he had come up with.
Hanzo's expression turned serious, indicating for Danzo to continue speaking.
"Hanzo, you know, our Konoha is at war with the Hidden Rock, and besides them, there are also the Hidden Cloud and Hidden Mist as adversaries.
Although Konoha is powerful and not afraid of challenges, the chaotic battles among the four Great Ninja Villages will bring great destruction to the Ninja World. Our Konoha cannot bear to see the suffering of the Ninja World, so we thought of having you intervene and mediate, allowing Konoha and the Hidden Rock to negotiate for peace." Danzo spoke with a serious facade, saying nonsense.
There was no sound inside Konoha advocating negotiating with the Hidden Rock, because they were at an advantage.
Hanzo nodded, acknowledging Danzo's reasoning.
However, he didn't believe that Konoha was unwilling to let the Ninja World suffer, he just felt that Konoha couldn't withstand the pressure and wanted one less opponent.
For Konoha to seek him out as a mediator, Hanzo felt it was reasonable, after all, he was the only one who as a leader of a Small Ninja Village stands at the pinnacle of the Ninja World, enjoying a reputation throughout the Ninja World.
"But my ninja discovered an unfortunate fact, those who call themselves the ninjas of the Ninja Sect from the Land of Rain attacked the Hidden Rock Ninjas and killed them." Danzo spoke with a solemn expression.
"Since they were wearing Rain Village headbands, my subordinates initially thought they were ninjas from the Rain Village, only to discover upon investigation that they were not."
Hanzo's face showed an awkward expression, this was considered an act of helplessness after the Second Ninja War from the Rain Village.
After the Second Ninja War, the Rain Village ninjas suffered a devastating blow, most were killed and some defected, leading to a shortage of rain village ninjas to complete mission assignments, let alone maintain domestic order.
In order to help the Rain Village recover, Hanzo issued a regulation allowing ninjas from the Land of Rain to take an exam to receive Rain Village headbands to complete Rain Village assignments, but only for tasks below A-level, with a higher task commission than normal ninja villages, and those who excelled could become real Rain Village ninjas.
Therefore, ninjas wearing Rain Village headbands in the Land of Rain were not necessarily Rain Village ninjas, only those wearing both the headband and Rain Village uniforms were 100% real Rain Village ninjas.
"Although they are not Rain Village ninjas, they are ninjas from the Land of Rain, and they wore Rain Village headbands. The Hidden Rock might hold the entire Land of Rain accountable for this." Danzo sighed, seemingly saddened by the inability to negotiate with the Hidden Rock Village.
Subsequently, Danzo ordered his subordinates to release the corpses of the Hidden Rock Ninjas.
Hanzo carefully checked and found that they were indeed ninjas from the Hidden Rock Village.
Most ninjas from the Hidden Rock Village practiced Earth Release, which could be deduced from the marks on their bodies from cultivation.
At this point, Hanzo already believed most of it.
After all, a ninja of Danzo's caliber wouldn't idly fabricate accusations against some unknown novices.
"In my opinion, this Ninja Master Sosuke is by no means benevolent. His ideas don't seem to be about rebuilding the Ninja Sect, but rather about inciting an unprecedented war in the Ninja World." Danzo continued to lay the groundwork against Hanzo.
"Among those Ninja Sect ninjas, there are even some who talk about abolishing the nobility, how utterly rebellious."
Danzo's preparation was very thorough, not only were the Hidden Rock Ninja corpses real, but most of what he told Hanzo was also true, for he had dispatched ninjas to investigate carefully.
"My teacher, the Second Hokage, held the Six Paths Sage in high regard. If he were still alive, he certainly couldn't tolerate such people tarnishing the sage's reputation. The Ninja Sect, the origin of ninjas, was being smeared by them in this way." Danzo sighed and said.
"Although the negotiation with the Hidden Rock might not proceed, if Hanzo you need to deal with that Sosuke or resist the Hidden Rock, our Konoha can be your ally." Danzo said with an air of righteousness.
"Thank you, Danzo, for the information. However, given the gravity of the matter, and since it's considered an internal affair of the Land of Rain, I need to send out ninjas to investigate further." Hanzo thanked in a deep voice.
Danzo's words were highly credible, but Hanzo couldn't believe them without verification.
Danzo's expression remained unchanged, as he had anticipated.
After all, Hanzo had been the leader of a Ninja Village for a long time. If he were to believe outright, Danzo would only internally despise him and continue to use him as a free henchman.
Danzo wasn't worried about Hanzo investigating, because he had left no flaws, even Nagato and Yahiko believed that they killed the Hidden Rock Ninjas.
...
"Uncle Sosuke, we encountered a bit of an unexpected situation on our side." Yahiko and the others immediately reported their encounter after finding Mokgetsu.
"We ran into a team of Hidden Rock Ninjas who inexplicably attacked us, and during our retaliation, we accidentally killed them all." As he said this, Yahiko scratched his head in embarrassment.