Hunting Rain Ninjas (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

"Whether in combat experience or sheer strength, Hanzō of the Salamander was far ahead."

Indra watched Tsunade tend to the injured Nara Shikaya and the others, then turned and charged toward the Rain ninja.

Hanzō of the Salamander was better left to Tsunade and the others. With Tsunade as their healer and their advantage in numbers, holding him off for a while would not be a problem.

He intended to use this opportunity to claim a few more heads!

Indra activated the Snake Talisman's magic and vanished from where he stood.

"Silken Step!"

His footwork was silent and swift, bringing him before the Rain ninja in an instant.

Every Rain ninja wore a breathing mask, their figures concealed within the poisonous mist as they used it to ambush the Hidden Leaf ninja.

As they clashed with the Hidden Leaf ninja, a sharp silver flash suddenly appeared. Demon Blade Hirumaru pierced through the air, instantly punching through a Rain ninja's heart.

A faint sucking sound came from the blade as it devoured every last bit of the Rain ninja's chakra.

Indra fed Demon Blade Hirumaru with qi every day, and he had long since reached the point where he could control it at will.

With only a slight thought, Demon Blade Hirumaru flew back into his hand.

The chakra absorbed by the demon blade continuously flowed into him. At the same time, Indra gripped the blade in reverse and thrust it behind him.

Pfft!

The Rain ninja who had tried to ambush him from behind was instantly pierced through the throat and froze in place.

"Water Chaos Wave, Water Bullet Technique... that's all?"

Indra looked utterly speechless at the two newly acquired ninjutsu.

The Hidden Rain Village's ninja were far too weak. He had deliberately picked two chunin to kill, yet they knew fewer ninjutsu than he did.

The only two techniques he had not learned were low-level Water Release ninjutsu like these.

Indra directly ignored the Rain ninja at chunin level and fixed his gaze on the few Rain ninja who possessed jonin-level strength.

"Blindness Talisman!"

He flung out a talisman, which transformed into a streak of blue light in midair and shot toward an elite Rain ninja.

The man's vision went black, and he was instantly blinded.

Whoosh!

A piercing sound followed, punching through the elite Rain ninja's body.

"Water Substitute Technique!"

The elite Rain ninja at the original spot turned into a figure of water, while his real body shifted to an open area several meters away.

Still shaken, the elite Rain ninja followed the source of the sound and immediately began forming hand seals in earnest.

"Ox—Monkey—Rabbit—Rat..."

Pfft!

Demon Blade Hirumaru, spinning back through the air, pierced through his back and into his heart once more.

As the demon blade flew back after piercing his heart, Indra gained another new ninjutsu.

"Water Release Ninjutsu [Water Dragon Bullet Technique], a full forty-four hand seals. It'd be better not to use this technique at all."

Indra's expression was one of utter disbelief. Without simplifying the hand seals, this technique was simply unusable.

Other than some overly honest fool, who would wait for an opponent to form that many seals?

Just as Indra prepared to seek out his second target, Kurokawa Mizu, who had been watching this side, stared intently at the humanoid outline visible through the poisonous mist.

As Hanzō of the Salamander's personal guard, he was also the only elite jonin among the Rain ninja forces.

"Water Release: Water Blade Technique!"

Kurokawa Mizu formed hand seals and spat out water. The stream he fired transformed into a sharp blade that slashed diagonally toward Indra.

Before the water blade could reach Indra, the Five Strongmen Talisman stuck to his body suddenly lit up.

Five humanoid ghostly entities flew from the talisman, circling around Indra and forming a protective barrier that blocked the sharp water blade.

The five ghosts immediately transformed into black streaks of light and surged toward Kurokawa Mizu.

Even Kurokawa Mizu, a veteran of countless battles, felt his scalp tingle at such a bizarre sight.

"Water Release: Water Clone Technique!"

Kurokawa Mizu rapidly formed hand seals, and the flowing water beneath his feet turned into clones that charged at the five ghosts.

While the clones held the five ghosts back, he immediately flung several kunai wrapped in explosive tags.

The kunai struck the five ghosts with perfect accuracy and exploded at once.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Amid the violent blasts, the five ghosts were forcibly scattered.

