Hanzō of the Salamander vs. Hiruzen Sarutobi (Part 2)

The smoke gradually dispersed, and the spectators hurriedly looked toward the battlefield, only to find that both Hanzō and the salamander had already vanished.

Only Qing Si, relying on his powerful sensory abilities, calmly looked behind Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Boom!

With a thunderous crash, the ground behind Hiruzen Sarutobi split open. Salamander Ibushi emerged, opened its huge mouth toward Hiruzen Sarutobi, and rapidly released purple-black poisonous smoke.

"Wind Release: Cyclone!" Sensing trouble, Hiruzen Sarutobi swiftly formed hand seals and expelled a fierce gale from his mouth.

Though it was merely a simple C-rank Wind Release, it activated quickly, and Hiruzen Sarutobi only intended to disperse the poisonous smoke as fast as possible.

Hanzō also used this opportunity to charge at Hiruzen Sarutobi. After all, Hanzō was immune to salamander venom.

When Hanzō was young, there had been a venomous Black Salamander in the Rain Village. After the poisonous Black Salamander died, its venom sac was implanted into Hanzō's body by Rain Village shinobi as part of an experiment. As a result, Hanzō developed resistance to poison, and every breath he took carried an immense amount of toxic gas. That was why he wore a breathing mask year-round.

While Hiruzen Sarutobi was dispersing the poisonous smoke, Hanzō had already used its cover to rapidly close in on him.

But through carelessness—or perhaps because he had never fought a humanoid summoned beast and lacked any experience—Hanzō forgot and overlooked the fact that beside Hiruzen Sarutobi was Ruyi Jingu Bang, which possessed its own consciousness and could turn back into the old ape at any moment.

"Ninja Art: Adamantine Prison Wall!"

Caught completely off guard, Hanzō was firmly restrained in place by the old ape.

"Got you!" Enma shouted. "Sarutobi!"

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi pressed together the index and middle fingers of both hands, crossing them horizontally and vertically into a cross. A puff of white smoke appeared, and he summoned four Shadow Clones. The moment they appeared, the Shadow Clones swiftly scattered in all directions. Hiruzen Sarutobi and his four Shadow Clones spread out, surrounding the Hanzō trapped by the Adamantine Prison Wall from five different directions.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and his four Shadow Clones began forming hand seals in sync. Sensing the violent fluctuations in Hiruzen Sarutobi's chakra, Hanzō realized something was wrong and desperately erupted with his own chakra, attempting to escape.

But this was a cage created through ninjutsu from the body of Enma, the Monkey King—a summoned beast at the same Kage Level, with an indestructible body. How could Hanzō possibly break free so easily?

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!"

"Lightning Release: Lightning Dragon Bullet!"

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"

"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"

"Wind Release: Wind Dragon Bullet!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi and his Shadow Clones respectively unleashed Fire, Lightning, Water, Earth, and Wind ninjutsu from five directions at once, attacking Hanzō, who was trapped in the center and unable to move.

Unable to move while being firmly restrained, Hanzō had become Hiruzen Sarutobi's perfect target. There was no chance of missing.

"Five Releases: Great Combo Bullet Technique!"

A second before the attacks landed, Hiruzen Sarutobi voluntarily canceled the Summoning Jutsu and sent Enma back.

Five B-rank ninjutsu of different elements combined, generating and overcoming one another as they erupted with power comparable to an S-rank ninjutsu—or even an S-rank forbidden technique. In the end, a devastating explosion erupted where Hanzō stood.

The deafening explosion deeply shook everyone present. None of them had expected the seemingly thin body of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, to unleash such a terrifyingly powerful attack!

"If that hit someone, wouldn't they be reduced to nothing but dust?" The spectators were all stunned.

"The Sarutobi Clan's ultimate secret technique, Five Releases: Great Combo Bullet Technique... I finally got to see it today. This trip was worth it!" Qing Si had only seen the Great Combo Bullet Technique used by the Sarutobi Clan's previous head, Sarutobi Sasuke, in his memories. Today, he had finally witnessed the shocking scene with his own eyes.

