Hanzō smiled as he looked at Hoshiyomi across from him.
"Interesting, young one.
Let me weigh your strength for myself."
The moment the words left his mouth, Hanzō's figure flickered—
In an instant, he appeared right in front of Hoshiyomi, his chained sickle slicing straight toward Hoshiyomi's face.
The Konoha shinobi behind them didn't even catch the movement.
Even Jiraiya and the others beside Hoshiyomi could only barely keep up with Hanzō's speed.
But none of them were worried about Hoshiyomi.
When it came to swordsmanship talent, Hoshiyomi was undoubtedly the number one in Konoha.
Even Sakumo was a step behind him.
And sure enough, under their watchful eyes, Hoshiyomi calmly drew his Mikazuki Munechika, precisely intercepting the sickle's blade with his own sword.
A clear clink rang out as steel met steel.
Only then did the surrounding Konoha shinobi realize—the two had already clashed once before anyone even noticed.
Their weapons locked in midair.
Hanzō saw Hoshiyomi effortlessly stop his full-speed strike and let out a quiet murmur of admiration:
"So the name Konoha's Silver Moon wasn't an exaggeration after all.
I'm impressed."
Though his words sounded complimentary, Hanzō's hands told a different story.
He steadily increased the force of his sickle, clearly trying to drive the blade downward and cut into Hoshiyomi's shoulder.
For a sword specialist like Hoshiyomi, an injured shoulder would severely impact his ability to fight.
Tsunade, standing nearby, called out in warning:
"Careful!
It's not just the poison mist—Hanzō's weapons are coated in poison too.
Even a scratch will be trouble!"
Hoshiyomi gave a slight nod, signaling that he understood.
Matching Hanzō's strength, he tightened his grip on his blade and pushed back without yielding.
A silent contest of raw power unfolded between the two.
Both kept increasing their strength, neither willing to back down.
The ground beneath their feet sank under the pressure, leaving two deep sets of footprints in the dirt.
In the end, Hoshiyomi, who had long trained his body through rigorous conditioning, proved stronger.
With both hands gripping his blade, he forcefully swept Hanzō's sickle aside.
Hoshiyomi then leveled his sword at the retreating Hanzō, his voice calm but sharp:
"This is a battlefield, Hanzō-senpai.
There's no need for empty words here."
Hanzō, having his weapon knocked away, didn't seem angry.
Instead, he chuckled lightly.
"If we met under different circumstances, I'd enjoy sparring with you.
But as you said—this is war.
Let's skip the formalities."
His smile faded.
Hanzō raised his chained sickle high—a clear signal.
The battle between Konoha and Amegakure had officially begun.
Hanzō's Body Flicker technique activated again, and he lunged toward Hoshiyomi.
If his last attack had demonstrated his strength, this time he showed his terrifying speed.
Even Hoshiyomi had to admit—without opening the Eight Gates, Hanzō's Body Flicker was faster than his own Shunpo (Instant Step).
In fact, Hoshiyomi estimated that Hanzō's current speed was equivalent to his own Four Gates Shunpo.
In this era—where the Second Hokage was dead and Minato hadn't yet mastered Flying Thunder God—this speed could only be ranked beneath the Third Raikage.
It was no small matter.
However, speed wasn't everything.
Hanzō's swordsmanship was, at best, average.
His strikes were vicious, but Hoshiyomi's advanced swordsmanship easily spotted their weaknesses.
The two of them clashed like streaks of light, blades ringing out in rapid succession.
To the onlookers, it was impossible to follow their movements.
Not that anyone had the time to pay attention anyway—
By now, both sides were fully engaged in battle.
The battlefield was in chaos as Konoha and Amegakure forces collided.
To be honest, shinobi battles like this were always a bit absurd.
Or rather, open-field shinobi warfare was full of contradictions from the start.
But the standard process usually went like this:
First, long-range ninjutsu bombardment
Then, everyone throws ninja tools at each other
And finally, it devolves into close-quarters combat
That's the typical shinobi battle sequence.
However, today's fight didn't exactly follow that pattern.
Konoha only launched one volley of ninjutsu before the Amegakure side started to buckle.
There was no helping it.
Konoha's ninjutsu arsenal was simply too deep, and under the command of Orochimaru and Jiraiya, they regularly unleashed dazzling combination techniques.
Amegakure's shinobi, by comparison, were severely lacking in this area.
Most of their techniques were water-based jutsu.
After just one round of ninjutsu exchange, casualties had already begun appearing on Amegakure's side.
Normally, this would be the point where the commander orders the rear lines to cast jutsu while the front lines charge.
But Orochimaru didn't do that.
They'd fallen into this trap too many times before.
Every time they fought Hanzō, it was the same:
Amegakure couldn't hold out in a frontal clash—
Then Hanzō would unleash his poison mist, forcing Konoha to retreat in chaos, and they'd lose despite having the upper hand.
This time, seeing that the Rain shinobi were starting to suffer losses, Orochimaru silently raised three fingers.
That was the signal to prepare a Wind Release jutsu.
The Wind Release users quickly gathered and began forming seals.
Hanzō, still fighting Hoshiyomi, narrowed his eyes.
In the next instant, he relaxed his grip, letting Hoshiyomi's attack force him back.
At the same time, he slammed a hand onto the ground and performed a summoning:
"Come forth—Ibuse!"
With a loud bang, a massive plume of smoke erupted from the ground.
When it cleared, a massive gray-brown salamander over ten meters long appeared.
This was Hanzō's signature summoning beast—Ibuse the Salamander.
"Ninpō: Poison Mist Eruption!"
Hanzō formed a seal, and both he and Ibuse began spewing a thick cloud of poison gas.
The deep purple mist rolled forward, rapidly spreading toward Konoha's forces.
Seeing the deadly poison gas, many of Konoha's shinobi paled.
Those without Wind Release quickly retreated, while the Wind Release users stepped forward in unison.
Hanzō scoffed at the sight.
"Here we go again…
The same old trick.
Trying to blow away my poison mist with Wind Release, are you?
Well then—I won't be polite.
Let's see… which side should I cut into first?"
Just as Hanzō was deciding where to strike, his eyes suddenly caught sight of a figure standing at the very front of the Wind Release formation.
It was none other than Gekkō Hoshiyomi, the man he had just been fighting.
Hoshiyomi stood in a classic battōjutsu stance, his hand poised over his sword.
Hanzō's eyes narrowed in curiosity.
"Huh?
Isn't this guy supposed to be a pure taijutsu-type?
Don't tell me he's actually hiding Wind Release proficiency?"
Or maybe… he planned to cut down Ibuse with a single draw?
Hanzō snorted inwardly.
Don't make me laugh.
If Ibuse dies, the burst of concentrated poison will kill everyone—
Even I would barely survive that.
Still, he was curious to see what Hoshiyomi was planning.
At that moment, the Konoha Wind Release shinobi all shouted in unison:
"Hasaki~~!"