"Did we get him?"
Jiraiya, standing on the ice, asked with a glimmer of hope, looking down at the frozen surface.
"No."
Tōshirō narrowed his crimson Sharingan eyes, peering through the ice below, his gaze alert.
Where did he go?
He only saw the brown figure of the frozen salamander, but Hanzo himself was nowhere to be found.
Suddenly, as if realizing something, Tōshirō's eyes widened.
Oh no, could it be…?
Just as he thought, the salamander turned into white smoke and dispersed. Within it stood a middle-aged man wearing a respirator.
—It was indeed Hanzo the Salamander.
It seemed that when facing the chilling air of Ice Age, he had hidden within the salamander's mouth and stomach, protecting himself from the freezing assault.
"Bastard, he's quite capable."
Tōshirō's curse was mixed with a hint of excitement.
If the legendary Demigod were to be defeated so easily, it would be far too boring.
Tōshirō quickly formed hand seals, summoning an ice dragon.
Ice Release: Ice Crystal Descending Dragon Jutsu.
"Jump on!"
Tōshirō shouted urgently.
As he spoke, cracks appeared in the ice below. His comrades stiffened and quickly leaped onto the ice dragon.
Hanzo the Salamander dispelled his Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave ninjutsu. Without its frozen vessel, the elliptical ice sphere instantly disintegrated, scattering across the ground.
The moment Hanzo the Salamander landed, he immediately sensed something. He looked up, and an ice dragon was rushing towards him.
Upon closer inspection, four figures could be seen atop it.
Orochimaru quickly formed hand seals, raising a single arm to the sky. A green chakra gathered directly above his palm, forming a swirling vortex that condensed into a shuriken. It spun ceaselessly, emitting a piercing sound from friction with the air.
Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.
Although it shared a name with a certain blond's ultimate move, there were subtle differences. The blond's shuriken had curved edges, while Orochimaru's had proper sharp points.
Its power was also slightly less than the blond's, as Orochimaru didn't have the same monstrous chakra amplification. Nevertheless, its power was no joke.
On this side, Jiraiya was also forming hand seals. After Orochimaru unleashed his Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, without a moment's pause, he exhaled a torrent of blazing flames.
The massive fireball and the shuriken converged, forming a huge wind-fire wheel that spun towards them, as fast as wind and fire.
Hanzo spread his arms, forming a straight line. He bent his fingers, pulled his hands back together in a calyx shape, placed his calyx-shaped hands at his waist, and gathered a water sphere in his palms. He thrust his arms forward, and the water sphere burst out, forming a salamander.
Water Release: Great Salamander Jutsu.
"Boom."
The wind-fire wheel and the salamander collided, turning into a dense water mist that obscured vision.
"Hmph, trying the same old trick…"
Hanzo, with his rich experience, had already seen through this strategy of using the dense mist generated by the clash of Fire Release and Water Release to confuse vision, then seizing the opportunity for a sneak attack.
Just as he expected, a giant Fūma Shuriken cut through the mist, rushing towards him with lightning speed.
Hanzo stepped back, twisting his waist and dodging sideways, easily avoiding it.
Tōshirō pulled with one hand, using the steel wire connected to the Fūma Shuriken, splitting it in two. It circled around and flew back like a boomerang.
Hanzo's mouth curled slightly under his mask. Such a small trick couldn't fool him.
He smoothly twisted his waist and spun in mid-air, narrowly dodging the transversal slash of the Fūma Shuriken.
He landed with bent knees and looked up to see countless kunai and shuriken, dense as stars, enclosing him from every angle in a "ten thousand blades surrounding the target" formation.
Hanzo clapped his hands together, and water walls surged nearby, enveloping him. The rapidly flowing water along the edges of the walls deflected all the kunai and shuriken.
Before he could even catch his breath, the ground cracked with a "crunch," and a Fūma Shuriken erupted from the earth. With a "bang," it transformed into a young girl, who delivered an uppercut to his jaw.
The powerful punch, propelled by immense force, would likely cause a concussion in an ordinary person just by being close to its impact.
Hanzo was extremely wary and dared not meet it directly. He leaned his body far back, dodging the uppercut.
The blow missed, and Tsunade inwardly clicked her tongue. The rest was up to that guy.
While Hanzo's attention was fully on Tsunade, Jiraiya seized the opportunity, delivering a flying kick that sent Hanzo flying, retaliating for the earlier whip from the summoned beast.
Hanzo's body flew backward, rolling several times upon landing before stopping his momentum. His body was covered in dirt, but he didn't seem to mind. He stood up and casually brushed off the dust: "You four are truly impressive."
"No kidding, do you even need to say that?" Jiraiya retorted.
Hanzo ignored Jiraiya, his eyes fixed on Tōshirō, a look of admiration on his face: "Especially you. Up until now, you haven't used your full power, have you?"
Tōshirō shrugged. It depended on what standard one used.
If judging by whether he had used the Tailed Beast's power, then Tōshirō had indeed not used his full power.
Conversely, Tōshirō had actually been using his full power.
Unless he faced a life-threatening situation or Tōshirō humbly begged, the Five-Tails wouldn't help him.
