---
The Hidden Rain Village descended on the Akatsuki base like a storm.
Danzo Shimura sat motionless in his chamber, eyes closed, radiating perfect calm. His plan was flawless—there was no flaw to find. Konan was powerful, yes, but eight Root operatives would overwhelm her. Simple mathematics.
Hanzo occupied the seat beside him, a figure of legend wrapped in white cloth and metal. His gas mask and breathing apparatus were necessities, not affectations. The poison sac grafted into his abdomen during childhood made him a walking weapon. One careless breath could kill his own men.
A Root ninja burst through the door, urgency written across his face.
Danzo's eyes snapped open.
The messenger leaned close, whispering urgently. Danzo's expression darkened with each word.
"What?" he demanded, his voice sharp enough to cut.
Tsunade. She'd appeared from nowhere and extracted Konan. How was that possible?
When the Akatsuki sent their message to Konoha, Danzo had already departed for the Land of Rain. He'd known nothing of Hiruzen's meeting with Tsunade, nothing of her deployment. But now the problem had shifted entirely.
Tsunade would discover the truth. She'd identify the fake Leaf Village ninja. She'd return to Konoha and tell Hiruzen everything.
Danzo's jaw tightened. What punishment awaited him then?
"The capture failed," he said quietly, the words tasting like ash.
Hanzo's eyes narrowed slightly. "The Akatsuki proved... troublesome?"
"My subordinates performed inadequately," Danzo replied, each word measured. "I am ashamed."
"Akatsuki has some merit," Hanzo acknowledged, though his tone suggested otherwise. "Still, they are children playing at ninja. Nothing compared to my victory over the Sannin."
Danzo seized the opening. "Your reputation only grew from that triumph. The greater the Sannin's fame, the greater your glory in defeating them."
Hanzo's expression shifted—a subtle smile crossing his masked face. The flattery had landed perfectly.
"We cannot lure them out now," Danzo continued smoothly. "Yahiko and Nagato will be on guard. But I can provide the exact coordinates of their base."
Hanzo fell silent, considering. The Akatsuki organization had grown stronger. A direct assault would cost the Hidden Rain Village dearly. But refusing would appear weak, and weakness was unacceptable.
"You remind me of my advantages," Hanzo finally said. "My poison gas conquers cities. The Akatsuki will fall easily."
Perfect. Danzo allowed himself an internal smile. If Hanzo attacked now, both Akatsuki and Tsunade would be eliminated. Hiruzen would never learn what happened in the Land of Rain.
Danzo had miscalculated only one thing: he'd underestimated how quickly Tsunade could move.
---
Thirty minutes earlier, Konan's eyes fluttered open.
The first thing she saw was Tsunade. Then Hanekawa. Her mind struggled to catch up with reality.
"What happened?" she asked, her voice hoarse.
"Hanzo's subordinates disguised themselves as Leaf Village ninja," Tsunade explained. "They used a traitor in our village to lure you out."
Konan didn't need names. She understood the implication.
"Regardless," she said carefully, "I owe you my life. Thank you."
"We need to move," Hanekawa interjected, his tone urgent. "The Hidden Rain Village knows your base location now. If the capture failed, they won't stop. They'll attack directly."
Tsunade's expression hardened instantly. "He's right. We need to go. Now."
They moved with practiced speed, Konan struggling to her feet despite her injuries. The journey back to the Akatsuki base felt like running through molasses—every second stretched, every shadow a potential threat.
When they arrived, Konan immediately began issuing orders. "Summon everyone. We're under threat."
Tsunade produced a scroll. "Antidote. For Hanzo's poison."
Konan's eyes widened. The poison gas was their greatest vulnerability—the one thing that could devastate the entire organization. "This is invaluable. Thank you, Lady Tsunade."
"It's not a cure-all," Tsunade warned. "Prolonged exposure renders it useless. You'll need to minimize contact."
Yahiko and Nagato arrived moments later. The young leader's gratitude was genuine, though tinged with the uncertainty of youth facing a crisis. Nagato said nothing, his Rinnegan eyes studying Tsunade with clinical detachment.
