"No… now isn't the time to think about that."
"Even though the allied forces were far enough to be relatively safe, they were still hit by part of the blast. Let's hope the damage isn't too serious…"
Thick smoke rolled across the battlefield.
The earth at the center of the explosion was still burning violently, and the sky was beginning to darken.
A few minutes later, a fine drizzle began to fall, pressing the smoke downward and settling the dust.
Once the ferocious shockwave had passed, Hanzō straightened his back.
But all around him was nothing but gray haze—no visibility at all.
He stretched his chakra outward as far as he could, trying to sense the condition of the others.
As time passed, more shinobi regained consciousness.
Some attempted to blow the smoke away with Wind Style, but every cleared patch was quickly swallowed by drifting dust from another direction.
Many covered their mouths and noses, trying to breathe as little ash as possible.
Ironically, the Ame ninja were the ones least affected—they all wore raincoats and respirators.
For them, this barely counted as an inconvenience.
The drizzle grew heavier, and slowly the smoke began to disperse.
The allied shinobi could finally see one another—some were still coughing blood on the ground; others were simply too terrified to stand, their legs refusing to work.
Chiyo located Hanzō and quickly approached.
"How… how did you do that?"
She still couldn't believe that kind of destruction came from a single person.
"A jutsu still in development," Hanzō replied calmly. "Since it's experimental, my control over it isn't perfect."
Chiyo fell silent for a long time, as if contemplating her entire life.
"So that's how it is… Human ability does have limits…"
Her mind drifted to an old, shelved Sunagakure project—human puppet body modification.
"If we ever have to face someone like Hanzō of the Salamander… to win, we'd have to abandon the limitations of being human."
"For the sake of Sunagakure… for the sake of my son, and my grandson…"
At that moment, Chiyo made her decision—
she would no longer remain "just human."
Hanzō chuckled lightly.
"And you got lucky, too. You actually outran it. Pretty fast." Chiyo retorted.
Hanzō laughed at himself.
"If I let my own jutsu kill me, future generations really would mock me for it."
At the same time, he suddenly understood one thing—
Of all techniques in the world, speed breaks everything.
I, Hanzō, will surpass Minato and become the fastest shinobi alive.
"Let's check on the troops. Things shouldn't be catastrophic, but it's still worrying."
"Mm. And next time you use something like that, how about giving advance warning? Otherwise your own men might die before the enemy does."
Hanzō only chuckled in return, following Chiyo toward the allied formation.
---
The formation remained mostly intact.
No one had died, but many suffered internal injuries from the sudden pressure wave.
A number of shinobi lay on the ground regulating their breathing, while others treated comrades with emergency first aid.
Chiyo sighed quietly.
At this rate, half of Sunagakure's forces would develop lung ailments on the way home…
"Looks like things aren't too bad," Hanzō said.
"Let's check Konoha's side. I ran into the Third Hokage earlier—I want to know how he fared."
"What? The Third Hokage was here?" Chiyo blurted out.
"How did he arrive so fast? Did Konoha get the intel ahead of time?"
Hanzō reminded her, "Don't be so shocked. Konoha's foundations are deeper than you think. Even if the First Hokage himself appeared before me alive, I wouldn't be surprised."
Chiyo glanced at him, unimpressed.
"You sound like someone who knows far too much."
Hanzō only replied with another irritating chuckle, making Chiyo's teeth itch with frustration.
They left a group behind to tend to the wounded, and Hanzō led the remaining forces toward Konoha's ruined defensive line.
The drizzle soon turned into a torrential downpour—but it couldn't suppress the suffocating heat.
The closer they got to Konoha's position, the hotter the air became.
Rainwater that should have felt cool instead scalded their skin like boiling liquid.
Finally, human silhouettes appeared ahead—though "human" was the only thing one could safely say about them.
Everything near the blast zone was still burning.
No—
The entire landscape near the blast center was burning.
Rain sizzled the moment it hit the flames, bursting into steam that made the fire flare even brighter.
The outermost survivors were the most numerous:
Their clothes were on fire.
Some had lost all their hair.
Skin sloughed off in large sheets.
Many lay on the ground, barely breathing, faintly whispering—
"…help… water… fire… fire… help…"
Some stared blankly with pure white pupils—
their eyes burned blind by the earlier flash.
Others had faces warped into monstrous lumps of blistered flesh by the heatwave.
There wasn't a single uninjured soul among them.
The ramparts Konoha built had vanished completely—not even stones remained.
"Help… water… run… fire… save me… someone… please…"
"Kill me… please… p-please…"
They were alive, but their minds had long collapsed.
The scalding rain only deepened their agony.
Those who still had a shred of sanity looked up when they noticed Hanzō's group approaching—and relief washed over them.
"At last…
I can die…
I can leave this hell…"
Even the Suna and Ame shinobi could barely stand the burning sensation on their own skin—and many vomited upon seeing the carnage.
"Help them," Hanzō said instinctively.
Chiyo shot him a surprised glance but chose to remain silent.
The Ame ninja moved immediately.
Touching the survivors only made them scream in pain, so many resorted to Water Style to cool their bodies.
Suna shinobi soon joined the effort as well.
Moments later, Hanzō realized—
This wasn't how you treated an enemy.
"If I had lost earlier… the ones lying here would be us.
If Konoha had won… would they treat us like this?"
"And one day, the survivors here may return to the Land of Rain seeking vengeance…"
He shook his head hard, forcing those thoughts away.
