Part Time Employee in Konoha

Atop the tower.

Hanzō of the Salamander was still delivering his speech.

Standing beside him, the Five Kage also felt a surge of pride, for anyone who saw the 100,000-strong ninja alliance below would feel a sense of grandeur and develop an unshakable confidence in victory.

Here...

There are 100,000 people!

Just at that moment, a blue Yasaka Magatama flew over. This technique, activated by Susanoo, soared across the sky toward the tower!

Everyone's attention was involuntarily drawn to it!

Everyone also saw the source of the technique: not far from the assembly point of the ninja alliance, on a hillside, stood a blue Susanoo as tall as half a mountain!

Uchiha Madara, controlling the blue Susanoo, launched an attack on the high-ranking members of the ninja alliance, an abrupt change that shocked everyone!

This guy...

How dare he!

How dare he attack the alliance at this moment!

For the high-ranking members of the ninja alliance, the sheer number of people brought immense confidence. The 100,000 ninjas present, if each used a water release technique, could drown him!

"Kamui!"

At this critical moment, Hatake Kakashi's eyes suddenly widened, and his Mangekyō Sharingan absorbed the Yasaka Magatama into the Kamui dimension!

"Uchiha Madara!"

Tsunade, her face contorted with rage, looked at Uchiha Madara in the distance. She could hardly contain her anger and roared, "You... are you declaring war on the ninja alliance at this time?"

"What ninja alliance..."

Uchiha Madara squinted his eyes. With the repulsive force of the Rinnegan, he slowly floated towards the tower, his voice icy: "The commander of the ninja alliance is a puppet of Akihara Kagura. Who is this alliance really against?"

!!!

Everyone present stood in astonishment!

This guy...

What is he talking about?

The commander of the ninja alliance, Hanzō of the Salamander, is a puppet of Akihara Kagura?

The ninjas present looked up at Hanzō of the Salamander on the high platform in disbelief, gazing at the commander they revered...

This is the finest ninja in the world. Even the Five Kage respect his noble character and are willing to let him be the commander!

How could this be possible!

"A Six Paths puppet?"

Jiraiya asked gravely.

Having fought with Nagato before, Jiraiya knew the Rinnegan could control puppets. A heavy feeling settled in his heart: could Hanzō of the Salamander be a puppet of Akihara Kagura?

"As expected..."

"I knew it..."

"This puppet can't deceive Madara..."

Hanzō of the Salamander admitted it. The voice of the Six Paths puppet came from the main body, and though Hanzō's voice was still old, he admitted his identity. His eyes gradually turned into Rinnegan.

"Rinnegan!"

Many people saw the change in Hanzō's eyes!

"How could this be..."

Hatake Kakashi's heart felt as cold as an icy abyss. Fear swept through him instantly: "How could this be... how could it be like this?"

"This... how could..."

"Are you kidding me..."

"What is going on here..."

Nara Shikamaru's body started to tremble, fear engulfing his mind, rendering him incapable of thinking: "What is going on? Our alliance commander is that guy's puppet... Lord Hanzō... was the first to advocate for the formation of the ninja alliance... how could he be controlled by someone..."

As the son of the ninja alliance's strategist, Nara Shikaku, Shikamaru was highly intelligent and thus invited to participate in the strategy formulated by his father...

During that time...

Nara Shikaku often mentioned Hanzō of the Salamander.

Because of Hanzō of the Salamander's noble character, Konoha's proposal to form a ninja alliance to resist Akihara Kagura was accepted by the ninja world.

"Calm down!"

Temari, a ninja from the Sand Village, quickly regained her composure and slapped Nara Shikamaru across the face, leaving a red handprint: "Now is not the time for wild thoughts!"

"I know..."

Nara Shikamaru immediately regained his senses, covering his cheek, his heart still pounding violently: "But... I don't know what to do..."

"When did Hanzō become his puppet, what else has that guy done, and what can we do to escape his control..."

This is a question facing all the ninjas.

Even some of the most resilient ninjas couldn't help but ask themselves a question when they saw Hanzo of the Salamander revealing the Rinnegan and heard the voice of Akihara Kagura...

Now...

What should they do?

Were all their actions under Akihara Kagura's control?

And even...

Guided by Akihara Kagura...

A chill ran through the knowledgeable ninjas.

The Five Kage present felt a mix of pain and collapse, a trace of rage appearing on their faces, the fury of having their wills manipulated!

Nara Shikaku, the strategist of the Ninja Alliance, felt his fingers tremble slightly, his brain momentarily stagnating and unable to function!

How could...

Such a thing happen!

The Supreme Commander of the Ninja Alliance was actually a puppet of Akihara Kagura!

What does that make this Ninja Alliance?

When did this happen, and does it make all the strategies he, the advisor, devised a joke?

No...

No, that's not right...