Hanzo looked at him with disdainful composure: "To be able to push me to such a state at such a young age, you can be proud of yourselves."
"Stop talking to me with a victor's attitude," Jiraiya said, annoyed. "If we keep fighting, who knows who will win."
"How about this," Hanzo smiled, "let's fight a little longer. If I can't defeat you within ten minutes, I'll admit my defeat and refer to you as the Konoha Four Ninjas."
"That's assuming you survive, isn't it?"
Tōshirō curled his lips into a cold smile: "And I don't care for titles bestowed upon me by others."
Hanzo narrowed his sharp eyes, formed a cross hand seal, and summoned several Shadow Clones.
The four people in front of him coordinated flawlessly. Even he, facing them alone, felt immense pressure. Furthermore, he wanted to personally fight Tōshirō.
"Come, Uchiha Tōshirō. Among the four of you, I will personally deal with you with my main body."
Before his words finished, Hanzo led three Shadow Clones and charged.
On this side, Tōshirō was not to be outdone. He led the three behind him and charged as well.
Hanzo the Salamander's taijutsu was exquisitely refined, and Tōshirō had long wanted to experience it. He activated his Steam Armor, held his ice sword, and瞬身 past him, swinging his sword.
So fast!
Tōshirō's speed was astonishing, and Hanzo was also incredibly fast. However, this was still within his acceptable range. He swung his scythe.
"Clang."
As weapons clashed, their gazes met, and then they began to compete in strength.
Tōshirō's arms spewed steam as he unleashed Boil Release: Peerless Strength.
Instantly, Hanzo felt double the pressure. He immediately concluded that he couldn't contend with this force. He then abandoned the idea of continuing the struggle, pushing off with his feet to create distance.
In mid-air, his eyes fixed on Tōshirō, greatly alarmed. What immense strength!
His taijutsu mastery was very high. While his raw strength wasn't top-tier, it was still excellent. Yet, in this situation, facing Tōshirō's strength, he was utterly defenseless.
His strength overwhelms me, his speed matches mine, but what about his technique?
With this thought, Hanzo used Water Body Flicker to appear before him, swinging his scythe at his abdomen.
Tōshirō stepped back to dodge. His Sharingan's insight gave him extremely high perception, allowing him to react promptly even to Hanzo's godspeed, and even prepare in advance for his next move.
Sword Art: Chain Scythe Two-Stage Strike.
As he slashed, he smoothly bent his arm to pull the other end of the chain, wrapping it around the target.
Tōshirō, seeing the subtle signs, gathered cold chakra in his palm and reached out to grasp it.
Hanzo, sensing danger, quickly pulled back, preventing his weapon from being caught and frozen by the cold, which could even affect himself.
His Ice Palm technique was seen through. Tōshirō clicked his tongue in annoyance, marveling at Hanzo's incredibly fast reflexes.
Tōshirō was able to react so quickly by using his Sharingan's powerful insight to predict his opponent's attacks.
Hanzo, however, could match him purely through reflexes, showing just how fast his reflexes were.
The more skilled a ninja, the faster their reflexes, and this was especially true for highly proficient ninjas.
Having missed one strike, Hanzo changed his attack strategy, switching from his sword to his legs.
Tōshirō countered each move.
At this moment, both sides were engaging in a contest of the purest taijutsu. After several intense rounds, Hanzo pushed close, suddenly stomped his right foot, used the momentum to leap into the air, and swung his sword upwards.
Sword Art: Rain God - Stripping Force Leap.
This was the highest-level sword art secret technique in Amegakure, which only Hanzo, as the leader of Amegakure, had managed to master through arduous training.
It seemed like only one move, but the moment it was unleashed, it would produce several variations, each as fast as lightning and fleeting.
Hanzo's ability to stand at the pinnacle of the ninja world was inextricably linked to this sword art.
Is it here…?
Tōshirō narrowed his eyes to observe.
Hanzo, known as the Demigod, had all aspects of his abilities studied by various countries, and this naturally included his sword art.
"Furious as wind, fierce as waves" - these were the characteristics of his sword art.
However, a swordmaster is a swordmaster because even if everyone has studied him and knows how he will attack, they still have no way to counter him.
It was not advisable to meet this attack head-on, or else the various changing slashes would become grim reapers seeking life.
Tōshirō's heart tightened. He decisively chose an offensive retreat.
Since it was hard to break, why not simply not engage?
Hanzo had no answer for Tōshirō's method.
Normally, if an enemy dodged, Hanzo could use his speed to suppress them, forcing them to engage.
But Tōshirō's speed, boosted by the Steam Armor, was too fast, allowing him to choose not to engage.
Anyone else wouldn't be able to employ this method.
"Indeed, you are the most special…"
Hanzo looked at the young man who could temporarily match his taijutsu and was very impressed.
Tōshirō shrugged, easing his tension. Facing Hanzo's main body in a one-on-one fight still put a lot of pressure on him.
Don't let it seem like he was evenly matched; that was because his status bar was loaded with a bunch of buff.
Sage Mode (Level 2) + Steam Armor + Sharingan.
Meanwhile, Hanzo, without any buffs, was able to contend with his current self, showing how formidable his taijutsu was.
(End of Chapter)
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