Chapter 81: Hanzo's Employment
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was the end of Hidden Mist Year 35.
For more than a month, almost two months, Kiyoshi had been on vacation. If this were the modern era, good heavens, the Third Mizukage Ice would definitely be elected the best leader of the year.
During this time, besides occasionally gathering with Hozuki Senno and Karatachi Yagura when they didn't have missions, and regularly visiting the three subordinates who were hospitalized and recuperating at the Hidden Mist Hospital, he spent the rest of his time basically holed up at home cultivating, single-mindedly focusing on continuously improving his control over the Jōgan and enhancing the release speed and effect of its dōjutsu.
The last day of Hidden Mist Year 35.
On this day, Kiyoshi, as usual, was cultivating in his room after having breakfast with his grandfather Elder Seiji.
"Sukuna Hikona!"
Kiyoshi was continuously using his left eye's dōjutsu to repeatedly enlarge and shrink the black rod in his hand. The speed was much faster than when he had just awakened the Jōgan, and it was no longer a problem to use it in actual combat.
At this moment, the high-pitched cry of a ninja hawk came from outside.
"Combat readiness call?" Kiyoshi's heart stirred. It seemed there was the latest result from the Hidden Rain battlefield.
A few days ago, intelligence from the underground exchange showed that the second large-scale decisive battle between the Hidden Rain Village and the Hidden Sand Village had ended in a draw.
"Let's go! Little Kiyoshi!" Kiyoshi, fully dressed, walked out of his room and saw that his grandfather Elder Seiji and the guardian butler Gonbei were already fully prepared.
Hidden Mist Village, Mizukage Tower, conference room.
When they reached the entrance of the conference room, Kiyoshi and Elder Seiji separated. Elder Seiji entered the conference room, while Kiyoshi went to the Mizukage's office to meet the Third Mizukage Ice. As the captain of the Third Mizukage's Shadow Guards, he should be by Ice's side at this time.
Pushing open the door to the Mizukage's office, Kiyoshi saw the other six members, each carrying their ninja sword, standing behind the Third Mizukage Ice.
"Let's go, it's time to tell the others. Our Hidden Mist is preparing to move!" Ice said, nodding at Kiyoshi upon seeing his arrival. Then, he got up from his seat and told the seven of them the purpose of this summons before leading them together to the conference room.
Ice walked into the conference room, followed by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen with stern expressions. Seeing the Mizukage's arrival, the noisy discussion in the conference room instantly fell silent. All the participants stared intently at the Third Mizukage Ice, hoping to hear news that would invigorate them.
Kiyoshi's gaze lightly swept over everyone present. He saw his enemy Kaguya Musashi at a glance. Suppressing his urgent desire for revenge, Kiyoshi knew that now he should prioritize the village's mission. His strength had already surpassed Kaguya Musashi. As long as there was an opportunity later, he could kill him at any time.
Kaguya Musashi, sitting below, inexplicably felt a chill on his neck, but looking around, he didn't notice anything wrong.
"Hanzo, the leader of the Hidden Rain Village, has sent a request to our Hidden Mist Village. For a reward of 250 million Ryō, he hopes that our Hidden Mist will dispatch elite troops to participate in the war as hired ninjas to help the Hidden Rain deal with the Hidden Sand Village and guard against the Hidden Stone Village. Intelligence shows that the Hidden Stone Village has completed its war mobilization and is eager to make a move, ready to intervene in the war at any time!" Ice's words echoed throughout the conference room.
"The Hidden Stone Village is our old enemy. The previous Mizukage lost his life to the Hidden Stone Village in the last Great Ninja War. Moreover, the Daimyo hasn't been very generous with the funding for our Hidden Mist in recent years, making it increasingly difficult for us to train new recruits. This reward of 250 million Ryō is very important for the village's development, so I agreed!" Ice's expression and tone became solemn.
It turned out that after the first decisive battle with the Hidden Sand Village ended in a draw under Hanzo's leadership, the Hidden Rain Village had engaged in two more large-scale decisive battles. After the first major battle, Chiyo finally deciphered Salamander Hanzo's poison and developed the recipe for an antidote. This gave the Hidden Sand side a great advantage, as Hanzo's greatest killing power on the battlefield was still his poison.
Moreover, in the second major battle, all the Hidden Sand ninjas endured the poisonous gas of the salamander without retreating, allowing Chiyo to finally analyze the weakness that it took five minutes for the salamander to refill its poison sacs. This allowed the Hidden Sand to arrange various targeted tactics based on this.
Chiyo lived up to her reputation as Hanzo's nemesis. With this set of arrangements, she gave Hanzo a big headache.
So, in the third major battle, Chiyo, at the cost of one arm, successfully held Hanzo back for the full five minutes during the salamander's poison refill period. The Hidden Sand ninjas took the opportunity to launch a large-scale counterattack under Ebizo's leadership. After a fierce battle, the Hidden Sand, which was outnumbered, actually gained the upper hand, and the Hidden Rain Village was defeated and retreated repeatedly. Hanzo's original plan to quickly defeat the Hidden Sand and then have a decisive battle with the Hidden Leaf could be said to have completely failed.
Helpless, Hanzo had no choice but to simultaneously offer war employment to the Hidden Cloud Village of the Land of Lightning and the Hidden Mist Village of the Land of Water, which did not border the Land of Rain and had no conflicting interests.
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