As the smoke and dust gradually cleared, the ground ravaged by the Great Combo Bullet Technique was revealed. The very center of the attack had sunk more than twenty meters down.

"Hanzō wasn't really killed, was he?" Kuriarare Kushimaru, who had come to watch with Qing Si, asked with awe and fear in his voice at the ninjutsu's power.

Qing Si merely smiled without answering. He shook his head, then looked at Ao, who wore an equally shocked expression beside him. "Ao, what do you think?"

Hearing his superior speak, Ao snapped back to his senses. Out of caution, he did not answer immediately. Instead, he formed hand seals with both hands, closed his eyes, and continuously extended his senses toward the battlefield. After a while, Ao suddenly widened his eyes. "Th-this...! Th-this...! Th-this...!" He was so astonished that he could not form a complete sentence for quite some time.

"Hehe." Qing Si smiled as he explained to the four newcomers—Kuriarare Kushimaru, Munashi Jinpachi, Biwa Jūzō, and Ao—"Hanzō can be considered one of the strongest shinobi of this era. How could he possibly be killed so easily? Do not underestimate a shinobi who can become the leader of a village, even if he does not currently bear the title of Kage."

With his powerful sensory abilities, Qing Si could clearly sense that Hanzō's aura had changed somewhat, but that was only because the battle had consumed some of his chakra, causing a slight decline in his aura. The drop was not significant.

Looking at Hiruzen Sarutobi, however, his aura had already begun to decline sharply after using his ultimate technique. Though Qing Si could not sense it too clearly, he could tell that Hiruzen Sarutobi had expended at least half his chakra.

With such an obvious contrast, Qing Si had already determined who stood above whom between Hanzō of the Salamander and Hiruzen Sarutobi.

His memories held clear impressions of the strengths of powerful figures from every era over the past thousand years. Combined with what he had sensed just now, Qing Si could easily judge Hanzō's level of strength. At this point, Hanzō possessed an incomparably firm belief in his ninja way. The combination of shinobi and samurai had brought his strength infinitely close to the limit of Kage Level.

(The original work gave far too little description of Hanzō, only granting him the title of demigod and stating that shinobi viewed him as the pinnacle of the Shinobi World during his lifetime. As for why Hanzō became so weak later on, achieving nothing even after being revived through Impure World Reincarnation with an immortal body, showing none of a demigod's bearing, the official explanation was that one reason was his age—he had passed his prime and grown weaker. The more important reason was that Hanzō had lost the faith he once held as the hero of the Rain Village and no longer upheld his ninja way, which caused his strength to decline drastically.)

"On the battlefield, never underestimate any shinobi. Until you can confirm that your opponent is dead, never let down your guard. This is the first lesson I, as your squad captain, am teaching you." Qing Si continued instructing the newcomers.

As Qing Si spoke, Hanzō silently appeared directly in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi. Seeing that Hanzō was outwardly completely uninjured, Hiruzen Sarutobi and all the watching shinobi apart from those from Hidden Mist had their pupils sharply constrict.

Among the watching shinobi, some had considered that Hanzō might survive such a powerful ninjutsu, though they had assumed he would be severely wounded. After all, if they had faced that technique themselves, even their ashes would likely have been scattered.

But aside from Qing Si and the Hidden Mist group he had instructed, no one had expected Hanzō to emerge completely unscathed.

Time returned to moments earlier.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's ultimate technique, Great Combo Bullet Technique, was already about to strike. Hanzō, who was unleashing his chakra with all his strength, suddenly discovered that the Adamantine Prison Wall restraining him had vanished. Overjoyed, Hanzō seized that one-thousandth of an instant, formed the Ram hand seal with one hand, and activated the Body Flicker Technique. He vanished at the very moment the ninjutsu grazed the corner of his clothing.