"Konan's back," Hanekawa announced suddenly.
Everyone turned. Konan descended from the sky, her paper wings folding against her back. Her expression was grim.
"They're coming. Hanzo and the Hidden Rain Village. They'll be here within minutes."
Tsunade didn't hesitate. "We fight."
"Just us?" Yahiko looked between them, the weight of command settling on his young shoulders.
"Go," Tsunade ordered. "Organize evacuation. Leave Hanzo to us."
Nagato opened his mouth to protest, but Yahiko's sharp look silenced him. The Akatsuki leader understood hierarchy, even if his partner didn't.
The ground began to shake before they reached the base entrance.
A massive salamander emerged from the rain—brown-backed, white-bellied, with four powerful limbs and a serpentine tail. Hanzo rode its head like a general surveying conquered territory. Behind him, the Hidden Rain Village spread out in perfect formation, hundreds of ninja moving as one organism.
The sheer scale of it stole the breath from those who'd never seen true warfare.
"Can we win?" Rin's voice trembled.
Kurenai wanted to answer, but the words wouldn't come. She'd trained her entire life, but nothing had prepared her for this—the weight of thousands of hostile eyes, the suffocating pressure of organized killing intent.
"Konan, coordinate base defense," Tsunade said calmly. "Kurenai, Rin—go with her."
"I'll handle Hanzo," Nagato said flatly.
"No," Yahiko replied, his tone brooking no argument. "Follow Tsunade's lead."
Nagato's jaw clenched, but he complied.
Hanzo raised his hand, and his army halted as one. His eyes had narrowed the moment he recognized Tsunade.
She wasn't supposed to be here.
Danzo had failed to mention her. That oversight would be addressed later. But for now, Hanzo assessed the situation with a warrior's clarity. Five Leaf Village ninja. Tsunade was the only genuine threat. The others—three children and one unknown—were negligible.
"Tsunade," he called out, his voice carrying across the rain-soaked field. "Long time no see."
"Indeed," she replied, her voice steady as stone.
"Only you came?" Hanzo's laugh was sharp, edged with contempt. "Where did you find such courage?"
The pressure radiating from him was immense—the weight of a legend who'd defeated the Legendary Sannin.
"You're old, Hanzo," Tsunade said coldly. "Perhaps it's time to step aside for younger generations."
His face darkened. "Ibushi!"
The salamander's mouth opened, revealing rows of teeth and a gullet that seemed to lead straight to hell. Purple mist erupted outward—Hanzo's signature poison, the weapon that had broken the Sannin.
"Use the antidote!" Tsunade shouted.
Six Rain Village jonin formed seals simultaneously.
Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!
The poisonous cloud accelerated, driven by hurricane-force winds toward the base.
Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!
Nagato's hands slammed the ground. An earth wall rose—not the standard three meters, but a towering ten-meter barrier, reinforced by the Uzumaki clan's bottomless chakra reserves.
Water Style: Water Formation Wall!
Kurenai's water barrier layered behind it, creating a dual defense.
The poison gas hit both walls simultaneously. Erosion began immediately, but the barriers held.
Yahiko moved with the speed of his training, using the instant jutsu to reposition. His hands formed seals.
Wind Style: Gale Palm!
Violent wind forced the poison back, buying precious seconds.
Konan's paper wings spread wide as she ascended. Thousands of paper sheets formed a secondary barrier, her body moving with practiced grace.
"Attack!" Hanzo commanded.
The Hidden Rain Village surged forward like a tide, their movements perfectly coordinated to avoid their own poison gas.
"Everyone prepare!" Konan called from above, her voice cutting through the chaos.
Hanekawa stepped forward. "Tsunade, I'll summon the slugs. The poison gas has a five-minute interval between uses."
Tsunade nodded sharply. "Duy, with me. We stop Hanzo."
The demigod of the ninja world had come to collect his due. The rain fell harder, as if the heavens themselves sensed the coming storm.