Kazekage Ninja: The Rise of the Hidden Sand

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Resets Weekly! [Monday]

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In a desolate alley in the Land of Rain, rain continued to drizzle relentlessly from the sky. Outside the alley, several corpses lay scattered haphazardly. The entire alley looked as if it had been bombed—both sides of the cement walls had mostly collapsed, the ground was riddled with craters about a meter in diameter, and the scene bore clear evidence of a fierce battle. If an experienced ninja were present, they would be astonished at the intensity and destructive power of the fight. This level of devastation could only be caused by a clash between two Kage-level combatants!

At the deepest part of the alley lay two corpses.

The one further in was clutching a shattered chain scythe. A breathing apparatus dangled from his head, and his Amegakure forehead protector had fallen to the side. His gray-white hair was disheveled, and his ninja armor was severely damaged. His muscular body bore deep, bone-revealing wounds—some from Wind Release, some from Fire Release, and others clearly charred by Lightning Release. His death was gruesome, to say the least. Upon closer inspection, his face was unmistakable—it was none other than the Demigod of the Ninja World, the former Rain Kage, Hanzō of the Salamander!

Not far from Hanzō lay another corpse, albeit a peculiar one. This individual wore a Rōgakure forehead protector, which bore a deep slash mark, signifying that he was a rogue ninja. His face was obscured by a black mask, and his lifeless green eyes had lost their luster. Below the neck, his body resembled a doll maliciously torn apart by a child—his torso and limbs were scattered around, connected only by strange black threads.

After a while, a black dog-like creature slowly approached from the entrance of the alley. Upon closer inspection, it wasn't a dog at all but a black, masked monster crawling on all fours. The creature surveyed its surroundings before heading straight for the fragmented corpse. It clawed open the chest cavity and crawled inside.

Moments later, the torso twitched slightly. The black threads, writhing like snakes, began reconnecting the severed limbs and head. Before long, the body had been reassembled into a "complete person."

"Huff—" The "corpse" let out a long exhale and slowly sat up.

"This time, I've really taken a loss," Kakuzu muttered, examining his shattered mask with a pained expression.

"One… two… three… four. Four masks destroyed! Damn it!" Furious, Kakuzu kicked Hanzō's corpse.

Another eerie phenomenon occurred. Kakuzu's kick landed squarely on Hanzō's waist, seemingly rupturing something inside. With a soft "pop," a purple gas began to seep out from the corpse's wounds, spreading into the air.

"Damn it!" Kakuzu executed several agile backflips, quickly distancing himself.

"That old bastard! He even hid poison sacs in his body!"

Of course, Hanzō's corpse didn't respond. The purple gas continued to spread, and a passing rat was engulfed in it. Within seconds, the rat tilted its head and dropped dead. The poison was evidently extremely potent. Witnessing this, Kakuzu retreated several more steps.

"This place isn't safe. I'd better leave." Without hesitation, Kakuzu leapt away.

As he vaulted over walls and rooftops, Kakuzu couldn't help but berate himself for being so impulsive. Why had he accepted such a mission? Fortunately, he had kept an earth-element Earth Grudge Fear heart as a backup; otherwise, he might not have survived. This mission had cost him four hearts—Wind, Fire, Lightning, and Water. More importantly, he hadn't been able to replenish his supply of hearts. He had intended to take Hanzō's heart as a replacement, but the old man's body was so riddled with poison that it was completely unusable. Now he'd have to find four new hearts, which would take who knows how long.

"Damn it, I need more money!" Kakuzu growled, growing angrier with each passing thought.

"Good move!" Jinghang sidestepped the scythe thrown by Hidan, countering with two kunai. Hidan remained calm, flicking the steel cable attached to his scythe to create a "wave" that deflected the kunai. Without pausing, Hidan yanked the scythe back and used its embedded blade as a pivot, launching a flying kick at Jinghang.

Jinghang nodded inwardly, impressed by Hidan's skill. "This kid's taijutsu is quite advanced," he thought. At the last moment, just before Hidan's kick could land on his chest, Jinghang abruptly changed tactics. Twisting his body like a spinning top, he executed a flawless 180-degree aerial cartwheel, switching positions with Hidan mid-air.

When the two finally came to a halt, Jinghang was already holding a kunai to the back of Hidan's head.

"Not bad! Not bad at all. Where did you learn that move? Very creative!" Jinghang praised Hidan's technique.

At the same time, Hidan had reversed his grip on a short spear, its tip pressing against Jinghang's abdomen.

"From Master Dai. He said to always keep a card up your sleeve, just in case, and seize opportunities to counterattack."

"Good, good. In terms of taijutsu alone, you've already reached the level of a chūnin."

"Thank you for the compliment, Master!" Hidan retracted his spear and began reeling in his scythe.

"Poof!" With a puff of white smoke, Jinghang vanished—it was a shadow clone.

"Wow! Big Brother Hidan, you're amazing! You even defeated Dad!" From a distance, Jinghang appeared, holding Sasori in his arms. The little boy was thrilled, waving his tiny hands in excitement.

Hidan smiled as he took Sasori from Jinghang. "Not at all. Compared to Master, I'm still far behind."

"You've done well. Your scythe technique is based on the two-stage chain scythe strikes of Hanzō of the Salamander, the Demigod of the Ninja World. It emphasizes wide, sweeping arcs and tricky angles. You've already captured its essence. By the way, how's your transformation jutsu coming along?"

"Uh…" Hidan scratched his head sheepishly. Apart from taijutsu, he was weak in most other areas.

"Transformation jutsu? I can do it! I can do it!" Sasori wriggled out of Hidan's arms, proudly forming hand seals. With a "poof," an identical clone appeared beside him.

Jinghang was slightly surprised. As expected of Sunagakure's genius ninja. He patted Sasori's head approvingly before turning back to Hidan.

"As a ninja, you need a variety of attack methods. Pure taijutsu specialists do exist, but when facing opponents of equal skill, having limited options can put you at a disadvantage. Let's do this—I'll teach you Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu directly."

"Yes, Master!"

"I want to learn too! I want to learn too!" Sasori chimed in excitedly.

"No problem. Listen up—this technique was developed by the Second Hokage, Tobirama. It's a B-rank jutsu that creates physical clones using chakra. The hand seals are simple, but the key is maintaining balanced chakra distribution. Watch closely…"

"Kazekage-sama! Urgent report from Amegakure!" Pakura interrupted, holding a document.

"It seems we'll have to learn on the go." Jinghang sighed after reading the report.

"Fortunately, the winter break is coming up, so it won't interfere with your studies. Pakura, assign Hidan a temporary bodyguard role and have him accompany us to the Land of Rain. We'll train on the road. Go pack your things," Jinghang instructed Hidan.

"The Land of Rain? What happened?" Hidan asked, puzzled.

"Your idol, Hanzō of the Salamander, has been assassinated. We're going to pay our respects. Oh, Pakura, notify Elder Chiyo to settle the accounts."

"Huh?!" Hidan was utterly baffled. "Since when did I have an idol?"

"What about me? What about me? I still want to learn Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

"You…" Jinghang crouched down and pinched Sasori's cheek.

"You can learn puppetry from your grandmother first. I'll teach you shadow clones when I get back!"