The Northern Front – Border of Earth and Rain
While Ren was securing victory in the south, the Northern Front was a display of cat-and-mouse on a titanic scale.
The sky split open as a cube of transparent light formed between the hands of the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
A beam of white light shot down, vaporizing a mountain peak instantly. The molecular bonds were simply deleted.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood on the head of Enma, the Monkey King transformed into the Adamantine Staff. He watched the mountain disappear, and sweat trickled down his temple.
'I cannot tank that,' Hiruzen analyzed instantly. 'Even with Diamond Skin or Earth Walls, if that light touches me, I am dust.'
Onoki floated high in the air, untouchable. "Come out and face me, Sarutobi! Or are you too old to fight?"
Hiruzen looked at the thousands of Iwa shinobi marching below.
"If I can't hit you," Hiruzen muttered, gripping Enma, "I'll hit them."
He dove.
Hiruzen plunged straight into the center of the Iwa army.
"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!""Earth Style: Earth Flow River!"
Hiruzen became a whirlwind of death. He moved erratically, flickering between squads of Iwa ninja, using them as human shields.
"Coward!" Onoki roared, his hands glowing with another Dust Release charge. But he froze.
If he fired now, he would vaporize Hiruzen, but he would also vaporize five hundred of his own men.
"What's wrong, Onoki?" Hiruzen taunted, decapitating an Iwa Jonin with his staff. "Shoot! Or do you care about your men too much?"
Onoki gritted his teeth, canceling the jutsu. "Infantry! Pull back! Get away from him!"
But Hiruzen didn't let them retreat. He stuck to them like glue, slaughtering them while their Kage floated helplessly above, unable to use his strongest weapon without committing mass fratricide.
It was a stalemate. The strongest offensive power rendered useless by a ruthless tactical decision.
2 Kilometers East – The Steam Monster
While Hiruzen played dirty, Danzo Shimura was being crushed.
He stood amidst the wreckage of a canyon, his Root agents scattered like broken dolls. Standing over him was Han, the Jinchuriki of the Five-Tails.
Steam erupted from Han's armor with the sound of a train whistle.
"Steam Eruption!"
Han charged. He moved faster than the eye could see.
CRACK!
Han's armored hoof slammed into Danzo's chest.
Danzo didn't even have time to weave a sign. His ribcage shattered. His right lung collapsed. He was sent flying into a rock wall, leaving a crater of blood and bone.
"Lord Danzo!" a surviving Root agent screamed.
Danzo slid down the wall, coughing up chunks of organ tissue. His vision was fading. 'I am... dying?'
'No. Not yet.'
With a trembling hand, he reached into his pouch and pulled out the Type 2: Restoration Tag he had bought from Ren.
He slapped it onto his caved-in chest.
HUMMM.
Blue light exploded.
The sensation was agonizing but intoxicating. His ribs snapped back into place. His lung reinflated. The internal hemorrhage evaporated. His chakra, drained from the fight, surged back to 40%.
Danzo stood up, gasping, feeling the phantom pain of a death that didn't happen.
Han, the Jinchuriki, tilted his head, confused. "I crushed your heart. You should be dead."
"I am the shadow of Konoha," Danzo spat, his eyes burning with a new, dark hunger. "I do not die."
"Wind Style: Vacuum Great Sphere!"
He used the surprise to launch a massive volley, collapsing the cliff face onto the Jinchuriki to cover his escape.
"Retreat!" Danzo ordered his men.
As he ran, his hand clutched his chest. The tag worked. It really worked.
'Ren Uchiha...' Danzo thought, his ambition twisting into obsession. 'He didn't just sell me a tag. He sold me immortality. I cannot let the Uchiha keep this. I must have the secret. I must have the boy.'
PS: I know this fight scene is lacking but I Just can't think of any way Hiruzen could counter Onoki except reaper death seal and I want Hiruzen alive for upcoming plot.
But the darkest scene was unfolding in the rain.
The rain here was red. Not metaphorically. The water mixing with the blood of 600 Konoha shinobi turned the mud into a crimson sludge.
It was a massacre.
The battalion Hiruzen had sent—the heavy infantry —lay scattered across the rocky terrain. Their lungs had been melted by poison gas or their bodies crushed by chain-sickles.
Only three people remained standing.
Jiraiya panted heavily, one eye swollen shut, his body covered in cuts. He leaned against Gamabunta, who was equally battered and fading away into smoke.
Tsunade was on one knee, her chakra reserves completely drained from healing herself and her teammates. Her clothes were torn, her blonde hair matted with mud.
Orochimaru stood, but he was trembling. His arm hung limp at his side, dislocated. His golden eyes, usually so arrogant, were filled with the shock of being completely overpowered.
They had used Ren's Type 2 Healing Tags. They had restored their chakra and healed their wounds mid-fight. But it hadn't mattered. The difference in raw power between them and the monster facing them was too great for a mere reset button to fix.
Towering over them, standing atop the head of a colossal salamander, was Hanzo.
He wore his rebreather mask, looking down at them. He barely had a scratch on him.
"Strong," Hanzo's muffled voice echoed through the rain. "You are strong to have survived this long. Your entire army is dead. Yet you three... you still breathe."
Jiraiya gritted his teeth, trying to stand. "We... aren't done yet..."
"You are done," Hanzo stated coldly.
He looked around at the devastation. His own forces had taken heavy damage as well—not from these three, but from the sheer attrition of the war. He had won the battle, but he couldn't afford to continue the war.
"I will spare you," Hanzo decided.
"My village has bled enough," Hanzo said. "And killing you three now would be a waste of strong seeds. But know this: you did not win. You survived."
Hanzo raised his hand.
"In exchange for your lives, you will carry this name. I name you The Sannin (The Three Ninja) of Konoha. Wear it as a badge of your survival against Hanzo of the Salamander."
It wasn't a title of honor. It was a brand. A permanent reminder that the three of them combined couldn't defeat one man.
"Go," Hanzo ordered, turning his salamander around. "And pray we do not meet again."
The "Legendary Sannin" watched him leave, surrounded by the corpses of their comrades. They felt like failures.
Konoha Main Camp – Two Hours Later
The main camp was a buzz of activity.
Ren sat on a crate, eating a ration bar. He looked fresh, clean, and bored. Beside him, Chiyo was bound in chakra-suppressing seals, glaring at anyone who walked by.
"We won!" a soldier cheered. "Suna is retreating!
Ren smirked. 'Damn right we are.'
Then, the mood shifted.
Hiruzen returned, looking exhausted from his stalemate with Onoki. Danzo returned, looking grim but alive. And finally, the Sannin limped in.
They looked like walking corpses. The medical team rushed to them.
"What happened?" Sakumo asked. "Where is the Western Army?"
"Dead," Orochimaru hissed. "All of them."
"Hanzo destroyed them," Hiruzen announced somberly to the gathered troops. "But he spared these three. He named them the Sannin."
A murmur went through the camp. "
"The Legendary Sannin!"
Ren stopped chewing his ration bar. He stared at the three battered ninja.
Ren shook his head in disbelief.
'"The Legendary Sannin." It's a participation trophy! It's the ninja equivalent of "Congrats on Not Dying." The PR department in this village deserves a raise. They could sell ice to an Eskimo.'
Danzo walked past Ren. The Elder paused, his hand brushing his chest where the Type 2 tag had saved him. He looked at Ren not with gratitude, but with the hunger of a starving wolf looking at a lamb.
"We need to talk later, Ren," Danzo whispered.
"Make an appointment," Ren replied cheerfully. "My consultation fee just went up."
Danzo scowled and walked away.