"Damn Konoha! They dared to invade the Land of Rain while Lord Hanzo is away. We must not let the Konoha shinobi belittle us!"
A Rain Shinobi Jōnin shouted angrily. None of them believed Hanzo-sama could be dead, and Konoha's actions were seen as a direct provocation to the Rain Village.
Not long after Uchiha Fugaku and the others entered the Land of Rain, the Rain Shinobi received word. At that time, it was the village's third-in-command—a Jōnin elite—handling affairs. In Hanzo's absence, he often made key decisions for the village.
"Prepare for war. Konoha has sent fewer than two hundred shinobi. We'll teach them a lesson and immediately begin searching for any news about Master Hanzo."
Yuzang said this decisively. He already knew Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Shisui were among the Konoha forces, but so what? They were just over a hundred, while Rain had mobilized more than seven hundred shinobi.
With nearly a three-to-one advantage, Yuzang didn't believe Rain could lose. In his mind, under Master Hanzo's leadership, the Rain Village had already become the strongest among the Five Great Nations, even capable of negotiating with the top two.
The Second Ninja World War had been the most glorious period for the Rain Shinobi Village, a time many still yearned to return to.
The Rain Shinobi acted swiftly, sending out numerous scouts to monitor Konoha's movements. Once they confirmed there was no ambush, they planned to launch a full-scale assault.
Konoha, however, didn't worry about Rain's movements. They had full confidence in the weapons provided by Nawaki. Uchiha Shisui, who had already witnessed the power of the biomechanical warriors, said nothing—so no one else raised any doubts.
The Land of Rain wasn't vast, and both sides quickly closed the distance, clearly anticipating a clash.
The biomechanical warriors' climbing and maneuvering abilities were superior to most Genin, and above them, satellites operated by the Red Queen scanned from the sky.
As they approached the large Rain Shinobi force, the biomechanical warriors swiftly formed into battle formation and charged forward.
"Attention! Rain Shinobi ahead. All teams fall back and leave the battlefield to the biomechanical warriors!"
Uchiha Shisui shouted the order.
The Konoha squads immediately retreated to Shisui's position, putting distance between themselves and the advancing biomechanical units.
After passing through a forest, they reached a relatively open plain. The Shigure squad had arrived just moments before the biomechanical warriors, and seeing the machines burst from the treeline, they launched an attack without hesitation.
The Rain Shinobi commander roared fiercely, "Kill these Konoha Shinobi!"
"Ninjutsu: Rain of a Thousand Senbon!"
"Water Style: Surging Wave!"
Nearly a hundred Rain shinobi unleashed their ninjutsu simultaneously across the vast field. Much like the Kirigakure, the Rain Village shinobi heavily relied on Water Style techniques, and the terrain favored them.
But just as they began casting their jutsu, hundreds of small rockets flew from the forest, slamming into their ranks. The biomechanical warriors' arms split open, revealing dual cannons that launched shell after shell into the enemy.
"What is that…?" one of the Rain shinobi muttered.
But they had no time to react. A thunderous barrage of explosions erupted around them, deafening and unrelenting. With sheer firepower, the biomechanical warriors showed the Rain Village what true warfare looked like.
Boom boom boom!
The united Water Style jutsu unleashed by the Rain Shinobi on the frontlines was shattered by the barrage of mini-missiles, dispersing into splashes that quickly merged into puddles between the two sides.
After firing off nearly half the missiles stored within its body in mere moments, one of the biomechanical warriors grabbed a heavy machine gun and charged toward the Rain Shinobi.
More biomechanical warriors emerged from the forest, spreading out as they continued bombarding the enemy with miniature missiles. This forced the Rain Shinobi's formation to break, making it easier for the gun-wielding biomechanical units to mow them down.
The firearms and missiles were merely efficient tools of death—but the real killing power came from the warriors' sheer might. With more than ten tons of strength and built-in melee weaponry, the ultimate finisher was the self-destructing energy core buried within each biomechanical warrior.
Rumble!
Bang bang bang!
Explosions and gunfire thundered across the battlefield in an unrelenting chorus.
Within moments of the battle's onset, the Rain Shinobi suffered devastating casualties. Screams of pain, broken bodies, and severed limbs were strewn across the muddy terrain. The smell of scorched flesh mingled with blood and water, creating a grotesque spectacle of death.
The rain following the Water Style attacks turned the battlefield into a true Shura hellscape.
The biomechanical warriors continued their slaughter without hesitation. They felt no pain, feared no injury. Even when pierced by thousands of blades or swept away by massive water torrents, as long as their cores remained intact, they would rise and keep fighting.
Built with incredibly tough synthetic muscles and protected further by a nano-alloy skeletal frame, destroying a biomechanical warrior's energy core was a nearly impossible task.