The important thing now is to get information!

If Lord Hanzo was only captured and killed by Akihara Kagura in the past few days, then everything can still be salvaged, proving that their current path is not wrong...

But if Lord Hanzo became Akihara Kagura's puppet before the formation of the Ninja Alliance, it would mean they were trapped in a grand conspiracy!

"How unexpected..."

Nara Shikaku took a deep breath, a smile appearing on his face: "I'm very curious, when did this happen?"

"Yes, when did this happen!"

Jiraiya stared at Hanzo of the Salamander's body and asked sternly, "When did you kill Hanzo and start controlling his body?"

"Long ago, I suppose?"

Hanzo of the Salamander extended his hand, stroking his cheek, the aged voice of the Six Paths Puppet calmly spoke: "About ten years ago... I deceived you all about one thing, Jiraiya-sensei..."

"Actually..."

"I awakened the Rinnegan much earlier..."

"Earlier than I previously told you all. I probably activated the Sage Body after transplanting Hashirama's cells, and it took less than a year to awaken the Rinnegan. Hanzo of the Salamander was the third puppet I created..."

"That deception..."

"Was merely to cover Hanzo's identity."

"The third puppet..."

Jiraiya's heart sank.

This meant that Akihara Kagura had other puppets!

And Hanzo of the Salamander was merely the third one!

How many more puppets did this guy have hidden!

How many people in the ninja world were his tools!

The Five Kage present couldn't help but ponder this question as well!

"So..."

Jiraiya gritted his teeth and continued solemnly: "When I took you to the Land of Rain for training, you already had the Rinnegan at that time..."

"Probably... around that time..."

"That time..."

"Even before we saw Nagato again..."

Hanzo of the Salamander's voice remained old and slow, but the speaker had changed: "Let me think... it was around the time you wanted to track down Nagato and the Akatsuki base that I found Hanzo..."

"After a chat with Hanzo, he was forced to voluntarily become my puppet. We aimed to destroy this decaying world and create a new one together. Hanzo was already very old then, with little value left..."

"Yet I still chose him."

Hanzo of the Salamander ignored the others, his gaze sweeping across Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade: "Because his status was high enough, he was a suitable old man..."

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"I only needed a minor disguise of his character to establish a lofty image in your hearts..."

"Why didn't you find it strange at the time?"

Hanzo of the Salamander's voice was tinged with confusion as he spoke, seemingly unable to comprehend Jiraiya's words: "Jiraiya-sensei, why would a reclusive old man suddenly volunteer to die?"

"..."

Jiraiya suddenly remembered.

During the time before he arrived in the Land of Rain, there had been no news of Hanzo of the Salamander. After Jiraiya's arrival, Hanzo had suddenly become active, even showing signs of being ready to sacrifice himself at any moment...

"All of that..."

"Was you controlling him from behind the scenes!"

Jiraiya's eyes widened as he recalled how Hanzo had secretly told him about his intention to sacrifice himself, even going so far as to willingly die in front of Nagato...

At that time...

Jiraiya had been deeply moved by Hanzo...

At that time...

Akihara Kagura had also appeared to be quite touched!

However, it was all orchestrated by Akihara Kagura from behind the scenes. That kid had been pretending all along, pretending to respect this demi-god of the ninja world!

"There is no need to deceive you at this point..."

Hanzo of the Salamander's old voice carried a note of melancholy: "Hanzo had long lost his ambition; I helped him regain it all..."

"Wait a moment..."

Orochimaru suddenly caught a flaw, narrowing his eyes: "Kagura, I remember you had interactions with Hanzo during the Five Kage Summit..."

This was a flaw.

Was Akihara Kagura trying to scare them?

"This is quite normal."

Hanzo of the Salamander's body continued to speak: "Because within this body, Hanzo's soul still resides. There are two methods for creating puppets with the Rinnegan..."

"One method is to use a corpse, finding a suitable body to make into a puppet; the other is to use a soul, even a reanimated ninja can be turned into a puppet..."

"This guy is right."

Uchiha Madara, the owner of the Rinnegan, confirmed Akihara Kagura's statement with a cold voice: "The materials for the Six Paths puppets are indeed not very demanding... Puppets made by the Rinnegan are formed using Yin-Yang Release, so the material requirements are low... as long as there is sufficient compatibility, suitable Six Paths puppets can be made..."

"Indeed."

"Before creating Hanzo, when I made my first puppet, I attempted to place the puppet's original soul into it;"

"When creating the second puppet, it happened to be a puppeteer who had turned his own body into a puppet, which made my technique more refined..."

"The second puppet..."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, thinking of Sasori of the Red Sand and how similar he was to Asura Path Pain, understanding everything: "It must be Sasori of the Red Sand..."

Sasori of the Red Sand...

Had long become Akihara Kagura's puppet!

