The Power of a God

"Hanzo, it seems your opponent this time is quite troublesome."

The Salamander beneath Hanzo spoke in a muffled voice.

"Heh, if it weren't for a troublesome enemy, I wouldn't have needed to call you out."

Scanning the Five-Tails Jinchuriki opposite him with a grave expression, Hanzo stated firmly: "We must win this battle. Only by proving that we possess the power to defeat a Jinchuriki, and that we have the lethality to rival one, will other ninja villages refrain from recklessly throwing Jinchuriki into the battlefield. Only then can this war continue."

As he spoke, Hanzo turned his head to glance at the fierce battle raging behind him.

"Besides, it was rare to gain a local combat advantage by catching the Rock Ninja off guard with a surprise attack. As long as we win this, the Rock Ninja will be unable to launch an offensive for some time."

"So, this battle is crucial. I'm counting on you, old friend."

The Salamander beneath Hanzo nodded dully: "Rest assured, I will give it my all."

Just as the great battle was on the verge of erupting, Hanzo's peripheral vision swept across the area, spotting a caravan a kilometer away.

"Civilians? How could there be civilians here?"

One must know that to avoid involving too many ordinary ninjas in their clash, both Hanzo and the Five-Tails Jinchuriki had tacitly chosen to avoid the main battlefield, and the Rain Ninja and Rock Ninja had also instinctively steered clear of their fierce confrontation.

This was why there were almost no ninjas fighting in this particular direction.

Even so, there should still have been many ninjas fighting in the surrounding areas.

Hanzo could not fathom how those civilians had managed to cross the main battlefield and arrive from that direction.

He had no way of knowing that it was precisely because there were so few people fighting in this area that Xia Mu and his group had racked their brains to sneak in.

After a brief moment of astonishment, Hanzo cast the matter aside.

They were just ordinary civilians; compared to the massive battle he was about to engage in, they were utterly insignificant.

Expecting Hanzo to delay his plans out of concern for whether some civilians might be caught in the crossfire was simply impossible.

Quickly forming hand seals, Hanzo muttered: "Fire Style: Explosive Tag Formation!"

Instantly, countless explosive tags appeared beneath the feet of the Jinchuriki in his Five-Tails form, wrapping around his body.

The Five-Tails did not show weakness, immediately unleashing its own ultimate move.

"High-Pressure Steam Wave!"

"Hiss—"

Countless plumes of white, high-pressure steam instantly permeated the entire battlefield.

"Boom!"

Staring blankly at the two massive figures clashing in the distance, Chiba naturally understood who the combatants were.

One was the leader of the Rain Ninja, Hanzo, known as the Demigod, and the other was the top combat power of the Rock Ninja, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki.

As of now, both were among the top-tier combatants in the entire Ninja World. Heaven knows how they had gotten caught up in such a battle, and as ordinary people at that.

Silently watching the dozens-of-meters-tall summoning beast and the transformed state, along with the attack range that engulfed hundreds of meters of the battlefield with every exchange, Chiba couldn't help but tremble.

"This is simply... the power of a god."

Although Chiba knew that the power of the two before him was far from enough to be called divine, and that there were many people stronger than them in future battles, to Chiba at this moment, the combat power they displayed was no different from that of a god.

After a brief moment of stupor, Xia Mu was the first to react.

Watching the massive boulders scattering everywhere due to their intense collision, Xia Mu's eyes were filled with anxiety.

"Go, hurry! It's too dangerous here!"

As he spoke, another massive boulder flew over their heads.

The group finally reacted, scrambling in a panic to board the horse-drawn and ox-drawn carts, fleeing desperately toward the distance.

Soon, the livestock, which had already been running wildly for some time, ran out of stamina and could no longer move.

At this moment, Xia Mu was the first to jump off the cart.

"Run, keep running! Forget the supplies, just get out of here first!"

After another frantic sprint, the group ran another several hundred meters.

Just when everyone thought they were slightly safe, another situation unfolded in the distance.

"Secret Technique: Poison Mist Spray!"

The dozens-of-meters-tall Salamander beneath Hanzo inhaled sharply and then exhaled, spewing out countless clouds of green poison mist. It instantly covered the surrounding hundreds of meters of the battlefield and continued to spread outward.

The Five-Tails opposite felt a hint of pressure from such potent poison mist and hurriedly used its signature jutsu, high-temperature steam, to disperse it.

"High-Pressure Steam: Boiling!"

"Hiss—"

Accompanied by the massive amount of white steam erupting from the Five-Tails Jinchuriki's entire body, Hanzo's poison mist began to thin rapidly, drifting away into the distance.

"This... this is..."

Soon, Chiba and his group saw a vast, boundless expanse of pale green mist surging toward them. Along the way, the livestock they had abandoned earlier collapsed the moment they came into contact with the mist.

Everyone's expression shifted drastically as they began to sprint for their lives.

This time, everyone was truly running with everything they had.

However, the speed at which the mist traveled was simply too fast, and the distance between it and the group was closing rapidly.

Finally, those who had been lagging at the very back were gradually overtaken by the mist.

"Ah—"

Accompanied by a sharp, piercing scream, the few people at the rear of the group struggled and rolled onto the ground, losing their breath almost instantly.

Just then, Chiba, who had been sprinting while holding hands with Xia Mu, suddenly felt a sharp pain in his not-yet-healed leg wound and tumbled to the ground.

Xia Mu froze for a brief moment, looking at Chiba, who had fallen several meters behind him, and then at Izumi, who was trailing even further behind Chiba. He gritted his teeth, scooped up the children closest to him, and continued to sprint desperately toward the distance.

When Chiba finally managed to struggle to his feet after his momentary daze, he realized exactly what had happened.

Watching the green mist now within arm's reach behind him, Chiba's mind went completely blank.