“Hm? The Sharingan!”
The moment Hanzō noticed Kai’s Sharingan, he immediately averted his gaze.
As one of the strongest shinobi in the world, Hanzō had naturally fought against powerful Uchiha before.
During the Third Shinobi World War, the current head of the Uchiha clan, Fugaku Uchiha, had even been defeated by Hanzō.
Fugaku’s comrades had desperately risked their lives to save him, and that battle had ultimately become the catalyst for Fugaku’s awakening of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Hanzō possessed an extremely powerful combat instinct.
Naturally, he knew how to fight an Uchiha without making eye contact.
“Oh~ You won’t even give me an opening to cast a genjutsu?”
Kai was slightly surprised.
Clang!
After their weapons clashed at close range, the two immediately separated.
Hanzō formed hand seals, flipped backward, landed, and slammed both hands against the ground.
“Secret Technique: Earth Burial Curse!”
Gurgle!
Purple poison suddenly surged out of the ground.
The bodies of Kyūsuke and Daibutsu sank into the poisonous pool and were instantly reduced to skeletons.
Konan supported Nagato as they retreated.
But the poison rapidly spread across the ground, and soon it would reach them as well.
Gurgle…
High in the air, Kai narrowed his eyes.
He summoned a pool of poison and sealed off my landing points.
Even Nagato and Konan are within its range.
There’s no choice…
“Susanoo!”
Crack!
Brilliant blue chakra flames enveloped Kai’s entire body, forming the skeletal shape of Susanoo.
When it landed, the Susanoo shielded both Konan and Nagato inside.
“Who are you?”
“Why are you saving me?”
Nagato asked in confusion.
“Who I am isn’t important.”
“What matters is that, Nagato, you shouldn’t die here.”
“You haven’t even unleashed the true power of your Rinnegan yet…”
Kai’s voice drifted from behind him.
“You know my name… and you know about my eyes?”
Nagato was shocked.
“You’ll understand everything eventually.”
Kai’s voice was deep and unfathomable.
Back atop the head of the giant salamander, Hanzō stared into the distance with a solemn expression.
The Mangekyō Sharingan…
Susanoo…
He can actually withstand my poison.
Does the Akatsuki still have someone like this hidden among them?
But…
“Fire Release: Explosive Flame Formation!”
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The ground beneath Susanoo suddenly sank.
Countless explosive tags emerged from beneath the earth and flowed upward, covering Susanoo’s body.
Kai’s Sharingan carefully observed the technique.
There are at least a thousand explosive tags.
And these aren’t traps that were prepared beforehand.
They’re being summoned as part of the technique itself.
Susanoo in this form won’t be able to withstand it…
Nagato’s expression became even more solemn.
Hanzō’s Fire Release technique was an enhanced version of the attack that had previously burned his legs.
Back then, Nagato had only survived because he used the power of the Rinnegan to absorb part of the explosion’s force.
Otherwise, he would have been in serious danger.
And now, the scale of the technique was several times greater than before.
“Die!”
Hanzō formed a hand seal.
BOOOOOOM!!
A massive explosion of flames shot into the sky.
The heat was so intense that even the rain falling within dozens of meters was instantly evaporated.
Buzz!
Two golden points of light suddenly appeared within the flames.
They were…
Susanoo’s eyes.
As the flames faded, a scene that shocked Hanzō and the Hidden Rain shinobi appeared before them.
The battered skeletal frame of Susanoo began rapidly repairing itself.
Muscle and sinew formed around the bones, intertwining across the skeleton and creating a layer of flesh-like armor around it.
Sizzle, sizzle!
A massive, pitch-black shuriken appeared in Susanoo’s hand.
“What is that…?”
Hanzō’s pupils contracted.
“Kamui Shuriken!”
Whoosh!
After gathering its strength, Susanoo hurled the Kamui Shuriken.
“Not good!”
Hanzō immediately leaped backward.
The Kamui Shuriken struck the giant salamander beneath him.
Crack!
A distorted spatial field appeared around the point of impact.
“SKREEEE!”
The salamander let out a horrifying cry.
Its enormous body twisted violently under the power of Kamui.
Then—
BOOM!
It exploded into a massive cloud of blood and poisonous mist.
The nearby Hidden Rain shinobi were caught in the poison.
They collapsed almost instantly.
Even their gas masks were completely useless.
From a distance, Hanzō’s expression became even more solemn.
A dōjutsu capable of distorting space…
This power is even more terrifying than the Rinnegan.
It destroyed the Salamander in an instant.
Just how many secrets is the Akatsuki hiding?!
Whoosh!
Another Kamui Shuriken flew toward Hanzō.
“It’s coming!”
“Get out of the way!”
“If that thing hits you, it’s over!”
