Hanzō of the Salamander vs. Hiruzen Sarutobi (Part 2)

As the smoke gradually dispersed, the spectators hurriedly looked toward the battlefield, only to find that both Hanzō and the salamander had vanished without a trace.

Only Seiji, relying on his powerful senses, calmly turned his gaze toward the space behind Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage.

Boom!

With a thunderous crash, the ground behind Hiruzen Sarutobi split open. Salamander Ibuse emerged, opened its huge mouth at Hiruzen Sarutobi, and rapidly spewed out purple-black poisonous smoke.

"Wind Release: Cyclone!" Sensing trouble, Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly formed hand seals and expelled a fierce gale from his mouth.

Though it was merely a simple C-rank Wind Release, it was quick to activate, and Hiruzen Sarutobi only intended to disperse the poisonous smoke as swiftly as possible.

Hanzō took that opportunity to charge at Hiruzen Sarutobi. After all, Hanzō was not afraid of salamander poison.

When Hanzō was young, there had been a highly venomous black salamander in Amegakure. After the poisonous black salamander died, its venom sac was implanted into Hanzō by Amegakure shinobi as part of an experiment. As a result, Hanzō developed resistance to poison, while every breath he took carried an immense amount of toxic gas. That was also why Hanzō wore a breathing mask year-round.

While Hiruzen Sarutobi was dispersing the poisonous smoke, Hanzō had already rapidly approached him beneath its cover.

But in his carelessness—or perhaps because he had never fought a humanoid Summoning Beast and lacked any experience—Hanzō forgot and overlooked the fact that beside Hiruzen Sarutobi was the Adamantine Staff, which possessed a will of its own and could return to its old monkey form at any time.

"Ninja Art: Adamantine Prison Wall!"

Caught completely off guard, Hanzō was firmly pinned in place by the old monkey.

"Got you!" Enma shouted. "Sarutobi!"

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi pressed together the index and middle fingers of both hands, crossing them horizontally and vertically into a cross. A puff of white smoke appeared, and Hiruzen Sarutobi summoned four shadow clones. The moment they appeared, the shadow clones scattered in all directions. Hiruzen Sarutobi's original body and four shadow clones spread apart, surrounding the Hanzō trapped by the Adamantine Prison Wall from five different directions.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and his four shadow clones began forming hand seals in unison. Sensing the violent fluctuations in Hiruzen Sarutobi's Chakra, Hanzō realized something was wrong and frantically unleashed his own Chakra, trying to break free.

But this was a prison formed through ninjutsu from the body of Monkey King Enma, a Kage-level Summoning Beast with an indestructible body. How could Hanzō possibly break free so easily?

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!"

"Lightning Release: Lightning Dragon Bullet!"

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"

"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"

"Wind Release: Wind Dragon Bullet!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi and his shadow clones each unleashed a different elemental ninjutsu—fire, lightning, water, earth, and wind—simultaneously attacking Hanzō, who was trapped in the center and unable to move, from five directions.

Firmly restrained and unable to move, Hanzō had become the perfect target for Hiruzen Sarutobi. There was no possibility of missing.

"Five Release: Great Consecutive Shots Technique!"

A second before the attacks arrived, Hiruzen Sarutobi voluntarily released the Summoning Technique and sent Enma back.

The five B-rank ninjutsu of different elements merged together, generating and countering one another as they erupted with power comparable to an S-rank ninjutsu—or even an S-rank forbidden technique. In the end, a devastating explosion erupted where Hanzō stood.

The deafening blast deeply shocked everyone present. None of them had expected Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, to unleash such an overwhelmingly powerful attack from his seemingly frail body!

"If that hit him, there probably wouldn't even be any bones left!" The spectators were all stunned.

"The Sarutobi Clan's ultimate jutsu, the Five Release: Great Consecutive Shots Technique. I've finally seen it today—this trip was well worth it!" Seiji had only seen the Great Consecutive Shots Technique of Sasuke Sarutobi, the Sarutobi Clan's previous head, in his memories. Today, he finally witnessed this shocking scene firsthand.

