Both Sides Are at a Disadvantage

Looking down at the Rain ninja, whose emotions were running high, Hanzō of the Salamander felt no joy in his eyes.

He knew full well the gap in raw strength between the Hidden Rain Village and the Hidden Leaf. For now, he could only forcibly raise morale like this, lest they start thinking of surrendering before even reaching the battlefield.

"Now that the Hidden Leaf has disengaged from the Hidden Sand Village's battlefield, I must protect this little patch of land that is the Hidden Rain Village."

Hanzō of the Salamander knew that once Tsunade cracked the salamander's poison, just as Chiyo had, the Hidden Rain Village would lose its last advantage.

By himself, he simply had no way to influence the course of the war.

This mobilization speech was meant to rally the Rain ninja and lead them in a surprise attack on the Hidden Leaf camp before Tsunade could develop an antidote, crushing it in one fell swoop.

Even if that could not turn the tide of the war, it would at least win more bargaining chips for the Hidden Rain Village.

Even if the Hidden Rain Village lost afterward, his achievements would be there for all to see. Neither the Land of Rain's daimyo nor the people in the village could impeach him.

"Move out!"

Following Hanzō of the Salamander's booming command, the assembled Rain ninja immediately set off.

To avoid drawing the Hidden Leaf's attention, Hanzō of the Salamander had deliberately chosen the most remote route.

What Hanzō of the Salamander had not anticipated was that Jiraiya and Tsunade happened to be leading a force this way for their own surprise attack.

The two groups met face-to-face halfway there.

Wearing a respirator mask, Hanzō of the Salamander stared at Jiraiya and Tsunade from afar. Both sides wore stunned expressions.

The next second, the atmosphere between the two forces became incomparably tense.

"Hanzō of the Salamander! Why is he here?!"

Tsunade had never expected to run into the enemy on this surprise raid.

She had long heard of the fearsome reputation of this demigod of the ninja world.

"Jiraiya and Tsunade of the Hidden Leaf..."

Hanzō of the Salamander frowned deeply. He too had not expected to encounter them halfway through.

Jiraiya and Tsunade felt immense pressure at the prospect of facing Hanzō of the Salamander head-on.

Seeing the Hidden Leaf's elite force of more than fifty men, then looking at his own hastily cobbled-together Rain ninja squad, Hanzō of the Salamander felt immense pressure as well.

"What a terrible matchup." ×2

That thought surfaced in both sides' minds.

"What kind of messed-up situation is this? Running into the final boss the moment we step outside?"

Indra, mixed in among the Hidden Leaf's ranks, was utterly speechless as well.

He swiftly pulled out a stack of talismans from his ninja tool pouch.

"Five Strongmen Talisman!"

"Heavenly Eye Talisman!"

"Spirit Turtle Talisman!"

Like scattering candy beans, Indra plastered talismans all over himself, then stuck more than a dozen onto Mikoto's back as well.

He had drawn all of them in advance using the Heavenly Register. Back when he studied under Zheng Zibu, he had also learned several quite useful talismans.

"Indra, why are you sticking explosive tags all over yourself?!"

Mikoto nervously grabbed Indra's hand, her face filled with worry.

She did not want Indra to do something stupid!

Indra's face darkened. Mikoto made it sound as if he were about to become a human bomb.

"They're not explosive tags. They're good stuff," Indra explained quietly before activating the talismans.

Several talismans on Mikoto's back lit up, instantly giving her a tremendous boost in vision, reflexes, strength, speed, and more.

At the same time, the Five Strongmen Talisman and Spirit Turtle Talisman on her body continuously provided protective defense.

Indra had no time to explain further. Battle was about to break out at any moment!

Hanzō of the Salamander acted first and without hesitation, biting his fingertip and pressing it to the ground.

"Summoning Technique: Salamander Ibuse!"

BANG!!!

With an explosive boom, a salamander as large as a house appeared out of thin air.

"Summoning Technique..."

Jiraiya and Tsunade were half a beat too slow. Just as they were about to summon their own creatures, Salamander Ibuse, which had already gathered poisonous mist in its mouth, opened its jaws and spewed out a thick purple cloud of poison.

"You're still too slow, Hidden Leaf ninja!"

Hanzō of the Salamander sneered, his hands flashing through seals.

"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"

Wind-natured chakra compressed, instantly forming a violent gale that blasted forth!

