Raiden Takuma's gaze shifted toward Tsunade, and just as he remembered from the stories back on Blue Star, her figure was already formidable—even in her youth, she carried a striking presence. If she was this developed now, he could only imagine how much more overwhelming she would become in the years ahead.
He also recalled the infamous reputation the three would one day carry—each bound to a vice. Tsunade with her cursed gambling streak, Jiraiya the unrepentant womanizer, and Orochimaru, whose experiments and poisons made him the most sinister of them all. Together, their flaws formed a darkly humorous epithet: gambling, lust, and venom.
A sudden laugh escaped Raiden's lips, echoing across the battlefield. The tension that had filled the air seemed to freeze, replaced with an eerie silence, until only his mocking laughter drifted above the trees.
Tsunade frowned in confusion. How could this stranger be laughing now, in the middle of such a deadly clash? Could it be that his mind wasn't right? Was that why he just floated there, unmoving?
But to Hanzō of the Salamander, the sound was an insult. His expression hardened behind the mask as fury surged through him, and he raised his weapon.
"Fire Style: Explosive Flame Array. Taijutsu—Chain Scythe, Two-Stage Strike!"
The ground beneath Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru suddenly sank, glowing with ominous seals. Dozens of explosive tags appeared in a deadly circle around them.
Jiraiya's instincts flared, and he dragged his teammates aside just in time. The talismans erupted into flames, the explosions surging outward with relentless fire that clung to everything it touched. A direct hit would have reduced them to ash.
Though the trio avoided the heart of the blast, they weren't unscathed—cuts, burns, and bruises marked them, the result of narrowly surviving Hanzō's trap.
In the chaos, they had no strength to spare for Raiden Takuma. The young man's aloofness already grated on them, and his refusal to move or aid them hardened their resentment. Why should they risk their lives for someone so arrogant?
Hanzō, wreathed in menace, lunged. His chain-linked scythe glinted with venom as his form blurred, reappearing at Raiden's side in a flash. The blade slashed toward the floating youth, its edge coated in poison strong enough to ensure certain death without an antidote.
Below, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru knew the sting of that same toxin. They had already been wounded by Hanzō's weapon and were forcing their chakra to hold the poison at bay. Even so, its effects would eventually seep through.
Raiden Takuma hadn't expected to be thrust into combat so soon after arriving in this world. If Hanzō had ignored him, he might have left quietly to seek a way to neutralize the mandrake venom still lingering in his body.
But this… this was different.
To Raiden, Hanzō of the Salamander—hailed as one of the shinobi world's pinnacles—was nothing more than a slightly stronger insect. As for the trio below, he had never once considered lifting a hand to save them.
And why should he? History itself promised that Hanzō would one day spare them, moved by their unwavering will and determination.
But Hanzō had made a grave mistake. He had raised his weapon against him.
Raiden Takuma was no ordinary cultivator. He was the sovereign who once united the righteous and demonic paths alike under his reign, the Immortal Emperor whose name had shaken entire worlds. Any who dared point a blade at him had long since been sent to the deepest pits of hell.
This world would be no exception.
An overwhelming force erupted from Raiden's body, the raw might of a cultivator at the Great Ascension Stage spilling forth. His aura, regal and unyielding, radiated outward like the will of heaven itself, pressing down on all who stood before him.
Hanzō froze. To his horror, his movements slowed, his chain scythe heavy as though the very air had turned to stone. Never before had he felt his body resist him like this.
Below, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru stared upward, spellbound. The masked figure who had once seemed so untouchable now stood diminished, overshadowed entirely by the young man hovering above him.
The battlefield shifted. The forest, the smoke, the flames—all of it seemed to vanish, leaving only Raiden Takuma, whose presence swallowed the scene whole.
This was not something even Hanzō of the Salamander could rival.
Not even their own master, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi—renowned as the Professor of Ninjutsu—could compare to this crushing, divine authority.