As the smoke and dust gradually cleared, the ground ravaged by the Great Consecutive Shots Technique was revealed. At the center of the attack, the earth had caved in by more than twenty meters.

"Did Hanzō really get taken out?" Kushimaru Kuriarare, who had come to watch with Seiji, asked with awe and fear in his voice at the power of the ninjutsu.

Seiji merely smiled without answering. He shook his head, then turned to Ao, whose face was equally filled with shock. "Ao, what do you think?"

Hearing his superior's question, Ao came back to his senses. Out of caution, he did not answer immediately. Instead, he formed hand seals, closed his eyes, and continuously extended his senses toward the battlefield. A moment later, Ao's eyes suddenly widened. "Th-this...! Th-this...! Th-this...!" He was so shocked that he could not form a complete sentence for a long while.

"Heh." Seiji smiled as he explained to the four newcomers—Kushimaru Kuriarare, Munashi Jinpachi, Juzo Biwa, and Ao—"Hanzō can be considered one of the strongest shinobi of this era. How could he possibly be killed so easily? Never underestimate a shinobi capable of becoming the leader of a village, even if he does not currently bear the title of Kage."

With his powerful sensory abilities, Seiji could clearly sense that Hanzō's presence had changed somewhat. However, that was only because the battle had consumed some of his Chakra, causing a slight drop in his aura. The decline was not significant.

As for Hiruzen Sarutobi, after using his ultimate jutsu, his presence had already begun to weaken considerably. Though Seiji could not sense it entirely clearly, he could still tell that Hiruzen Sarutobi had consumed at least half his Chakra.

With such an obvious contrast, Seiji had already determined the victor between Hanzō of the Salamander and Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Seiji had clear impressions in his memories of the strength of powerful figures from every era over the past thousand years. Combined with what he had just sensed, he could easily judge Hanzō's level of strength. At this point, Hanzō possessed an incomparably steadfast belief in his ninja way. The combination of shinobi and samurai had brought Hanzō's strength infinitely close to the limits of Kage-level.

(The original work gave far too little description of Hanzō, only bestowing upon him the title of demigod and stating that, while alive, he was regarded by shinobi as the pinnacle of the Ninja World. As for why Hanzō became so underwhelming later on, with no notable achievements even after being revived through Impure World Reincarnation and granted an immortal body—showing none of a demigod's bearing—the official explanation was that one reason was his old age and the decline in strength after passing his prime. The other, and more important reason, was that Hanzō had lost his faith as Amegakure's hero and no longer upheld his ninja way, which caused his strength to decline drastically.)

"A battlefield rule: never underestimate any shinobi. Before you can be certain that you have killed your opponent, never let down your guard. This is the first lesson I'm teaching you as your squad leader," Seiji continued instructing the newcomers.

As Seiji spoke, Hanzō silently appeared directly in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi. Seeing that Hanzō appeared completely unscathed, Hiruzen Sarutobi and all the observing shinobi apart from those from Kirigakure had their pupils sharply constrict.

Among the watching shinobi, some had considered that Hanzō might survive such a powerful ninjutsu, though they believed he would most likely be severely injured. After all, if they themselves had faced that attack, even their ashes would likely have been scattered.

Yet aside from Seiji and the Kirigakure group he had instructed, not a single person had expected Hanzō to emerge completely unharmed.

Time rewound to just moments earlier.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's ultimate jutsu, the Great Consecutive Shots Technique, was already upon him. As Hanzō unleashed his Chakra with all his might, he suddenly discovered that the Adamantine Prison Wall restraining him had vanished. Overjoyed, Hanzō seized that one-thousandth-of-an-instant opportunity, formed the Ram seal with one hand, and activated the Body Flicker Technique. He vanished the instant the ninjutsu brushed the edge of his clothes.