The rain in Amegakure did not fall in individual drops; it descended in continuous, heavy sheets that turned the ground into a deep, clinging mire.
On the vast, flooded plains marking the western front, the clash between the Hidden Leaf and the Hidden Rain began without a declaration. The Konoha vanguard, moving under the cover of the storm, encountered the entrenched Rain forces precisely at dawn.
The initial exchange was a brutal display of elemental superiority and terrain advantage.
The Rain shinobi utilized the flooded plains to their benefit. Hundreds of water-based projectiles—senbon, bullets, and slicing waves—tore through the morning mist.
The Konoha front line responded with disciplined coordination. Earth Release specialists slammed their hands into the mud, raising thick, staggered walls of rock to absorb the incoming barrage.
Fire Release users stepped into the gaps, unleashing torrents of flame that struck the water, generating massive clouds of thick, scalding steam that instantly blinded both sides.
In the ensuing fog, close-quarters combat commenced.
The sound of steel striking steel rang out across the plains. Konoha's Nara clan members extended their shadows through the murky water, binding Rain shinobi in place just long enough for Akimichi warriors to crush their flanks with heavy, expanding strikes.
The Rain shinobi countered with poisoned blades and hidden explosive tags buried in the mud, turning the earth itself into a hazard.
Casualties mounted on both sides. The mud turned a deep, rusty brown. However, the Konoha forces held a distinct, unexpected advantage.
The Rain forces heavily relied on the ambient, airborne toxins dispersed by their traps and their specialized breathing apparatuses. They expected the Konoha vanguard to choke on the invisible poison hanging in the mist.
Instead, the Konoha shinobi fought with unhindered breath. The new filtration seals applied to their standard masks glowed faintly, capturing the toxic chakra particles and neutralizing the threat entirely.
Deprived of their primary tactical advantage, the Rain forces began to yield ground. The Konoha vanguard pushed forward, forcing the enemy line back toward the rusted, towering spires of their hidden village.
The tide of battle favored the Leaf.
Then, the air pressure shifted.
A sharp, whistling sound cut through the noise of the battlefield. A heavy, weighted chain lashed out from the dense rain. It moved with terrifying speed, wrapping securely around the thick stone of an Earth Wall that was providing cover for a squad of Konoha Chunin.
With a single, violent pull, the solid stone wall was shattered into fragments.
From the mist, a figure advanced.
He wore dark, heavy armor designed to repel water and blades alike. A specialized, bulky rebreather mask covered the lower half of his face. In his right hand, he held a massive scythe, the curved blade glinting dully in the low light. The heavy chain connected to the base of the weapon dragged through the mud.
Hanzo of the Salamander had entered the field.
He did not waste breath on a speech or a battle cry. He moved directly into the Konoha ranks.
A Konoha Jonin charged him from the right flank, thrusting a lightning-coated kunai aimed at Hanzo's neck. Hanzo did not look at the attacker. He simply flicked his wrist. The weighted end of his chain snapped upward, striking the Jonin's wrist and shattering the bones instantly. As the Jonin stumbled, Hanzo spun the scythe, the blade slicing a clean, fatal arc across the man's chest.
Three more Leaf shinobi attacked simultaneously. Hanzo exhaled sharply through his mask. He channeled his chakra into his weapon, swinging the scythe in a wide, horizontal circle. A wave of pressurized water, infused with his own potent, paralyzing venom, erupted from the blade. The strike cut through their armor and delivered the toxin directly into their bloodstreams. The three shinobi collapsed into the mud, their nervous systems entirely locked.
Hanzo moved with a fluid, lethal grace. Every swing of his scythe claimed a target. Every snap of his chain broke a defensive line. His presence alone acted as a physical weight upon the battlefield, stalling the Konoha advance and rallying the retreating Rain forces.
The momentum of the battle reversed completely. The Leaf vanguard began to pull back, unable to establish a foothold against the warlord's relentless assault.
"Hold the line!" a Konoha commander shouted, weaving signs for a wind technique.
