The next day, noon.
"Agh, this pile of snakes is disgusting. That Konoha bastard—if I see him, I'll cut him to pieces!"
"Tell me about it. He actually sent a bunch of snakes to attack the castle. You should've seen Hanzo-sama's face."
"Enough, enough, stop yakking and get to work. If we don't finish clearing these serpent corpses, the whole village will be affected."
A group of Amegakure shinobi were working as laborers, hauling the snakes that had attacked the castle during the night out of the village bit by bit. They hadn't slept all night and kept working, but there were simply too many snakes.
The salamander Hanzo hadn't slept either — not because he didn't want to, but because he simply couldn't.
Rage and fury made rest impossible; his heart was filled only with the urge to kill Gekko Chizan.
"Hanzo-sama, all the snakes inside the castle have been cleared."
"At the same time, the patrol team has started looking for Gekko Chizan's trail, but they haven't found any trace of him."
Hanzo's face was sullen; he knew Gekko Chizan's skills and did not take his frustration out on his subordinates.
A man who can turn invisible and use space–time ninjutsu is hard to find unless he reveals himself.
"Expand the search area — we have to find him."
He ground his teeth; at all costs the man must be found, otherwise who knew what that bastard might do next.
Although Hanzo wasn't afraid of these things personally, there was always that one venomous snake nearby — the feeling was unbearable.
At that moment a shinobi came running up, out of breath.
"Hanzo-sama, there's a new development."
Already in a foul mood, Hanzo was further interrupted; he glared and roared:
"What development!? You're not going to tell me those snakes have come back to life, are you?!"
The messenger trembled before Hanzo's fury, but he still reported the news.
"Hanzo-sama, although those snakes are dead, some of the corpses continue to emit toxins. Quite a few of our people have been poisoned."
"And various traps have been triggered — every single one is a toxin-bearing hidden weapon."
"According to our findings, there is some kind of jutsu inscribed on the snakes' bodies. The places where the enemy's snake corpses are now located have been placed under martial law."
"What should we do next?"
Hanzo felt his brow throb. The bastard — really a bastard.
Using snakes to attack the castle was one thing, but to lay ambushes as a backup plan!
Using the snakes' bodies to spread toxins? Setting traps on summoned beasts? Gekko Chizan had a filthy mind.
Far away in the Land of Birds, Gekko Chizan sneezed suddenly while enjoying his meal.
"Huh? Could Hanzo that old bastard be cursing me right now?"
"I just stashed some backup measures, didn't I?"
Indeed, those methods on the snakes were Gekko Chizan's handiwork — some small trap techniques he learned from Orochimaru.
For example, carving certain formations and storing toxins inside them. He'd been trapped by such tricks once when he had stormed Orochimaru's lab; now he simply used those methods against Amegakure, hoping Hanzo would enjoy his present.
"Another order of that omelette rice — it's pretty tasty."
"And three more takoyaki on the side!"
...
While Gekko Chizan ate with relish, Hanzo on the other side had a splitting headache.
"Use Earth Release to wrap up those snakes, then burn them to ashes with Fire Release!"
"Not a single one is to remain!"
"Go now!"
His subordinates bowed and ran outside at once.
Once they were gone, Hanzo slammed his foot down so hard he left a big hole in the floor.
"You little bastard! If I catch you, I'll feed you to the salamanders to avenge Ibuse!"
Since the death of salamander Ibuse, Hanzo's heart had been full of rage. Though he was raising another salamander now, nothing could replace Ibuse; after years fighting side by side, their tacit understanding and bond couldn't be substituted.
Even a newly raised salamander couldn't match Ibuse in toxin storage or poison potency.
"Tell that Konoha kid to go back and tell Danzō-sama I accept his plan."
"As long as that kid shows himself and I get to kill him in the end, I'll cooperate with you!"
After a night of poison attacks, Hanzo now only wanted to kill Gekko Chizan; everything else could be set aside.
Aburame Tatsuma smiled slightly — he had long suspected Hanzo would agree to their request. After all, Gekko Chizan was too dangerous; not only had he stirred negative emotions in Danzō-sama, even Hanzo couldn't resist his harm.
"All right, I'll return to the village. We'll bring people to Amegakure to discuss how to deal with Gekko Chizan."
"As for countering his Flying Thunder God Technique, I think Danzō-sama will have good methods."
Leaving a promise that he would return, Aburame Tatsuma set off straight for Konoha.
A cold light flashed across Hanzo's face. If he could have his way, he would never cooperate with Danzō — he knew what kind of man Danzō was.
The title 'the darkness of the shinobi world' didn't appear out of nowhere; Danzō had no bottom line in his methods.
"Men — order the patrol teams to expand the search radius to 400 kilometers beyond the village, and keep watch of the sky."
"That bastard can not only hide, he can fly."
"Be on full alert. If you find any trace of him, report immediately."
Though Hanzo was very cautious, he had no idea what his enemy was currently doing.
...
Three days after the first attack, Gekko Chizan hadn't returned to Amegakure at all.
He was in Orochimaru's laboratory, snacking and watching Orochimaru scurry about.
"What are you doing here?"
"On a mission, but it's been put on hold for now."
"Hm?"
"Nothing major. Just came to give Hanzo some trouble. By the way, what's in that huge glass container behind you? Water?"
Orochimaru glanced at the vessel behind him, a faint smile at the corner of his mouth. He answered calmly:
"That's the Hōzuki Mangetsu you sent earlier."
"I've confined him there to study the physiology of their clan."
Gekko Chizan finished the snacks in his hand and tossed the wrappers aside. Seeing this, Orochimaru's eye twitched.
Chizan paid no mind; he clapped his hands and approached the massive container, tapping it with a practiced motion.
The liquid inside trembled, and a figure slowly emerged.
When the man saw Gekko Chizan's face, rage filled his expression.
"Hey there. You're living well — put on some weight, huh."
"Looks like leaving you in my teacher's care was the right choice after all."
Hōzuki Mangetsu nearly died of anger, but he had no way to act — the taste of being the fish on the chopping block left him feeling absurdly helpless.