Ryo's terrifying sword‑energy tore through the steel main tower with an intent to annihilate, instantly engulfing the spot where Hanzo of the Salamander had been.
Boom, boom, boom.
The huge explosion was far more horrifying than the battle the three Sannin had with Ibuse earlier. The otherwise solid steel tower body was helpless before the condensed sword‑energy, cut open with a gaping breach whose edges dripped molten metal. Countless twisted scraps of steel, shattered rock, and wood chips were hurled by invisible forces, mixed with cold rainwater, forming a deadly metal storm that rained both inside and outside the tower.
The enormous main tower structure moaned under the strain and shook violently downward. In the core of this storm of destruction a figure flickered like a phantom. Space seemed to ripple, and Hanzo appeared a few metres away from the trajectory of the sword‑energy, standing beside a relatively intact steel column. His shunshin was so fast it surpassed residual afterimages, as if he had crossed space itself.
Cold rainwater spattered on his grey‑green respirator mask and dripped off its edge. The eyes visible beyond the mask were sharp like a hawk's, fixed unblinkingly on the sword‑wielding figure at the terrace entrance. For a moment his eyes betrayed real surprise. What a terrifying slash. The pure physical destructive power had reached an unbelievable level. It was not a common ninjutsu anymore. Its destructive capacity had already entered the realm of S‑rank techniques.
Silence. Then: "Hmph." A low snort full of nasal tone emerged from under the mask, breaking the brief lull after the blast's echo. Hanzo's voice filtered through the respirator's filter, deep and heavy with pressure, like thunder rumbling inside the tower. "The Red‑Haired Devil of Konoha… Kamiyama Ryo…One hundred million ryo bounty on your head…" He swept his gaze over the massive fissure that nearly split the main tower, finally resting on the Kusanagi in Ryo's hand. "A greeting with style."
"Too much talk, Hanzo." Ryo's voice came through the rain. "Today, you either die or you're destroyed."
"Arrogant!" Hanzo's eyes flashed with fierce light. He had dominated the shinobi world for decades, crowned "Demigod". Who had ever declared life or death over him so high‑handedly? A tangible aura of pressure mixed with cold killing intent burst from him like a tsunami, instantly overtaking the sound of wind and rain outside the tower. The temperature in the top floor space plummeted.
"Konoha really sends a monster like you to die," Hanzo said coldly, but he did not attack immediately. His figure flickered like a spectre, repositioning to another piece of twisted metal debris, farther from Ryo's reach. "But since you offered yourself up, you will be buried here in Ame."
Trash talk is just to disturb the opponent's mind. But facing Ryo, whose strength nearly matched his own, Hanzo's alarm bells were ringing. He knew Ryo's trait: the signature terrifying Slash, humanity‑defying physique, and the space‑teleportation ability of Flying Thunder God. The direct clash he'd just endured exceeded his expectations. Charging in recklessly was too risky. He needed to probe Ryo's rhythm and limits first.
He must test.
As soon as his words faded, Hanzo's hands had already formed seals. His speed was so fast only after‑images remained.
Water Escape: Water Soar!
Water droplets overhead transformed at once under his chakra control into countless razor‑sharp "Water Thousand Spears," tens of thousands in number, densely packed like locusts. They ripped through the air with skin‑tingling whistles, like rain of ominous pear blossoms, engulfing Ryo within several metres. Each spear carried force that could pierce steel plates. A suppression zone forcing movement.
Ryo's pupils flickered with cold silver light. Observation Haki — activated. Time stretched in his perception. The trajectory of the myriad spears mapped like a precise grid in his mind. The deadly gaps appeared in the nick of time. Just as the spears almost reached his body, Ryo vanished from the spot. It was not a chakra fluctuation of shunshin, but pure physical power exploding from his body as he blasted off at extreme speed. Boom, boom, boom!
The steel floor under his feet shattered into countless deep pits in an instant. Ryo's figure emerged like a spectre beside a tilted steel column several meters to Hanzo's left, landing silently. His stance still unsteady, the Kusanagi swept into a dark red streak as he brought it around in a reverse slash.
Sword technique: Cut Stream.
Hanzo's green eyes narrowed. His figure blurred and vanished again. The sword‑energy cut through the column and the twisted steel plate behind it, the cut smooth like a mirror. The heavy steel crashed down with a clang, dust and vapour mixing in the air. "Hmph, not bad brute strength!" Hanzo's voice came from above. He had somehow moved to a thick steel cross‑beam yet to collapse. He looked down at Ryo from on high. He formed seals again, faster and more complex.
Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!
The water vapour inside the tower and the streams spraying from broken pipes instantly condensed in front of Hanzo into a massive water dragon with living claws. It roared and dove at the unstable Ryo, the path of its charge accompanied by a dull rumble. Bigger area, stronger power, blocking evasion zones.
