[Bang!]
"Haah—haah—haah—"
Blood seeped from Hanzō's lips as he suddenly dropped to his knees on the warm yellow sand.
His faintly trembling arms supported his pained, heavy body, while rapid breaths escaped through his nose and mouth in time with his violently heaving chest.
Hanzō stared blankly as his dripping blood gradually dyed the grains of sand red.
Why?
I... lost?
Why?
Why was he so much stronger than me, so strong that I had no ability to fight back at all?
I am Hanzō!
The man who, during the Second Shinobi World War, took on Konoha, Sand Village, and the Land of Iron with the strength of a single village!
How could such power possibly exist in this Shinobi World?
At this moment.
The doubts in his heart actually outweighed his shock.
Hanzō slowly raised his battered face and looked at the Third Raikage standing before him, coldly looking down at him.
The other man's tall, powerful body blocked out the sunlight, casting a vast shadow over him.
"If you possessed such strength, how could Sand Village have driven you back before? How could you have been defeated and captured?!"
Hanzō simply could not understand it.
If the Third Raikage was this strong, wouldn't the Cloud-Hidden Village have unified the Shinobi World long ago?
Not to mention being driven back by that damned Fourth Wind Shadow Rasa!
"You'll know soon enough."
Facing Hanzō's upturned gaze, the Third Raikage said calmly, "But you have lost now, so this old man will give you two choices."
"Let's hear them."
Hanzō's face turned livid as he clenched the yellow sand in his hand.
"The first is simple. This old man sends you on your way, and you may depart for the Pure Land at once."
Hearing this, Hanzō's body immediately stiffened.
Because