Hanzo of the Salamander

The atmosphere grew tense the moment Salamander Hanzo appeared.

A person's reputation is like the shadow of a tree; it precedes them.

Hanzo was currently hailed as the demigod of the ninja world, a figure standing at the very pinnacle of shinobi.

His taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and swordsmanship were all nothing short of divine.

Combined with the wide-range poisonous mist from Salamander Ibuse beneath his feet, he was quite literally a reaper of lives.

After appearing, Salamander Hanzo locked his gaze directly onto Danzo, his eyes filled with undisguised hatred.

"Danzo, you bastard, you have repeatedly caused chaos in the Land of Rain. Today, your time is up."

Danzo let out a cold snort, ignoring Hanzo entirely, and instead revealed the eye he had been covering all this time.

"Take a look and see if this eye can still be saved."

After carefully examining the eye, Shiraishi Yoshijo frowned and asked, "Poison needle?"

Danzo nodded.

"It's hopeless. The eyeball is already necrotic. If it isn't removed immediately, the toxin will spread, and then it won't just be an eye issue—your brain will be at risk."

In truth, it could still be treated, but he simply didn't want to.

If Danzo's eye weren't blinded, how could he possibly set his sights on the Uchiha? He harbored quite a bit of loathing for the Uchiha, after all.

Shiraishi Yoshijo intentionally painted the worst-case scenario to force Danzo into making a quick decision.

Upon hearing this, Danzo's expression finally turned grim. He took a deep breath and said, "Do it!"

A hint of a smile appeared in Shiraishi Yoshijo's eyes beneath his mask, and then he reached out his hand.

With a sudden burst of force from his fingers, a bloody eyeball was gouged out and held in his palm.

Danzo's veins bulged on his forehead from the pain, and a sharp, murderous intent shot from his remaining eye.

Shiraishi Yoshijo casually tossed Danzo's eye onto the ground and crushed it with his foot.

With a soft "pop," it burst.

The murderous intent in Danzo's single eye grew even more intense.

Shiraishi Yoshijo felt nothing toward Danzo's killing intent.

He was already very strong, strong in every sense of the word.

If he wanted to, he could even unleash a killing aura far sharper than Danzo's.

After medical Ninjutsu was applied, Danzo's complexion gradually began to improve.

Standing atop Salamander Ibuse, Hanzo watched this scene unfold.

He tapped his feet lightly and spoke, "Do it, Ibuse."

Salamander Ibuse opened its mouth.

Purple poisonous mist spewed out from its maw.

Seeing this, Shiraishi Yoshijo immediately pulled out a gas mask and put it on, as did his teammates.

This wasn't just a case of being prepared for a rainy day.

He was now a master of poisons himself; if he didn't carry a gas mask at all times, he might accidentally kill himself.

After suffering a few losses, his teammates had also started carrying gas masks with them.

The poisonous mist spread rapidly, and Danzo could no longer afford to have Shiraishi Yoshijo continue the treatment.

"Retreat!"

Danzo led the Root ninjas, with Hatake Sakumo and the others following closely behind, as they fled toward the border of the Land of Fire.

Because of the poison released by the salamander, the Rain ninjas dared not get close and could only follow from a distance.

Hanzo stood on the salamander and kept pace with them, his gaze fixed firmly on Danzo.

Seeing this, Danzo turned his eyes toward Hatake Sakumo's squad.

"Sakumo, I'm counting on you."

Shiraishi Yoshijo rolled his eyes beneath his mask.

He knew this would happen.

There was nothing to say, though; he wasn't the captain, after all.

Hatake Sakumo stopped and drew the short blade from his back, facing Hanzo.

Hanari, Shincho, and Shiraishi Yoshijo also stopped, turning their gazes toward Hanzo.

The toxicity of the salamander was violent; even with gas masks, they couldn't stay in the poisonous mist for long.

In other words, they had to end this battle quickly.

Shiraishi Yoshijo: "Captain, what did I tell you? Meeting up with Danzo was always going to lead to this."

Hatake Sakumo: "We are the only ones wearing gas masks; this is already the best decision we can make."

Hanari: "Alright, stop complaining. Let's think of a strategy to end this quickly."

Hatake Sakumo: "I will go intercept Hanzo, you two deal with the salamander beneath his feet."

Shiraishi Yoshijo shook his head and said: "It's useless. That salamander can burrow underground, and Captain, are you truly confident that you can defeat Hanzo quickly?"

Hatake Sakumo fell silent.

I knew it would be like this, Shiraishi Yoshijo sighed.

Hatake Sakumo is a close-quarters combatant who specializes in sword techniques, and Hanzo is exactly the same.

Ninjas of their type are often invincible when facing enemies weaker than themselves.