That's why Sasori always cooperated with Akihara Kagura!

"Correct."

Hanzo of the Salamander's puppet nodded, answering Orochimaru: "When Jiraiya-sensei and I encountered you and Sasori of the Red Sand, you saved Sasori's puppet, but left behind his real body..."

"It was at that moment..."

"I turned Sasori into Asura Path. Perhaps there is no one more suitable than Sasori to become an Asura Path puppet. He is like a work of art, even I couldn't find any flaws in him..."

"Enough."

Hanzo of the Salamander's voice calmed down, his gaze swept over everyone present, finally landing on Jiraiya: "There is still plenty of time today. Once the war truly begins, we might not have time to talk about these things... You need not doubt because the appearance of the Allied Ninja Forces was within my expectations."

"Within your... expectations?"

Uchiha Madara narrowed his eyes.

"Yes."

Hanzo of the Salamander nodded slightly, continuing in a cold tone, "When I intend to destroy this world, humanity will gradually unite under the pressure of impending doom..."

"Even without Hanzo..."

"There will still be twisted situations like the Ninja Alliance."

"Of course."

"My actions have indeed contributed to the growth of the Ninja Alliance."

"In order to ensure the smooth execution of my plan to destroy the ninja world, a small and slightly old strategy was needed, such as promoting someone to become the commander of the Ninja Alliance..."

"And this small strategy..."

"Was merely the cause from many years ago..."

"During the Second Ninja World War, Hanzo of the Salamander initiated a war against the three great ninja villages, Sand Village, Rock Village, and Konoha, to protect the Land of Rain from their conflicts. The result, of course, was an inevitable defeat..."

"Many things happened during that war. Perhaps you were all thinking about how Sand Village was defeated by Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo, or reflecting on Hanzo of the Salamander and the Land of Rain's failure in challenging the great nations..."

At this point, Hanzo of the Salamander's gaze fell upon the floating figure of Uchiha Madara, "Some people might also ponder the trajectory of Nagato's life, wondering if there might be any issues with his Rinnegan..."

"But I focused on one thing..."

"After his defeat in that war, Hanzo of the Salamander spared three young people who had fallen into his hands and magnanimously granted them the title of Konoha's Sannin..."

"When I heard this story, Hanzo of the Salamander's glory had long faded, leaving only a decrepit old man. I then began to utilize him in a decade-long plan, pushing the disheartened Hanzo of the Salamander to regain his prominence..."

"First..."

"I turned him into a puppet of the Rinnegan."

"To determine whether the Rinnegan could see through puppets, I specifically made Hanzo of the Salamander appear before Nagato and put on a righteous performance. Brother Nagato seemed not to notice anything amiss..."

"Thus..."

"I had him perform before Jiraiya-sensei..."

"Of course, these efforts alone were insufficient, as the ninja world had long forgotten Hanzo of the Salamander. Many young ninjas no longer remember this figure..."

"But I knew that three people would definitely remember..."

Akihara Kagura, controlling Hanzo of the Salamander, directed his gaze at Tsunade and Orochimaru, a raspy laugh emanating from his throat, "Lady Tsunade, Lord Orochimaru, Jiraiya-sensei, you would definitely remember this old man..."

"Among the great nations of the ninja world..."

"Konoha's power is the strongest..."

"Because of my presence, Konoha's influence is unprecedented. I facilitated Lord Orochimaru's assassination of the Third Hokage, successfully reviving his name..."

"I deliberately abandoned the position of Hokage."

"I intentionally acted extremely radical, relinquishing the struggle for the Hokage position, to ensure either Jiraiya-sensei or Lady Tsunade would ascend to the position, as you two are the only ones in Konoha who would deeply remember Hanzo of the Salamander..."

"..."

Tsunade's heart ached with a sharp pain.

This situation...

Occurred occasionally after Akihara Kagura's defection.

Every time Tsunade pondered Akihara Kagura's actions, her heart would hurt, and she felt a suffocating sensation enveloping her body.

Indeed.

This guy was right...

Only Konoha's Sannin would remember Hanzo of the Salamander...

In fact, only Konoha's Sannin throughout the entire ninja world would have a lasting impression of Hanzo of the Salamander, as their titles and their childhood memories of a powerful figure were tied to this man!

"Lady Tsunade ascended to the position of Hokage..."

"Everything is unfolding as I anticipated..."

Hanzo of the Salamander's voice gradually steadied, even carrying a sense of smug satisfaction, "At the opportune moment, I revealed my true identity. I went to the Land of Rain to attack Brother Nagato, an essential part of my plan..."

"Or rather, the most crucial part, was manipulating Hanzo to save Jiraiya-sensei, delivering Jiraiya-sensei and Brother Nagato to Konoha, reintroducing Hanzo before Lady Tsunade, and actively proposing an alliance to confront me..."

"..."

