Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.
Uchiha Sōgetsu clutched his neck tightly, seemingly trying to stop the blood from spraying out.
But with his carotid artery severed by a single slash, even Tsunade would likely have been helpless against such a grave injury.
"I'll be taking your eyes."
Hanzo extended two fingers, intending to gouge out his Sharingan.
"Stop, Hanzo!"
Water Style: Raging Waves Technique!
Suddenly, a high-pressure water blade came flying in.
The crescent-shaped water blade was extraordinarily sharp, even cleaving the rock layer in two.
Hanzo reacted swiftly, immediately pulling back his outstretched arm and leaping more than ten meters backward. Only after putting a safe distance between them did he look toward the source of the voice.
The ones who had suddenly intervened were his greatest concern—the young "lion cubs" of the Akatsuki, who had been eyeing his rule with hostility and seeking to overthrow him!
"It's you!" Hanzo gritted his teeth.
"Lord Hanzo."
Yahiko looked at him with complicated emotions, unable to hide his heartbreak. "You really did join forces with Danzo."
"Do you believe me now?" A flicker of twisted hatred crossed Konan's breathtakingly beautiful, ice-cold face. "The source of all this suffering is Hanzo. He stopped being the protector he once was long ago. If we let this continue, he and Danzo will kill us sooner or later!"
"Konan is right, Yahiko." Nagato also stood by Konan's side, killing intent faintly surfacing in his deep purple Rinnegan. "That wasn't an ordinary dream. It was heaven's revelation to Konan. It guided us here to expose Hanzo's hypocritical mask and let us witness the truth!"
"Konan... Nagato..."
Yahiko was torn and deeply pained.
"Urgh!"
Hanzo clutched his head in pain. His thoughts felt sluggish, as though he had forgotten something important.
Why was the Akatsuki here?!
No, that wasn't important.
He stared at the three with vicious eyes, his face slightly twisted. "Rats hiding in the sewers—perfect. I'll deal with all of you at once!"
A voice seemed to whisper in Hanzo's ear.
Kill them!
As long as he killed them, he could keep his position. No one would ever dare challenge him again!
"Amegakure belongs to me!"
Hanzo tore off his respirator, purple poison gas spilling from his mouth. His long hair fell loose as he shouted sharply, "No one can take it from me!"
"Lord Hanzo."
Yahiko's emotions were complicated, filled with both grief and anger. "I was wrong about you!"
He had once worshipped the man before him, the leader who had done everything in his power to protect Amegakure amid the chaos of war. He had even regarded him as an idol.
But as time passed and Hanzo grew older, he seemed to no longer be the protector he had once been. His methods of rule grew increasingly cruel. He would not even tolerate dissent, and the terror of slaughter had seeped deep into the hearts of Amegakure's people, like the oppressive clouds and haze that hung over the village year-round.
Having suffered deeply from war, they believed that force could not change Amegakure, so they had chosen to walk a new path.
Before this, although conflicts between them had never ceased, Yahiko had always believed that they and Hanzo merely differed in ideals, while all fighting for Amegakure's future.
But now?
The last trace of fantasy deep within his heart had been completely shattered.
"Hanzo of the Salamander, you've changed." Yahiko looked painfully at the figure he had once looked up to. "You're no longer a hero. You're just a butcher who threw away his ideals, abandoned his dignity, and was corrupted by power!"
"You're nothing but a few stray dogs! What right do you have to judge whether I'm right or wrong?!"
Hanzo seemed half-mad as he charged at the three, swinging his sickle with all his strength.
The chain rattled through the air, dragging out a streak of black light. The sickle, coated in Ibuse's poison, carved a semicircle through the air as it flew straight toward Konan.
"Konan, watch out!" Nagato reacted first, stepping in front of the other two and forming hand seals. "Earth Style: Earth Wall Technique!"
A thick, solid earthen wall rose up and blocked the flying sickle.
"Paper Shuriken!"
From behind the thick earthen wall, dozens of shuriken folded from white paper flew out.
"Konan, come back!" Nagato's pupils shrank as he silently cursed.