But when facing a ninja of the same type, it usually results in either trading injury for injury or mutual destruction.

Even the best-case scenario is a stalemate.

Hanzo is not alone. Although many Rain Ninjas went to pursue Danzo, Shiraishi Yoshijo can sense at least a dozen more Rain Ninjas in the vicinity.

They are hiding their presence, watching the situation here.

If Hatake Sakumo adopts a strategy of trading injuries, even if their squad manages to defeat Hanzo, they won't be able to handle the remaining Rain Ninjas.

Unless Shiraishi Yoshijo is willing to reveal all his trump cards, but unfortunately, he won't do that.

There is no other way. Shiraishi Yoshijo watched Hanzo getting closer, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.

"Let me try. Let's see if I can make him realize the difficulty and retreat."

Hearing Shiraishi Yoshijo's words, the other three revealed expressions of surprise.

Hatake Sakumo shook his head: "Your Lightning Body Flicker is fast, but you can't beat Hanzo in close combat. Have you forgotten how many times you failed when we sparred?"

Hanari also advised: "It's better to let the Captain go. Even if he gets injured, your medical Ninjutsu can heal him quickly. This is the safest method."

Shiraishi Yoshijo frowned: "Hanzo is not that simple. If the Captain can really trade injuries, that would be fine, but if he fails, he will be completely entangled by Hanzo. At that point, are we going to abandon the Captain and run away?"

"I am the only one here who can approach Hanzo quickly, and even if I fail, I can disengage immediately."

Hatake Sakumo took a deep breath: "What do you intend to do? Unless we help you set up the Flash Thunder Formation, how can you disengage quickly?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo took out several shuriken, extended Chakra threads from his fingers, and connected them together.

When Hatake Sakumo saw the Chakra threads, he seemed to understand something and asked: "You can use the Lightning Body Flicker with Chakra threads too?"

Shiraishi Yoshijo nodded: "Captain, I am no longer the brat I was five years ago."

"I am very strong now, strong in every sense, especially when I get serious."

As Shiraishi Yoshijo said these words, he unsealed five acupuncture points, and the amount of Chakra in his body surged rapidly.

A powerful aura rose instantly!

Hanzo felt this aura, and a solemn expression appeared on his face. He did not continue to approach; instead, he stopped.

"Such an amount of Chakra appearing on a brat like you—Konoha truly is full of talent!"

Feeling Shiraishi Yoshijo's Chakra levels, Hatake Sakumo, Hanari, and Shincho looked at each other and all fell silent.

Shiraishi Yoshijo sighed. It wasn't that he wanted to show off, but things had reached this point, and a decision had to be made.

If Hatake Sakumo were truly entangled, it would not be an easy task to rescue him.

This is the border of the Land of Rain; the longer they drag this out, the more disadvantageous it becomes for them.

He is not the kind of fool who would hide his trump cards while watching the situation deteriorate.

Exposing one or two trump cards is better than exposing them all.

He knows very well what is important and what is not.

When it is time to act, act decisively, or suffer the consequences.

Taking two steps forward, Shiraishi Yoshijo said: "Salamander Hanzo, must it really come to this? Do you truly want to go to war with Konoha?"

Salamander Hanzo snorted coldly: "You know very well how excessive Konoha's actions have been. If we let you continue, the Land of Rain will never have a moment to rise."

Shiraishi Yoshijo shook his head with a sigh: "The rise of the Land of Rain will inevitably impact the Five Great Nations. Do you really not understand the consequences?"

"Consequences? Ask the blade in my hand about the consequences!"

Hanzo took the scythe from his back, gripped it in his hand, and began to emit killing intent.

Shiraishi Yoshijo exhaled a breath of stale air; his "Talk no Jutsu" had failed.

The current Salamander Hanzo has not yet been beaten down by reality and is single-mindedly focused on forging ahead.

When he is forced to accept reality and loses this will, the "demigod" will revert to being a mere man.

A Hanzo who has become a man is nothing more than an old man waiting to die.

But the Hanzo who has not yet lost this will is undoubtedly at his strongest.

Can he really gain an advantage against Hanzo?

Shiraishi Yoshijo doesn't know, but he wants to try.

He raised his hand and pinned a shuriken into the tree beneath his feet, instantly connecting it with Chakra threads.

Hatake Sakumo had already grasped the strategy of Shiraishi Yoshijo, and he asked with concern, "To have to divide your focus to maintain Chakra threads in the middle of a battle—do you really possess that level of Chakra control?"

"Don't worry, Captain. I'm a person who is very afraid of death; I wouldn't do anything I wasn't certain about."

Shiraishi Yoshijo smiled confidently.

The four Butterfly Seeds inside his body had fully matured, and in terms of pure Chakra control, even compared to Uchiha Madara, he would not be much inferior.