Chapter 86: Hanzo Retreats, the Sannin Titles Are Born, and Orochimaru's Resolve
Disarmed, Hanzo naturally refused to surrender. With another elegant set of hand seals:
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
The rainwater in the air, under Hanzo's ninjutsu control, formed a water dragon that charged toward Tsunade. Tsunade's next action once again shocked Hanzo.
Tsunade punched the water dragon squarely in the head with ferocious force—nearly exploding its head. Even though the head didn't shatter, the impact greatly weakened the momentum. The dragon head pushed Tsunade backward for some distance while she remained standing, only panting heavily. Her exaggerated curves heaved with each breath.
This sight left Naraku—watching from afar—drooling with envy.
Yes, Naraku had never felt at ease letting Tsunade fight Hanzo alone. He remembered how easily Hanzo defeated the Sannin in the original story, and he feared Hanzo might lose control this time and kill all three.
So he had used Dimension Square to teleport nearby and was now using the stealth ability of "Incursio" to quietly observe the battle from a distance.
In the distance, Ibuse had just finished dealing with Fukasaku and Katsuyu and quickly rushed over to protect its master.
Tsunade only caught her breath for a moment before raising her fist and charging again.
The protective Ibuse whipped its tail, sending Tsunade flying far away. But Tsunade stood up once more. Seeing the dangerous glint in Tsunade's eyes, Hanzo hurriedly ordered Ibuse to stay away from her.
Tsunade naturally knew who the real target of this battle was. Like an unkillable cockroach, she raised her fist and charged again.
Facing this monster who couldn't be cut by scythes, poisoned to death, or blasted away by ninjutsu, Hanzo felt unprecedented difficulty.
But a demigod of the ninja world didn't earn the title for nothing—Hanzo quickly thought of how to deal with Tsunade.
He threw several kunai tagged with explosive seals, then formed hand seals.
"Fire Release: Explosive Flame Formation!"
Under his ninjutsu control, the explosive tags moved onto Tsunade's body and detonated.
After falling, Tsunade tried to stand again. Hanzo finished his seals and extended his left hand.
"Water Release: Water Prison Technique!"
Hanzo's left hand formed a water prison, attempting to trap Tsunade. Once caught in the water prison, neither the caster nor the prisoner could move or form hand seals.
Tsunade wasn't one to take it lying down. Before the water prison fully formed, she swung a claw. Although it didn't hit, the powerful air pressure from the swing directly slashed Hanzo's left eye—leaving a permanent claw mark there from then on.
Enduring the pain, Hanzo used chakra absorption technique to slowly drain Tsunade's chakra.
After absorbing for a while, Hanzo saw Tsunade exit that special state and released the technique.
Tsunade lay on the ground gasping heavily, breathing in the rare fresh air.
Hanzo gracefully leaped onto Ibuse's head, once again striking a master's pose with arms crossed over his chest, and said smugly: "I'm afraid this battle is Konoha's victory! I'll spare your lives!"
Jiraiya—who had woken up at some unknown point but still hadn't gotten up—shouted loudly: "We don't need your pity! We can still fight!"
Hanzo paid no mind to the weakling Jiraiya in his eyes and continued speaking to himself: "You three are very strong—to survive in this environment! From now on, I—Hanzo—will call you the Konoha Sannin! You may call yourselves by the titles earned with your lives!"
After saying this, Hanzo felt the slow bleeding from his back and the burning pain in his left eye. He turned to Tsunade and Orochimaru and said: "You two are even stronger. I—Hanzo—bestow upon you, Tsunade, the title "Konoha's Ferocious Tiger"! And upon you, Orochimaru, the title "Konoha's Shadow Serpent"!"
After speaking, Hanzo left without looking back, riding Ibuse away. He felt that staying longer might lead to a reversal. Defeating the three without killing them was simply too difficult.
Jiraiya, still butt-up on the ground, knew they were probably safe now and stubbornly shouted: "Where's my nickname? Where's mine?"
Tsunade looked at Jiraiya's comical appearance, walked over, and kicked him in the butt.
Then she treated both Jiraiya and Orochimaru.
Seeing this, Naraku finally relaxed. He had already prepared himself: if Hanzo the Salamander didn't play by martial honor and ignored the traditional "point and stop" rule of martial arts, he would swear to give Hanzo a harsh lesson—or even kill him outright!
Naraku, waiting at leisure, absolutely had the qualification to say that.
Hanzo still didn't know he had just narrowly escaped death's door.
On the way back, Hanzo asked himself mockingly when he had become like this—sparing the lives of great-nation ninjas out of various concerns.
But then Hanzo thought again: he had deliberately spared the three. And he had given special titles to Tsunade and Orochimaru, who possessed strange weapons. As these titles spread through the ninja world, the great nations would surely be unable to suppress their greed. Then they would fight among themselves—dog eat dog.
Small nations truly couldn't afford to play anymore.
Hanzo rode Ibuse back to the real large-scale battlefield. Akimichi Torifu was currently enlarged and charging valiantly, while Amegakure's elite could only try to contain him.
Akimichi Torifu saw Hanzo approaching but noticed no sign of Tsunade and the others nearby—his heart sank.
Had Tsunade and the others been killed? Then Konoha's losses in this battle would be enormous. Even if he had killed many Amegakure ninjas, it couldn't make up for Tsunade and the other two—especially Tsunade, with her special status.
Amegakure ninjas saw Hanzo arrive and their morale surged, immediately launching a counterattack.
However, Hanzo coldly said one sentence: "Retreat! Your Konoha Sannin are indeed impressive—especially Konoha's Ferocious Tiger and Konoha's Shadow Serpent; they truly have something. But in the future, don't casually fight deep in the Land of Rain again! Otherwise! The wrath of Amegakure is not so simple!"
This surprised both Konoha and Amegakure sides, but Amegakure obediently withdrew with Hanzo.
Hanzo's words let Akimichi Torifu breathe a sigh of relief. Although he didn't know who "Ferocious Tiger" and "Shadow Serpent" were, Tsunade and the others must have survived.
Konoha ninjas watched the enemy retreat. Jiraiya and Orochimaru supported each other, while Tsunade walked out to appear before everyone—confirming that this battle was Konoha's victory.
The surviving ninjas cheered together—some rejoicing in survival, others in victory.
Jiraiya still wanted to take advantage of the joy and hug Tsunade, but was coldly rejected by her. He could only forcefully hug Orochimaru—who resisted with his face but lacked the strength to fight back.
Orochimaru had been hit head-on by the Water Dragon Bullet earlier, knocked unconscious on the ground, and inhaled a lot of poison gas—his body was still limp.
Orochimaru endured Jiraiya's hug with a lifeless expression, thinking inwardly: I must! I absolutely must! I have to develop a technique that can guarantee absolute survival!
This battle had once again made him experience the fragility of the flesh—just one Water Dragon Bullet had knocked him out!
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