So You're Hanzo, Huh?

In the southern Land of Rain, inside Konoha's temporary camp.

Tsunade was studying an antidote using samples of poisoned ninja tools and the corpses of poisoned victims Hatake Sakumo had brought back.

"Tsunade, how much longer will it take to prepare the antidote? The poisoned ninjas' wounds have almost all rotted away, and lesions are appearing on other parts of their bodies, too. Several couldn't withstand the poison and have already died from it..."

Hyuga Getsumune, the current head of the Hyuga Clan, stood outside Tsunade's tent, urging her anxiously.

"Don't worry. Have some faith in Tsunade's abilities. Repeatedly rushing her won't help. If you distract her, you might even slow down her research."

Though Hyuga Getsumune understood Akimichi Torifu's advice, he couldn't settle down. The heir of the Main Family's Second Elder branch was now lying in intensive care, and the thought left him on edge.

"This is all the old man's fault! If he'd approved my proposal to train more medical ninjas, the antidote would've been ready by now!"

Her voice came before she did.

Tsunade then stepped out of the tent with her arms folded, accompanied by an assistant. The ninja was carrying a whole box of test tubes, and the blue-green liquid inside was obviously the latest antidote to Sunagakure's poison.

In the northern Land of Rain, the sky was always so gloomy. Fine rain drifted down like strands of silk, veiling the land in mist.

On one side of the Land of Rain, Shimura Danzō and Salamander Hanzo were locked in a fierce battle.

Danzō's eyes were cold and menacing. He rapidly formed Hand Seals, sending countless invisible blades of wind shrieking toward Hanzo.

Hanzo moved nimbly, darting between the blades like a phantom as he formed Hand Seals.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

A giant salamander appeared on the battlefield. Standing atop its head, Hanzo looked down at Shimura Danzō.

"Go, Ibuse! Use your poison mist!"

Purple smoke poured from Ibuse's gaping jaws, rapidly rolling toward Danzō like a tide.

"Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!"

"Baku, use Wind Release: Devouring!"

As Shimura Danzō rapidly formed Hand Seals, a strange creature with tiger paws, an ox's tail, an elephant's trunk, and a rhino's eyes appeared behind him.

Baku opened its mouth and swallowed all the poison mist in an instant.

Seeing Baku deal with the poison mist so easily, Danzō let out a scornful laugh.

"So you're Hanzo, huh? Hmph! I'll take you down in five minutes!"

The Chain Sickle in Hanzo's hand gleamed in the rain. Seizing the brief opening in Danzō's defense, he dashed forward like lightning, his blade aimed straight at Danzō's throat.

Danzō reacted quickly and dodged to the side, but the blade still cut his cheek, and blood ran down at once.

Gritting his teeth, he rapidly formed Hand Seals again.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"

The battle reached a fever pitch. Both sides fought with murderous fury.

Hanzo unleashed powerful Nintaijutsu, combining Water Body Flicker with the Chain Sickle to attack with all his might. Even though Danzō defended himself with everything he had, he couldn't fend off every blow.

At this critical moment, Hanzo seized his chance and struck Danzō with a powerful blow.

"Ninja Art: Chain Sickle Double Strike!"

Though Danzō blocked the fast-approaching metal weight with his Kunai, he couldn't dodge the second sickle strike. There was a sharp crack as his right hand took a devastating hit. Blood poured from it, and his hand hung limp at his side.

"I missed. You won't be so lucky next time! Hmph!"

Seeing that he'd only gravely injured Danzō's right hand, Hanzo let out a dissatisfied snort and attacked again.

"Fire Release: Exploding Flame Formation!"

At last, he had driven Danzō into the position he'd been aiming for, and Hanzo unleashed the jutsu he'd been preparing all along.

A large number of Explosive Tags burst from the ground and clung tightly to Danzō.

Danzō tried to escape the trap with the Body Flicker Technique, but the pain and discomfort from his injured right hand kept him from dodging the attack completely.

His right hand, which had been pouring blood, was now charred by the intense heat of the exploding Explosive Tags. Even the entire right side of his body had suffered burns.

After gravely injuring Danzō, Salamander Hanzo eyed Orochimaru and Jiraiya, who were slaughtering Rain Ninja on the battlefield, along with a slight, red-haired figure. After much deliberation, Hanzo decided to let Danzō go in exchange for Konoha withdrawing its forces. The clash between the two sides temporarily came to an end.

Danzō bore the pain and stared at his charred right hand, his eyes full of resentment and malice. He pressed his remaining left hand against the wound, slowly turned, and disappeared into the rain.

Hanzo remained where he was, warily watching the direction the Konoha ninjas had retreated. Only after they had vanished from sight did he let out a long sigh.

"Small nations have nothing compared to the number of talented young people in the great nations—especially Konoha. That red-haired brat from earlier, he was from the Uzumaki Clan, wasn't he? He looked no older than eleven or twelve, yet he killed several Chunin and even a Special Jōnin! Damn brat! Damn Konoha! Damn great nations!"

In the northern Land of Rain, Orochimaru and Jiraiya returned to Konoha's temporary camp with the gravely injured Danzō.

When the Konoha ninjas saw Danzō's terrible condition, they frowned and immediately sent people to treat him. At the same time, they called an emergency meeting.

"We suffered heavy losses in this battle. Danzō's injuries are severe, and facing Amegakure with Salamander Hanzo in command will be even more difficult," Jiraiya said, his face filled with worry.

Orochimaru's eyes were cold. "We'll have to come up with a new battle plan. We can't keep attacking so recklessly. And in his current condition, Elder Danzō can no longer serve as the overall commander of the battlefield. Our top priority is to ask Teacher Sarutobi who should take over as the new commander of the Amegakure front..."

"Have the Root operatives escort Elder Danzō back to the village. Those heartless people wouldn't be much use on the battlefield anyway. They don't just abandon their fellow Konoha ninjas to die—they even use them as bait. Without them, we wouldn't have suffered such heavy losses these past few days!"

Uchiha Tarken spoke with fury. Whenever he mentioned Danzō and Root, his expression grew so vicious that he looked ready to tear them apart with his bare hands.

From his perspective, Danzō's Root operatives had only come to cause trouble. He had seen several members of his clan used as human shields by Root ninjas, only to die in battle. The sight had filled him with rage.

But with the situation on the battlefield changing in an instant and no concrete evidence, his anger had nowhere to go.

The ninjas from smaller clans like the Gekko Clan and the Kurama Clan agreed with Uchiha Tarken. But because Shimura Danzō was the battlefield's overall commander and an aide to the Hokage, they dared not voice their anger.

There was more. Tarken even suspected that Danzō was involved in the mysterious disappearances of several of his clansmen, but he kept that to himself...

After all, those missing clansmen of his were all elite fighters who had awakened the Three Tomoe Sharingan. They'd vanished without a trace, and Uchiha Tarken wouldn't believe for a second that Shimura Danzō, who was responsible for issuing missions, had nothing to do with it!

After having his wounds treated, Danzō immediately set about calling everyone to a meeting.

When he learned that all the jonin had gathered in the central command tent, Danzō had been pleased. He was satisfied that they'd arrived early to await his orders.

But when he found out they'd been discussing replacing the overall commander of the Amegakure front, his once-pleased expression darkened as if rain were about to drip from his face.