"Get lost!"
Ryo's eyes glowed with icy‑silver light.
His left hand shot out like lightning!
The air seemed to tear apart!
He instinctively wielded the newly awakened power.
His left hand, reinforced with fresh strength and Armament Haki, hardened beyond steel. Five fingers snapped shut around the high-pressure water whip. Blue-white light sparked and hissed, thrashing like a trapped serpent, but couldn't break free from his grip.
Sizzle—!
The screech of friction rang out as the water whip's cutting power collided violently with the red‑dark Armament Haki around Ryo's palm, sparks flying! The water whip writhed fiercely, yet could not advance another millimetre.
Ryo's left hand suddenly tightened!
Crack!
Like glass shattering, the water whip that Hanzo prized so highly was literally crushed by bare hand! The scattered water flowed limp like a snake without life, dropping unusably into the murky puddle below his feet.
"What?!"
Hanzo, perched atop the broken wall, narrowed his pupils, betrayal and shock in his voice for the first time behind his mask. With bare hand? Impossible! Intelligence never mentioned this red‑haired devil's body being so absurdly strong! This surpassed his concept of "strong body"!
The turn happened in an instant!
Ryo crushed the water whip without the slightest hesitation. He bent his waist, and his newly recovered right hand reached for the Kusanagi that was embedded in a twisted steel plate. With a clear hum the sword flew into his hand as though summoned!
The hilt in hand, his blood‑pulse surged more strongly than ever!
Blood still trickled from his mouth and the wound on his arm, but the wounds visibly closed, formed scabs, faded! His mighty regeneration, boosted by the new power, had doubled its efficiency!
Ryo lifted his head. His hood had flown off amidst the movement, revealing wet, blood‑stained dark‑red hair. Rain washed his sharp face. His icy silver eyes, now shining with remarkable brightness, froze his gaze on Hanzo atop the broken wall.
He turned his wrist slightly. The Kusanagi's dark‑red ancient blade emitted a low hum. A visible layer of dark‑red, flowing lava‑like energy—Armament Haki—wrapped and covered the entire blade! The edge exhaled a frightening cold glow. The air cracked faintly from its sharpness.
The sword tip lifted, pointing toward the face‑morphed "Demigod".
Ryo's voice rang through the rain, calm yet carrying finality.
"Warm‑up's over, old man Hanzo."
"Round two—"
"Begin!"
At the moment the words left his mouth, Ryo vanished! Not by teleportation jutsu, but by the pure muscle power explosion at its extreme speed! Only a ring of splashing dirty water and a rain‑blasted airshock remained where he had stood. The metal platform under his feet collapsed like a giant hammer struck it.
Hanzo barely registered a blur of motion, a lethal chill bearing down on his face! That dark‑red flowing energy on the sword's edge, carrying the will to cut mountains, descended upon him! Speed and power exceed before!
"Too fast!"
Hanzo's alarm bells rang. He pushed his Shunshin to the absolute limit! His figure flickered and vanished just before the sword tip reached him. A residual image remained.
Boom!!!
Ryo's slash struck empty space, but the resulting roar and power did not diminish. The sword‑energy carved into the wall where Hanzo just stood, steel mixed with rock as if tofu, clean cut! The massive wall collapsed, dust and mud and rainwater shot skywards!
Ryo's figure flashed through the dust. His Observation Haki had already locked onto Hanzo, who momentarily reappeared on a tilted steel frame ten metres to the left!
"Hmph!"
Shock and anger in Hanzo's voice as he formed seals again, stronger this time.
Ninjutsu: Poison Mist Hidden Art!
Woosh—!
This time, from his respirator mask burst not purple mist but thick, rolling ebony poison cloud! A nauseating sweet‑iron stench filled the air. Rainwater below turned black, steel hissed more violently, heavy smoke rose! The potency far exceeded before, and the range was greater!
"Die!"
Hanzo's eyes gleamed with murderous intent as he formed seals again.
A violent, high‑compressed tornado formed, wrapped in the devouring black poison cloud, roaring like a black dragon toward Ryo! Wind empowering poison! Poison riding wind! The coverage nearly included all possible escape paths of Ryo!
Faced with this apocalyptic poison‑storm combo, Ryo's lips curled into a cold grin.
"Haoshoku… Encircling!"
A wave of invisible but world‑dimming fearsome spirit pressure exploded from Ryo's centre!
Thrum—!!!
The air groaned beneath the weight! Space seemed to freeze for a moment! That gale strong enough to tear steel, upon hitting the edge of his domineering aura, visibly faltered! Wind power weakened and became chaotic.
Even more strangely, the black toxic particles that slithered through everywhere, under the colossal spirit blow, seemed unable to advance! As if they hit an invisible wall!
"What?!"
Hanzo's expression changed in horror. What is this ability?! It suppresses and even controls my poison mist and wind release?!
At the moment his mind rattled, Ryo moved again!
With the encircling Haoshoku Haki disrupting the surrounding space, and his own terrifying speed, he ignored the weakened toxic wind, merged into the air, and with a trajectory beyond visual capture, he instantly appeared just in front of Hanzo, less than five metres away!
