Chapter 71: Chapter 70: Accountability from Hanzō
A few minutes later, the patrolling Rain Ninja found the one-eyed jōnin lying in a pool of blood.
After confirming the one-eyed jōnin's identity, the patrolling Rain Ninja exchanged glances, guarded the scene, and sent someone back to Amegakure to report the information to the higher-ups.
Not long after, Hanzō the Salamander, upon receiving the news, arrived at the scene in the heavy rain.
With Hanzō's arrival, the atmosphere at the scene became tense, and all the Amegakure ninjas grew anxious.
They worried that Hanzō would lose his temper and vent his anger upon seeing the one-eyed jōnin's corpse.
To everyone's surprise, Hanzō was unusually calm. After listening to the witnesses and the on-site investigation report, he said calmly:
"Hand the body over to the medical team. I need a more precise death report."
Faced with Hanzō's wisdom and composure, the Rain Ninja present couldn't help but feel admiration. As expected of Lord Hanzō, even with the death of a valued subordinate, he remained able to think clearly.
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After returning to Amegakure, Hanzō locked himself in his office, his face as dark as water.
He couldn't imagine, nor was he willing to believe, that someone dared to attack his envoy in the Land of Rain, and only a few kilometers away from Amegakure.
For him, it wasn't just about the loss of a jōnin.
It was about disregarding his demigod dignity, trampling his face into the ground mercilessly.
If he found out who attacked his envoy, he would ensure that they paid a terrible price, proving that his title of demigod was earned through battle, not mere words.
Seemingly wanting to vent his anger, Hanzō began sweeping across his desk like a cleaning master.
Hearing the sounds of smashing inside the office, the gathered jōnin at the door exchanged nervous glances, not daring to push the door open. Lord Hanzō's wrath was not something anyone could endure.
A few minutes later, Hanzō's voice came from the office: "Stop standing outside and come in."
Upon hearing this, the Amegakure jōnin finally dared to enter the office. The jōnin responsible for the autopsy spoke cautiously: "Lord Hanzō, the examination report on the body is ready."
Hanzō nodded, indicating for the jōnin to continue.
The jōnin dared not delay and quickly said, "Based on the marks left on the body, we speculate that the killer used explosive tags to blow up the envoy... However, we detected wind-nature chakra at the scene."
"Explosive tags and wind-style ninjutsu? Could it be Sunagakure?"
After hearing the autopsy report, Hanzō's suspicions fell on Sunagakure.
Explosive tags and wind-style ninjutsu were characteristic of Sunagakure. He had also faced Elder Chiyo of Sunagakure several times, making them arch-enemies.
But Sunagakure had just signed a peace agreement with Konoha and was dealing with an invasion from Kirigakure.
They didn't have the capability to send ninjas to the Land of Rain, let alone kill the envoy right under his nose.
Could it be ninjas from other villages—maybe Iwagakure, Kusagakure, or the ever-restless Kumogakure?
These villages had no interests aligned with Amegakure.
After ruling out the possibility of foreign ninjas one by one, Hanzō asked the Amegakure jōnin, "Is there anyone in the Land of Rain who is an expert in using explosive tags?"
The Amegakure jōnin hesitated, cautiously glancing at Hanzō the Salamander, clearly implying something.
The strongest and most skilled ninja in using explosive tags in the Land of Rain was Hanzō the Salamander himself, who could even use explosive tag formations.
Hanzō's face slightly changed, his gaze becoming dangerous.
The Amegakure jōnin swallowed hard and quickly said, "Lord Hanzō, besides you, the best at using explosive tags in the Land of Rain are Konan and Byakuya of the Akatsuki. They both mastered paper-release techniques and have the strength to kill a jōnin."
Before the jōnin could finish, Hanzō's face darkened.
Indeed, he had always overlooked the Akatsuki.
This organization, established right under his nose, had the capability to kill a jōnin. But what puzzled him was:
If it was really the Akatsuki, why would they kill the envoy? His dispatching the envoy was an act of goodwill, and their cooperation was mutually beneficial.
In his view, the Akatsuki had no motive to kill the envoy.
But his subordinates, and the Akatsuki, had the means.
Could it be that the Akatsuki deliberately killed the envoy to give him a warning? If so, he would have to seriously reconsider his relationship with the Akatsuki.
As Hanzō pondered the identity of the killer, a ninja from the intelligence division walked into the office.
Under Hanzō's gaze, the intelligence ninja didn't waste any time. He directly took out the device to extract the deceased's memory and played the last memory of the deceased for Hanzō.
After watching the video, Hanzō fell into silence.
This secret technique for extracting the deceased's brain memories was a product of his past cooperation with Danzō.
The envoy's memory showed someone in a black cloud-patterned uniform, clearly a ninja from the Akatsuki, but uniforms never told the whole story. The focus was on the young man in the picture.
Although Hanzō had never met Byakuya, he felt that this person should be Byakuya, a high-ranking member of the Akatsuki.
And Byakuya's specialty happened to be using explosive tags.
After confirming Byakuya's identity from his subordinates, Hanzō pondered for a few seconds.
All the evidence pointed to Byakuya, but the only question was, if Byakuya killed the envoy, why didn't he destroy the body?
For an experienced ninja, destroying or taking the body would be far more valuable than leaving it behind. Byakuya must have thought of this.
At this moment, a nearby Amegakure jōnin seemed to have an idea and added:
"Lord Hanzō, I've heard that Byakuya is a hawk within the Akatsuki and is often at odds with other high-ranking members. Could it be that he acted on his own this time, trying to stop the Akatsuki from cooperating with us?"
The Amegakure jōnin's reminder completed the last piece of Hanzō's puzzle.
If the Akatsuki didn't intend to attack the envoy and it was Byakuya acting on his own, everything made sense.
The cooperation between Amegakure and the Akatsuki threatened Byakuya's interests, so he acted on his own.
Acting alone without notifying other high-ranking members or getting their help would explain why the killing of the envoy was so sloppy, even forgetting to destroy the body.
After replaying the attack in his mind from Byakuya's perspective, Hanzō's expression turned uncertain.
If the killing of the envoy was Byakuya acting on his own, then he only needed Yahiko and the others to hand over Byakuya, and the cooperation between the Akatsuki and Amegakure could continue.
However, the previous terms would need to be revised slightly.
With such a reckless individual in their organization, Yahiko and the others must bear the appropriate consequences.
As for whether the Akatsuki would refuse to hand over Byakuya, Hanzō never considered it.
Compared to Amegakure, the Akatsuki was as immature as a child. In the presence of adults, a disobedient child either obeys or gets a good beating.
The Akatsuki had only two options: hand over the culprit or hand over the beaten-to-death culprit.
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