Naruto: Fooling the Ninja World, I'm Hailed as a Savior

It was unclear how much time had passed.

When the scar-faced ninja regained consciousness, the intense pain from his wrist twisted his features into a grimace. He also saw the four figures standing before him.

"Damn it! You're not Hidden Rain Village ninjas at all!" Now fully awake, he lay on the ground and roared, "No matter who you are, let me go! The patrol team will be here soon!"

He was hogtied, bound tightly from head to toe, struggling and writhing like an insect. But everything he did was futile; his voice couldn't reach outside.

Damn it! How long had it been? Why hadn't anyone come to rescue him? The commotion they'd caused was so big, and so many people at the scene had witnessed it. Hadn't anyone gone to report it and warn the patrols?

"Stop shouting." Kakashi scratched his ear, his dead-fish eye fixed on the scar-faced ninja. He "kindly" explained, "We walked out brazenly, and the tavern owner personally saw us off. So, no one is coming to save you."

Even Kakashi couldn't help but crack a smile at his own words, finding it somewhat absurd and laughable. Tenzo, usually expressionless, now wore a strange look, glancing at the silent Hyuga Kawa.

"...What?" The scar-faced ninja looked bewildered, blurting out, "Are those guys crazy? They didn't tell the patrol, and they just watched you take me away?"

Kakashi didn't bother explaining further, simply asking, "Speak. Tell us everything you know."

"Never!" the scar-faced ninja growled. "I won't betray—"

"Let me handle it."

Before he could finish, Hyuga Kawa suddenly stepped forward, smiling gently. "Don't worry, I'll crush your bones, piece by piece, just like before, until you tell us the answers we want."

Hearing this, Kakashi and the other two exchanged glances, their gazes filled with pity for the scar-faced ninja. Then, in unspoken agreement, they left, leaving the two of them alone.

Looking at Hyuga Kawa's smile, the scar-faced ninja shivered, his face instantly turning deathly pale, and he instinctively recoiled.

"You, you stay away, you... Ah!!"

A moment later, Kakashi and the others guarding the door heard the piercing screams and wails gradually subside, giving way to a terrifying, deadly silence.

Click.

Hyuga Kawa emerged from the abandoned house. Meeting the inquisitive gazes of Kakashi and the others, he nodded. "He's been drained."

The interrogation and coercion went smoothly. Under his methods, the scar-faced ninja revealed information about the current state of the Hidden Rain Village and Hanzo, as well as the number of resident personnel and standing weapons in the village. He spilled everything he knew like beans from a bamboo tube. By the end, he had even confessed to peeping at the girl next door when he was a child. If Hyuga Kawa hadn't finally stopped, he probably would have confessed his wife's fetishes.

Kakashi pushed open the door and took a look, seeing the scar-faced ninja, whose bones were almost entirely crushed, a deformed mess. His expression remained unchanged; ninjas were never benevolent, and the Anbu was certainly not a humanitarian organization. With a single fire, he burned the body to ashes.

"Now we can confirm that the Hidden Rain Village has indeed undergone changes, just as we suspected. Hanzo's personality has also greatly changed, and the fundamental reason for this is that organization called 'Akatsuki'." Kakashi summarized the intelligence, immediately grasping the crucial point.

The Akatsuki organization.

Unfortunately, those in the know were tight-lipped about it, and Hanzo himself was even more secretive. So, the scar-faced ninja didn't know much, and neither did the other three Rain ninjas.

"Isn't the focus of this mission to investigate Hanzo and the current strength of the Hidden Rain Village?" Tenzo asked.

"Yes," Kakashi said calmly, "but that's only if the only threats in the Land of Rain are Hanzo and the Hidden Rain Village."

The essence of the mission wasn't to investigate Hanzo and the Hidden Rain Village's strength, but to ascertain how much of a threat the Land of Rain still posed to Konoha. As the war escalated, the Hidden Sand and Hidden Stone might intervene. At that point, the Land of Rain would be the shortest and unavoidable route for the two great ninja villages to invade the Land of Fire. Konoha had to understand the current situation of the Land of Rain before anyone else.

Information was the most important thing for ninjas. Just like in the original story, the battle between Jiraiya and Nagato controlling the Six Paths of Pain: if Jiraiya had known the information and abilities of the Six Paths of Pain, Nagato might not have been able to defeat Jiraiya without going all out. Or take Hidan, whose jutsu was terrifying but had a fatal flaw. With knowledge of the information, even Shikamaru could kill him, whereas Asuma Sarutobi, without that knowledge, could only die at Hidan's hands.