"So it was your scheme to have Hanzo save me back then…"

Jiraiya took a deep breath, recalling how he had once drifted along the river, on the verge of drowning due to his severe injuries and exhaustion, only to be saved by Hanzo of the Salamander.

Even...

If it weren't for Hanzo, neither he nor Nagato might have made it back to Konoha. Jiraiya had always respected and felt grateful towards Hanzo.

But now...

It was yet another conspiracy by his disciple.

Tsunade's heart ached increasingly.

A feeling of weightless panic made her body tremble, nearly causing her to collapse. She remembered their conversation at the Konoha hospital back then...

Hanzo had volunteered to liaise with the ninja world.

At that time, she greatly admired Hanzo's vision and magnanimity. Coupled with her past trust in his character, she suggested holding the Five Kage Summit in Rain Village...

Back then...

She had already fallen into Akihara Kagura's trap!

"Everything was so inevitable."

Hanzo's voice was old yet powerful, as Akihara Kagura, controlling the old man's body, finally got to the main point: "With the successful convening of the Five Kage Summit, the villages of the five great nations would undoubtedly fight over the position of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Ninja Forces..."

"At that moment, I appeared..."

"Bringing you a tremendous fear..."

"During that summit, I just wanted you to fully understand one thing: you are not qualified to oppose me; only Lady Tsunade or Hanzo are most suitable..."

"Unfortunately."

Akihara Kagura, controlling Hanzo, looked at the other village leaders: "You will definitely oppose Lady Tsunade because Konoha has gained too much from the ninja world..."

"I know Lady Tsunade well. She is someone who will back down. She needs a suitable person, a ninja commander willing to support her in seeking Madara's help..."

"Hanzo, while retreating strategically, analyzed the so-called pros and cons. Facing the other villages' doubts about Lady Tsunade, she had to step back and choose someone who had left a deep impression on her since her youth to become the Supreme Commander of the Allied Ninja Forces..."

"And that person..."

"Had long since become my puppet."

"Look..."

Akihara Kagura's voice, through Hanzo, contained a hint of satisfaction, seemingly very pleased with a plan he had set in motion years ago.

"The reason I chose to deliberately step back and let you become Hokage was because I knew that at a critical moment when the ninja world united, you would nominate Hanzo, who seemed very powerful in your youth, thus pushing my long-controlled puppet to become the Supreme Commander of the Allied Ninja Forces..."

"..."

Fear engulfed them like seawater.

All of this...

Once again, it fell within Akihara Kagura's calculations.

The sense of grandeur they felt after witnessing the strength of the Allied Ninja Forces vanished without a trace. They only felt their hearts sinking into the abyss of fear with Akihara Kagura's words...

Neither Tsunade, Jiraiya, nor the other leaders, not even the always-strategic Nara Shikaku, could escape the deep fear.

Even the elderly Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, was gasping for breath, his forehead covered in cold sweat. He could wipe away his sweat but not the panic in his eyes!

Clap, clap, clap...

Uchiha Madara lightly clapped his hands.

Madara had already heard Akihara Kagura admit to his two conspiracies back in Konoha and the forest where they clashed. Hearing these stories again, he had to admit that Akihara Kagura's schemes were quite brilliant...

"Truly impressive..."

Admiration appeared on Uchiha Madara's face as he sincerely praised: "When it comes to cunning and strategy, I always thought that the insidious and despicable Tobirama was quite adept, but in this aspect, he doesn't even deserve to serve you tea..."

"However..."

"You still missed one thing..."

Uchiha Madara grinned, revealing a smile: "Why do you think that when Nagato used the Rinnegan, he didn't discover that Hanzo was your puppet? How could the true owner of the Rinnegan not uncover his real identity?"

Madara chuckled softly, narrowing his eyes: "Kid, your puppet's identity is exposed now. Whatever plans you have for Hanzo can be declared over at this moment..."

"Madara."

Hanzo had already clasped his hands together and spoke softly: "Why don't you guess, which of the Six Paths is Hanzo?"

"Scatter!"

Madara immediately realized something, his expression darkening as he gritted his teeth: "Everyone, get out of here, this guy is that kid's Animal Path!"

There was no time to stop it!

Even Limbo wouldn't make it in time!

He shouldn't have flown over; he should have dealt with this puppet earlier. That silver-tongued kid always plays these tricks!

"Summoning Technique!"

Hanzo's hand slapped the railing of the high tower!

A familiar figure appeared beside Hanzo, ignoring the fearful and angry gazes of the others, looking down at the hundred thousand strong Allied Ninja Forces below, like an innocent child, sincerely spoke the first words upon appearing.

"So many people…"

~~~

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— Ending + Extra Chapters (Completed)

Read upto Chapter 348: End! + Extra Chapters of Sasuke's Rebirth where the world Akihara Kagura is not around. Thank you!