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Chapter 40 -  Izanagi

"Summoning Technique!"

Dodging an incoming Fire Release: Great Fireball, Hanzo of the Salamander rapidly formed hand seals and slammed his palm downward.

BOOM!

With a thunderous crash, the gigantic salamander Ibuse appeared—its body as massive as a small hill—instantly sweeping several charging Root shinobi away.

"Poison Mist!"

At Hanzo's command, Ibuse opened its enormous jaws.

A torrent of deep-purple poison gas poured out like a waterfall, spreading across the battlefield.

"Careful! Everyone hold your breath!"

A Root shinobi shouted a warning.

But the next moment—

A flash of silver streaked through the mist.

His head flew into the air, his eyes still frozen in shock.

Hanzo's figure moved like a phantom through the poisonous fog.

Like the Grim Reaper, he harvested the lives of Root operatives one after another.

These Root shinobi were already weaker than Hanzo. Now, forced to hold their breath as the poison spread, the oxygen in their blood rapidly diminished, slowing their movements.

Against Hanzo, they were utterly helpless.

"Damn it… Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Realizing the situation couldn't continue like this, a Root jōnin risked poisoning and unleashed a powerful gust of wind, hoping to disperse the toxic fog.

But Ibuse's poison mist was far from ordinary.

Its adhesive properties were terrifying.

Even a full-powered Wind Release technique from a jōnin merely reduced the density of the mist slightly—while spreading it across an even wider area.

"Summoning Technique!"

Poof!

A massive creature resembling a tapir appeared on the battlefield and let out a shrill cry.

"A Dream-Eating Tapir…?"

Hanzo immediately recognized Danzō's summoning beast.

Knowing the creature's ability, Hanzo tightened his grip on his chained sickle and prepared to eliminate it before it could act.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Suddenly, sharp whistling sounds cut through the air.

Several rapidly spinning shuriken tore through the atmosphere, sealing off every possible escape route around Hanzo.

Hanzo's pupils shrank.

These weren't ordinary shuriken.

Each one was infused with highly concentrated Wind Release chakra, generating violently rotating air currents capable of cutting through steel and stone.

Though powerful, the technique had an obvious weakness.

Hanzo swung his arm.

The iron weight at the end of his chain weapon shot out like a venomous snake, weaving through the air.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Avoiding the sharp edges of the shuriken, the iron weight struck their sides, knocking them away.

But the brief delay was enough.

Not far away, the Dream-Eating Tapir opened its enormous mouth.

A terrifying vacuum force erupted from its throat.

The purple poison mist in the air rushed toward it like a reversed river.

Even Hanzo himself felt the pull as the suction dragged at his body.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"

At that moment, a figure appeared behind Hanzo.

A razor-sharp blade of wind—like the strike of a weasel—shot forward.

BOOM!

The attack struck Hanzo squarely.

His body exploded into splashing water.

"A Water Clone?"

Shimura Danzō frowned.

His gaze immediately locked onto another direction.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Bullets!"

Danzō fired a rapid succession of compressed wind blasts, like a machine gun firing bullets of cutting air.

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

The barrage of wind attacks was relentless and difficult to dodge.

Hanzo had no choice but to erect a defensive water barrier.

Wind bullets slammed into the wall, sending water spraying in all directions.

Danzō's mastery of Wind Release was extraordinary.

His control over the nature transformation of wind chakra was far beyond that of ordinary jōnin.

If Hanzo's own Water Release weren't equally formidable, the Water Formation Wall might not have held.

Hanzo suddenly flashed forward with the Body Flicker Technique, bursting through the water curtain.

His chained sickle howled through the air as it aimed directly for Danzō's face.

Danzō's expression didn't change.

He instantly drew the katana from his back and blocked the strike.

The two passed each other in a flash.

They separated, spun around, and faced one another again.

Hanzo narrowed his eyes.

Danzō's arms were intact, and there were no signs of poisoning.

A thought crossed his mind.

Izanagi…

Hanzo's gaze fell upon the eye hidden beneath the bandages covering Danzō's face.

At this point in time, Danzō had not yet transplanted the grotesque arm filled with Sharingan.

That meant the only Sharingan he possessed was likely hidden beneath those bandages.

Which meant—

Danzō could only use Izanagi once.

And Izanagi's duration was roughly one minute.

Calculating the time, Hanzo realized that Danzō was probably still within Izanagi's active window.

The moment he realized this, Hanzo immediately changed his strategy.

Instead of continuing to attack Danzō, he charged toward the remaining Root shinobi.

After the earlier Exploding Flame Formation and Poison Mist attacks, more than half of Danzō's elite Root force had already been wiped out.

Then Hanzo had rampaged through the poison fog, cutting down even more.

Now only a handful remained.

And those survivors were already suffering from varying levels of poison exposure.

This was the perfect opportunity to finish them off.

Only by eliminating them could he deal with Danzō properly.

"Damn it!"

Danzō instantly saw through Hanzo's intention.

Cursing under his breath, he rushed after him.

Though his face remained expressionless, rage burned inside him.

That had been a Mangekyō Sharingan!

The eye he had painstakingly acquired from his former comrade Uchiha Kagami.

Yet before he could even use its Mangekyō ability—

It had been wasted on Izanagi here.

The frustration gnawed at him.

And the loss of his Root elite forces was even more painful.

Nearly the entire foundation of Root—decades of effort and countless resources—had been brought here.

Watching them die one after another made Danzō feel as if he might vomit blood.

His eyes burned with fury.

He wished he could tear Hanzo apart with his bare hands.

And now Hanzo intended to slaughter the remaining Root shinobi right in front of him.

How could Danzō possibly accept that?

More importantly—

Danzō knew very well that he alone was no match for Hanzo.

If Hanzo succeeded in killing the remaining Root operatives, Danzō himself would soon be in mortal danger.

No matter what—

He had to stop Hanzo.

At least until the poison cloud in this area completely dissipated.

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