Ryo's gaze remained icy. Observation Haki captured the dragon's trajectory and the subtle chakra flow in the surging water. He cannot retreat, for retreat means falling into passive defence. His knees bent, waist arched like a bowstring, the Kusanagi slashed upward from below. His entire body's power coiled like a dragon along his spine and exploded through his arm.
The dark‑red Kusanagi slammed into the open mouth of the water dragon! No longer a cut, but the purest and most brutal power collision. Sword‑energy condensed into an invisible but ferocious shockwave. A deafening blast! The massive dragon head was cleaved open by the strike, the wild torrents of water like unbound floods crashed in all directions, sweeping the already‑ruined rooftop even further. Debris was swept away, the shock made the rooftop shake harder.
The steel floor under Ryo's feet groaned and bent downward. His right arm muscles bulged, bearing the massive recoil, yet his figure remained rooted, unmoving by even half a step. The pounding water hit his body, his cloak instantly soaked and clung to him, but the hand holding the sword stayed rock‑steady.
"Hmm?" Hanzo gave a barely audible hiss from the cross‑beam. The water dragon was destroyed head‑on? This red‑haired kid's strength was like a tailed beast cub wearing human skin! Intelligence reports had not said his defence was also so outlandish! He cannot let him close in.
Hanzo instantly changed tactics. His figure vanished again. This time he appeared at the edge of a giant breach in the tower top, some twenty metres from Ryo. He formed seals even faster now, the motion fierce.
Water Release: Great Waterfall!
Boom, boom!
A massive water‑gate seemed to open outside the breach. Rainwater from the sky was violently sucked in. A colossal tidal wave far larger than the previous water dragon swept in through the breach! The muddy flood surged like an angry beast, instantly filling every inch of the rooftop, pressing, pounding, tearing at everything within! The impact on twisted steel structures roared like thunder. Wide‑area attack covering all angles, forcing with momentum.
Ryo was swallowed by the raging torrent in an instant. Enormous pressure pressed in from all sides, wrapping him in the centre of the surge. A suffocating feeling struck. The violent water streamed at his body. "Ugh!" Ryo groaned deeply, his body tossed wildly in the water. He bit his tongue sharply, pain jolting him. The cold silver in his eyes flared.
Observation Haki spread with difficulty through the turbid water, detecting the strongest impact direction and the relative weak point. Strength. He needed strength to break this binding.
He planted both feet on a massive steel plate lodged in the twisted floor. Pure physical power exploded. The steel plate deformed and shattered instantly! Using the violent recoil, he shot upward through the torrent like an arrow against the current, bracing the raging flood's impact. With the sword‑tip ahead, he gathered power again.
The condensed sword‑energy leapt like a red‑hot steel needle, drilled through the layered water curtain, finally tearing a narrow gap in the raging waterfall! Ryo's form followed right behind the sword‑energy, like a torpedo breaking through water at the last second, he burst out from the flood's coverage!
Splash. He emerged from the water, landing on a relatively intact metal platform near the tower's edge, soaked through, panting heavily. Cold rain washed over the mud and grime on his body. Although he broke out, the cost of forcing through the Great Waterfall was enormous—his muscles burned with pain.
"Not slow to react." Hanzo's cold voice sounded again. He had already appeared on a higher broken wall across the platform. After a few probes, his understanding of Ryo's speed, strength, and near‑pre‑emptive dodging ability had deepened. Simple wide‑area rushing ninjutsu seemed unlikely to seriously harm this monster‑like youth. His strength strong, speed absolute, defence (or rather resistance) beyond imagination, and a near‑pre‑cognitive dodge ability. This Red‑Haired Devil truly lived up to his name.
Hanzo's green eyes narrowed, his expression more serious, and a calculating light belonging to a seasoned top‑tier shinobi flickered. He slowly raised one hand, made a simple seal.
Secret Technique: Poison Mist!
A strange dark‑purple mist spat from the respirator's exhaust port at Hanzo's face mask! At first the mist covered only a few metres around him, but it spread at incredible speed, and with a peculiar stickiness it merged into the rain and vapour around them.
The air was immediately filled with a faint, sickly sweet‑iron smell that made one want to vomit. Hanzo finally used one of his most dreaded abilities—deadly poison. He had been called "Demigod", and this virtually indefensible, touch‑and‑die toxin technique was one of his greatest assets.
Ryo's pupils contracted sharply. The Observation Haki clearly "saw" the purple mist's diffusion path and the deadly corrosive energy within. His body, sensing the threat immediately, recoiled backward at a speed so fast a blur remained. "Want to dodge? Not that easy!" Hanzo sneered. He formed seals in an instant.
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!
A sudden gale formed out of nothing, howling precisely toward the just‑expanding bluish‑purple poison mist! The wind helped the poison's spread! What had been slowly diffusing was now accelerated multiple times, like a purple viper striking at retreating Ryo.
The coverage area expanded dramatically! Poison and wind combined! Even the possible paths Ryo might take to dodge were included! Forcing him either to take it head‑on or suffer.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)