Hanzō of the Salamander looked down at the Rain Ninja, their spirits running high, but there was no joy in his eyes.
He knew how badly Amegakure was outmatched by the Hidden Leaf. All he could do now was force their morale up, lest they start thinking of surrender before they even reached the battlefield.
Now that the Hidden Leaf has pulled out of its war with Sunagakure, I have to hold on to Amegakure.
Hanzō knew that if Tsunade found a way to counter Ibuse's poison, as Chiyo had, Amegakure would lose its last advantage.
He could not turn the tide of battle alone.
That was why he had rallied the Rain Ninja: to launch a surprise attack on the Hidden Leaf camp and crush it before Tsunade developed an antidote.
Even if that failed to turn the war around, it would give Amegakure more leverage.
And if Amegakure still lost, his record would protect him from censure by the Land of Rain's daimyo or the villagers.
"Move out!"
At Hanzō's booming command, the assembled Rain Ninja set off.
To avoid drawing the Hidden Leaf's attention, Hanzō had deliberately chosen the most remote route.
What he could not have foreseen was that Jiraiya and Tsunade were leading a force along that very route to launch their own surprise attack.
The two forces came face-to-face halfway there.
Through his breathing mask, Hanzō stared at Jiraiya and Tsunade across the distance. Surprise showed on both sides.
A heartbeat later, the air between the two forces turned taut.
"Hanzō of the Salamander! What's he doing here?!"
Tsunade had never imagined their surprise attack would bring them straight to him.
She had heard plenty about the man known as the Demigod of the Ninja World.
"Jiraiya and Tsunade of the Hidden Leaf..."
Hanzō frowned. He had not expected to run into them here either.
Tsunade and Jiraiya felt the pressure of facing Hanzō head-on.
Hanzō looked at the Hidden Leaf's elite force of more than fifty, then at his own ragtag band of Rain Ninja. He felt no less pressure.
We're at a disadvantage. ×2
The same thought rose on both sides.
What kind of mess is this? We step outside and run straight into the final boss?
Among the Hidden Leaf fighters, Indra was at a loss for words.
He swiftly pulled a stack of talismans from his ninja tool pouch.
"Five Strongmen Talisman!"
"Heavenly Eye Talisman!"
"Spirit Turtle Talisman!"
Indra slapped talismans all over himself as if scattering candy, then stuck more than a dozen on Mikoto's back.
He had drawn them in advance using the Heaven Communicating Talisman Art. Zheng Zibu had taught him several useful talismans back then.
"Indra, why are you sticking Explosive Tags on yourself?!"
Mikoto grabbed his hand, her face tight with worry.
She did not want him doing anything stupid!
Indra stared at her. She made it sound as though he was about to turn himself into a human bomb.
"They aren't Explosive Tags. They're good stuff," Indra explained quietly, then activated the talismans.
Several talismans on Mikoto's back lit up. Her eyesight, reflexes, strength, speed, and more surged in an instant.
The Five Strongmen and Spirit Turtle Talismans on her also provided constant protection.
Indra had no time to explain further. The battle was about to erupt!
Hanzō acted first. He bit his fingertip and pressed it to the ground.
"Summoning Technique: Salamander Ibuse!"
Boom!
With an explosion that shook the ground, a salamander the size of a house appeared out of thin air.
"Summoning Technique..."
Jiraiya and Tsunade reacted a beat too late. Just as they moved to summon their own beasts, Salamander Ibuse opened his mouth and spewed the dense purple poison mist he had already gathered inside it.
"Too slow, Hidden Leaf ninja!"
Hanzō sneered, his hands flashing through seals.
"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"
Compressed wind-nature Chakra blasted outward in a violent gale!
The already vast cloud of poison surged forward and swallowed the entire Hidden Leaf force.
Faces changed. Everyone hurried to swallow antidote pills.
The antidotes worked, but the highly toxic mist still left their skin tingling and their movements stiff.
"If we keep breathing in this persistent poison, the antidotes will only last ten minutes!" Tsunade shouted to her comrades as she drove her foot into the ground.
Boom!
Her monstrous strength shattered the earth, hurling fragments of stone forward like bullets.
"Is that all you've got?"
Hanzō seized his chain and whipped his sickle around, its blade cutting through the air.
Clang! Clatter!
The sickle knocked aside every stone. Not one touched his clothes.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
In the next instant, the ground beneath Hanzō turned into a vast swamp, trapping his summoned salamander.
That was a feint? Hanzō glanced over and saw that Jiraiya had struck without him noticing. He snorted. "Ridiculous!"
His salamander could burrow underground. A swamp could not hold him.
Jiraiya's cheeks bulged with Chakra-infused oil. He transformed its nature with fire and spat it out.
"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
A blazing fireball shot forth. The oil amplified the flames severalfold!
It struck the swamp dead center and ignited its flammable gas.
Boom!
A roaring pillar of fire rose dozens of meters high, engulfing the entire swamp!
Scalding heat washed over the ninja fifty meters away, forcing their eyes shut.
Indra saw firsthand how terrifying a battle between Kage Level fighters was. An ordinary Jonin would not even be able to get close.
Yet Jiraiya, who had unleashed that inferno, wore no smile.
Hanzō had vanished from the swamp. A Body Flicker Technique brought him right up to Jiraiya.
"Ninja Art: Needle Jizō!"
Jiraiya hardened his long silver hair with Chakra, wrapping it around his body while sending its strands stabbing at Hanzō.
"Shadow Imitation Technique!"
The Ino-Shika-Cho trio of this generation joined the fight. The shadow beneath Nara Shikaya's feet stretched swiftly forward.
Hanzō twisted clear of Jiraiya's wild hair, then leaped back to evade the pursuing shadow.
He had heard of the Nara Clan's secret technique. If Shikaya's shadow overlapped his own, his movements would be restricted. He could not let that happen!
"You're not getting away!"
"Expansion Technique: Full Body!"
With every step Akimichi Qushan took, his bulky body swelled several times over, until he stood eight meters tall.
It was a Yang Release secret technique of the Akimichi Clan, one that could enlarge part or all of the body to unleash tremendous physical strength!
Qushan brought down one palm. The crushing air pressure blew the rain aside, its force surpassing even Tsunade's Heavenly Kick of Pain.
Yamanaka Yūichi seized the opening, formed hand seals, and aimed at Hanzō.
"Mind Body Switch Technique!"
Yūichi sent his consciousness racing in a straight line toward Hanzō's body.
"The Hidden Leaf's Ino-Shika-Cho trio lives up to its reputation!"
Even with four opponents attacking him, Hanzō seemed entirely at ease.
"Ibuse!"
At his low command, Salamander Ibuse burst from the ground, sending Shikaya and Yūichi flying.
The instant their techniques broke, Hanzō swung his sickle and sliced through Jiraiya's long hair like a scythe through wheat.
He lunged forward, dodged Qushan's descending palm, and formed a seal with one hand.
"Fire Release: Explosive Flame Array!"
The Explosive Tags Hanzō had planted beneath his feet came alive, crawling onto Qushan's arms and legs before detonating.
Boom!
In the thunderous explosion, the battle turned on its head!
Before you continue