Late at night, in the village of Gutian.
A group of people secretly returned to the village and entered the palace.
Haruto Saito supported Hattori Ryuno into the medical room. Tsunade had already gone to gather materials to prepare the antidote, with Orochimaru assisting her. Jiraiya went to write a report, while Kakuzu, who was only lightly injured and had already healed during the journey back, headed straight to the command post.
Thirteen, following Haruto Saito's orders, went to sleep. Having just been resurrected, his mind was blank—he only knew how to follow Haruto Saito's commands. Allowing him to move freely might cause trouble.
Hattori Ryuno was gravely wounded.
In fact, everyone had been poisoned to some extent, though none were in critical condition. As for external injuries, Haruto Saito and Tsunade had worked together to heal them on the way back.
The battle had been incredibly tough, and Hattori Ryuno had made great contributions. However, his bones were fractured, and he had severe internal injuries that couldn't be healed quickly.
—
Dawn of a new day.
A ninja from the covert operations unit stationed in Gutian Village summoned a carrier bird. The bird carried Jiraiya's detailed report and flew directly toward the Land of Fire.
The events of last night had to be reported to Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately.
Hanzo, heavily wounded, had escaped. He would undoubtedly hurry back to the Land of Rain since his unauthorized departure had been exposed. If he didn't return, the likelihood of an attack on Amegakure was over 90%.
After a long, exhausting night, Haruto Saito finally returned to his bedroom—not Tsunade's room. He was too drained to have a deep conversation with her.
Locking the door behind him, he yawned and stretched before sitting at his desk. He focused his mind and retrieved a thick stack of cards from his inventory.
About five hundred in total—all dropped by Thirteen.
Although he hadn't been able to kill Hanzo… Haruto Saito had always known he might not be able to finish him off. That's why he hadn't used his last Super Boss Card—because he anticipated Hanzo might escape.
And he did.
Still, the battle had brought Haruto Saito immense rewards. He had gained another loyal subordinate—Thirteen.
As Haruto Saito's puppet, Thirteen was incapable of betrayal.
Thirteen's strength was on par with Hattori Ryuno's—both were top-tier warriors in the ninja world. With him, along with Hattori Ryuno, Haruto Saito's forces had grown significantly.
Together, Haruto Saito, Hattori Ryuno, and Thirteen could easily overwhelm the infamous Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. They could even stand against an entire army.
They weren't yet at the level of a one-man army capable of defeating thousands, but Haruto Saito believed that gap would close within a few years—because he was still growing.
He quickly sorted through the cards.
Most of Thirteen's drops consisted of taijutsu and kenjutsu skills, which was expected since Hanzo had trained him. However, he also possessed a fair number of ninjutsu abilities, predominantly Fire Release and Wind Release.
Additionally, Thirteen had learned numerous secret techniques.
Healing jutsu, sealing techniques, traps, and high-speed movement techniques were among them.
But nothing particularly surprising.
Thirteen had his potential forcibly extracted. While his current combat abilities were on par with White Fang, his innate talent wasn't as great. White Fang had grown naturally, whereas Thirteen had burned through his potential.
Thirteen's abilities were nearly identical to Hanzo's.
The main difference was that he had also learned some unique secret arts.
That was it.
Thirteen hadn't provided any surprises, which was understandable. After all, he wasn't Teridou. Unlike Thirteen, Teridou had been the Land of Rain's top assassin, making his dropped abilities much more interesting.
In truth, the reason Haruto Saito wasn't particularly excited about Thirteen's drops was that he had already slain Hattori Ryuno.
Hattori Ryuno's swordsmanship abilities were more comprehensive than Thirteen's. His skills were that of a true samurai.
Thus, even though Thirteen had dropped S-rank taijutsu and swordsmanship abilities, Haruto Saito didn't feel thrilled.
Most of the abilities were similar.
However, Thirteen did drop two cards that, while expected, still brought a smile to Haruto Saito's face:
A Soul Fragment Card.
A Special Weapon Random Card.
He immediately consumed the Soul Fragment Card, which allowed him to fully integrate Thirteen's swordsmanship with Hattori Ryuno's.
With this, Haruto Saito's close-combat abilities—excluding Flying Thunder God—had finally reached their level.
In other words, Haruto Saito now had the strength to challenge White Fang.
But that was just a thought.
There was no reason for him to pick a fight with White Fang—winning or losing didn't matter.
Finally, he used the Special Weapon Random Card.
He obtained a new weapon.
A scythe.
Perhaps because Thirteen had used a scythe, the card had generated one with higher odds.
Corrosive Scythe.
Special Ability: Corrosive Poison.
Description: This blade is laced with a deadly toxin that not only has extreme corrosive properties but also seeps into the target's chakra network through their wounds, eroding their chakra… To neutralize the poison, one must reverse their chakra flow and inject it into the blade, which will then produce the antidote.
A poisoned scythe.
"Could fate be telling me to give this to Thirteen?" Haruto Saito mused.
—
Thirty-six hours later, a carrier bird from the Land of Whirlpools flew into the forests behind Konoha.
Hiruzen Sarutobi received a critical intelligence report.
The leader of the Land of Rain, Hanzo, along with his Anbu Captain, Thirteen, had secretly entered the Land of Whirlpools several days ago to hunt Haruto Saito. However, their presence had been detected, and Haruto Saito, along with Tsunade and other powerful allies, launched a preemptive strike.
During the battle, Haruto Saito first slew Thirteen, then led a combined assault against Hanzo, who barely escaped with grievous injuries.
Jiraiya's report was detailed, but that was the core message.
It also mentioned that Haruto Saito had resurrected Thirteen and turned him into a puppet.
But that wasn't the important part.
The key takeaway was:
Hanzo was not in the Land of Rain!
By the time Hiruzen Sarutobi received the intelligence, Hanzo had still not returned. He simply wasn't fast enough.
This was an opportunity for Konoha.
Within an hour of receiving the report, Hiruzen Sarutobi dispatched a carrier bird to the Second Army's headquarters on the Rain Country frontlines.
Two days later, in the dead of night, Amegakure suffered a surprise attack. Hundreds of elite ninja launched a devastating assault under the cover of darkness, using a massive number of explosive tags.
The attack was swift and precise, lasting only ten minutes from start to finish.
That night, Amegakure lost nearly three hundred ninja, with close to a thousand wounded.
Even more devastating—their most crucial supply warehouse was completely obliterated.
Over 150 million ryo worth of military supplies were reduced to ash.
By morning, the news had spread across the Land of Rain.
And with it, another rumor:
Haruto Saito had slain Thirteen, while Hanzo had fled in disgrace.
The entire ninja world was in an uproar.