The Hidden Rain shinobi along its path fled in panic.
“Hmph.”
“Earth Release: Earth-Style Boulder Throw!”
Hanzō coldly snorted and slammed his palm against the earth.
A massive boulder tore free from the ground and rose into the air.
BOOM!
The Kamui Shuriken struck the boulder.
A spatial distortion field appeared.
The enormous boulder was instantly crushed and warped away.
Inside Susanoo, Kai raised an eyebrow.
“Oh~”
“He realized that the Kamui Shuriken’s spatial distortion activates when it strikes a physical target.”
“And he immediately thought of using a substitute to take the hit.”
“Just as expected of Hanzō.”
“But…”
Kai’s gaze suddenly sharpened.
“What will you do about the second one?”
Whoosh!
From within the shadow of the first Kamui Shuriken…
Another Kamui Shuriken had been concealed.
It spun through the air and flew toward Hanzō.
“Kamui: Shadow Shuriken!”
“What?!”
This move was completely beyond Hanzō’s expectations.
At this distance…
Even the Body Flicker Technique wouldn’t be fast enough!
BOOM!
“AAAH!”
The Kamui Shadow Shuriken struck Hanzō.
Under the spatial distortion field, his body was torn apart.
But during the process, Hanzō’s body suddenly transformed into mud.
“An Earth Release Shadow Clone…”
“He must have prepared it under the cover of the poison cloud created when the Salamander exploded.”
“Even my Sharingan didn’t notice.”
“Impressive.”
“Then, as for the real body…”
Kai looked beneath his feet.
Crack!
A chain shot out from underground and wrapped itself around the gunbai in Kai’s hand.
So that was it.
Hanzō had already discovered that Susanoo’s weakness was beneath its feet.
This was also the shared weakness of Susanoo’s partial-body forms.
“Taijutsu: Chain Sickle — Second Strike!”
Crack!
At the other end of the chain, a poison-coated sickle flew toward Kai’s neck.
Against anyone else, this would have been an instantaneous killing blow.
But Kai was different.
Kamui gave him virtually unlimited room for error.
Whoosh!
The sickle passed straight through Kai’s body without causing the slightest injury.
“Hm?!”
Hidden underground, Hanzō was shocked.
“It’s time to put an end to this.”
Whoosh!
Kai crouched down and thrust his right arm into the ground.
A massive surge of Wood Release chakra poured into the earth.
“Wood Release: Deep Forest Bloom!”
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
Countless wooden branches erupted from the ground, blooming across the battlefield.
“AAAAAAHHHH!”
Amid the horrifying screams, every Hidden Rain shinobi in the area—whether they were chūnin or jōnin—was pierced through and torn apart by the violently spreading Wood Release.
BOOM!
Several seconds later, a tremendous explosion came from underground.
Hanzō burst out from beneath the earth.
The armor protecting his body was shattered.
His left arm had been badly wounded by the countless wooden spikes, with blood pouring from the wounds.
Once the Wood Release pierced his body, the branches could continue growing inside his flesh.
If Hanzō hadn’t immediately used his powerful chakra to forcibly suppress their growth…
He might have been turned into a human pincushion.
“Huff… huff…”
Hanzō breathed heavily.
He stared at Kai with unprecedented caution.
He had fought countless battles throughout his life.
Yet this was the first time he had ever been suppressed to such an extent.
His strategy had been flawless.
Yet not a single one of his attacks had produced the desired result.
The Mangekyō Sharingan.
A dōjutsu capable of manipulating space.
Susanoo, with its overwhelming defensive power.
And a second defensive technique similar to the Soul Transformation Technique…
No.
It’s even more troublesome than that.
He is practically impossible to hit.
And he can even use Wood Release.
Hanzō’s thoughts raced.
I still have my ultimate technique hidden up my sleeve.
But the price for using it is far too high.
Whether it can actually kill him is still unknown.
After a moment of contemplation, Hanzō stared at Kai with utmost solemnity.
“You are a warrior of a caliber I have rarely encountered in my entire life.”
“Your strength far surpasses that of the former Legendary Three Ninja of Konoha.”
“Tell me your name.”
Kai’s voice rang out clearly.
“Uchiha… Kai!”
His words carried absolute confidence.
“Uchiha Kai.”
“I will remember your name.”
“From this day forward, I, Hanzō of the Salamander, will regard you as an equal.”
“Your name will spread from the Hidden Rain Village throughout the Five Great Shinobi Nations.”
“We will meet again.”
“And when that day comes…”
“You and I will determine who stands above the other.”
With those final words, Hanzō activated the Body Flicker Technique.
His figure and presence vanished into the blood-stained rain.
Add to Collection.
Send some Power Stones.