The Three Ninja, Part One

The dust had settled on the western front. Hidden Sand Village had withdrawn from the Land of Rain, and Konoha's flags flew over the strongholds they had abandoned. Communication lines had been restored. By the time the news reached the northern front, Orochimaru was locked in a standoff with Hidden Stone Village.

"The northern front is secure. Hidden Stone Village won't dare make a move." After reading the letter, he said this to his adjutant, then rose from before the map.

Orochimaru arrived at Jiraiya's camp a night earlier than Jiraiya had expected. He had force-marched all the way from the northern front, his cloak soaked with rainwater and mud, yet his golden snake eyes shone startlingly bright beneath the dim tent light. Tsunade was the last to arrive, with half-removed bandages still wrapped around her hand, the bloodstains beneath the gauze already dry.

With the two of them arriving, Jiraiya's advancing force crushed onward through the curtain of rain. Hidden Rain Village's defenses began to collapse inward, and command orders flew like snowflakes toward every corner of its interior. Hanzo discovered that not only did he lack spare troops to pursue the two men who had wiped out the warehouse's core armaments, he also had to keep pulling reserves from every defensive line to plug the gaps. The underground chain explosions triggered by the destruction of those alchemical bombs were still ongoing. With more than half the supply chain severed, even the toughest frontline troops would not be able to hold out for long.

The rain grew heavier.

Bai Ye staggered along the gray-green ridgeline with Sakumo on his back.

The heat radiating from Sakumo's body against his back was scorching. Bai Ye had already lost count of how many turns he had taken and how many ridges he had crossed. Sakumo's high fever had not broken over the past two days, leaving him half-conscious and half-alert. Without Sakumo's guidance, although Bai Ye knew they were already within the combat zone between the two sides, he still concealed their tracks with utmost care.

Suddenly, Bai Ye stopped mid-run and gently laid Hatake Sakumo beside a large boulder.

At the far end of the ridge, he sensed that chakra.

A vast chakra presence so immense that it made the air tremble—cold, heavy, carrying a suppressed danger on the verge of eruption. Bai Ye knew who it was without looking up. His hand clenched tightly around his sword hilt, veins bulging as it trembled slightly.

Hanzo of the Salamander.

With more than ten elite ANBU, he had finally caught up, following the nearly indistinguishable trail of Bai Ye and Sakumo's flight, washed away by wind and rain.

Hanzo of the Salamander stood in the rain, staring at the two blood-soaked figures from not too far away.

He had seen countless desperadoes in his life, but few had ever made it this far before him. White Fang of the Leaf, Hatake Sakumo, had brought along a child, burned down his entire strategic supply chain, then let that ten-year-old carry him for nearly a thousand kilometers, shaking off every ANBU under his command as they twisted through the mountains. They had almost slipped right past beneath his very eyes.

Hanzo of the Salamander gripped his sword and strode toward them.

Blue Steel Shadow covered the blade. The tomoe spun to their limit. Bai Ye had enough chakra left for three Flash Steps. Perhaps it would all be futile in the end, but Bai Ye had no intention of waiting to be slaughtered.

Suddenly.

A massive tongue crashed down from Hanzo of the Salamander's flank. Purple, slick, and covered in mucus and barbs, its enormous tip split apart as a giant slug revealed its soft head. Tsunade stood atop the slug's head, her chakra-infused fist drawn back at her waist. Jiraiya stood on their left flank, while Orochimaru stood atop the ridge on the far right, his golden vertical snake eyes coldly fixed on Hanzo of the Salamander and the more than ten ANBU behind him.

The three of them stood between Hanzo of the Salamander's group and their final strike.

"Hanzo of the Salamander."

Hanzo of the Salamander's sword froze in midair. Behind his mask, his eyes swept over the three of them one by one.

"I'm protecting Hatake Sakumo's life, no matter what," Jiraiya said from the front of the trio, his long white hair blown by the wind as rain streamed from its tips.

Hanzo of the Salamander looked at him for a moment. "Brat, you've got a big mouth."

Orochimaru slowly stepped forward from the right, the corner of his lips curling slightly. His golden snake eyes narrowed halfway, making it impossible to tell whether he was smiling or assessing them.

"Four against more than ten. That's fair enough." Tsunade flexed her fingers, her knuckles cracking sharply.

"Fight."

The three-man battle formation took shape in that instant.

Jiraiya flung both hands outward at once. Countless shuriken streaked through the rain like silver threads, blanketing Hanzo of the Salamander and his ANBU from every direction.

Under the cover of the shuriken, Orochimaru darted in. His body began to transform as he moved, several dark-brown snakes shooting from his sleeves and opening their jaws at the two nearest ANBU. The pair reacted swiftly, leaping aside at once to evade the snakes' bites. But the several snakes from Orochimaru's Hidden Shadow Snake Hands spread their attack range in midair, forcibly tearing the ANBU formation apart to either side.

Tsunade charged straight ahead, every step leaving a shallow crater as mud and gravel exploded beneath her feet. Two elite ANBU tried to pincer her from the left and right. Tsunade did not dodge. Her left fist smashed into the chest of the one on her left, while her right elbow drove into the face of the one on her right. Two sounds of cracking bone rang out almost simultaneously.

Their initial coordination was exceptionally fierce. In just a few exchanges, they had torn open a gap in the ANBU formation around Hanzo of the Salamander.

Then Hanzo of the Salamander moved.

The instant his sword left its sheath, the rain curtain split in two. Jiraiya had only just released the shuriken in his right hand when Hanzo of the Salamander's blade was already less than three steps in front of him.

Jiraiya thrust out both hands, chakra forming an extremely thin defensive layer over his palms. He caught the blade barehanded, but his body was forced to slide backward several steps.

Orochimaru lunged forward, his right hand transforming into several snakes that bit toward Hanzo of the Salamander's shoulder and neck. As Hanzo of the Salamander drove Jiraiya back with his sword, his sword hand swept left in the same motion. The sound of the blade cutting through snake flesh was dull and wet. Several snakes were cleanly decapitated, their blood bursting through the air. Using the cover created by the snake blood, Orochimaru slipped half a step out of the sword's path. There was not a trace of panic in his retreat.

Tsunade took the chance while Hanzo of the Salamander was cutting down the snakes to rush to his side. Her chakra-charged fist slammed toward his left waist. The moment it connected, her expression changed. That punch felt as though it had struck a mountain. Hanzo of the Salamander did not budge in the slightest.

A backhand slash.

Hanzo of the Salamander endured the remaining force of Tsunade's punch, twisting his body slightly as his blade swept from right to left. The edge passed close to Tsunade's ribs, and cold sweat burst across her back in that instant.

A long horizontal tear was cut across Tsunade's top, exposing the bandages beneath.

The momentum of their first combined assault had been completely shattered by Hanzo of the Salamander's single sword in those two exchanges.