Thirty li outside Konohagakure, Hanzō tore through the forest at full speed.
"I've been tricked by that bastard Madara Uchiha!"
As he ran, Hanzō cursed Madara and even dragged Madara's entire family into it.
He had made a deal with Madara: Hanzō would sneak into Konoha's underground with his salamander, while Madara would lure away Drake.
The result?
The moment Hanzō tunneled beneath Konoha, he ran straight into a sea of pale, humanoid creatures.
Those white beings—White Zetsu—were completely unaffected by his poison and captured his salamander alive.
Hanzō himself was swarmed by tens of thousands of them. He barely managed to escape.
When he finally broke back to the surface, Madara was nowhere to be found.
Worse still, Hanzō could feel the ground crawling with White Zetsu, still hunting him. Even the trees seemed to be watching him.
"I got played. Madara used me as bait to draw Konoha's attention."
He gritted his teeth, regretting everything.
He should have stayed hidden. Instead, he'd walked straight into a trap.
The Trees Are Watching
Rustle!
Hanzō froze.
"…Did that tree just run?"
A nearby tree literally sprouted legs and sprinted away. Hanzō's eyes nearly popped out.
"So that's it. Drake's Wood Release lets him use trees as surveillance."
Realizing this, Hanzō made a snap decision and sprinted toward a nearby river.
"If I can get into the water, I can escape underground again."
He was confident in his earth-style skills—once in the riverbed, his chances of survival would rise sharply.
But—
Whoosh!
A figure shot toward him through the sky.
Hanzō turned and paled.
"The Yellow Flash!"
It was Minato Namikaze.
Minato was closing fast. Too fast.
"There's no time to hide. I have to kill him right here."
Hanzō ripped off his mask, inhaled deeply, and exhaled a thick cloud of poisonous gas.
The purple miasma spread, instantly rotting the surrounding trees.
"Let's see if you can survive this poison!"
But Minato didn't slow down.
He plunged straight into the toxic cloud.
"You—?!" Hanzō's eyes widened—then a blade plunged into his chest.
A kunai, straight through his heart.
"You're not poisoned…?" Hanzō gasped.
Then he noticed the cracks and dust-like lines on Minato's body.
"Wait… you were brought back by Edo Tensei?"
"Correct." Minato's voice was calm.
Then—
Hanzō dissolved into a puddle of liquid.
"A clone," Minato muttered, scanning the fog.
"Using the poison as cover to create a water clone while the real body hid… so this is the 'Demigod' of the shinobi world?"
His tone carried unmistakable disappointment.
Trap After Trap
"Fire Style—Explosive Tag Formation!"
A shout echoed behind him.
Paper tags burst from the soil and wrapped around Minato's legs, racing upward toward his waist.
"So that's what your real body was doing," Minato said quietly.
"Yes. Against the Yellow Flash, caution is everything," Hanzō smirked.
He snapped his fingers.
BOOM!
A chain explosion swallowed Minato whole.
"Nothing special. Even Edo Tensei falls to a single move," Hanzō sneered.
He picked up his gas mask and prepared to flee.
Then he froze.
Because a figure walked out of the smoke.
Minato—completely intact.
"…You're still alive?"
"Didn't you know? In this state, I can revive endlessly," Minato replied calmly.
"Impossible!" Hanzō snarled.
"If that were true, then Tobirama Senju would have been invincible!"
So he concluded—Minato was bluffing.
"Doesn't matter. I'll kill you again and flee."
He slammed his hands together.
"Water Style—Explosive Wave!"
Water burst from the earth, surging toward Minato.
Hanzō formed another seal.
"Body Flicker!"
Splash.
He collapsed face-first into the mud.
Someone had grabbed his arm.
"What—?!"
He scrambled up, spinning around.
A young man stood behind him, smiling.
Hanzō's heart dropped.
"Fourth Hokage… Drake."
Drake's smile didn't fade.
"'Demigod' Hanzō, I hereby declare—you're under arrest."
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