In the midst of the rain, the gigantic salamander roared.
Hanzo, standing atop such a salamander's head with his battle suit and lacking the metallic mask that he usually wore, held a hand seal.
Poison.
It was his greatest strength, one that contributed the most in having many consider him the strongest in the world.
Throughout history, numerous ninjas have been skilled in handling poisons. However, who, among them, could become the very poison itself?
No one but him, Hanzo, who implemented a venomous sac of a salamander in his body.
As Hanzo willed, the poisonous cloud around him and the salamander swirled. It then flew as if it had its own will, flying toward the two jinchurikis of Iwa, Roshi and Han.
"So this is the might of Hanzo of the Salamander... the ninja who forced even the legendary sannins to their knees..."
Roshi whispered—partially in awe—as they stood atop the heads of their respective tailed beasts that they manifested.
Said heads of the tailed beasts had their jaws open wide. Huge black spheres of dense energy were prepared and ready to fire, named Bijuudama.
"Bijuudama requires the perfect mix of positive and negative chakra. The recipe for success is an 8:2 ratio. This ball of energy that's produced as a product can be defined, in a way, as the wrath of nature itself, for no chakra is closer to nature than the positive and negative chakra."
Han, mumbling to himself, seemed to be lost in the world of his own as he glared at the incoming wave of lethal poison.
"Poison of such lethality... truly is the enemy of nature. In that sense, I'm doing justice, aren't I?"
The two, surprisingly, weren't in an alert. They looked confident enough that the poison wouldn't harm them.
They glanced at each other for a second, nodding.
Then, as the two signalled, two Bijuudamas shot forth.
Rapidly flying, one of the two Bijuudamas exploded mid-way, where the wave of poisonous cloud was currently at.
Hanzo's eyes widened as he witnessed that the poison was dissolving within the dome of sheer energy that expanded as one Bijuudama exploded.
Roshi and Han's confidence wasn't baseless. Hanzo now watched as the remaining Bijuudama continued to fly toward where he and his salamander summon, Ibuse, were standing.
"To think it would turn out like this...!"
The biggest fault in Hanzo getting caught off guard was the lack of information.
Even though he went up against numerous ninjas in the past and triumphed, facing jinchuriki wasn't one.
Thus, he didn't know what would happen should the infamous Bijuudama interact with his poison, until today, that is.
Hanzo quickly went through a rapid number of seals, trying to mitigate the impact of the Bijuudama with a ninjutsu.
"Fire Release: Venomous Fire Stream!"
From his mouth, a huge ball of red-hot fire, which emitted a poisonous gas as it burned, flew out.
Said fireball met the incoming Bijuudama. With a boom, the jaw-dropping explosion occurred, and Hanzo was forced to shield his face from the bright light and gust ahead of him.
"Did it work—"
Hanzo saw that the Bijuudama was still intact, travelling towards him.
"...It looks like the age has gotten me."
Sadly, he exclaimed, before the Bijuudama struck him and Ibuse.
BOOM.
Hanzo was flown to the sky, wounded. His salamander summon, Ibuse, on the other hand, returned to the realm of its own, having accumulated more than enough damage to despawn.
Bleeding by the corner of the mouth, Hanzo regained his bearing and managed to land on the ground.
"...Thank you, Ibuse."
He had to thank his loyal summon who absorbed most of the damage of the Bijuudama before it despawned.
Now, the problem was the fact that his greatest strength, poison, was of barely any use to the jinchurikis.
To have his poison reach them, he had to close in the distance. However, with the furious assaults of those tailed-beast-like manifestations that Roshi and Han were standing on top of, doing so wasn't an easy feat.
The good thing was that the time was probably on his side. Having heard the news, the ninjas stationed in the land of grass should be making their way over—
'...Or,'
Hanzo's eyes widened in realization,
'This is exactly what they've been intending.'
The ninjas of Ame, upon hearing that their families and homeland are in danger, would make their way back without a second thought.
That would mean retreating from the frontline and giving Iwagakure an additional window to attack from.
'Do they plan to all-in?'
Was time on their side? Did Iwa truly have that many ninjas remaining after years of warring?
Hanzo couldn't tell. Again, he lacked information.
"Do you need help?"
To him, a young woman arrived, wearing a mysterious black cloak with red cloud symbols.
Red-haired, green-eyed.
"You are..."
Hanzo's eyes narrowed as the woman stopped at some distance away from him to ensure that no poison reached her.
"...Terumi Mei."
"Oh? You know me?"
"Who wouldn't? After what happened 3 years ago?"
Hanzo unconsciously clenched his hands tightly. His voice quivered,
"Then, you disappeared... alongside my..."
"It looks like someone investigated our case, quite thoroughly."
Mei turned, gazing at their enemies.
The two jinchurikis, by then, had already released other techniques of their own.
The streams of acid and balls of lava rained down from the sky, mingling with the rain.
It was a fearsome sight, one that would make many drop their jaws—although it wasn't as much as the Bijuudamas.
Mei underwent hand seals,
"Water Release: Great Waterfall!"
A huge wave of water was expelled from her delicate mouth. Unbelievable in volume, thanks to the rainy environment, the water surged and met the entirety of the disastrous rain that threatened to destroy everything.
There were collisions. Steams, explosions, and sprinkles of water. A majestic sight, visible to anyone present in the Amegakure at the moment, appeared.
The volume of water boiled. Evaporated. Splattered. It accepted everything aimed towards it. In the end, the rain of acid and lava was subdued, and the only thing that remained was a more humid, scorchy, and acidic environment.
"...They are jinchurikis."
Hanzo voiced.
"You cannot outlast them in the battle of chakra. Your mastery over the ninjutsu is remarkable, but it would bring us only so much."
"And, they won't be engaging us in close distance either, because of your poison."
