After a long while, Killer B walked along the road with a dejected look on his face, still muttering to himself:
"Strict borther!"
Having failed to buy a swimsuit, Killer B looked extremely unhappy. Behind him, Motoi was utterly speechless. He walked up and gave him a knock on the head.
"Bee! Snap out of it! Hurry up and finish the mission!"
"Ahhh! Got it, got it! Let's move out!"
After a string of blows, Killer B completely lost any mood for fooling around and could only think about finishing the mission as quickly as possible.
Only then did the squad begin moving at full speed.
By the time they reached the seaside, Gekko Chizan had already flown all over the place several times.
After all, there was nothing along the coast—far better to soak in hot springs and eat something good.
...
It is worth mentioning that three hours before Killer B and the others arrived at the seaside, the war in Amegakure had already ended.
The shadow clone Gekko Chizan left behind reported the situation to him, and in order to witness the fall of the demigod, he deliberately rushed to Amegakure.
At this moment, Hanzō was covered in wounds, his right arm already nowhere to be seen.
The massive loss of blood made his face look deathly pale.
"Hehehehe, a bunch of little brats, to actually force this old man to such a state...."
"Since that's the case, even if I die, I'll drag you all down with me."
In front of him, Yahiko, Konan, Yugito, Mei Terumi, and Mifune were all panting heavily. Judging from the wounds covering all five of them, it was more than enough to clearly show how brutal this battle had been.
Among them, Yugito's injuries were the most severe—a horizontal gash across her abdomen that looked utterly terrifying.
Yet she herself didn't care at all. When Gekko Chizan saw it, he said only one thing: it's fine, there's absolutely nothing wrong.
For a jinchūriki, healing external injuries was a matter of minutes. What problem could there be?
"Is that so?"
"You want to detonate the poison sac inside your body?"
"You're thinking too much, aren't you?"
Just as Hanzō had already prepared to die together with them, a mocking voice, accompanied by a series of cracking sounds, entered the ears of the six people present at the same time.
Startled, Hanzō discovered that both his hands and half his body were already unable to move, wrapped in some kind of substance.
Very quickly, he realized what this thing covering him was.... crystal....
Through the crystal, he immediately knew who had arrived.
Hanzō gritted his teeth and shouted the man's name:
"Gekko Chizan...."
As his voice fell, Gekko Chizan released Transparent Release, crossed his arms over his chest, and appeared before everyone with a playful expression.
"Yo. Long time no see. You don't look so good."
"Unlike me—I'm doing better and better."
Hanzō of the Salamander stared at the person in front of him, the one he hated down to his very bones, and his rage meter instantly skyrocketed.
But in his current state, he couldn't move at all. Not to mention his damaged body, just the crystal restraint alone was already a huge problem.
"This time, Takigakure and the Land of Iron attacking me—was it you pulling the strings from behind the scenes?"
As a demigod who had dominated the shinobi world, the moment he saw Gekko Chizan appear, he understood.
The mastermind behind all of this was the bastard right in front of him. Otherwise, there was no way he would appear in Amegakure at the very moment of Hanzō's defeat.
And on this battlefield, there was another person who was surprised by Gekko Chizan's appearance.
That was Mifune, the general of the Land of Iron. He had heard the name Gekko Chizan more than once, and the man's reputation was enormous.
One of Konoha's Twin Stars. The Ghost of the Battlefield.
But what did Hanzō mean by "mastermind"?
Could it be that this man had colluded with Takigakure, all for the sake of dealing with Hanzō of the Salamander?
"Hehehe, worthy of you. You're right—but not entirely."
"The one who planned this war wasn't me, but the people you persecuted."
"If you had treated the people in your village a little better, would they have rebelled against you?"
"In the end, this is simply where the people's will lies."
Hanzō glared viciously at Gekko Chizan, clearly not acknowledging his words.
"Hehehe, winner takes all, loser eats dust. I lost, you won. It's that simple."
"Not killing you on the battlefield back then was my mistake. If it happened again, I would definitely risk everything to kill you!"
He really shouldn't have said that. The moment those words came out, Gekko Chizan became unhappy.
Back then, the instant his Flying Thunder God landed, this bastard had slashed straight at his kidney. If he hadn't reacted quickly, what about the rest of his life?
Anger! Extreme anger!
"Hmph, old geezer. Even if you couldn't kill me, so what if you colluded with Danzō?"
"Do you think that guy Danzō is living comfortably right now? Hmph, sooner or later I'll settle accounts with him."
"Making a move on me behind my back—he's dancing on a minefield and begging for death!"
A torrent of spit sprayed straight across Hanzō's face.
After finishing with Hanzō, Gekko Chizan turned around and looked at the hero of this battle, Mifune of the Land of Iron.
"Mifune-sama, today's outcome is all thanks to you."
"The might of the Iaidō slash—truly terrifying."
"After today, you are the number one Iaidō practitioner. Congratulations, congratulations."
Looking at the young man smiling before him, Mifune didn't know why, but he felt as though he had seen him somewhere before, yet for the moment he couldn't recall it.
Gekko Chizan: Of course you've seen me—you even drank the alcohol I sold you!
"Hehehe, the Konoha Ghost, Gekko Chizan. Who would have thought that Takigakure would actually get in touch with a Konoha shinobi like you."
"Such is the unpredictability of the world."
Facing Mifune's doubt, Gekko Chizan had no intention of answering. Some things were far better left unsaid.
Seeing that Gekko Chizan refused to answer him directly, Mifune didn't press the issue further and simply sheathed his blade in silence.
Since Gekko Chizan had appeared, there would be no more fierce fighting afterward.
"Hanzō, back when you drove Yahiko and the others away, you should have known that sooner or later, those you expelled would return."
"When you agreed to Ōnoki back then, joined the war, and stabbed me, you should have understood that I would not let you go."
"Look—today, they've come back, and they've dragged you down from that lofty position."
"And I am here to send you on your final journey."
"You're a senior, after all. I'll give you some dignity—don't think about killing yourself."
Gekko Chizan looked at Hanzō once more, this man who had carved out the title of demigod of the shinobi world through sheer strength.
In every generation, new talents emerge; the waves behind drive the waves before.
So what if you're a demigod of the shinobi world? You still have to make room for the newcomers.
"Hehehe...."
"You li—"
"Crack!"
Before Hanzō could finish his words, his entire body turned into a crystal statue.
Hanzō: I.... you won't even let me finish my last words?
Gekko Chizan: Don't want to hear them!