__________ POV Narration __________
As soon as Ken left the compound, the founding members of the Three Corners Alliance all received the Blind Monster's message.
And in an instant, the world learned what truly went down a few months back at the Dark Brotherhood Compound.
The foundation of the Three Corners Alliance came as a shock to many, but surprisingly, some people were expecting something like this to happen...
For example, the Mizukage seemed to have anticipated more occurring during the war on the Dark Brotherhood.
He already knew that Ken was not one to go down easily, and he somewhat expected him to defy all expectations.
So the foundation of the Three Corners Alliance was something that he had subconsciously prepared himself for already.
What truly no one was prepared for was the demands that the Alliance made.
They were quite 'simple', and could be spelled out in very few words in fact.
'End the Third Shinobi War, or we will end it for you.'
It was quite literally a declaration of war against the entire world. Requesting the Nobles to take action and stop the war at the threat of facing the full strength of the Alliance.
The most shocking part of the alliance, however, was not the Shinobi Villages that hated each other coming together, but the Land of Iron deciding to give up on its Neutrality and join in.
The Samurai were a significant force that could cause waves throughout the Elemental Nations.
The world at large figured that the Land of Iron saw the Shinobi World's conflicts as beneath them, and didn't get involved for the most part except for a few skirmishes.
But now the tides were shifting, enemies were becoming friends and the once neutral powers of the world were being forced to take a stance.
The Daymio of the land of iron also acted on his promise, sending several delegations to the Nobility within the Elemental Nations.
All of the Nobles and leading figures of the world were now forced into a 'Bend or Break' situation, and the Three Corners Alliance was not at all willing to compromise.
They had little to no leverage, as it wasn't just one Hidden Village rebelling. They couldn't deprive all of the members of the alliance of their livelihoods.
In essence, things were much worse for the Land of Fire, Lightning, and Whirlpools, as they had essentially lost all control/leverage over their respective hidden villages.
The moment depriving the Hidden Villages of financial support could no longer be used as a weapon, the Nobles of each respective land became more alert.
And in just the span of a few days, the Nobles all came to a unanimous decision...
Which was to adhere to the Alliance's demands, but also make an official request/demand which they expected to be respected in exchange for their cooperation.
It was very much expected of them to try and at least retain as much of their power as possible, so it was not surprising when they requested the Alliance to not be allowed to gain any new members or ally itself with any other Hidden Villages.
It was essentially the other lands scampering to not fall into the same trap as the Lands of Fire, Lightning, and Whirlpool.
In the few days that Ken used to travel towards the Land of Rain, the situation had already mostly concluded.
The Three Corners Alliance didn't need any other members anyway. They were set to be the strongest organization/alliance in recent history and for the foreseeable future. This was true both in actual strength and in political power.
Now, when it came to political power, the nobles could maybe find some ways to pressure the alliance in the future.
But when it came to actual potential battle power? It didn't matter how much time the world had to catch up, there was no way for them to do so within the lifespan of the Alliance's founders.
One could easily imagine that every nation within the continent was affected by this, and the Third Shinobi War immediately ground to a halt.
Troops were called back, truces were signed and battlefields were left barren and abandoned.
Even so, the damage that had been done would be felt for many generations to come, and it was only a matter of time before war broke out again.
Even now, with their newly attained peace, the members of the Three Corners Alliance knew better than to consider all of thier issues gone.
They still had a lot to deal with, even more so than before as they now had to wrangle new political enemies. But at least their people could rest easy.
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But another effect of the war ending was that people could now focus more on internal matters fully... So Hanzo's full attention was now on the Akatsuki.
The Salamander was not exactly well-known for his patience. But he was not stupid. He knew better than to cross the Red Dot and the Dark Brotherhood.
He understood that Ken's intentions were not to fund an insurgency within his nation. But the truth of the matter was that the Akatsuki was a very politically charged group with a strong anti-war ideology.
It went very much against Hanzo's own ideology. Hanzo was an old war dog, it was all he knew.
To him, war, as well as conflict, was something that was both unavoidable and necessary for the world to keep going forward.
He was surprised by the Three Corners Alliance too, but at the same time, he expected the peace they enacted to be temporary.
Nothing more than a large bandaid on the bleeding gash that represented the greed of the world.
So, letting a group like the Akatsuki grow, and allowing their ideology to spread as they helped the civilians around them, was a bad thing in Hanzo's eyes.
At the end of the day, he needed to act before they became a bigger pain in the neck for him.
And if he handled things right, then he could also avoid getting in trouble with the Dark Brotherhood. He had to take care of things discreetly.
'I doubt it'll be too difficult... They are just a bunch of orphans anyway.'
That was the Salamander's train of thought at the time. And so, he gathered a group of his most capable Anbu and sent them after the Akatsuki.
He didn't need to get personally involved with a group of orphans, and the less personal involvement he had in the matter the less could be linked to him.
But what he didn't expect, was to see the heads of his men laid out on a table in front of him.