Mei agreed as she added on.
"Your salamander summon is gone as well. We don't know how many more Bijuudamas they can create. In conclusion, we cannot win against them in a straightforward battle."
"It's not like deceits will do much either, young girl. I truly am out of hands."
"We don't have to beat them."
Hanzo raised an eyebrow.
"We simply have to stall the time."
Mei turned to stare at the old shinobi.
"He'll be here. Soon."
She didn't need to say the name, for Hanzo knew whom she meant.
His breathing stopped.
"...He is here?"
"Your response does surprise me, but..."
Mei nodded,
"Yes, he is here."
Roshi and Han blasted more techniques.
Lava Release. Boil Release. Earth Release. Water Release.
Hanzo and Mei met the bombardments with the ninjutsu of their own.
Explosions occurred recurrently. Steam flooded in. Corrosive acids dissolved whatever was nearby.
The battle among the four Kage-levelled ninjas really was different.
Everything in the way has long been destroyed.
"Heh, too bad that I cannot use fire release jutsus here."
Crossing his arms, Roshi grinned.
"Likewise. It is too humid and watery here, especially with this consistent rain."
Han glanced at Hanzo from afar.
"To think that he is capable of using fire release in this environment... Hanzo of the Salamander is as dangerous as they said."
"Soon, he will be dead by our hands, though."
"...We end it here?"
"Yes. No matter how strong they are, their chakra pool is much less than ours. If we were to use Bijuudama here... they won't have enough chakra to defend—not that we know if they have a way to defend against such a technique in the first place."
Roshi and Han formed the same hand signs, one that was used to focus their chakra.
The heads of the tailed beasts underneath them began to charge the Bijuudamas once more.
"...Hm?"
They then frowned.
A third person was walking into the scene.
He was the possessor of wavy, brown-hair that had outgrown and reached all the way to his shoulders. One of his eyes was closed with a scar, while the other exhibited a dark blue color.
He was tall, reaching about 190 cm or a bit higher than that. His hand held a unique sword that had its entire body in black.
He looked to be in a foul mood. His visage appeared colder than ever as he walked through the paused forms of Hanzo and Mei.
"...That woman, Terumi Mei."
In a shaky voice, Han muttered.
"I was wondering why she was here. But judging by the cloak she wears, which matches with..."
"Hahaha! What's there to be so nervous about, Han?"
Han gulped, although Roshi laughed it off.
"Who is that man, anyway? Surely, no matter how strong that ninja may be—"
"...Shut up, Roshi."
Han growled, causing Roshi to frown in confusion.
"Listen very carefully, now. Ignore Terumi Mei and Hanzo. Give all your attention to that man if you wish to live."
"Who is he?!"
"Akashi of the 'Red Blade'. The worst criminal of today's warring world. One who attempted to assassinate Hanzo before us."
Roshi froze.
Akashi's eye contained those two jinchurikis as he leisurely walked.
"Huff... huff... you're here at last..."
Mei, wiping the sweat, spoke in relief.
"Couldn't you have been earlier—Akashi?"
Jokingly speaking at the start, she noticed the fury that Akashi held. Seeing that something went wrong from his side, she worriedly asked.
"...Akashi."
Hanzo whispered the name.
Akashi shifted his eye to view his biological grandfather.
"We talk after the matter is dealt with."
Two Bijuudamas were then fired, straight at them.
"For now..."
Akashi briefly checked Hanzo's state.
"Relax, I suppose."
With Ryuma in his left hand, Akashi held his right palm facing up.
"Fire Release,"
Pulverizing Sun.
What Hanzo saw at the next moment was the manifestation of the miniature sun that was thrice the size of a watermelon, which evaporated all the raindrops within a twenty-centimetre radius before they even reached it.
Hanzo then watched as the pure embodiment of fire left Akashi's hand and flew toward the incoming Bijuudamas.
Instinctively, he shielded his face.
Then, the explosion—unlike any other that Ame has witnessed this day—has risen.
A wild hurricane followed. Hanzo's feet skidded back. Mei lost her ground and was about to fly, only for Akashi to grab and pull her close to him.
"...You're a clone, aren't you?"
Mei then whispered to him. Akashi, no, Akashi's clone revealed a surprised expression.
"Hah, you know me too well."
Through the chaotic aftermath, Akashi soared, appearing in front of the unexpected Roshi and Han.
"What—"
Roshi raised his arms to block Akashi's blade.
However, that blade was coated with the sharp wind.
Instinctively, Roshi raised his arms, and that turned out to be a fatal mistake.
Akashi's blade cut through his armguards and arms like they were butter.
"Roshi!!"
Han yelled as he dashed toward Akashi urgently.
At a height taller than even Akashi, Han rushed as his body began to emit a huge amount of steam, looking menacing.
Roshi backed while quickly using fire to prevent further bleeding from his severed arms. Han took his spot, trying to combat Akashi.
Energy Release: Spirit Blade.
Then, Ryuma suddenly left Akashi's hand.
Time seemed to slow down as Han saw the sword flying toward Roshi.
Roshi back-pedalled once more, but as if possessing the will of its own, Ryuma relentlessly chased.
Then, the blade struck, finding its way into Roshi's chest.
Roshi gurgled blood from his mouth as he stared at the blade in disbelief.
Han outraged. He threw a humongous, steam-covered fist at Akashi, only for the latter to disappear.
Flying Thunder God.
Akashi stood in front of Roshi, holding Ryuma, which was deep in his chest.
"I'm in a hurry, unfortunately."
Removing the blade from Roshi's chest, Akashi stated coldly.
Just as he said, Roshi's head was severed from his neck.
Han watched in disbelief as his fellow jinchuriki's head flew in the air, before falling in a puddle and rolling on the ground.