The Gap in Experience! - Naruto: The Uchiha They Should Have Killed

"Alright. The game of pursuit ends here."

"Water Release: Water Whip!"

Hanzo of the Salamander had chased Uchiha Ren all the way outside Amegakure. Seeing that no one else was around, he finally made his move.

Earlier, Ren had escaped from Hanzo's residence and entered the village before Hanzo could react. Because of his unique condition, Hanzo had restrained himself—his poison could easily harm the many civilians within Amegakure.

Now that they were outside the village, he no longer had any such concerns.

Hanzo swung the chain attached to his sickle. A violent stream of water wrapped around the chain, extending its attack range several times over as it lashed toward Ren.

Ordinary water had little offensive power.

But when water moved at high speed, its destructive force could easily slice through metal and stone.

Especially in the hands of someone like Hanzo—the Demigod of the Shinobi World—this seemingly simple Water Whip technique produced power comparable to an S-rank ninjutsu, carving smooth trenches into the ground.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Ren dodged one of the water lashes. Without forming hand seals, he turned and exhaled a blazing fireball toward Hanzo.

The fireball expanded rapidly as it traveled through the air.

in an instant, it had grown into a massive sphere of flame nearly twenty meters in diameter.

Feeling the scorching heat radiating from it, Hanzo did not dare take it lightly. With a pull of the chain, he directed the water whip to strike the enormous fireball.

Hiss—!

With a piercing sound, vast clouds of steam burst into the air.

The giant fireball was split cleanly in half by the water whip.

But Hanzo had no time to celebrate—

Because behind the fireball was an ocean of flames.

"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"

The power of the Flame-Flame Fruit (Mera Mera no Mi) greatly amplified the strength of Ren's Fire Release techniques.

More importantly, it allowed him to cast most fire techniques without forming hand seals.

As long as his chakra and stamina held out, Ren was practically a ninjutsu machine gun.

"Such powerful Fire Release…!"

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

Hanzo was genuinely shocked by the destructive force of Ren's flames.

After just two Fire Release techniques, he could already feel the surrounding air growing noticeably dry.

Ren's mastery of the fire-nature chakra transformation had reached an extremely high level.

His proficiency with Fire Release might even surpass Hanzo's own skill with Water Release.

Because of that, even though Water Release naturally countered Fire Release, Hanzo still had to use techniques of equal scale to neutralize Ren's attacks.

And Hanzo had noticed something else—

Ren hadn't formed a single hand seal while casting those techniques.

Hanzo had no idea how Ren was doing it.

But if Ren could perform other ninjutsu without seals as well, that would be extremely dangerous.

Against an opponent like this, a ninjutsu exchange was the worst possible strategy.

A towering wall of water surged up around Hanzo and collided violently with the advancing sea of flames.

Steam exploded outward.

In moments, the entire battlefield was shrouded in dense mist.

"Iaijutsu Slash!"

The steam obscured vision—but for Hanzo, that was actually advantageous.

After all, Ren relied on the Sharingan, which meant visual clarity was more important to him.

And as a veteran shinobi, Hanzo was far more accustomed to operating in the shadows.

In this kind of low-visibility environment, it was almost the same as fighting in darkness.

Relying on his powerful sensory perception, Hanzo used the Body Flicker Technique to instantly appear in front of Ren.

He unleashed one of his signature attacks.

But even this time, he did not aim for a vital point.

Crack!

With a sharp sound, the kunai in Ren's hand snapped in half.

At the same time—

One of Ren's arms was severed and sent flying.

Looks like I'll need to find a proper sword after I get back…

Ren frowned slightly.

Then he drove a blazing punch straight into Hanzo's face.

"Fire Fist!"

Flames exploded outward.

Hanzo's body suddenly dissolved into water and evaporated instantly.

A Water Clone.

Hanzo reappeared a short distance away.

Looking at the flames burning at the stump of Ren's severed arm, his eyes widened in astonishment.

"Is that… a Fire Elementalization Technique?!"

Techniques that allowed the body to transform into an element were not completely unheard of in the shinobi world.

For example, the Hōzuki Clan of Kirigakure was famous for its Hydrification Technique, which allowed them to transform their bodies into water.

But in all these years, only the Hōzuki Clan had successfully developed such a technique.

Elementalization techniques of other attributes were practically nonexistent.

That alone showed just how precious and rare such abilities were.

And now Hanzo had witnessed another form of elemental transformation.

How could he not be shocked?

"Something like that."

Ren's severed arm reformed from swirling flames, restoring itself completely.

He looked calmly at Hanzo.

"Senior Hanzo… do you still want to continue?"

Ren had not come to Amegakure to become Hanzo's enemy.

The reason he had fought him was simply to demonstrate his strength—to earn the right to speak as an equal.

Without strength, no one would bother listening to you.

In the shinobi world, power commanded respect.

That applied to individuals—and to nations as well.

And as the leader of the Land of Rain, a country struggling to survive between the powerful nations of Fire, Earth, and Wind, Hanzo undoubtedly understood this truth better than most.

"Oh?"

Hanzo let out a cold laugh.

"You exchanged two or three moves with me and already think you deserve to stand on equal footing?"

Looking at Ren, he continued:

"Judging from your mastery of Fire Release, you must be the one who's recently risen to fame across the shinobi world…"

"The Red Sun of Konoha—Uchiha Ren."

"Konoha truly produces talented young shinobi one after another."

"But in terms of experience… you're still far behind."

Hanzo's voice grew colder.

"Don't forget—my greatest strength has never been ninjutsu."

"It's poison."

Hanzo's taijutsu and ninjutsu were both incredibly powerful.

But during the Second Great Ninja War, what gave him the confidence to declare war simultaneously against the Land of Fire, Land of Earth, and Land of Wind was his unparalleled mastery of poison.

Hanzo's toxins had caused tremendous suffering for all three nations.

If not for the appearance of Chiyo of Sunagakure and Tsunade of Konoha, Hanzo might have used that war to elevate the Land of Rain into a position of power.

Perhaps even forcing the shinobi world to recognize it as a sixth great nation.

Hanzo continued calmly:

"From the very beginning, I mixed compound toxins into my Water Release techniques."

"And your Fire Release turned that poisoned water into vapor."

"This entire area has already been filled with my poison without you realizing it."

"And you've inhaled it into your body."

Hanzo's gaze sharpened.

"Judging by the timing… the poison inside you should already be taking effect."

"Uchiha brat…"

"Can you still use chakra?"

Chapter 18 – The Gap in Experience!