Kotarou's lips curled upward.
"Scout again!"
Inwardly he thought, "Kumogakure is pretty fast on the uptake. Looks like A is a straightforward guy."
...
North Gate, Onoki's camp.
Onoki was shaking with rage, cursing nonstop.
"Those fools, those stupid grunts! They ruined my grand plan, damn it!"
His bodyguard Akatsuchi stepped forward.
"Onoki-sama, what should we do now?"
Onoki's face went dark.
"What should we do? Hmph. Of course we immediately pull back to defend. They say the Third Raikage can clash head-on with a Tailed Beast. None of the villages have deployed their jinchūriki yet, which means his strength is basically on the level of 'invincible.'
"If I don't go back, Iwagakure will suffer catastrophic losses. Damn it, how did the news spread so fast? Was it Konoha, or Rain…"
Onoki shook his head. This was not the time to dwell on that.
"Pass on my order: the rear guard becomes the vanguard. Full speed, back to the village!"
Once he issued the command, Onoki formed hand seals and used Keijūgan no Jutsu (Light-Weight Rock Technique), stepping onto a slab of rock and flying toward the village at top speed.
Along the way, he couldn't help glancing back toward the city with clear reluctance, then let out a long sigh.
...
South Gate.
Chiyo, at this time, was a middle-aged woman. Her eyes were icy cold. Sunagakure's finances were already in crisis, and this war declared by Salamander Hanzō had conveniently shifted their internal contradictions outward.
"In order to repay Amegakure's favor, this old woman will just have to work a little harder and drive you pieces of trash back."
With that thought, Chiyo stretched out both hands. Ten chakra threads shot out from her ten fingers and attached themselves to Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets.
She lifted both hands and her fingers twitched. All ten of Chikamatsu's puppets began to move, as nimble as living humans, charging toward Salamander Hanzō who was sprinting toward them.
Salamander Hanzō roared, spun around, and slipped past the first of the Ten Puppets. His right hand came up and chopped down.
Whoosh!
His blade turned, and the second puppet of the Ten was smashed aside. Just as he drew his sword back, the third puppet thrust the spike in its hand straight toward him.
Just as Hanzō was about to counterattack, the first puppet that had been knocked away grabbed his right hand and clamped onto the sword.
Hanzō's expression shifted. He released his right hand, using the momentum of his pull to retreat, narrowly avoiding the third puppet's strike.
He spun once and lopped off the third puppet's head. Before he could catch his breath, the first puppet hurled a barrage of poisoned senbon at him.
Hanzō moved on pure instinct, performing Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substitution Technique).
Thud.
A series of rapid thunks sounded.
The spot where Salamander Hanzō had been standing turned into a wooden log, and the poisoned senbon slammed into it.
The poison was extremely potent. In the blink of an eye, the wooden log darkened from brown to a purplish black.
Hanzō's eyes turned cold.
"You old hag, you really don't hold back, do you?"
Old hag?
Chiyo had originally only planned to stall him and hadn't intended to go all out. But what did he just call her?
Old hag!
Boom!
A powerful surge of chakra erupted from her, and even the chakra threads in her hands thickened. Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets all drew their weapons.
All sorts of shapes: blades, spears, forks, lances, cannons, chainsaws, hooks.
Hanzō narrowed his eyes, then tossed aside the katana in his hand. He reached behind his back with both arms and drew out a kusarigama.
Any ninja who knew his reputation understood what this meant. He was getting serious. After all, this was his true personal weapon, not some random katana or longsword that could be casually swapped in.
"Bastard, has no one ever told you that a woman's age isn't something you just blurt out?"
Chiyo roared, and her chakra flared, blasting her hair straight up.
Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets surged forward again, their speed doubled from before, rushing Hanzō from all sides.
Hanzō retreated while the Ten Puppets pursued relentlessly. Then he quickly weaved hand seals, the corner of his mouth curling up.
"Katon: Kibaku Enjin (Fire Style: Exploding Flame Formation)!"
Chiyo's brows arched. She pulled four of the puppets back, leaving six of Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets within the area of the Exploding Flame Formation.
In an instant, a mass of explosive tags buried underground flew up, sticking onto the six puppets. As Hanzō roared,
The explosive tags detonated.
Boom!
Six of Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets were blasted skyward and left in pieces. Chiyo tried to manipulate them but quickly realized those six puppets could no longer move. She recalled her chakra threads, eyes growing grave.
She had no idea when Hanzō had planted those explosive tags, nor why he hadn't used them earlier when Jiraiya attacked the south gate.
To be fair, Chiyo's suspicion wasn't unreasonable. Katon: Kibaku Enjin (Fire Style: Exploding Flame Formation) was an A-rank ninjutsu, which meant you needed at least a true jōnin, and one with a large chakra reserve, to activate it. In Amegakure, aside from Salamander Hanzō himself, who else fit that description?
So Jiraiya and his troops naturally hadn't been caught by this Exploding Flame Formation.
Hanzō snorted.
This old woman is making a fuss over nothing.
He flicked his kusarigama and struck at Chiyo. At that moment, a bull-headed puppet from Chikamatsu's Ten suddenly moved in front of her, blocking his attack.
"Kugutsu no Jutsu: Mamori (Puppet Technique: Guard)!"
Clang!
The kusarigama was knocked aside. Hanzō's eyes lit up, and he used the rebound to swing again.
"Kusarigama Second Strike!"
The tip of the weapon's chain darted forward, stabbing into the bull-headed puppet's back and piercing straight through.
Hanzō grabbed the base of the kusarigama with his right hand and gave a savage yank.
With a screech of metal being torn, a large chunk of the puppet's torso plating was ripped away. Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets had lost yet another member.
Hanzō licked his lips, staring at Chiyo with open mockery.
At this point, out of the ten puppets, seven were gone. Only three somewhat unimpressive-looking puppets remained, and he saw no world in which he could lose.
Chiyo's expression grew even more solemn. She had thought Rain was just a minor village and that Hanzō's prestige was mostly hot air. Who would have guessed that the current Hanzō was actually this powerful?
Salamander Hanzō decided to finish the old woman with a final strike and shouted,
"Salamander!"
The salamander answered in an instant, first bursting into a puff of white smoke, then reappearing at Hanzō's side. Moving in perfect sync with its master,
The salamander spewed out a cloud of purple poison mist. The toxin was not only deadly but also astonishing in range. In the blink of an eye, Chiyo was completely engulfed.
Hanzō chuckled coldly.
"Ninpō: Kama Kiri no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Scythe Mist Technique)!"
His figure vanished into the poisonous haze as he quietly closed in on Chiyo, looking for the perfect opening to strike.
Chiyo snorted. She extended her right hand, manipulating the remaining puppets with one hand alone. The last of Chikamatsu's Ten Puppets arranged themselves into a triangular formation. At her sharp tug,
All three puppets opened their mouths wide.
"Sanbō Kyūkai (Triple Treasure Vacuum Destruction)!"
A huge volume of poison mist was sucked into the three puppets at once. Even Hanzō himself had to desperately resist the pull of Chiyo's technique.
Damn it, this jutsu is a hard counter to me!
He was incredibly annoyed.
Once the poisonous fog had been completely swept away, Chiyo smiled and issued a new command.
"Everyone, fall back to me!"
The Sand ninja immediately broke off their engagements and hurried to take shelter behind Chiyo. Hanzō suddenly seemed to realize something.
(End of Chapter)
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