Therefore, in the ninja world, there was never an unbreakable rule that "genin" couldn't defeat "chunin," or "chunin" couldn't defeat "jonin." As long as one knew oneself and one's enemy, and gathered enough intelligence, one could make targeted arrangements based on the enemy's weaknesses, and even a genin could kill a jonin.

"So, Senior Kakashi thinks the Akatsuki organization might hinder and threaten Konoha's future war situation?" Hyuga Kawa suddenly asked.

Seeing Kakashi nod, the other ninja frowned. "It's just an organization being chased by the Hidden Rain Village, and only a few remnants are left. Is it worth so much attention?"

"I think Senior Kakashi's idea is correct." Before Kakashi could explain, Hyuga Kawa spoke up, smiling. "Hanzo's reputation is genuine, forged through battles on the battlefield."

"Even if he's truly old, he shouldn't be so cowardly."

"To be able to force that Hanzo to such a state of fear, it shows that this so-called 'Akatsuki' organization is by no means simple."

Hearing this, Tenzo and the other Konoha ninja pondered, also agreeing with Kakashi and Hyuga Kawa's judgment.

"Then what do we do next?" Tenzo asked.

Kakashi pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "Given Hanzo's current personality and circumstances, his attitude towards Konoha might not be as hostile as before. We could try to talk to him."

"While gathering information on the Akatsuki organization, we could offer to help him solve this problem and propose forging an alliance. That way, the Land of Rain might later become a barrier for Konoha against the Hidden Sand and Hidden Stone Villages." Saying this, he paused, adding, "Of course, this is assuming Lord Third agrees. Otherwise, we absolutely cannot act on our own."

Hyuga Kawa nodded in agreement, but at that moment, his gaze suddenly paused. He suddenly had a feeling. The scroll he had given to Orochimaru had been activated. This meant Orochimaru had met the conditions for breaking the seal and could now see the subsequent content.

"Has 'Impure World Reincarnation' finally been developed?" Hyuga Kawa's eyes flickered slightly, and he smiled. "I've been waiting for a long time, Lord Orochimaru. Don't disappoint me." He had left some interesting content at the end of that scroll. Or rather, a lie. Or perhaps, a "rule."

Hyuga Kawa was no longer limited to manifesting ninjutsu and objects; he wanted to try implanting "rules" at the fundamental level of the ninja world. This was a colossal lie, enough to make the entire ninja world dance to its tune.

Meanwhile, in a hidden experimental base in a cave near the border between the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain, Orochimaru's pale face appeared exceptionally sinister under the light, but the madness and fanaticism on it were extraordinarily intense.

"Finally, finally completed! Impure World Reincarnation! I..."

Hiss hiss! Before he could finish, his mouth suddenly flicked out a snake tongue, and his voice transformed into a woman's, mocking, "Useless Orochimaru. What good is developing a jutsu that can change bodies, if you can't bear to part with this body that can use Sage Mode?"

"Whatever you gained at Ryūchi Cave, you must pay for it, hiss hiss. You'll never be able to escape..."

"Shut up!" Orochimaru's voice changed again, his eyes and expression filled with resentment, and he spat hatefully, "Tashin Hime, I'll devour your body and soul completely, sooner or later!" With that, he turned and moved towards the scroll on the table.

No, it shouldn't be called "walking."

It should be called "crawling."

At this moment, Orochimaru had lost his legs, replaced by a white snake tail. On that day, to survive, he had made a deal with the White Snake Sage. And this was the price he had to pay: fusing with the body of "Tashin Hime," one of the three Great Snake Hime of Ryūchi Cave, gaining the ability to use Sage Mode but also becoming unable to escape Ryūchi Cave's control.

However, it was all worth it.

Hiss hiss. Orochimaru subconsciously flicked his snake tongue, his gaze burning as he looked at the scroll in his hand. The subsequent content, which he had never been able to see before, now easily unfurled as he gently pulled.

"Indeed, only by mastering the soul and natural energy can the seal at the end of the scroll be broken." Orochimaru's eyes grew even more feverish. He eagerly scanned the following content of the scroll, but his gaze froze after reading the first two lines.

[Of the passing of myriad spirits, their destinations are not one. When body dies and soul departs, some vanish into the wind, some return to the Pure Land of the Six Paths, and some fall into My Void Realm.]

[The Void Realm, the dwelling place of souls, exists in the rift between the living world and the Pure Land, perpetually covered by eternal night...]