Thud!
Thud!
The Amegakure ninja around them-even the remnants of Root lurking in hiding-
felt as though an invisible sledgehammer had struck their chests beneath that crushing pressure. They spat blood and fell to their knees, unable even to raise their heads!
Although Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato were not at the center of that pressure,
their breath still caught, as though an immense weight pressed down on their hearts. Their faces instantly turned deathly pale.
Hanzō, who bore the brunt of it, felt as though he had been thrown into an ice pit. His blood froze, and his soul trembled.
He had spent his life fighting and had encountered countless powerful opponents. He had even faced the Third Raikage and the Third Hokage in their prime.
Yet he had never felt such pure, despair-inducing pressure from a superior being.
This was not an aura any human could possess!
Was this... a god?
Even the legendary Uchiha Madara and the First could not compare to the slightest fraction of this man's power.
"A god..." Hanzō squeezed the words through clenched teeth. The last trace of fighting spirit and pride in his lone eye shattered completely.
Run.
He had to run.
Get out of here! Get as far from this blond god as possible!
The Land of Rain, his title of Demigod, his ambitions of conquest... none of it mattered beside his life!
"Substitution Technique!"
He used the last of his chakra to activate the Substitution Technique.
Bang!
A cloud of smoke burst outward. Hanzō vanished from where he stood and reappeared at the canyon's edge, dozens of meters away.
He could not even spare a thought for the searing pain in his severed arm and cheek. He turned and sprinted desperately into the canyon.
Dignity, appearances-he no longer cared about any