Before Kurokawa Mizu could even catch his breath, Indra revealed himself. Smiling, he pulled another three Five Strongmen Talismans from his ninja tool pouch.

The instant the three talismans glimmered faintly, Kurokawa Mizu's heart sank.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Fifteen ghostly creatures appeared out of thin air and attacked from all directions, cutting off every possible route of escape for Kurokawa Mizu in an instant.

Pale-faced, Kurokawa Mizu still tried to use the Substitution Technique to flee, but Indra, who had anticipated it, twitched his fingers.

Two slender chakra threads shot out and stuck precisely to Kurokawa Mizu's legs.

Unable to break free, Kurokawa Mizu could only form hand seals, attempting one last desperate struggle.

"Water Release: Water Cannon Technique!"

Water spheres shot forth like cannonballs, piercing through and shattering several ghostly creatures. But even more lunged at him, clamping down on his limbs and head before wrenching violently.

Kurokawa Mizu's limbs twisted out of shape, and his head was forcibly torn off. The scene was utterly gruesome.

Indra stepped forward and drove his blade downward, draining every last trace of chakra from his body.

"Water Body Flicker Technique, Water Cannon Technique, Water Blade Technique..." Feeling more than ten additional Water Release ninjutsu appear in his mind, Indra revealed a satisfied expression. "Now this is what you call a proper elite jonin!"

"Kurokawa Mizu!!" Hanzō of the Salamander, who had been keeping Tsunade and the others suppressed, saw his personal guard being killed.

At the same time, he saw Uchiha Mikoto, draped in the Invisibility Haori, slaughtering enemies amid the poison mist.

The nimble and unpredictable Phantom Sword, paired with her two-tomoe Sharingan, had become the perfect weapon for killing.

With a mere swing of her blade, the flowing sword body that shot out cut down several Rain ninja around her.

Besides, the difference in both numbers and strength between the Rain ninja and the Hidden Leaf ninja was simply far too great.

His own results had been outstanding: he had severely wounded the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, killed two Hidden Leaf jonin, and driven back Tsunade and Jiraiya.

Yet in just these few minutes, the Rain ninja under his command had nearly been wiped out.

Grinding his teeth, Hanzō of the Salamander realized that he had not lost—but the Hidden Rain Village had.

"If I'm not getting out of this unscathed, neither will you!"

Hanzō of the Salamander immediately abandoned his fight with Tsunade and the others, turning his sights toward Indra and the remaining Hidden Leaf ninja.

Mutual destruction was better than letting them win alone. He would kill these Hidden Leaf elite ninja and make Hidden Leaf pay the price!

"Ibuse, let's go!"

"Ninja Art: Poison Mist Technique!"

With a low roar from Hanzō of the Salamander, the salamander tunneling beneath the ground burst through the earth, opening its enormous mouth once more as purple-black poison mist spread across the battlefield again.

Standing atop his summoned beast's head, Hanzō of the Salamander removed his breathing mask and exhaled thick poison mist from his mouth.

With the two layers of poison mist overlapping, the toxic haze filling the air was nearly liquefying.

Even the few remaining Rain ninja, despite wearing breathing masks, convulsed and collapsed after taking a breath.

Large numbers of Hidden Leaf ninja also succumbed to the poison and fell. Though they had taken antidote pills, there was simply too much poison mist now!

Tsunade, who had been treating severely wounded jonin, could only hurriedly stop the bleeding before joining Jiraiya in carrying everyone nearby they could take out of the poison mist's range.

"Indra! Mikoto!!"

Looking at the poison mist spreading over the battlefield, Tsunade began to regret bringing them to the front lines.

Holding her breath, she rushed recklessly into the poison mist, intending to rescue the two of them.

But before she could go any deeper, a figure was violently thrown out and landed in her arms.

"Mikoto?!"

Seeing Mikoto unconscious from mild poisoning, Tsunade's face lit up with joy.

Indra's voice followed. "Sensei, get Mikoto out first."

"Indra, you get out here too!" Tsunade shouted anxiously, but the roiling poison mist forced her back.

Indra gave her no chance to say anything more. Manipulating surging telekinetic power, he blasted Tsunade and Mikoto dozens of meters out of the poison mist.