Before the commander could release the jutsu, Hanzo blurred forward, his scythe raised to decapitate the man.
Clang.
The scythe did not reach its target.
A heavy, jagged kunai struck the flat side of Hanzo's blade, possessing enough raw physical force to deflect the massive weapon downward into the mud.
Hanzo paused, his dark eyes shifting to trace the origin of the thrown weapon.
Three figures stepped through the ranks of the retreating Konoha vanguard, moving to the absolute front line.
Tsunade Senju stood in the center, her hands wrapped in thick combat tape, her golden eyes fixed entirely on Hanzo. To her right stood Jiraiya, his wild white hair matted by the rain, a pair of sharp, spiked knuckle-dusters gripping his hands. To her left stood Orochimaru, a long, slender sword drawn, his pale skin contrasting starkly with his dark combat attire.
Hanzo pulled his scythe from the mud, resting the heavy blade against his shoulder. He assessed the three young shinobi standing before him. He recognized their attire and the distinct, potent chakra signatures they carried.
Hanzo his voice a mechanical rasp through his mask as he stated, "You are bold to step forward while your superiors retreat. Do you intend to halt my advance with mere enthusiasm?"
"We intend to break your scythe," Tsunade replied, her voice steady and hard.
Jiraiya slammed his fists together. "We aren't retreating. The Rain stops here, Hanzo."
Orochimaru said nothing. He simply lowered his stance, his yellow eyes tracking the slight tension in Hanzo's forearms.
High above the flooded plains, perched on the edge of a jagged, rocky outcropping that overlooked the entire valley, Nanami Kento sat in silence.
He tracked the movements of his wife and her teammates. He monitored their chakra levels, their positioning, and their breath control. He observed Hanzo's stance, calculating the exact reach of the chain and the striking speed of the scythe.
Nanami remained entirely still. He was not there to fight. He was there to ensure survival. If the situation deteriorated past the point of recovery, he would intervene. Until then, he observed.
Down in the mud, the standoff broke.
Hanzo initiated the clash. He threw the weighted end of his chain directly at Tsunade's chest, aiming to crush her ribs before she could close the distance.
Tsunade did not dodge. She stepped into the attack, channeling a massive surge of chakra into her right fist. She punched the incoming iron weight.
The impact cracked the air. The heavy iron weight was violently repelled, flying backward with twice the speed it had been thrown.
Hanzo caught the returning weight effortlessly, spinning the scythe to bleed off the physical force. "Brute strength. Typical Senju."
While Hanzo dealt with the deflected chain, Jiraiya struck.
He inhaled deeply, his chest expanding. "Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
A massive sphere of highly compressed fire erupted from Jiraiya's mouth. The intense heat instantly turned the falling rain into a thick curtain of steam as it rushed toward the warlord.
Hanzo did not retreat. He slammed his palm against the flooded earth. "Water Release: Water Encampment Wall!"
A thick, rotating dome of water rose around him, intercepting the fireball. The collision produced a violent hiss, the water neutralizing the flames entirely.
Before the steam could clear, a long, pale shadow darted through the mist.
Orochimaru moved with an unnatural, serpentine flexibility. He bypassed the dissipating water wall, thrusting his sword directly at the gap between Hanzo's armor plates at his neck.
Hanzo reacted with veteran instinct. He leaned his torso backward by a fraction of an inch, allowing the sword tip to graze the metal of his rebreather mask. Simultaneously, he brought the haft of his scythe up, striking Orochimaru sharply in the ribs.
Orochimaru was knocked sideways, but his body twisted mid-air, landing lightly on his feet several yards away. He did not appear injured; he simply spat a mouthful of mud and reset his guard.
"You possess speed and varied tactics," Hanzo acknowledged, gripping his scythe with both hands. "But you lack unified killing intent. You strike as individuals."
Hanzo swung the scythe in a wide, sweeping arc. He released a sharp burst of wind chakra from the blade, sending a crescent-shaped blade of pressurized air toward the trio.
