Uchiha Chiba made his decision at once. No more waiting. He'd make enough noise and gamble with his life!
"I'll show you something special." Uchiha Chiba grinned.
Then—
Wood Ghost's puzzled gaze swept over Chiba's hand. Suddenly, his pupils contracted, and he swung a punch!
The next second—
BOOM!!!!!
When the smoke cleared,
Uchiha Chiba was barely hurt apart from his face, but his right hand was a bloody mess. Still, with his absurdly powerful healing ability, an injury like this was little more than a scratch.
Wood Ghost wasn't so lucky.
He truly lived up to his reputation as an elite jōnin.
In the few breaths it took the Explosive Tag to heat up,
he'd managed to minimize the damage.
Only his right hand had been blasted into uselessness, and his clothes were charred black.
"Die!" Wood Ghost stopped playing around. He'd always been the one to toy with his prey. He hadn't expected this brat in front of him to outwit him!
He'd let his guard down!
CLANG!!!!!!
Kunai slammed against kunai.
Chiba's body slid backward.
The tremendous force left him struggling to breathe.
"Even if I kill you, I can still find the map. Damn it, I'll get chewed out when I go back. You little brat!" Wood Ghost kicked again.
The already-fractured bone in Chiba's leg took another heavy blow.
The kunai slipped from Uchiha Chiba's hand.
Wood Ghost gritted his teeth as his kunai shot toward Chiba's neck!
Squelch!
The kunai sliced through his neck.
Blood gushed out.
Then—
A tremendous force struck Wood Ghost from behind.
"Water Style: Water Gun!"
BOOM!!!!!
Chiba felt strangely weightless.
Am I going to die?
In the last moment before he closed his eyes, he saw several Amegakure ninja fighting Wood Ghost.
Unnoticed by anyone, a green light flashed across Chiba's body. The wound on his neck healed in an instant, and the rich green light sank into his body. Then, as if nothing had happened, everything continued to flow with time.
A steady dripping sound reached his ears.
The familiar sound of rain.
Uchiha Chiba slowly opened his eyes.
His body had almost completely healed on its own. Everything was intact except for his dantian.
"You're awake, brat." A deep voice sounded.
He looked toward the voice.
A man he'd never expected to see stood not far away—Hanzo the Salamander!
THRUM!!!!!
The chakra of a Super Kage flickered faintly.
It was no exaggeration to say that, on his home turf in the Land of Rain, Hanzo the Salamander's chakra was firmly at the Super Kage level. Outside the Land of Rain, of course, he was merely a bit stronger than an ordinary Kage.
"I..." Uchiha Chiba felt a sharp pain in his throat.
Cough, cough!
He spat out a mouthful of purple blood.
"You're still very weak. Don't speak. Just listen to me. Phew. You're not from Amegakure, are you, brat? When my men brought you back, they found a scrap of your clothes. That was the Uchiha Gunbai, right?" Hanzo the Salamander sat steadily on the sofa, his breathing mask emitting a muffled hiss.
Uchiha Chiba said nothing.
His thoughts were still fixed on the purple blood he'd just spat out.
Poison?
Salamander Toxin?
"I... was poisoned by the salamander." Uchiha Chiba forced the words out through the pain in his throat.
"Oh? You know about the salamander's poison, brat." Hanzo the Salamander rose to his feet, and the presence of a powerful man surged out.
Hanzo the Salamander came over to Uchiha Chiba.
"Your dantian is shattered, but it can be repaired. I deliberately poisoned you. The toxin will gradually repair your dantian in its own way. Once the repair is complete, you'll be able to resist most of the poisons in the world. But in exchange, you'll die if you don't learn my ninjutsu while it's being repaired." Hanzo the Salamander smiled.
Uchiha Chiba: ????
"Why... would you do that?" Uchiha Chiba asked, confused.
"You don't have a Forehead Protector, do you? Besides, if you wanted to return to your village, you'd have run off already. I, Hanzo the Salamander, Demigod of the Ninja World, am currently the most powerful man in the Ninja World. I need a little wolf cub to learn everything I know. I don't care who it is. If I take a liking to someone, I'll even snatch a Konoha shinobi and make him my disciple." There was no emotion in Hanzo the Salamander's eyes; he was simply stating a fact.
Uchiha Chiba recalled Hanzo the Salamander's abilities from the original story: Fire Style: Explosive Flame Formation, the technique that crippled Nagato's legs; the Water Flicker Technique; poison; and... Iaijutsu and his superb skill with the Kusarigama.
Since he'd ended up in the world of Naruto,
using short blades and long swords would be far too ordinary. If he was going to use a weapon, he'd use a Kusarigama!
"Aren't you afraid... the wolf cub won't be tame?" Uchiha Chiba narrowed his eyes, his tone even.
To his surprise,
Hanzo the Salamander burst out laughing at Uchiha Chiba's words.
"If a little wolf cub has what it takes to kill the wolf king, then why shouldn't he take the throne? Besides, I, Hanzo the Salamander, revere strength. The world of the strong has no rigid rules. Hmph." Hanzo the Salamander reached out and placed a hand on Chiba's shoulder.
Chiba's brow furrowed at once.
He could feel the Salamander Toxin coursing through his body.
"Don't be afraid, brat. This is a hundredfold dose of Salamander Toxin that I've brought under control. My chakra has altered it so that it will only strengthen your resistance to poison. In a place like Amegakure, you could be killed by poison at any moment. This is to protect you." Hanzo the Salamander narrowed his eyes.
Then—
Uchiha Chiba felt the blood in his body congeal, and excruciating pain seized him from head to toe.
The pain was like having his skin slowly cut open with a dull knife, then his blood vessels sliced apart bit by bit. The slightest lapse in control could make someone pass out.
At that moment,
Hanzo the Salamander withdrew his hand and suddenly asked, "Brat, why don't you go back to Konoha?"
"Danzo... wants to kill me... My parents are dead, too." Uchiha Chiba gritted his teeth as he answered. There was no point hiding it. Hanzo the Salamander could investigate him, and he wouldn't be able to keep it secret.
Hanzo the Salamander brushed the dust off his clothes, seeming to ponder something.
"For the next three days, come to Amegakure every day. Find me at the training ground. I'll teach you the essence of my abilities. As for Konoha... no. That has nothing to do with you." Hanzo the Salamander's tone was calm.
Then—
A hurried knock sounded from outside the door.
"Lord Hanzo, we've discovered a Konoha scout unit infiltrating the Land of Rain. We've already sent people to kill them. Please review the details." A Rain Ninja's voice came from outside.
Hanzo the Salamander glanced at Chiba, who was struggling against the Salamander Toxin, and remembered when he himself had been implanted with a salamander poison sac... Heh. How ironic. Without the poison sac's support, he might have died long ago.
"I understand," Hanzo the Salamander said toward the door. Then he opened it and left.
The vast room was left with Uchiha Chiba alone.
Before you continue