...
They finally reached the explosion's center.
A crater over ten meters wide lay before them—a glowing red bowl carved into the earth, heat radiating like a furnace.
Lava churned inside, its light casting eerie reflections.
The ground around it bulged upward, crisscrossed with deep cracks.
Rain never reached the ground—it evaporated before touching it.
Within dozens of meters of the center, not a single corpse remained.
Everyone had been reduced to ash—or vapor.
Chiyo stared in horror.
"This… this cannot be your power. No human can do this."
Hanzō responded calmly, "Ōnoki thought the same."
Chiyo froze.
Her words died in her throat.
They searched the area, but still found no sign of Hiruzen or Jiraiya.
"As expected… they don't die so easily."
Chiyo turned toward him. "What do you mean?"
Hanzō answered,
"The Third Hokage was here. And that Jiraiya fellow. They were at the very front—farther from the blast than the rest. They could be badly injured, but completely gone? Impossible."
Chiyo's eyes widened.
"No way. They don't have your speed. How could they possibly escape?"
"You really know nothing about Konoha."
Before she could retort, a burst of smoke erupted across the battlefield—
A massive red wall of flesh appeared—
a gigantic section of intestine.
Scorched, blistered… and unmistakably alive.
"Ninja Art: Toad Mouth Trap!"
Another blast of smoke exploded outward, and the fleshy wall vanished—revealing the figures inside.
Jiraiya.
And several Konoha shinobi.
Hanzō nodded with understanding.
"So that's it."
"You summoned the Toad's esophagus to envelop the entire area around you before the blast hit. Then you canceled the summoning and let Mount Myōboku's inner stomach carry everyone to safety."
Jiraiya and the others surveyed the devastation—and fear tightened their hearts.
One Konoha shinobi fell to his knees.
"I knew it… I told them… Don't come back…"
They had braced themselves for disaster—
but reality surpassed every nightmare they imagined.
The man who shattered their spirits now stood before them:
Hanzō of the Salamander.
"You truly live up to your reputation," Jiraiya said grimly.
"Even the stomach wall of the great fire breathing toad was scorched just from grazing the shockwave. That toad can breathe fire hotter than magma."
Jiraiya looked at Hanzō.
"And the moment you saw us emerge, you instantly deduced how we escaped…"
"So this is why they call you a demigod."
"My comrades are dead. I won't run."
Jiraiya lifted a kunai to his chest.
"You spared me once already. This time, there will be no mercy."
"Come, Hanzō."
His hair extended and hardened.
With a kunai in one hand and the Tiger seal forming in the other, Jiraiya charged.
"Tsunade… Orochimaru… I'm coming."
Hanzō drew his chained scythe.
"If you've resolved to die… then I shall answer you at full strength."
But then—
Hanzō's pupils shrank sharply.
He kicked Chiyo aside and leapt back on reflex.
"Lightning Style: Extreme Thunder Blade!"
The ground split open—
A figure burst upward with crackling lightning, aiming straight for Hanzō's heart.
When he missed, lightning-coated kunai streaked toward both Hanzō and Chiyo.
Chiyo, still in mid-air, had no time to react—
A kunai pierced her left arm.
Electricity surged violently through her body, wracking her with spasms and screams.
Hanzō deflected the kunai with his scythe—
but the lightning traveled through the chain, stunning him and halting his movement.
"Jiraiya! Run! I'll cover you!"
The attacker was—
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
When the blast came, Hiruzen and Hanzō had already moved some distance from the Konoha line—but Hiruzen was far slower.
Seeing the explosion closing in, he created five shadow clones, unleashing:
"Five Style Massive Combo Jutsu!"
Each clone breathed a different chakra nature.
The five attacks collided, amplified, and canceled each other—cutting the incoming shockwave's power in half.
Then Hiruzen threw himself to the ground and formed:
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"
A thick earthen barrier shielded him from the worst of the explosion, although he still suffered severe burns.
Before Hanzō returned, Hiruzen had already used Earth Style to sneak underground—waiting for a chance to assassinate the greatest threat.
But he never expected his student to survive.
Nor that Jiraiya would return.
In that moment, a memory flashed through his mind—
The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, sacrificing himself in the Land of Lightning to safeguard his students.
"Sensei could have escaped… but he chose to die for us."
"Jiraiya…"
"You may be the last student I can protect."
"Live."
The teacher abandoned his assassination attempt—and chose instead to shield his student.
"When the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village, and once again, tree leaves shall bud anew..."
"Where the tree leaves dance, one shall find flames—this is the moment I embody the Will of Fire."
"Sensei…"
"Were you thinking the same thing back then?"
Taking advantage of Hanzō's momentary paralysis, Hiruzen charged.
"Jiraiya! Run! As long as you live, there is hope!"
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bomb!"
A massive wave of flame roared toward Hanzō.
"Water Style: Water Wall!"
Water surged upward around Hanzō, enclosing him completely.
Steam exploded outward from the collision, blanketing the battlefield.
Everyone froze—except Chiyo, who was still paralyzed and unable to move.
Hiruzen seized his chance.
Wiping the blood from his forehead, he pressed a hand to the ground.
Dark sealing marks spread outward.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
"Come forth—
Monkey King: Enma!"
------------------------------///
150 Powerstones - Bonus Chap
300 Powerstones - Bonus Chap
500 Powerstones - Bonus Chap
700 Powerstones - Bonus Chap
1000 Powerstones - Bonus Chap