The nightmare had affected Konan too deeply, leaving her emotions in turmoil. She could not calm down at all. Facing an opponent as powerful as Hanzo, she actually chose to rush him head-on!
"Yahiko, stop Konan!" Nagato gathered Chakra beneath his feet, shouting to snap the bewildered Yahiko out of it before rushing from the other side to support his teammate.
"Don't be impulsive, Konan! Fall back, now!" Yahiko finally came to his senses. "We didn't come here to fight!"
They had originally come here only to put Konan at ease and keep the nightmare from affecting her too much.
But... for some inexplicable reason, things had spiraled in the direction of going berserk!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Hanzo swung his chain and flail, creating a storm around himself.
After blocking every paper shuriken, Hanzo turned with the momentum and hurled the flail with all his might. It crashed toward Konan like a falling meteor.
Bzzzz—
Yahiko threw out three shuriken, pinning them directly into the gaps along the middle of the chain.
The flail was knocked off course. Like a hyena that had scented an opportunity, Nagato burst forward with Chakra beneath his feet. The instant he closed the distance, he formed hand seals and unleashed a jutsu. "Wind Style: Gale Palm Technique!"
The violent gale was compressed between his palms, releasing a piercing shriek.
Whoosh!
A thin, transparent blade shot toward Hanzo's neck.
At the same time, Yahiko on the left finished forming his hand seals and inhaled deeply. "Fire Style: Flying Flame!"
The wind fed the flames, and the flames empowered the wind!
Their flawless coordination sealed off every route of escape in an instant.
"Damn brats!" Hanzo's eyelids drooped as a vicious glint flashed across his wrinkled face. "If you think you can kill me, you're still too green!"
Water Style: Water Body Technique!
Caught between wind and fire, Hanzo instantly turned into a puddle of water and vanished from where he stood.
However, before Hanzo could launch a sneak attack after fleeing with Water Style, the red-haired boy directly exposed his position.
"Konan, fifteen meters behind Yahiko's right side!"
"Hanzo!!!"
White paper spread from her back like wings. Konan rose into the air, her pretty face filled with icy killing intent. "As long as I kill you... as long as I kill you, that future will never happen!"
The "prophecy" from her dream had been proven true piece by piece!
She could not accept the tragic future of losing Yahiko and Nagato, nor did she want to endure that pain again.
In that case... she would cut off that future at its source!
Dance of the Shikigami!
The paper wings exploded apart. Countless sheets of paper turned into razor-sharp blades, falling like a torrential downpour that covered the sky.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
The dense sheets of paper fell like sharp knives in a concentrated deluge.
The hard rock layer was as fragile as tofu, pierced through by countless sharp paper blades until it was riddled with holes like a honeycomb.
Hanzo, underground, was caught completely off guard. The paper blades sliced him all over, leaving his entire body covered in blood.
"Arghhhh... damn brats!" Hanzo was drenched in blood, his clothes tattered. There was not even a trace of the bearing of a former "hero" left in him. Instead, he resembled a beast driven into a corner with nowhere left to run, the madness in his eyes growing thicker. "You... forced me to do this!!!"
"Careful, he's going all out!"
Intimidated by his madness, Nagato's heart trembled as he warned the other two.
"Wait... Hanzo, there's no need for this to go so far!"
At that moment, Yahiko's expression changed drastically. He immediately realized something was wrong and shouted, "Konan, Nagato, calm down too! Something isn't right!"
He vaguely sensed that something was off, yet he could not identify the problem no matter how hard he thought.
But unfortunately... no one could listen to him anymore.
Tormented by the nightmare, Konan firmly believed that only by killing Hanzo could she stop that tragic future.
Nagato, who sided with Konan, also believed that Hanzo had to be killed.
And as for the Akatsuki, which had already threatened his position, Hanzo likewise believed that he had to strike back and use thunderous methods to erase those who dared challenge him.
Everyone seemed to have their own reasons.
But... Yahiko could not shake an indescribable feeling.
Everything was too much of a coincidence!
December 18th, sunny.
This hurts... Looks like the first round of recommendations is probably over...
Before you continue