"Sage Mode?" Hanzo naturally knew of Seiki's signature technique, but he didn't take it seriously. "Hmph, what an arrogant brat!"
On the other side, Chiyo took out the scroll sealing the Chikamatsu Collection. "You dare look down on this old lady? That's some nerve you've got!"
Hanzo was momentarily at a loss for words, replying gruffly. "What are you doing coming here instead of waiting for death peacefully in Sunagakure, old hag?"
Chiyo lowered her eyelids. "Somebody's gotta stay active in their golden years. Well then, let's stop this small talk. Keep this up and someone'll start spreading rumors about this old hag again."
With that, Chiyo manipulated the Chikamatsu Collection to surround and attack Hanzo.
Hanzo tore off his mask. [Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!]
He didn't wear the mask out of fear of being poisoned, but because he worried the toxic fumes released from the implanted venom sac within him might harm those nearby. Although Hanzo himself would also be affected if the venom sac ruptured, practically no one knew about its existence in the first place.
Seeing the surging waterfall rushing toward her, Chiyo remained calm. "Annoying as ever, fond of targeting puppet masters' original bodies."
As she spoke, she controlled the three puppets — Buddha (Buddha), Dharma (Dharma), and Seng (Monk) — to activate [Three Treasures Suction Collapse].
A powerful suction force generated from the center of the three puppets pulled and redirected the torrent heading toward Chiyo.
Breaking free from the suction, Hanzo charged at Chiyo. "Don't play games with me! You're not weak in taijutsu, old hag!"
Precisely because he knew Chiyo wasn't fragile like other puppet masters' original bodies, he removed the mask, planning to defeat her with poison gas in one strike.
But before he could get close, he was knocked flying by Seiki's Giant Rock Punch.
Like a stone skipping across water, bouncing up and down several times on the river surface, Hanzo finally stopped rolling and stood back up, looking at Seiki in surprise. "Daring to fight me hand-to-hand! Is it because you don't fear death or do you have some hidden trick?"
"You guess." Seiki followed closely like a shadow, crossing both hands like a hammer striking downward.
"What a wicked-natured brat!" Hanzo quickly dodged.
The "hammer" whistled past his ear, slamming down with a deafening crash; the ground beneath his feet shook violently.
Glancing sideways at the collapsed terrain nearby made his temple throb even more. "No doubt about it now—a wicked and violent little brat!"
"But still, you underestimated this old man too much!"
Facing Seiki who was right in front of him, Hanzo formed a single-handed seal, using Water Prison Technique with his left hand to trap Seiki while yanking the chained sickle with his right, slashing toward Seiki.
"You two, at least pay some attention to this poor old lady of yours. Fighting so intensely makes me almost unable to keep up."
Despite saying this, Chiyo's puppets weren't slow at all. Controlled by her, they intercepted the sickle blade rapidly.
However, Hanzo hadn't ignored her presence either.
He retracted the direction of the sickle, making it pass exactly where Ibuse Poisoning was located. Although the giant sanshouo was somewhat clumsy, it could still block the puppets briefly under these circumstances.
Just as the Chikamatsu Collection hesitated for a moment, they couldn't keep up with the scythe anymore. They could only watch helplessly as it sliced through the air, shattered the water prison, and cut Seiki's body clean in half.
Chiyo shrieked in mock horror, "Oh my! What a gruesome death! He's been split in two!"
"Hmph, now you understand the fate of opposing me—" Hanzo began before suddenly freezing mid-sentence. "Wait... Split in two?"
Hanzo hurriedly turned his head, only to see a fist rocketing straight toward him before it smashed heavily into his face.
In the next instant, Hanzo flew backward like a cannonball and slammed hard into the ground, burying himself deep.
Seeing this, the Amegakure ninjas on the battlefield were completely stunned. "No way! That was Hanzo!"
The Sunagakure ninja who had dealt with Ame before secretly clicked their tongues in shock. "Even the legendary semi-god of the shinobi world got knocked flying? Seiki is truly overpowered!"
On Konoha's side, the ninjas' eyes sparkled in excitement. "So amazing! No wonder he's our village's hero!"
But soon enough, Hanzo leaped out from the massive crater formed by his impact, spitting out a mouthful of blood. With calm eyes, he fixed his gaze on his opponent.
"A jutsu similar to Mist's Hydrification Technique? That wasn't exactly a smart move. My scythe is laced with powerful poison—using a water-based technique like that will just spread the toxin through your entire body!"
Seiki raised one eyebrow. "My entire body filled with poison? Sounds like I should make the most of this 'poisonous man' advantage before dying."
With those words, Seiki charged straight at Hanzo with a suicidal, self-destructive attitude.
There was no way Hanzo would let him get close. While summoning Ibuse Poisoning to block Seiki's advance, he formed hand seals and conjured a huge hemispherical water prison.
[Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!]
As they saw a small lake abruptly appear at the center of the battlefield, allied ninjas stood there with wide eyes.
"Are you kidding? He actually created a lake right here on flat ground!"
"Is he even human anymore?"
"No wonder he's the semi-god of the shinobi world!"
The water prison was incredibly vast; almost instantly upon its creation, the four puppets became trapped within its watery grip.
While restricted underwater significantly slowed the puppets' movements, within the liquid element, Hanzo moved freely like a fish. In the blink of an eye, one puppet was nearly destroyed.
Furthermore, the lake kept moving gradually toward Chiyo's position.
"What a nuisance!" Chiyo hadn't even the time to mourn her lost puppet when she started trying to figure out how to respond. Then she noticed purple rain violently pouring from behind the water prison.
"Unbelievable! One creates a lake out of nowhere, the other easily calls forth heavy rainfall. You old ladies are making this granny feel ashamed!"
[Poisonous Liquid: Torrential Rainfall!]
As Hanzo focused on destroying the second puppet, he suddenly felt something off. Why was the water prison turning a different shade?
When he looked back, Hanzo's entire expression dropped.
Raindrops infused with Sanshouo's poison fell into the water prison, swiftly tingeing the entire water prison a deep purplish red.
Well then, calling it a water prison really wasn't wrong after all—but not as a trap for the enemy, rather, it ended up sealing himself inside.
Before Hanzo could even process what was happening, his limbs suddenly went numb. He instantly triggered an explosive tag, letting the shockwave propel him free from the Water Prison. Then he quickly crushed an antidote capsule hidden in his mouth between his teeth.
Letting out a subtle inward sigh of relief, Hanzo couldn't help but curl his lips into something resembling a bitter smile.
Since when did poisoning that little brat become such a bad idea?
Still, as a legend who'd long been hailed as a demigod in the shinobi world, his will remained unshakable. Every setback so far barely even dented his calm composure.
Once clear of the poison's reach, Hanzo flashed through a series of hand seals with blinding speed before slamming his palms onto the ground.
[Water Release: Hundred Dragon Blast Jutsu!]
The Water Prison, now a toxic pool, served its purpose well—over a hundred violet-red poison dragons surged from the contaminated waters, roaring ferociously at Chiyo.
"Do you really find it entertaining to throw around all this poison?" Chiyo scowled in disgust but swiftly called back her Chikamatsu Collection, arranging them defensively in front of her.
[Puppet Technique: Ten-Fold Wheel Rotation!]
A violent surge of compressed wind blasted outward, smashing headfirst into the poison dragons.
With a deafening roar, devastating shockwaves rippled outward as each poison dragon erupted into fragments, unleashing a torrent of toxic rain that engulfed the entire battlefield.
For a moment, the battlefield echoed with cries of agony.
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