At the rear, Uchiha Fugaku and his group stood atop a tall tree, watching the carnage unfold below. As the battle continued, even the hardened Konoha ninjas began to feel shaken by what they were witnessing.
One biomechanical warrior, after having its head blown off, continued fighting—tearing a Rain Shinobi in half and spilling intestines and organs across the ground.
Then, many of the biomechanical warriors suddenly stopped fighting, disengaged from their enemies, and scattered. One of them detonated on the spot, exploding in a burst of fire that lit up the sky for hundreds of meters. The resulting shockwave spread across a thousand meters, instantly killing hundreds of Rain Shinobi.
Their forces collapsed.
Faced with overwhelming firepower and what seemed like immortal killing machines, the Rain Shinobi's morale shattered completely.
"F-Fugaku-sama… is this the village's secret weapon?"
A Konoha shinobi swallowed hard, voice trembling. With monsters like these on their side, what other ninja village could possibly stand against them?
"Don't ask about it. Shisui, move out."
Uchiha Fugaku didn't know where Nawaki had acquired such terrifying machines, but he understood the implications. He turned to Uchiha Shisui, whose expression had gone grim, snapping him back to attention.
The sight of the biomechanical warriors in combat was far more horrifying than any ninjutsu. The battlefield had become a living nightmare. Still, they had no choice but to move forward.
Uchiha Shisui took a deep breath and said, "Let's go."
On the battlefield, beyond Konoha, the Rain Shinobi, Akatsuki, and White Zetsu, there were others silently observing the war unfold.
Three figures, dressed in tightly wrapped cloaks and animal masks that concealed their faces, stood on a distant tree branch, watching the situation from the shadows.
As the Rain Shinobi suffered complete defeat and the biomechanical warriors continued their relentless pursuit, one of the masked figures—short in stature, like a boy—clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.
"Does it really have to end like this? Must everything be resolved through war?" he said bitterly. "They... They are still human..."
"This is the real ninja world, Itachi-kun," said another, wearing a fox-faced mask. "Konoha shouldn't be so cruel. Those monsters... they're all transformed from living people. Products of human experimentation. Teacher Jiraiya, Senior Nara, and members of the Yamanaka Clan— they all died investigating these things."
His tone was calm, but only he knew the burning hatred buried deep within.
Under the grimacing mask, Uchiha Itachi asked with hesitation, "Senior Minato… Lord Third… this operation, was it led by my father?"
The man with a dolphin-faced mask—Sarutobi Hiruzen—pretended to hesitate before answering, "Well… according to reports from the village, yes, it's Fugaku who's leading the team. But he had no choice. He can't go against the village's orders."
"Even so, the massacre could have been avoided."
"Itachi-kun," Namikaze Minato said gently, "Fugaku-kun must have his own reasons."
But the more Minato tried to defend Fugaku, the more resistance Itachi felt building inside.
To Itachi, his father was someone who would do anything for the clan—whether it was sending his wife and young Sasuke to curry favor with the daimyo's wife, or now, leading a ruthless massacre. None of it surprised him.
Minato added, "Let's go back, Itachi. We didn't anticipate this war. The Third and I need to figure out a solution. We may not have time to continue training with you for a while."
"I understand. You should focus on the mission," Itachi replied calmly. "Thank you both for taking the time. I'm very grateful."
Just being able to leave Konoha and witness the brutal reality outside was already a valuable experience for him. He wouldn't hold them back.
Strength.
Itachi clenched his fists again. If he had the power, maybe he could have stopped the massacre. Maybe he could have prevented the war altogether.
Life is so precious... why does it have to be like this? he thought over and over again.
Hiruzen said quietly, "Itachi, your way of thinking is worthy of a Hokage. Minato and I will do everything we can to help you grow stronger. The future of Konoha—and of the ninja world—may depend on you to change it."
Then, Namikaze Minato used the Flying Thunder God Technique to send Uchiha Itachi back to Konoha. The Sarutobi clan's ninjas discreetly escorted him to his home, under heavy camouflage, ensuring he went unnoticed.
Though only two bandit groups had been eliminated on this mission, Uchiha Itachi felt he had gained something far greater—a purpose. Inspired by Senior Minato and Lord Third, he now understood what he wanted to strive for.
"I'm back…"
Itachi called out as he entered his home.
From the kitchen, Uchiha Mikoto poked her head out, surprised. "Ah, Itachi! When did you leave? No wonder you didn't respond when I called. Come help me watch Sasuke for a minute—I'm cooking dinner for you."
"Got it."
Hearing Sasuke's name, a warmth spread in Itachi's heart. In the Uchiha clan, only Sasuke was still truly innocent.
And as his older brother, Itachi would never let him become someone like their father.
….
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