The violent power of Lightning Release chakra erupted without reservation at this moment, forming a radiant sphere several meters in diameter that nearly enveloped the entire Stone Giant.
This blazing sphere resembled a miniature sun, its rays spreading outward and covering part of the battlefield.
"What is that light...?"
At a location nearly a kilometer away—the Sand Ninja unit's gathering point. The Land of Rain constantly experienced rainfall, which usually impaired visibility. However, the technique emitted by Sakumo was so intense that even from here, they could see it clearly.
"It seems the battle has reached its climax," Chiyo said with a faint smile, staring at the intense light.
She then glanced behind her and ordered, "Pass down the command—prepare for combat!"
"Hai," one of the Suna ninja behind her softly responded before swiftly relaying her orders to the hundreds of ninja gathered there.
"Lightning Release Technique? Sakumo Hatake?"
On the current battlefield between Konoha and Iwa forces, apart from Sakumo Hatake of Konoha, no one else possessed such mastery of Lightning Release Techniques...
...
Back on the battlefield, when the radiance of the Lightning Release chakra gradually faded, the confrontation between these two commanding officers captured the attention of many nearby ninja who were close enough to witness the fight firsthand.
Although dividing one's focus during battle was a grave mistake, everyone wanted to know—who had won?
When the light completely faded, the once-a-few-meters-tall Stone Giant lay utterly destroyed. The surrounding area within ten or so meters had been completely reduced to dust.
The battlefield was flattened. On the wide, open ground stood only a Chakra Tanto, embedded in the earth, its blade still crackling faintly with residual arcs of lightning.
*Whoosh!*
Sakumo appeared beside the blade, pulling it from the ground.
A few meters away, another figure stood, slightly disheveled but still upright.
Tsuchigawa's face now bore nothing but pure terror.
If he hadn't sensed something wrong at the last second, hastily evacuated from within the Stone Giant's body, and quickly erected a few defensive barriers—
Right now, he would have already been turned into ash.
"What else do you have left?" Sakumo's lips curled slightly, dried blood at the corner of his mouth. His eyes burned with killing intent.
Both the earlier surprise attack by the Iwa Ninja and Tsuchigawa's indifference toward his subordinates had long since filled Sakumo with extreme hatred.
Capturing him would deal a heavy blow to the morale of the Iwa forces.
Meanwhile, the insect-controller from the Nagare Clan was completely suppressed by Kai Uchiha. As a Bug Style user, his strength relied entirely on his summoned insects. Yet under the Uchiha's Sharingan, no matter how tiny the object—as long as it possessed chakra—it couldn't hide.
To put it simply, Konoha had now seized full control of the battlefield.
*Whoosh!*
Sakumo dashed forward, Tanto in hand, charging toward Tsuchigawa. Once again, the battle ignited.
Zing!
The blade came down. Left with no choice, the cornered Tsuchigawa could only block Sakumo's chakra tanto with his arm.
His arm instantly turned to stone in that moment. Yet against Sakumo's sharp blade, even rock became as fragile as paper scraps.
"Boom!"
One of Tsuchigawa's arms shattered immediately under Sakumo's [Sword Strike], and lightning surged across his chest, leaving it charred and blackened.
"Ahhh!" "Ahhh!"
Just as the outcome between the two was decided, several ninja at the battlefield's edge—Konoha, Iwa, and Rain ninja alike—screamed suddenly before collapsing lifelessly, foaming at the mouth.
Their faces turned ashen-purple in an instant.
Then, abruptly, more than ten additional ninja collapsed, drawing all attention across the entire battlefield.
The continuous screams caught Minato's attention. He had just noticed something himself when his sensor perception extended outward, causing his expression to change dramatically.
"Everyone, hold your breath quickly and evacuate this area..." Minato shouted urgently. "There's a deadly toxin in the air!"
Minato looked toward where Jiraiya and the others were fighting Hanzo. In the darkness, hundreds of meters away, a massive black figure stood towering over everything.