"One‑Sword Style—"
Ryo's cold voice sounded like a death sentence. The Kusanagi wrapped in Armored Haki tightened, sword‑edge brimmed with that soul‑freezing cold light!
Slash!
No massive sword‑energy wave this time, only the blade condensed to the extreme, like a razor in steel‑hot form.
So fast! Indescribably fast!
Hanzo felt his soul‑freezing chill seize him! All his combat instinct screamed. No dodge, no defence, no strongest guard left!
"Shunshin!"
Shiiish!
The split of air echoing.
Hanzo reappeared far away, half‑kneeling on twisted metal wreckage, respirator hissing heavy breath. Cold sweat soaked his inner garment. He looked down at his left arm—
Shlaa!
The sleeve and light‑armour bracer ripped open silently. A deep blood groove, visible to bone, appeared on his left forearm! Blood rising rapidly!
If he hadn't sidestepped by half an inch at the last moment, that arm—or half his body—might have been silently severed by the slash!
Seeing the wound and feeling the lingering razor‑intent piercing his marrow, Hanzo's heart sank to the abyss for the first time. This red‑haired kid… what monster is he?! Intel was seriously wrong!
Fear. A long‑forgotten emotion for him, quietly wrapped around his heart like an icy serpent. His famed poison, destroyed. His water‑wind releases, suppressed. His teleportation speed, nearly matched. His last bastion—defense and escape—also endangered by the opponent's incomprehensible sword art!
On the rain‑soaked rooftop ruins, hung a despair more suffocating than any poison. Hanzo looked at the sword‑wielding red‑haired figure, his hand gripping a scythe now trembling for the first time.
Almost at the same time that Ryo's steel‑rending sword energy exploded and Hanzo was attacked, in a forward command post of Ame from Suna…
Inside a large tent lit bright, tension hung thickly. Chiyo the elder frowned as green flags representing Konoha's position stuck deep in the belly of Ame like unwelcome lesions, troubling her mind. Months of stalemate drain, long supply lines from Suna, losses mounting.
Suddenly, the tent flap was thrown open! A Suna ANBU shinobi drenched with rain knelt on one knee, voice urgent and disbelieving: "Elder Chiyo! Urgent report! The core high‑tower district of Amegakure experienced a massive explosion, energy fluctuations far beyond normal combat scale! Suspected… Hanzo's palace was struck!"
"What?!" Chiyo shot upright, her clouded old eyes turning sharp as blades. She slapped the pointer on the sand‑table at the Ame position. "A strike, all‑corps target Hanzo?"
"Information is limited! But the explosion magnitude is extremely high – no small unit could create it! Also…" The ANBU gulped. "After the battle broke out, large‑scale chaos appeared in the Ame village core area! Our inside line barely transmitted fuzzy info—seems they saw a giant red toad and… serpent‑type summoning beast tracks!"
"Red toad? Snake?" Ebizō raised an eyebrow, reflection flickering in his eyes. "Jiraiya and Orochimaru."
The atmosphere in the tent froze. Chiyo's face turned extremely dark. A terrible thought formed in her mind: "Immediately! At all cost!" Her voice rose, icy. "Tsunade, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Kamiyama Ryo! Are they inside the Konoha headquarters now?"
"Yes!" The ANBU answered sharply, then vanished like a ghost.
Ebizō looked to his sister. "Sis, you mean… Konoha's top forces were perhaps pulled out to execute…?" He pointed toward Ame, a downward slicing motion. "Assassination?"
"Shimura Danzō!" Chiyo ground her teeth, her eyes burning with fury and a trace of excitement. "Only he has this daring and madness! Only he would gamble everything to break this stalemate! After holding back so long, hiding the troops, turns out he was waiting for this move! Good! Very good!"
She whirled and looked outside at the drizzling rain and the brightly lit Suna camp, determination rising from her thin body: "He wants to gamble? Then this old body will gamble with him!"
Not even fifteen minutes later, the ANBU returned like a phantom, voice icy with confirmation: "Elder Chiyo! Confirmed! All traces of Tsunade, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Kamiyama Ryo are gone from the Konoha HQ core zone! Our infiltrators and sensor barriers detected no chakra!"
"Just as thought!" Chiyo slammed her palm on the sand‑table edge, flags trembling. Her eyes hardened, full of murderous resolve. "Issue orders! 1st, 3rd, 5th Wind‑Release Regiments! All puppet forces! Elite assault companies! Assemble immediately! Target—Konoha HQ!"
"Ebizō! You remain in camp command! Be sure to deploy reserves and supplies in time!"
"Yes!" He responded in a low voice.
"Everyone else!" Chiyo swept her gaze over all Suna jonin and commanders in the tent. Each word carried buried hatred and iron‑clad decision: "Konoha has emptied its heart! Sent their elite to kill Hanzo! Their base now is a slab of fat meat without fangs! This is heaven‑sent opportunity! It is the chance to end this damn war! Follow this old body—"
Her withered finger stabbed the red cross on the sand‑table representing Konoha HQ.
"Flatten Konoha HQ! For the revenge of our fallen comrades! Tonight!"
"Understood!!!" The roar that shook the Suna camp soared like a powder keg ignited after months of suppression.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ 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.)