"Ryun, is he still going to fight?"
Tsunade's face was full of worry. She believed that Hanzō of the Salamander had already admitted defeat in this battle, so perhaps there was no need to continue fighting.
Moreover, she felt that Ryun alone stood no chance of defeating Hanzō of the Salamander. On the contrary, he might even be killed by him. After all, the three Sannin had personally experienced the strength of the "Demigod."
"Why not fight? Instead of worrying here, it's better to recover more chakra and then go help him together." Jiraiya took out a soldier pill from his tool pouch.
"You idiot, do you want to die? You've already taken three soldier pills today. If you take another one, do you even care about your body?" Tsunade immediately slapped the pill out of Jiraiya's hand and scolded him.
While soldier pills were effective, they had side effects. For chakra recovery, one could take at most two pills a day. If Jiraiya took a fourth one today, he would likely be crippled after this fight.
"Jiraiya, I believe in Ryun. He might have a way to defeat Hanzō. Let's wait and see. If it really comes to it, we can still intervene..."
Orochimaru stared at the young man on the battlefield, his eyes faintly gleaming with excitement. He was curious about how Ryun planned to proceed and how he would break the Demigod's instantaneous speed.
"The ninja world calls you the 'Demigod.' I wonder if you've ever witnessed divine punishment? If you can withstand this move, then I will acknowledge your title as 'Demigod'!"
Ryun raised a mass of crackling lightning high in the air. The thunder hidden within the thick dark clouds seemed to respond to the signal, faintly resonating with the chirping lightning in his hand.
"Divine punishment? Brat, stop boasting. If you have any skills, just use them. How could someone like you possibly measure up to me?" Hanzō of the Salamander forced himself to remain composed as he shouted.
Seeing the flashing thunder in the sky and hearing the screeching of the chirping lightning, every hair on Hanzō's body stood on end. An overwhelming sense of danger rapidly filled his entire being.
It was an indescribably terrifying feeling, as if he had been locked onto by some bloodthirsty, monstrous beast.
And it wasn't just him—even the Black Dragon beneath Ryun's feet grew restless.
Its body was the tallest in the vicinity, and the thunderclouds hung oppressively low. Its pair of dragon horns acted like receptors, making it feel as though lightning could strike down at any moment...
Most crucially, Ryun held a concentrated mass of lightning in his hand. The constant thunderclaps made it extremely uneasy, and it desperately wanted to flee.
"Old Black, buy me an opening to attack!"
To ensure absolute success, Ryun gave an order to the Black Dragon beneath him.
"Understood!"
This time, the Black Dragon surprisingly suppressed its rebellious nature and decided to cooperate fully with Ryun.
It raised its front claws high before slamming them down, causing two massive, sharp earth spikes to erupt from the ground beneath Hanzō of the Salamander.
Hanzō hastily leaped away.
"Water Release: Water Pillar!"
The Black Dragon spewed a fierce, thick jet of water. Faced with such an attack, Hanzō dared not block it head-on and had no choice but to use his Body Flicker Technique.
However, the moment he finished using the technique, Ryun's fatal killing move was fully unleashed.
"Disappear along with the thunder..."
"Lightning Release Ultimate Technique: Dragon's Descent!"
As Ryun swung down his lightning-charged hand, a ferocious thunder dragon emerged from the thick storm clouds. It lunged toward Hanzō of the Salamander with lightning-fast speed, striking with unerring precision.
This was the signature move of Sasuke Uchiha in the original series—"Lightning Release: Kirin." But since Ryun used it first, he had the right to rename it...
After all, Sasuke had poor naming sense, calling a thunder dragon a "kirin." Ryun refused to tolerate that.
"What kind of jutsu is this?!"
Before Hanzō could even finish that thought, let alone activate his Water Body Flicker to evade, the massive thunder dragon had already descended upon him!
This was an S-rank Lightning Release technique that was nearly impossible to dodge. Unless Hanzō possessed space-time speed, his Body Flicker Technique would never outpace natural lightning!
The reason he had felt his hairs stand on end earlier was precisely because he had been locked onto by the lightning.
BOOM!!!
A blinding flash of lightning engulfed the entire battlefield, and the thunder dragon carved out an enormous crater in the ground.
By the time the thunder faded, the invincible myth of Amegakure's "Demigod" had been shattered.
Hanzō of the Salamander now lay in the crater, his body charred black, blood spilling from his mouth. He no longer had the strength to fight.
"What kind of godly technique is this?! Ryun can actually use such a monstrous Lightning Release?!"
The Sannin of Konoha stood in the distance, their mouths agape as they stared in shock at the unbelievable scene.
They still didn't fully understand the mechanics of this S-rank Lightning Release technique, mistakenly believing that Ryun had summoned it using his own chakra.
This lightning was even more powerful than natural thunder, and the fact that Ryun could execute it despite his dwindling chakra reserves was what shocked the Sannin the most.
An attack with such overwhelming destructive force, faster than even the Demigod's Water Body Flicker—this Lightning Release was more than enough to defeat any one of the Sannin!
In the end, they realized they had severely underestimated this monstrous prodigy's strength.
The Sannin had all mentored Ryun in his training, but now, they felt as though they had grown old... The young man who had once humbly sought their guidance had, without them noticing, already surpassed them...
Ryun jumped down from the Black Dragon's head—now cowering in fear—and, panting heavily, slowly walked toward Hanzō of the Salamander with his chakra blade in hand.
"This is what I meant by 'divine punishment.' It seems you couldn't withstand it... After all, you're just a strong human, not a 'god.'"
"Hanzō of the Salamander, do you have any last words?" Ryun raised his chakra blade.
"Cough... So this is how it ends..."
"Fine. Losing to a young man isn't something to regret, especially one as talented as you..."
"It's just a pity for my country and my subordinates. In the end, I couldn't bring them peace and stability."
Hanzō closed his eyes.
"Do it..."
Ryun said nothing. His blade swung straight for Hanzō's neck.
"Stop!!!"
"Wait!!!"
"Don't!!!"
The voices of the Sannin rang out almost simultaneously.
At the critical moment, Ryun halted his strike, the blade mere inches from Hanzō's neck.
Frowning, Ryun turned to the rapidly approaching Sannin, unsure why they had intervened.
Cutting off the enemy leader's head would bring this battle to a definitive end.
"Ryun, spare his life... The war is already over!" Tsunade was the first to speak up in his defense.
Orochimaru and Jiraiya nodded in agreement, sharing the same sentiment.
Earlier, Hanzō had spared them, giving the three of them a chance to live. The Sannin couldn't just stand by now—they had to at least try to return the favor and spare his life in turn.
This was a rare code of honor in the ninja world, one that both Hanzō of the Salamander and the Sannin still upheld at this stage.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📖 Like the story? Read 120 chapters ahead!
🔗 patreon.com/atomelectron
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━