Hanzo's summoned beast—Sanshouo!
Its poison had even managed to travel through the air for hundreds of meters, reaching the main battlefield.
This was terrifying!
Upon hearing this, the Rain ninja fled first, because they understood better than anyone how horrifying Sanshouo Hanzo's toxins could be.
Within the Land of Rain, there had once been an armed faction attempting to overthrow Amegakure's rule. Then Hanzo himself appeared to crush the rebellion. Hundreds died from poisoning—hardly a chance to resist.
That was just how terrifying Hanzo really was. No matter how powerful any ninja might be, none could completely resist Sanshouo's poison.
Unless someone could fight without breathing.
Afterward, both Konoha and Iwa ninja fled for their lives from the former battlefield.
Both sides were forced to call off the fight. And hundreds of meters away, beneath the massive Sanshouo, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya were nearly drained of all strength.
"Hehe, did I go a bit too far?"
Hanzo atop Sanshouo saw the ninja fleeing the main battlefield and softly chuckled. Then, his summon opened its giant mouth wide, slightly reducing the toxic mist lingering in the air.
Because from the current situation, he no longer needed to release poison continuously.
Among those three, Jiraiya's entire body bore multiple wounds, blood oozing from them.
"Jiraiya..."
Beside him, Tsunade's delicate eyebrows knitted together. Earlier, she had fallen into one of Hanzo's traps—the Fire Release: Exploding Flame Formation. If Jiraiya hadn't detected it in time, that explosion would have already killed her.
"Do you want to kill Tsunade, the only one in our squad who can counter your poison gas?" Jiraiya said with great effort as he stared at Hanzo.
"Kid, you seem slow-witted, but you're quite sharp during battle," Hanzo didn't deny it, smiling faintly.
"Hehe, naturally! Me, the great Jiraiya—" Before Jiraiya could finish speaking, his body had already begun to weaken.
He had completely taken the brunt of that explosion to protect Tsunade. Even though he used Ninjutsu, he couldn't fully avoid injury. His blood had come directly into contact with the toxic air, and the pills he'd previously taken were no longer enough to resist this level of toxicity.
"Now, your squad has been broken apart. What will you do?" Hanzo said loftily, eyes filled with indifference.
"We should retreat first—the guy's too strong..." Even Orochimaru, proud as he was, couldn't help but admit defeat; even if they three worked together, they still weren't a match for Hanzo.
"Tsunade, give me that medicine you mentioned," Jiraiya said then, looking at Tsunade as his strength faded away. He was barely standing upright, his body swaying dangerously.
"But..." Tsunade hesitated momentarily, pupils slightly shrinking.
Even someone as indifferent as Orochimaru shouted angrily for the first time: "You idiot! Are you out of your mind?"
"Hehe, my companions, disciples, comrades-in-arms—they're all fighting hard behind us on the battlefield. If I fled now, how could I ever look the Third in the eye again?" Jiraiya smiled, glancing at Tsunade beside him.
Hearing this, Tsunade seemed surprised but admitted she hadn't wanted to run either.
Dan was also out there on the battlefield...
Then she pulled a pill from under her clothes. In front of Jiraiya and Orochimaru's watchful gaze, she swallowed one first.
Afterward, she handed another pill to Jiraiya, who gulped it down without hesitation.
His previously fatigued appearance rapidly recovered at this moment.
"I didn't think you'd pull off something this impressive in a moment like this," Tsunade glanced sideways at Jiraiya, chuckling softly.
"Hehe, interesting. You two sure have some grit," Hanzo still smiled, yet his eyes turned toward Orochimaru among the three.
Locking eyes with Hanzo, Orochimaru spoke coolly, "Life is short. When someone dies, they lose everything... To be honest, I've never cared much for betting my life on a fight."
"But..." Then he looked at both Jiraiya and Tsunade beside him.
"Not until one of you is dead will I walk away!"
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