Companions Who Swear to Never Abandon

As the Jonin leading this mission, Mikoto decided to sacrifice herself to buy the quartet of Qingshui time to escape.

"Qingshui, I'm entrusting Ayami and the others to you!"

Mikoto instructed, looking at Qingshui with an apologetic expression.

Originally, Qingshui didn't have to get involved in this mess, but because of her request, he ended up being dragged into Amegakure's conspiracy against Konoha.

Even now, Mikoto firmly believed that this was all Amegakure's scheme.

Because of this, she felt very sorry for Qingshui.

Understanding her thoughts, Qingshui had no intention of leaving. He simply formed a Hand Seal and created a Shadow Clone.

"Minato, the three of you leave here immediately with my Shadow Clone and find Lord Jiraiya to rescue us!"

"Hurry!"

The situation was urgent, and Minato and the others didn't dare to delay. They quickly followed Qingshui's Shadow Clone and left.

"Qingshui, why must you do this? You didn't need to get involved."

Looking at Qingshui, who was staying behind to face Hanzo of the Salamander together, Mikoto's expression was complex.

"We are comrades, aren't we? I will absolutely not abandon a comrade. Have you forgotten?"

Listening to Qingshui's answer, Mikoto recalled an incident during the Second Shinobi World War when they were ambushed by the enemy.

The situation was dire then, and Mikoto had told Qingshui to flee quickly.

Qingshui had said the exact same words back then.

At this moment, it was just like that moment!

Memory and reality overlapped. Looking at Qingshui standing beside her, Mikoto was deeply moved.

"Then let's face the enemy together. This time, we will definitely survive and return!"

"Leave alive? You have only one outcome, and that is to die by my hand today!"

Hanzo of the Salamander's cold voice rang out, and he simultaneously launched his attack.

Seeing this, Qingshui also gripped his Ninja Sword and met the attack.

Clang!

This was the sound of Hanzo's chained Scythe colliding with Qingshui's Ninja Sword.

Although Qingshui's Konoha Style Swordsmanship had reached the Proficient level, it was still far inferior to Hanzo's swordsmanship.

When Hanzo was young, he once fought Mifune of the Iron Country.

At that time, he defeated the opponent with swordsmanship.

You must know that Mifune was a man who could be the general of the Iron Country, so his swordsmanship was naturally not weak.

From this, it can be seen that Hanzo's attainments in swordsmanship were not low.

Therefore, the result of Qingshui confronting him head-on was being repelled with a single blow.

While Qingshui had not yet stabilized his body, Hanzo quickly threw the chain in his hand to entangle Qingshui.

After Qingshui was restrained, Hanzo swung his scythe and slashed downwards.

The scythe was coated with a potent poison.

So, if he were hit, he would either be killed directly by the slash or die from poisoning.

At the critical moment, Qingshui narrowly dodged Hanzo's scythe.

At the same time, he injected Wind Release Chakra into his Ninja Sword, increasing its cutting power, and severed the chain Hanzo used to bind him with a single slash.

This scene caused Hanzo's pupils to contract sharply.

He had originally thought that the unknown Qingshui was just an ordinary ninja, but unexpectedly, he had mastered such powerful Wind Release Nature Transformation.

With such an ability, he could be considered an elite among Jonin.

This made Hanzo have to sigh inwardly at the profound heritage of Konoha, that a ninja who had never been famous before possessed such strength.

Freed from restraint, Qingshui did not dodge. His Ninja Sword's momentum did not decrease, and he continued to move towards Hanzo.

But how could Hanzo, who had already witnessed his prowess, confront him head-on? While dodging sideways, he kicked Qingshui, sending him flying backward.

The next moment, a fierce flame attacked. Hanzo quickly used the Water Body Flicker Technique.

It turned out to be Mikoto's attack.

She had intended to use her Fire Release to attack Hanzo at this opportunity, but unexpectedly, he still reacted and dodged.

Fortunately, it also stopped Hanzo's intention to rush towards Qingshui and deal with him first.

"Are you alright, Qingshui?"

"I'm fine."

As he spoke, Qingshui looked at Hanzo and sighed inwardly.

As expected of the "Demigod," the pinnacle of the current ninja world.

In fact, if he hadn't been worried about exposing his Rinnegan and attracting the attention of Black Zetsu and Uchiha Madara, how could he have been so embarrassed facing Hanzo?

With all his skills unleashed, he wouldn't say he could win against Hanzo, but at least he would be evenly matched.

And once he fully mastered the abilities of the Rinnegan, a mere Hanzo would be insignificant.

Unfortunately, reality was like this.

Compared to Hanzo, Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu were more worthy of his vigilance.

Black Zetsu, needless to say, was a monster who had lived for thousands of years and could easily have a heart-to-heart talk with Six Paths Madara.

Qingshui didn't want to suffer the same fate at some point.

It was better to leave such things for Uchiha Madara, who disliked people standing behind him, to experience.

And although Uchiha Madara was old, who could guarantee that such a powerful expert wouldn't have other means to act personally?

"Mikoto, Hanzo's strength is too great. To deal with him, we need to cooperate like we just did again."

Hearing Qingshui's words, Mikoto immediately understood his meaning.

Without hesitation, Mikoto immediately formed hand seals and used the Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu.

A giant fire dragon was spat out from her mouth.

Great Dragon Fire Jutsu was also a B-rank Fire Style ninjutsu. Compared to Great Fire Annihilation, its attack range was much smaller, making it suitable for dealing with one person in this situation.

And with Qingshui's Wind Style enhancement, the fire dragon became even more powerful, its terrifying high temperature seeming to burn everything.

The surrounding air became scorching hot.

Thus, the fire dragon roared and charged towards Hanzo.

Facing the combined ninjutsu of Qingshui and Mikoto, Hanzo showed no fear, his expression still calm.

"A decent Fire Style, but not enough!"

Before his voice even fell, he had already used the Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu.

Hanzo was very skilled in Water Style ninjutsu, even considered the strongest Water Style user in the current ninja world, surpassing even the Third Mizukage.

Therefore, a giant water dragon appeared and roared towards the fire dragon.

Its power was in no way inferior to the fire dragon.

Boom!

With an explosion, the fire dragon and water dragon canceled each other out.

With his own strength alone, Hanzo blocked the combined ninjutsu of Qingshui and Mikoto.

The name "Demigod" was well-deserved.

Then, the water vapor rapidly dispersed under the impact of the explosion, and the scorching high temperature could even burn human skin.

However, the three people present were all extraordinary in strength and would not be injured by this.

Ninja physiques were already much stronger than ordinary people, almost like two different species.

At the same time, Hanzo's subordinates were not idle either, chasing after Minato and the others who were trying to escape.

Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!

Shadow Clone Qingshui, without a word, directly used ninjutsu to attack the pursuing Rain Ninja.

Qingshui's Water Dragon Bullet was naturally inferior to Hanzo's, but it was more than enough to deal with these Rain Ninja.

Even though there were not a few Jonin among these Rain Ninja.

Jonin from small ninja villages were inherently inferior to Jonin from the Five Great Ninja Villages, and Qingshui's strength was far greater than that of an ordinary Jonin.

So under this attack, these Rain Ninja could only hurriedly dodge.

"Minato, take this, and then take Tomoki and Ayami and go first. I'll hold them back."

As he spoke, Shadow Clone Qingshui handed Minato a Fuma Shuriken.

This was a throwing dart that looked very much like a shuriken, but it was larger and had stronger attack power.