It seemed he had been too hasty...
Hanzo looked at the three below him. During the days he had personally taken the field, these three were among the few on Konoha's side still able to stand before him.
Amegakure simply had too few outstanding fighters. Other than himself, none of his subordinates could shoulder great responsibility...
Having thought this through, Hanzo of Amegakure spoke in a hoarse voice.
"At the end of this war, I fear you Konoha ninja will be the ones to claim victory. So I'll spare you this time..."
Supported to her feet by Tsunade, Jiraiya shouted indignantly.
"We don't need your pity! We can still fight!"
Tsunade immediately stopped Jiraiya, telling him not to act rashly.
"Jiraiya, stop it!"
Hanzo did not take back his decision to spare them because of Jiraiya's words. Instead, he continued calmly.
"You three are all very powerful. To survive after fighting me... from this day forth, I, Hanzo, shall call you the 'Legendary Sannin.' As the price of survival, each of you must bear the weight of your own renown."
After saying that, Hanzo departed with the remaining Amegakure ninja. The surviving Konoha ninja did not try to stop them either, as they too were at the end of their strength.
They could all see that Amegakure's final outcome would be defeat. Now that Hanzo had taken the initiative to declare a ceasefire, they could not have wished for anything more.
If Hanzo had wanted to continue the war against Konoha, Konoha would have had to pay a terrible price to achieve victory as well.
Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru sat in a spacious cave, eating dry bread.
The other Konoha ninja had also received Orochimaru's orders and returned to their camp.
Jiraiya took a bite of the dry bread