Fierce Battle with Hanzo the Salamander

A flash of light swept past, and Hanzo the Salamander watched in astonishment as the boy before him donned a suit of white armor, his cape snapping violently in the wind.

Yusuke held a long spear with a crimson blade, a red gemstone embedded in the center of the spearhead; light swirled within it like a blood-red eyeball.

He had entered [Incursio: First Stage].

Yet, while Yusuke appeared imposing in the eyes of others, he was actually enduring the immense burden of the armor against his own skin.

Especially since his neural reflexes were far beyond those of an ordinary person.

The sensation of his internal organs being compressed, the agonizing tremors and groans of his bones and muscles—to him, it was nothing short of torture.

Because Tsunade was lying in his arms, she was the first to feel Yusuke's trembling body.

But she was powerless to help; Tsunade could barely protect herself, and she could only use medical ninjutsu to stimulate her own cells to resist the encroaching toxins.

In this state, my limit is only five minutes.

Yusuke made his decision. Daring not to waste time, he pressed Tsunade against the wall and turned to strike at Hanzo.

"Is this a divine artifact?"

Seeing Yusuke's transformation, Hanzo had already grown wary.

However, he still underestimated Yusuke; with the augmentation of Incursio, Yusuke's speed had been greatly enhanced.

With a flash of white light, he charged right in front of Hanzo.

Hanzo the Salamander's pupils constricted. Yusuke's raw physical speed had reached the level of a Kage; if he had any other ninjutsu enhancements, even an average Kage would find it difficult to react.

Facing the sudden surge in Yusuke's speed, he was clearly caught off guard and hurriedly raised his scythe to block.

Yusuke swung the spear, Red-Backed Shrike, in a heavy, powerful downward strike.

With a metallic clang, sparks flew where Red-Backed Shrike met Hanzo's scythe, shining brilliantly even in the rainy night.

Hanzo, who had been standing on the roof, was smashed directly into the building.

"Lord Hanzo, are you alright!" the ninja behind Hanzo shouted in alarm. He glared viciously at Yusuke and ordered, "Go, capture that woman first!"

But a cold light flashed, and the ninja felt the world spin; his headless corpse collapsed to the ground.

"All of you, back off!"

Hanzo roared as he leaped out of the building.

It wasn't that he was a man of honor who insisted on a fair duel.

He was worried that if anyone dared to threaten that woman, this kid might charge into the crowd and slaughter every ninja by his side.

These Amegakure ninjas were his assets for the upcoming ninja war; he could not afford to lose so many here.

From the way Yusuke had set up contingencies at the Amegakure Building, it was clear he was a cautious man who valued his life.

How could a man who valued his life die for someone else? He had only returned this time because he had bargaining chips to trade.

At this moment, Tsunade was more like a tether holding Yusuke back.

If they attacked Tsunade, it would clearly be like opening the cage for a wild beast.

Hanzo's mind raced, and he reached a conclusion: He cannot maintain this mode for long, otherwise he would have used it sooner instead of waiting until now.

All he had to do was wear his opponent down.

Hanzo shook his numb arm and said calmly, "Not bad strength."

He was even more interested in the armor on Yusuke: "Kid, hand over your divine artifact, and I'll let both of you go. How about it?"

"You like it? If you like it, come and take it yourself!" Yusuke charged forward again.

Having experienced the sudden assault, Hanzo the Salamander had adapted much better this time.

He mostly relied on dodging, only using his weapon to block when he had no other choice.

Yusuke also realized the opponent's intent; it was clearly a plan to exhaust him.

He cursed under his breath: "What a cunning old fox."

The battle between the two intensified. Three minutes had already passed, and the pressure from the armor made Yusuke feel as if he were bleeding internally; a metallic taste of rust spread through his mouth.

I can't drag this out any longer. Yusuke made his move.

He lunged forward once more, thrusting his spear straight at his opponent.

"Hey, kid, I've already found your opening. You can't keep this state up for long, can you?"

Although Hanzo didn't know how much longer Yusuke could maintain this mode, it didn't stop him from using verbal attacks to goad him into making a mistake.

Hanzo had grown accustomed to the boy's speed; if the opponent had no other tricks, he could easily wear Yusuke down to death.

However, Yusuke's thrust this time held a hidden secret.

"Genjutsu: Mist Servant Technique!"

The glowing red spearhead vibrated rapidly before Hanzo's eyes, splitting from one into two, two into four, four into eight; in an instant, his vision was filled with the shadows of the spear.

"This is... Genjutsu?!"

"Damn it, when did he!"

Hanzo the Salamander scrambled backward, simultaneously severing his own chakra flow.

The sky full of spear shadows vanished, but one long spear had already lunged before his chest, aiming straight for his heart.

At this moment, Hanzo had no choice but to sacrifice the pawn to save the king; he twisted his body in mid-air, dodging the lethal strike by a hair's breadth.

The two figures crossed paths, and a spray of blood erupted in the sky.

Hanzo the Salamander clutched his injured shoulder, widening the distance once more.

This attack had torn off half his shoulder, and the searing pain made his eyes flicker with murderous intent.

"Hanzo, are you still confident that after defeating me, you can go to the front lines and bring back those ninjas from Amegakure?"

Yusuke's raspy voice rang out. The tables had turned; this time, it was Yusuke goading Hanzo the Salamander.

Hanzo's expression grew even uglier as he calculated internally: This brat has finally spoken, which means his own time is running out.

Although I am confident I can still drag him to his death, I don't know what other trump cards he might have, or if I will be injured again.

If I get injured once more, this sneak attack on the ninja forces in the Land of Iron will truly become a one-way trip.

He let out a cold snort and made his decision: "Brat, I'll count this as your win."

He pulled an antidote from his pocket, tossed it to Yusuke, and strode away.

Yusuke let out a sigh of relief. He caught the antidote thrown by his opponent, flashed to Tsunade's side, scooped her up, and turned to leave without a moment's hesitation.

Hanzo the Salamander returned to the Amegakure Building, where the bleeding from his wound gradually stopped under the care of medical ninjas.

He instructed his trusted aide, Shindatsu the Salamander, who was by his side: "Send out ninja hounds and three squads of ninjas to track those two."

"They are at the end of their rope, but do not get too close to avoid a desperate counterattack. Just tail them from a distance and wear them down until they die."

"Amegakure needs you to hold the fort. I must make a trip to the Land of Iron to bring our troops back."

Shindatsu the Salamander, the confidant beside Hanzo, hurriedly said: "Lord Hanzo, I can go instead. You are severely injured; you should stay in the village and recuperate."

Hanzo said with some helplessness: "I may encounter Konoha forces on this trip. If you go, you won't be able to bring them back safely."

This was the disadvantage of Amegakure; although they had produced a demigod in Hanzo the Salamander, they had no other decent ninjas to show for it.

"Yes."

Shindatsu the Salamander lowered his head in shame and left to carry out the order.

On the other side, Yusuke was running rapidly through the forest, holding Tsunade.

The antidote had already been administered to Tsunade, and the purple-black hue on her arm was slowly fading.

However, her body, eroded by the toxins, had not recovered that quickly, and her face remained deathly pale.

This actually gave the usually bold and magnanimous Tsunade a touch of delicate charm.

The two did not engage in any melodramatic, sappy dialogue about how one shouldn't have come but did anyway, followed by intimate confessions.

At this moment, Yusuke's leather armor had already faded away. He had kept [Incursio: Stage One] active for over four and a half minutes, pushing toward his five-minute limit.

The overloaded operation of Incursio had caused severe internal damage to Yusuke.