Tsunade stepped forward, slamming both hands into the muddy ground. She did not use a jutsu. She pulled upward with raw, chakra-enhanced physical strength, ripping a massive slab of bedrock directly from the earth to serve as a shield.
The wind blade struck the stone slab, slicing deeply into the rock but failing to cut entirely through it. The slab shattered into heavy fragments.
As the stone broke apart, Jiraiya used the falling debris as cover. His white hair suddenly lengthened and hardened, forming hundreds of sharp, needle-like spikes around his body. "Ninja Art: Needle Jizo!"
He launched himself at Hanzo, curling into a ball of lethal spikes, acting as a human projectile.
Hanzo swung his heavy chain, wrapping it around the spiked form of Jiraiya in mid-air. He halted Jiraiya's momentum and violently slammed the white-haired shinobi down into the mud.
Jiraiya groaned, the mud softening the impact, but the heavy chain pinned him firmly to the ground.
"One," Hanzo stated coldly, raising his scythe to deliver the finishing blow to the trapped shinobi.
Before the blade could fall, the ground beneath Hanzo's boots erupted.
Orochimaru had burrowed beneath the mud during the distraction. He burst upward, his hands wrapped around Hanzo's ankles, attempting to drag the warlord down into the earth.
Hanzo's balance shifted. The downward swing of his scythe missed Jiraiya, burying itself deep into the mud.
Hanzo grunted, forcing chakra into his legs to resist the downward pull. He raised a foot to stomp on Orochimaru's wrists, but a massive shadow fell over him.
Tsunade had leaped high into the air, using the combined distractions of her teammates. She descended rapidly, her right leg raised high, coated in a terrifying concentration of blue chakra.
"Heavenly Foot of Pain!" Tsunade shouted.
Hanzo realized the danger instantly. If that strike landed, his armor would not save him.
He abandoned his scythe. He twisted his body violently, tearing his ankles free from Orochimaru's grip, and threw himself backward in a rapid series of evasive backflips.
Tsunade's heel struck the exact spot where Hanzo had been standing.
The impact was cataclysmic. The earth caved in entirely. A massive crater, fifty paces wide, was instantly forged in the flooded plains. The concussive shockwave threw Jiraiya and Orochimaru clear of the blast zone, while the sheer force of the blow triggered a localized earthquake that rattled the distant spires of the Rain Village.
Hanzo landed smoothly near the edge of the newly formed crater. He looked at the massive destruction, then at the blonde kunoichi standing at the epicenter.
"You possess the physical might of your grandfather," Hanzo observed, his voice devoid of mockery. He reached into his pouch, pulling a spare, standard scythe. "I see now that holding back against you will result in my own death. You are not mere soldiers. You are true shinobi."
Hanzo bit the thumb of his left hand, drawing a quick bead of blood.
"I will treat you as equals," Hanzo declared. He slammed his bloody hand onto the muddy ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A massive cloud of white smoke erupted, expanding rapidly across the battlefield. The thick rain failed to disperse it immediately. The ground trembled beneath a heavy, shifting weight.
As the smoke cleared, the Konoha trio stared upward.
Towering over them was a colossal, dark-purple amphibian. It possessed heavily armored, warty skin and dead, yellow eyes. The creature let out a low, guttural croak that shook the muddy water at its feet.
Ibuse, the giant poisonous salamander.
Hanzo stood atop the head of his summon, looking down at the three Leaf shinobi.
"The air around Ibuse is highly toxic," Hanzo warned, his scythe resting in his grip. "Even breathing near him will paralyze your lungs. If you wish to survive, you must abandon this field."
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru did not retreat.
They stood shoulder-to-shoulder at the edge of the crater. They shared a brief, silent glance. The time for standard skirmishing was over. The battle had escalated to the realm of giants.
Jiraiya bit his thumb, wiping a streak of blood across his palm. Orochimaru did the same, a cold intensity shining in his eyes.
"We don't abandon fields," Jiraiya yelled up at the warlord.
