On a branch above where Jito told him to wait, Zero could be seen sitting there, leisurely leaning back upon the tree.
'It's been about an hour now and Jito isn't back yet. That look on his face when he was here...the words he said about betraying the village...that wasn't a joke. Hm. It's safe to assume he betrayed the village. Wouldn't be surprised if he was the one to tip off Konoha on my location, hoping that they would kill me.'
Zero jumped off the tree and started slowly walking towards a certain direction. The direction of probably the most important person to Ame at this moment.
'Since that's the case, I will act accordingly.'
Although his balance was a little off because he was missing an arm, Zero quickly got used to the sensation as he remembered the training he went through with his father, Takemura.
'You must be able to fight no matter what state you're in, child. If you're missing all your limbs, use your teeth. No matter how you get it done...make sure you complete the mission at all costs.'
Hearing the words of Takemura repeating themselves in his mind once again, Zero clicked his teeth together and muttered, "Yeah, yeah...whatever old man."
Zero traveled throughout the region, sneaking and fighting his way around any opposition.
The country that Amegakure was in was extremely poor. Many times Zero would come across refugees that were severely injured or sometimes those who were mourning dead family members in the roads.
Sometimes there would be shinobi disguised as civilians waiting in ambush for enemies for other nations.
Sometimes there were shinobi just killing everything in their way, not caring if the object of their lust for murder was a man, woman or child.
There were no signs of any other cities, towns or even settlements.
Just blood, rain and death.
'How tragic. So many lives lost over a war that didn't concern them in the first place.'
Zero continued his journey and in no time, came across an interesting scene as he got closer to the border of the Land Of Fire.
In a clearing filled with dead Konoha Shinobi, a man could be seen standing atop a giant Salamander with his kusarigama at his side.
'Hanzo. He looks identical to the pictures I've seen in Ame. But...'
Standing in front of Hanzo were three Konoha shinobi, all of them in rough condition after what seemed like a long, strenuous battle with the former.
'Who are they? They seem...powerful.'
Seeing Zero approaching calmly by himself, everyone immediately turned their attention to him, wary of the newcomer.
"Hm? That armor...you're one of my shinobi. Stay right there, I'll handle you when I'm done with these three."
Hanzo immediately issued Zero instructions the moment he laid eyes on him. Even if he was trying to deceive Hanzo, if he ignored his orders, he would just execute Zero on the spot.
Of course, Zero calmly stopped and continued looking at the scene curiously, wondering what would happen.
Turning his attention back to the three shinobi in front of him, Hanzo continued, "Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru. For surviving my jutsu, you all will henceforth be known as Konoha's Legendary Sannin. This is the reward that I have bestowed upon you. Now, you may leave with your lives."
Standing atop his powerful summon, Hanzo looked down upon them imposingly as they the three Konoha shinobi escaped as fast as they could in their injured states.
"Come forward, young shinobi. Hm. You're injured..."
Zero calmly walked up to the Salamander and looked at Hanzo, sizing him up as the older shinobi jumped down from his summon.
Pushing Zero's cloak aside, Hanzo looked down upon the place his arm used to be and squinted his eyes.
"Your wound seems clean...almost too clean. How did you lose it?"
Lowering his head to show his 'fealty', Zero replied,"In a battle against Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake. He proved a worthy opponent."
Hanzo raised an eyebrow as he heard this. Outwardly, that was his only reaction. But inwardly...
'What?! A child this age could stand against Sakumo? If I train him right, he could be a force to be reckoned with. It's a shame that he lost his arm. Wait, that mark on his forehead...he's the one Jito spoke about.'
Nodding his head in approval, Hanzo removed his hand from Zero's cloak.
"What is your name, young shinobi? Where is your platoon captain?"
Zero looked Hanzo in the eye as he responded, "I am Zero. A genin. The rest of my platoon is dead. Only myself and Captain Jito are alive. Unfortunately, we got split up a while ago after an enemy ambush. So, with nowhere else to go, I came to find you around the border where you said you would be."
Hanzo nodded as he heard this. This kind of information sounded about right for the fate of his shinobi. Amegakure was just a victim in this war between the great nations.
Even though they had their own shinobi, they couldn't keep up with the military power of the great nations, whether that be in quality or quantity of shinobi.
"Young Zero. Can you fight? No...you should be able to fight with your alleged level of skill. What I should be asking is...can you win? Or will your missing arm hold you back that much?"
Zero chuckled.
"I can win. I will win."
Hearing this, Hanzo immediately drew an extra helmet-like respirator identical to his own from his pouch and hooked it onto Zero's head, making sure it was latched on properly as he tapped it a few times.
"That's what I like to hear, young shinobi. Let's show these great nations what Ame is capable of!"
WHOOSH!
Hanzo jumped up on his Salamander and folded his arms, glancing back at Zero as he said, "Come on up! Ibuse will be glad to have you."
Zero jumped on the Salamander and they immediately started moving through the forest in search of enemy shinobi.
Unbeknownst to the Great nations though, this duo would be the cause of a disaster upon their troops.