All of them lined up, their faces expressionless. It felt unnerving, almost as if they had yet to even realize that they had died, yet their remains were already cold.
But Hanzo was not exactly perturbed by their heads being on their table as much as he was about the man who delivered them.
The intimidating masked man sat with an authoritative and imposing presence, his frame cloaked in an air of calculated menace.
He sat down backwards on a chair, his arms resting on the back of the chair, his nails tapping on the wood rhythmically, sharply.
It was hard to tell much from his features, but seeing his mask was all that Hanzo needed. And he already knew that he had messed up.
"The Red Dot... To what do we owe the pleasure..."
He crossed his arms and greeted his visitor with a neutral tone, ignoring the heads of his subordinates with practised ease.
He was currently in his typical attire consisting of a loose wetsuit-like outfit typical of his village, accented by bandages wrapped around his wrists and lower legs, with a sleeveless jacket and standard shinobi sandals.
On his head, he donned a dark hat that also displayed his village's mark, and his lower face was mostly obscured by a helmet-like respirator, which he used to keep his own poison suppressed, as his very breath was poisonous to others.
Despite the situation he found himself in, he was not quite as worried as one would expect.
In the first place, the people he had sent were Anbu, they were told to dress as civilians, so they were quite literally impossible to identify.
"Hanzo the Salamander... It's an honour to finally get to meet you in person. I was on an assignment and figured I'd drop by..." Ken's voice was equal parts neutral and cold.
His presence was, however, still very much accentuated. The rhythmic tapping added a sense of urgency and panic into the room, to the point where even the likes of Hanzo was slightly affected, though not visibly.
"Well, it's nice to finally make your acquaintance in person... But I do feel the need to ask... What exactly is this gift that you've brought me?" Hanzo nodded towards Ken, his voice remaining the same as one of his hands gestured towards the heads resting on his desk.
"Oh! I figured I'd do you a favour and get rid of some spies. I was visiting the Akatsuki, and these people were suspiciously strong whilst in civilian disguises.
They seemed to be aiming for the Akatsuki for some reason, I know they aren't your men since you 'wouldn't' want to harm the Akatsuki...
So I got rid of them discreetly, and came to inform you of the situation."
Ken shrugged a bit as he spoke, recounting the events that had transpired in little detail. There was no need for him to go into detail anyway, what happened was clear enough.
Hanzo could feel a vein on his forehead bulge as he realized exactly what Ken was doing.
'He's 'doing me a favour', huh?...'
The Salamander had essentially left himself open. Ken being with the Akatsuki was something he had clearly not accounted for.
He figured the Red Dot was a busy individual, especially with the announcement of the Three Corners Alliance.
But it seemed that Ken defied all of his expectations.
Because of how the Blind Monster had discovered and presented the situation, Hanzo was essentially left with only two options.
One of them was to come clean and incur the wrath of the Red Dot because of his intentions with the Akatsuki.
He had chances of surviving Ken's wrath, but he would most definitely end up in bad relations with the entirety of the Three Corners Alliance, which didn't bode well at all for him.
And the other option was...
"Thank you very much for bringing this to my attention. I will make sure to personally look into this matter. As the leader of this village, I must apologise to you."
Was to take the hit straight on the chin. Accept 'Ken's assistance' in the matter and essentially owe him a favour.
"No, all is well... I just hope such a thing won't happen again. I trust you to look after the Akatsuki, they are merely a group of youngsters after all..."
Ken smiled underneath his mask as he spoke, his tone took a light note as he slowly stood up and stretched his back.
"Of course, the Amegakure does owe you quite a bit for your assistance in this matter... I will make sure that no such thing will ever happen again..."
Hanzo continued to keep himself composed as the Red Dot continued to stretch for a few seconds before turning around and walking towards a window.
"Good. I appreciate your cooperation Hanzo. Unfortunately, I must go, as I was merely passing by anyway.
I will check in from time to time, I will bring more tasteful gifts next time, I promise, hoho~" Ken gave a hollow laugh as he bid his farewell, he tilted his head towards Hanzo one last time before turning into a blur and vanishing from sight.
The moment Hanzo felt his presence fade his face contorted into anger and frustration.
'... That couldn't have gone worse... No, I can't afford to think like that.'
Hanzo shook his head in the end.
Ken was not the type of entity that he could afford to offend. He was not stupid enough to attempt to end what a coalition of hidden villages couldn't have.
Hell, he was lucky enough when he decided not to respond to any of the messages relating to the war room.
The very least he could do was to try to make the most of the situation.
'If I can't get rid of the Akatsuki I can at least try to hinder them discreetly in some way, maybe try to drive them away from my territory... But for now, I have to lay low...'
In the end, Hanzo decided that the best course of action was to wait.
And while he was coming to terms with the new situation he found himself in, Ken was headed elsewhere.
His direction was for the Leaf Village, he was aiming to meet with a very important figure residing there... One that was, in his lack of eyes, even more important than the Hokage.