"In both combat experience and strength, Hanzō of the Salamander was far ahead of them."
Jo watched Tsunade begin treating the injured Nara Shikaya and the others, then turned and headed straight for the Rain Ninja.
He would leave Hanzō of the Salamander to Tsunade and the others. With Tsunade healing them and their advantage in numbers, they could definitely hold him off for a while.
He needed to seize this chance to rack up a few more kills!
Jo activated the Snake Talisman's magic and instantly vanished.
"Silken Step!"
His footsteps were silent and swift, bringing him before the Rain Ninja in an instant.
Every Rain Ninja wore a breathing mask. Concealed within the poisonous mist, they used it as cover to attack the Hidden Leaf shinobi.
As they fought the Hidden Leaf shinobi, a sharp silver gleam flashed. The Demon Blade Hirumaru stabbed through the air, piercing a Rain Ninja's heart in an instant.
A faint sucking sound came from the blade as it devoured every last bit of the Rain Ninja's chakra.
Jo had fed the Demon Blade Hirumaru qi every day and could already control it at will.
With barely a thought, the Demon Blade Hirumaru flew back into his hand.
The chakra absorbed by the blade flowed steadily into him. At the same time, Indra reversed his grip and thrust backward.
Squish!
The Rain Ninja attempting to ambush him from behind froze as the blade pierced his throat.
"Water Chaos Wave, Water Bullet Technique... that's it?"
Jo looked thoroughly unimpressed by the two techniques he had just learned.
Amegakure's shinobi were far too poor in quality. He had specifically chosen two chunin to kill, yet they knew even fewer techniques than he did.
The only two techniques he had not already learned were low-level Water Release ninjutsu like these.
Jo ignored the remaining chunin-level Rain Ninja outright and fixed his sights on the handful with 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. Both eyes were instantly blinded.
Whoosh!
The sound of something cutting through the air followed, and a blade pierced the elite Rain Ninja's body.
"Water Substitute Technique!"
The elite Rain Ninja turned into a figure of water, while his real body shifted to an open patch of ground several meters away.
Still shaken, the elite Rain Ninja followed the source of the sound and immediately began dutifully forming hand seals.
"Ox—Monkey—Hare—Rat..."
Squish!
The Demon Blade Hirumaru curved back through the air and pierced his heart from behind.
As the demon blade flew back after piercing his heart, Indra acquired a new technique.
"Water Release ninjutsu: Water Dragon Bullet Technique. A full forty-four seals. You'd be better off not using this technique at all."
Jo looked utterly speechless. Without simplifying its hand seals, this technique was practically unusable.
Who besides some hopelessly honest fool would wait for an opponent to form that many seals?
Just as Indra prepared to search for his second target, Kurokawa Mizu, who had been watching this side of the battle, stared intently at the human silhouette showing through the poisonous mist.
As Hanzō of the Salamander's personal guard, he was also the only elite jonin among the Rain Ninja.
"Water Release: Water Blade Technique!"
Kurokawa Mizu formed hand seals and spat out water. The stream transformed into a sharp blade and slashed diagonally toward Indra.
Before the water blade could reach Indra, the Five Strongmen Talisman attached to his body suddenly lit up.
Five humanoid spirits flew out of the talisman and circled Indra, forming a protective barrier that blocked the sharp water blade's slash.
The five spirits then transformed into streaks of black light and swept toward Kurokawa Mizu.
The eerie sight sent a chill down even the battle-hardened Kurokawa Mizu's spine.
"Water Release: Water Clone Technique!"
Kurokawa Mizu swiftly formed hand seals. The flowing water beneath his feet turned into clones that charged at the five spirits.
While the clones held the spirits back, he immediately flung several kunai wrapped in Explosive Tags.
The kunai struck the five spirits precisely, then exploded in an instant.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Amid the deafening blasts, the five spirits were forcibly dispersed.