Jiraiya and Orochimaru slammed their hands onto the earth simultaneously.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Two distinct, massive clouds of smoke detonated on either side of the crater, throwing mud and water high into the air. The sheer displacement of mass caused the ground to heave violently.
From the smoke on the left, a towering, dark-red toad emerged, a massive pipe clenched firmly in its jaws, its single good eye glaring up at the salamander. Gamabunta, the chief toad of Mount Myoboku, drew a short sword from his hip.
From the smoke on the right, a colossal, purple-striped snake slithered upward, its massive coils crushing the rocks beneath it. Manda, the most aggressive serpent of the Ryuchi Cave, bared its fangs, its forked tongue tasting the rain-soaked air.
Jiraiya stood atop Gamabunta's head. Orochimaru stood atop Manda's head.
The moment the two beasts registered each other's presence, the tension spiked.
"Orochimaru," Manda hissed, his massive yellow eyes narrowing at the giant toad. "You summon me to this filthy swamp to fight alongside food? I should consume this warty amphibian before I deal with your enemies."
Gamabunta exhaled a massive cloud of smoke from his pipe, his hand resting on the hilt of his short sword. "Try it, you overgrown earthworm, and I will carve you into belts."
"Focus, Bunta!" Jiraiya yelled, stomping his foot on the toad's head. "The enemy is the giant poisonous salamander! Save the bickering for later!"
Orochimaru's golden eyes glinted. "Comply for today, Manda. I will provide the sacrifices you desire once the battle is won. For now, we share a target."
Manda let out a low, vibrating hiss of displeasure but turned his terrifying gaze toward Ibuse.
Hanzo watched the two legendary summons appear. He remained unbothered, his dark eyes shifting to the center, focusing entirely on Tsunade.
"They have called their beasts," Hanzo noted. "And you, Senju? Will you call upon your slugs to heal the damage my poison will inflict?"
Tsunade looked up at Hanzo. She looked at the massive salamander.
Tsunade focused her mind, aligning her Earth and Water nature affinities perfectly. She channeled a massive surge of her dense chakra directly into the seal, triggering the fusion process Nanami had designed.
The black ink flared with a brilliant, blinding green light.
Tsunade slammed both her palms flat against the muddy earth.
"Wood Release: Wood Golem Jutsu!"
The flooded plains tore open.
The earth did not just crack; it violently split apart as an unimaginable volume of thick, dark wood forced its way upward from deep underground. The roots rapidly braided and locked together, expanding outward and upward, completely draining the surrounding soil of moisture.
A colossal humanoid figure composed entirely of hardened timber rose from the mud. It possessed a demonic, fierce visage, its wooden muscles thick and unyielding. The golem continued to rise until it matched the height of Gamabunta and Manda, casting a massive shadow over the battlefield.
But the jutsu was not complete.
From the base of the golem, a secondary root system erupted. A massive, serpentine dragon composed of heavy, spiked wood spiraled upward, wrapping its long body tightly around the torso and shoulders of the wooden giant. The dragon's head rested near the golem's shoulder, its wooden jaws parted in a silent, terrifying roar.
Tsunade stood firmly atop the head of the Wood Golem. The green light of her chakra radiated from her skin, highlighting the fierce, unbroken determination in her golden eyes.
Across the battlefield, Hanzo of the Salamander froze.
For the first time since the war began, the untouchable warlord of the Rain took a physical step backward on the head of his summon. His dark eyes widened behind his rebreather mask, staring at the towering wooden construct. He was a veteran of past eras; he recognized the jutsu from the terrifying legends of the village hidden in the leaves.
"Mokuton," Hanzo rasped, the mechanical distortion of his mask failing to hide his shock. "The First Hokage's power."
He looked at the blonde kunoichi standing atop the golem. He finally understood. He was not merely fighting three talented disciples of the Leaf. He was fighting the awakened, living legacy of the God of Shinobi.
Four massive behemoths stood in the pouring rain, staring each other down. The sheer weight of their combined presence silenced the storm around them, waiting for the command to strike.