The already vast toxic mist churned forward, instantly engulfing the entire Hidden Leaf force.

Everyone's expressions changed drastically as they hurriedly took antidote pills.

Even with the antidotes taking effect, after being touched by the highly toxic mist, everyone still felt their skin go numb and their movements grow somewhat stiff.

"If we keep inhaling this persistent poison, the antidotes will only hold for ten minutes at most!"

Tsunade loudly warned her companions as she forcefully stepped forward.

BOOM!!!

Her terrifying brute strength shattered the ground, sending shards of stone flying forward like bullets.

"Is that all you've got?"

Hanzō of the Salamander grabbed the chain and swung his scythe fiercely, its whistling arcs brimming with force.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The dense barrage of stones was all blocked by the scythe, unable to so much as touch Hanzō of the Salamander's clothes.

"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"

In the next instant, the ground beneath Hanzō of the Salamander turned into a massive swamp, instantly trapping his salamander summon within.

"That was a feint?" Hanzō of the Salamander swept his gaze over and saw that Jiraiya had attacked at some unknown point. He snorted coldly. "Ridiculous!"

His salamander could burrow underground and had no fear of being restrained by a swamp.

Jiraiya's cheeks were puffed out, filled with chakra-refined oil. After undergoing Fire-nature transformation, it was violently sprayed out.

"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"

The scorching fireball blasted out instantly. The combination of oil and flames amplified its power severalfold!

The Flame Bullet struck the swamp dead center, igniting the flammable marsh gas in one stroke.

BOOM!!!

A roaring pillar of flame surged upward, dozens of meters high, covering the entire Swamp of the Underworld!

The scorching heatwave rushed toward them, making the shinobi fifty meters away unable to open their eyes.

Indra also saw firsthand just how terrifying a battle between Kage-level fighters was. Ordinary jōnin were not even qualified to approach.

Yet Jiraiya, who had caused such a tremendous spectacle, showed no hint of a smile.

Hanzō of the Salamander's figure had already vanished from atop the Swamp of the Underworld, and with a Body Flicker, he had charged straight before them.

"Ninja Art: Needle Jizō!"

Jiraiya used chakra to harden his silver hair, wrapping it around his body while controlling it to stab toward Hanzō of the Salamander.

"Shadow Imitation Technique!"

This generation's Ino-Shika-Cho trio immediately made their move, Nara Shikaya's shadow rapidly stretching forward beneath his feet.

Hanzō of the Salamander twisted aside to evade Jiraiya's wildly lashing hair, then leaped backward to avoid the shadow's pursuit.

He had also heard of the Hidden Leaf's Nara clan secret technique. Once the opponent's shadow overlapped with his own, his movements would be restricted. He could not afford to let his guard down!

"Don't even think about running!"

"Expansion Technique: Full Body!"

With every step Akimichi Qushan took forward, his fat body expanded severalfold, until he became an eight-meter-tall small giant.

This was the Akimichi clan's Yang Release secret technique, capable of enlarging part or all of the body and unleashing immense physical strength!

With just one palm strike from Akimichi Qushan, the terrifying wind pressure blasted apart the curtain of rain, its power surpassing even Tsunade's Heavenly Foot of Pain.

Yamanaka Yūichi took the opportunity to form hand seals, aiming at Hanzō of the Salamander.

"Ninja Art: Mind Body Switch Technique!"

Yamanaka Yūichi released his spirit, which shot forward in a straight line toward Hanzō of the Salamander's body.

"Hidden Leaf's Ino-Shika-Cho trio truly is extraordinary!"

Though besieged by four people, Hanzō of the Salamander still appeared completely at ease.

"Ibuse!"

He gave a low shout, and the salamander Ibuse, which had long since burrowed underground, suddenly burst from the earth and instantly sent Nara Shikaya and Yamanaka Yūichi flying.

The instant their ninjutsu was interrupted, Hanzō of the Salamander swung his scythe, cutting through Jiraiya's long hair as though harvesting wheat.

Hanzō of the Salamander then lunged forward, dodging Akimichi Qushan's palm strike while forming hand seals with one hand.

"Fire Release: Explosive Flame Array!"

The explosive tags that had just been planted beneath Hanzō of the Salamander's feet crawled onto Akimichi Qushan's arms and legs as if alive, then detonated instantly.

BOOM!!!

Amid the massive explosion, the battle situation was reversed in an instant!