Hanzō of the Salamander stood atop his Summoning Beast, looking down condescendingly at the four people opposite him.
Killing intent and rationality spun back and forth in his mind.
On one hand, he considered killing the four in front of him to prevent their future growth.
On the other hand, he worried that actually killing them would completely enrage Konoha, leading to an endless, fatal conflict.
After all, Hanzō's goal was never to fight Konoha to the death, but merely to secure a better living environment for his subordinates.
Making an absolute enemy of Konoha was not a good thing.
"Youngsters, state your names. Your strength is worthy of my knowledge!"
Hanzō lowered his gaze, looking at the three people supporting each other and the one who had already fainted.
"Jiraiya!"
"Orochimaru!"
"Tsunade!"
"His name is Hatake Sakumo!"
Looking at Hatake Sakumo, who lay unconscious on the ground, Tsunade, while treating him, still reported his name, even though she didn't know exactly what Hanzō was planning.
"Very well! I, Hanzō, shall name the three of you the Legendary Sannin of Konoha!"
"As for the one who has fallen, I shall call him Konoha's sharpest blade—the White Fang of Konoha!"
The Sannin: "..."
This was Hanzō's strategy. He had already learned the identities of the four from intelligence reports, so he deliberately planned to give Sarutobi Hiruzen's three disciples a somewhat ordinary title while elevating Hatake Sakumo's title.
If, among the younger generation, someone completely unrelated to Sarutobi Hiruzen ended up with greater prestige than his three students, Sarutobi Hiruzen, as the Sandaime Hokage, would surely be delighted, wouldn't he?
"In that case... take my benevolence and these titles, and live!"
After speaking, he intended to head to the battlefield to manage the situation.
Because even as things concluded here, he had already sensed that something was wrong on the main battlefield; Amegakure's forces were being thoroughly beaten by Konoha.
Having finished here, he was planning to go to the front lines, rally his troops, prepare to end this unwinnable war, and negotiate with Konoha.
Capitalizing on the previous advantage in the war and the prisoners taken... Wait, prisoners!
Weren't the real prisoners right in front of him?
Realizing this, Hanzō seemed to snap back to reality and patted his head.
He prepared to go back and tie them up... wait, no, invite them back to Amegakure as guests.
But before Hanzō could issue a command to his Summoning Beast, the heightened awareness of a powerful warrior sensed the approach of death. Without time for further thought, he instantly used the Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) to leave his spot.
Immediately afterward, a chakra sphere with a diameter of ten meters slammed into the spot where Hanzō had just been standing.
Hanzō's Summoning Beast was critically injured and dispersed in a puff of white smoke, ending the summoning.
It was then that a voice echoed from the distance.
"Goton: Dairendan no Jutsu! (Five Release: Great Combo Technique)"
"Sensei!" x3
"Sandaime Hokage!"
Under the astonished gazes of the Sannin (Hatake Sakumo was unconscious) and Hanzō, Sarutobi Hiruzen, clad in battle armor, rushed over from the distance, followed by four Kage Bunshin.
"Shishienjin! (Four Violet Flames Formation)"
Upon seeing Hanzō, Sarutobi Hiruzen's Kage Bunshin immediately spread out, trapping Hanzō and Hiruzen himself inside the formation.
This sudden turn of events caught Hanzō of the Salamander completely off guard.
"Sandaime, this old man..."
"Silence, Hanzō! You unilaterally started this war and caused enormous casualties to Konoha. Today, I, Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Hokage of Konoha, shall strike you down here to honor the heroes of our village!" Before Hanzō could finish speaking, Sarutobi Hiruzen interrupted him.
"Come forth, Enma!"
Enma, transformed into a staff, was gripped by Sarutobi Hiruzen and immediately swung towards Hanzō.
Unlike the current state of Hatake Sakumo, Sarutobi Hiruzen was currently in his prime, with both his Ninjutsu and Taijutsu firmly at Kage Level.
Sarutobi Hiruzen simultaneously swung the staff in his right hand towards Hanzō's head, while his left hand formed a seal for Doton: Yomi Numa (Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld).
This restrained Hanzō from both above and below.
Hanzō was forced to dodge repeatedly, completely falling into Sarutobi Hiruzen's rhythm.
One moment they were struggling against each other, the next a series of spikes erupted from the ground, forcing Hanzō to retreat.
But as soon as he retreated, a rain of shuriken assailed him.
Having barely managed to avoid the shuriken attack, a barrage of dense Suiton dragons rushed towards him.
Ninja tools and Ninjutsu were unleashed as if they cost nothing, with a terrifying density.
Coupled with his previous battle, although he hadn't sustained serious injuries, the depletion of his chakra and stamina was inevitable.
Gradually, Hanzō's stamina began to fail.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen, leave a thread of possibility for future encounters." Hanzō, whose stamina was failing, said, putting on a brave face while inwardly fearful.
"There will be no opportunity for a future encounter. The moment you launched war against Konoha, your death was sealed!"
"Wait, Sarutobi Hiruzen, do you want a mutual destruction?"
"The fish will surely die, but the net absolutely will not break!"
"Goton: Dairendan no Jutsu!"
"No!!!!"
Finally, under the relentless, all-out assault of Sarutobi Hiruzen, Hanzō of the Salamander, the Demigod and currently the apparent ceiling of combat power, ended his illustrious life.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's feat of single-handedly slaying the Demigod of the Ninja World established a strong basis for his future reputation as the Strongest Hokage.
With the corpse of Hanzō displayed, a large number of Amegakure shinobi lost the courage to fight.
However, Sarutobi Hiruzen, in his state as the Professor, had no intention of letting these people go. Under the command of Shimura Danzō, any shinobi wearing an Amegakure forehead protector was ruthlessly cut down by Konoha's forces.
Before Iwagakure could react, they pushed straight through and killed their way into Amegakure.
The next day, an announcement spread throughout the Ninja World.
The general meaning was that Hanzō was cruel and unjust, having unilaterally started the war, but Konoha, seeing his weakness, had only sent some of its new generation—first, to make Hanzō see reality and recognize the difference in strength between them; and second, because Konoha intended to cultivate its new generation.
Unexpectedly, Hanzō, seeing that Konoha was slow to defeat him, thought he was invincible. Finally, the current Hokage couldn't stand it anymore, personally went to the front lines, and killed Hanzō that very day.
Of course, the actual content wasn't quite so subtle, but the meaning was exactly that.
With the release of the announcement, all previous unfavorable rumors about Sarutobi Hiruzen completely vanished.
After all, Hanzō of the Salamander had died by Sarutobi Hiruzen's hand.
Nobody cared whether the victory was achieved fairly.
Could a shinobi's actions really be called a sneak attack?
That was strategy!
The Land of Rain.
Inside the factory constructed by Sunagakure.
Upon receiving the news, Sayan rushed here without delay.
Sitting in the factory manager's chair, Sayan looked at the announcement issued by Konoha, skipping over the absurd claims, like Hanzō eating two children every day, and diligently sifting out the favorable intelligence within.