But before Kurokawa Mizu could catch his breath, Indra appeared. Smiling, he pulled another three Five Strongmen Talismans from his ninja tool pouch.
The moment those three talismans began to glow faintly, Kurokawa Mizu's heart sank.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Fifteen spirits appeared out of thin air and attacked from every direction, sealing off all of Kurokawa Mizu's escape routes in an instant.
His face deathly pale, Kurokawa Mizu tried to escape with the Substitution Technique, but Indra had anticipated that and curled his fingertips.
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 in a desperate final struggle.
"Water Release: Water Cannon Technique!"
Balls of water shot out like cannon shells, piercing and shattering several spirits. But more spirits lunged at him, clamping onto his limbs and head before wrenching them violently.
Kurokawa Mizu's limbs twisted out of shape, and his head was forcibly wrenched off. It was a gruesome sight.
Jo stepped forward and thrust his blade down, draining every last trace of chakra left in his body.
"Water Body Flicker Technique, Water Cannon Technique, Water Blade Technique..." Sensing no fewer than ten new Water Release techniques in his mind, Indra smiled in satisfaction. "Now that's a proper elite jonin!"
"Kurokawa Mizu!!" Hanzō of the Salamander, who had been overwhelming Tsunade and the others, saw his personal guard killed.
At the same time, he saw Uchiha Mikoto, clad in the Invisibility Haori, slaughtering her way through the poisonous mist.
The agile, unpredictable Phantom Sword, paired with her two-tomoe Sharingan, had become the perfect killing weapon.
With a mere swing of her sword, Mikoto sent its flowing-water blade shooting out, cutting down several Rain Ninja around her.
Besides that, the Rain Ninja and the Konoha Ninja were far too unevenly matched in both numbers and strength.
His own achievements had been impressive: he had gravely wounded the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, killed two Hidden Leaf jonin, and driven back Tsunade and Jiraiya.
Yet in those same few minutes, the Rain Ninja under his command had been almost completely wiped out.
Gritting his teeth, Hanzō of the Salamander realized that he had not lost, but Amegakure had.
"If I suffer, you won't get off easy either!"
Hanzō of the Salamander immediately abandoned his battle against Tsunade and the others, turning his sights on Indra and the remaining Konoha Ninja instead.
Mutual defeat was better than letting one side win. He would kill these elite Hidden Leaf shinobi and make the Hidden Leaf pay!
"Ibuse, let's go!"
"Ninja Art: Poison Mist Technique!"
Hanzō of the Salamander growled. Ibuse, who had been moving underground, burst out of the earth and opened his enormous mouth again, filling the battlefield once more with purplish-black poisonous mist.
Standing atop his summoned beast's head, Hanzō of the Salamander removed his breathing mask and exhaled a thick cloud of poisonous mist.
With the two layers overlapping, the poisonous mist in the air was almost dense enough to liquefy.
Even with their breathing masks on, the few surviving Rain Ninja convulsed after taking a breath and collapsed.
Large numbers of Konoha Ninja also succumbed to the poison and fell. Although they had taken antidote pills, there was simply too much poisonous mist now!
Tsunade, who had been treating a gravely injured jonin, could only hastily stop the bleeding before joining Jiraiya in carrying everyone they could out of the poisonous mist.
"Jo! Mikoto!!"
Tsunade stared at the poisonous mist blanketing the battlefield and began regretting bringing them to the front lines.
Holding her breath, she rushed recklessly into the poisonous mist, trying to rescue them.
But before she could venture far into it, a figure was suddenly hurled out and landed in her arms.
"Mikoto?!"
Seeing that Mikoto had only suffered mild poisoning and passed out, Tsunade's face lit up with relief.
Jo's voice followed. "Teacher, take Mikoto out first."
"Jo, you get out here too!" Tsunade shouted anxiously, but the churning poisonous mist forced her back.
Giving her no chance to speak further, Indra unleashed a surge of telekinetic power, pushing Tsunade and Mikoto dozens of meters clear of the poisonous mist.
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