Watching Hanzo slice through the Wind Release with a single strike, the three felt a deep sense of helplessness. Their coordinated attacks, no matter how precise, were useless against him.
"Are you going to give up?" Hanzo narrowed his eyes, studying the three shinobi before him.
For now, Hanzo didn't attack. If it had been before, he would have rushed to finish them and then turned to the battlefield.
But that Lightning Release from earlier had made him reconsider.
Anyone capable of wielding that jutsu, no matter their village, could decisively impact the battlefield. At this point, there was no need for him to enter the fray.
Hanzo thought it best to remain on the sidelines. There weren't many Rain Village ninja here; the main forces were Sand and Stone. Let them clash and exhaust themselves.
Unbeknownst to him, the Sand Village had the same idea. The only honest participants in this three-way alliance were the Stone ninja.
Historians debated why this happened. The Third Tsuchikage was famously scheming and rarely outmaneuvered. Only recently had archaeologists uncovered a diary, revealing that he had been beaten as a child in Konoha. From that moment, he swore vengeance, explaining his lifelong schemes. Why he had set up so many tombs remained a mystery, though speculation tied it to Konoha.
....
Orochimaru and Jiraiya were both still young, in their twenties, when they heard Hanzo's mocking words. Their hot-blooded instinct ignited. They formed hand seals in perfect synchronicity, afterimages of their hands flickering as they unleashed their combined power.
[Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!] [Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!]
Two fiery dragons intertwined, streaking toward Hanzo with tremendous force.
Hanzo's eyes narrowed as he began forming seals. [Water Release: Water Severing Wave!]
The fire dragons collided with the water jutsu, enveloping the battlefield in thick fog. Within the mist, Orochimaru and his allies formed a defensive triangular formation.
Suddenly, the sound of flying projectiles pierced the fog. Hundreds of kunai rained down, surrounding them with no space to maneuver.
Orochimaru and Jiraiya drew their own kunai to shield Tsunade. Metal clashed against metal as Hanzo's chained sickle appeared through the fog, heading straight for Jiraiya's abdomen.
[Flash.] Wind-charged chakra enhanced the sickle's speed, slicing through the air like lightning.
Orochimaru kicked Jiraiya violently to the side. Even so, Jiraiya barely avoided a direct strike, his ninja clothing cut and his kunai bisected with smooth precision.
"Chain Sickle Second Stage Slash!" Hanzo's chain whipped in an arc, striking again toward Jiraiya's neck.
[Hidden Shadow Many Snake Hands!] Orochimaru's precise jutsu entwined Hanzo, saving Jiraiya from a fatal blow.
Still, the blackened blood from Jiraiya's wound revealed Hanzo's poisoned weapon. Satisfied, Hanzo prepared to leave him behind.
"Orochimaru, hold him! I'll check Jiraiya's wound," Tsunade said, rushing to stabilize him with medical chakra, drawing out the venom.
Orochimaru frantically entangled Hanzo with poisonous snakes. Hanzo struggled but was temporarily restrained.
[Hidden Shadow Many Snake Hands!]
[Flash!] Hanzo's sickle cut through the snakes, yet Orochimaru exploited the opening to strike at Hanzo's face with the same jutsu. Hanzo dodged, leaning aside just in time.
Orochimaru smirked, [Serpent Swarm Explosion!] sending purplish-black poisonous blood spraying onto Hanzo. Hanzo countered, spinning his chain like a windmill, but Orochimaru used an [Earth Style Substitute] to evade.
Hanzo's eyes flickered with amusement. "The Salamander's poison sac makes me immune to all toxins. Your venom is useless."
"Damn it!" Orochimaru cursed, still pressing forward with agility and strategy.
Hanzo wasn't delaying any longer. Forming hand seals, the Salamander emerged from underground, coordinating with him to strike Orochimaru. Its massive yet flexible tail made it difficult for Orochimaru to maneuver. Hanzo vanished instantly, using the Salamander to entangle Orochimaru while advancing toward Jiraiya and Tsunade.
Hanzo launched kunai while forming hand seals.
[Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!]
The Rain Village's constant precipitation amplified the Water Dragon, but Hanzo wasn't finished. He flicked his hand, sending explosive tags trailing after it.
Jiraiya, now stable thanks to Tsunade's medical chakra, formed seals. His long white hair stiffened, standing like iron needles.
[Ninja Art: Needle Hell!]
The hair shot outward, colliding with flying kunai, neutralizing the immediate threat. Then Jiraiya exhaled, [Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique!] A massive fire dragon erupted from his mouth, terrifying but weakened by the climate.
Tsunade stepped in, condensing chakra around her fists. She hammered the earth, raising massive stones to shield them, forming an impenetrable barrier.
The fire dragon collided with the water dragon, forming dense fog. The water dragon pressed on, but its strength was greatly diminished. The explosive tags only caused vibrations against the rocks, leaving them intact.
Hanzo had anticipated this. He formed complex seals. Tsunade and Jiraiya's feet sank as the ground erupted into explosive tags, densely packed, hiding the count from view.
[Fire Release: Explosive Tag!]
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The earth glowed a sickly orange beneath their feet—an ocean of hidden tags woven together like a deadly tapestry. For a heartbeat, the battlefield held its breath. Then the first tag detonated.
Tsunade reacted instantly. Chakra surged from her palms into the ground, cracking it open as she hurled both herself and Jiraiya upward. The explosion followed like a chain reaction, roaring beneath them in a rolling wave of fire and earth.
Orochimaru burst from the dust, snakes coiling around his legs as he used them to propel himself into the air. Even he looked momentarily taken aback by the sheer number of explosive seals.
Hanzo stepped out of the fog of fire as if emerging from a storm—untouched, unshaken.
"This is the difference between us," he said calmly. "Do not blame yourselves. You are simply too young."
The Salamander emerged behind him once more, its massive form outlined by the firelight, hissing as purple smoke seeped from its maw. The poisonous fog mixed with the smoke of explosions, spreading rapidly.
Jiraiya gritted his teeth. "If this keeps up, we won't even get close."
Tsunade clenched her fists, medical chakra still flowing. "He's pushing us into a corner."
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, a sharp glint flashing in the serpent-like pupils.
"Corner or not… there is always a path forward. Even if we must carve it through a demigod."
The three landed together, battered but unbroken, facing Hanzo as the flames died down around him.
The demigod of the Rain raised his sickle again.
"I will test your resolve… one final time."
_______
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