"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
Danzō formed seals rapidly, unleashing a barrage of crescent-shaped wind blades that tore across the battlefield in overlapping arcs, sweeping toward Hanzo's position.
Hanzo's Body Flicker was simply too fast.
Danzō couldn't keep up with him in close pursuit.
So he chose volume over precision—
Blanket the area. Restrict movement. Force an opening.
But Hanzo had been waiting for exactly this.
With a sudden flicker, he shifted to the flank of the oncoming wind waves. He yanked down the respirator mask covering his mouth and formed seals in a blur.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Bullet!"
Though famed for his Water Release, Hanzo was far from limited to it. Among the Five Nature Transformations, Fire was his second-most practiced element.
And in elemental dynamics—
Fire counters Wind.
Wind feeds fire.
Fire devours wind.
If two shinobi of equal level clash—one using Fire, the other Wind—the Wind user may discover in horror that their technique only strengthens their opponent's flames.
That was precisely what happened.
Hanzo's Great Fireball surged into the Vacuum Waves—
And instead of being extinguished, it exploded outward.
The wind blades became fuel.
The flames transformed into a roaring inferno.
And the target—
Was Baku.
Eliminating the Threat
To Hanzo, Baku was far more dangerous than the remaining Root shinobi.
As long as Baku remained—
Ibuse's poison mist was neutralized.
And poison was Hanzo's greatest battlefield advantage.
The inferno rolled forward like a tidal wave.
Baku's suction only accelerated its approach.
Within seconds, the summoned beast was engulfed.
It shrieked in agony.
The flames overwhelmed it.
And moments later—
Baku vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Damn it! Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!"
Realizing he had been played, Danzō channeled a violent gale along his sword's edge and slashed forward.
The wind extended beyond the blade—
Forming a massive crescent that carved through the air for over ten meters.
Hanzo twisted aside.
The blade passed within a hair's breadth of his body—
Carving a smooth, deadly trench into the earth behind him.
Danzō pressed forward, slashing again.
Hanzo tore off his distorted respirator and tossed it aside.
At this stage—
Breathing was no longer a concern.
They charged at each other.
Steel clashed.
Though Danzō managed to block the sickle—
The weighted iron ball attached to its chain whipped around and slammed into his chest.
Crack.
He staggered backward several steps.
At least two ribs shattered.
In pure kenjutsu and taijutsu—
Danzō was not Hanzo's equal.
Hanzo moved to press the advantage—
But shadows surged from the periphery.
The remaining Root shinobi, temporarily stabilized by antidotes, rejoined the fray.
A Costly Decision
Ibuse's toxin was formidable—
But it was natural, singular in composition.
Many major villages had developed counteragents.
Konoha included.
However—
Antidotes were not miracles.
One measure of alkaline could not neutralize five measures of acid.
Once poison accumulated beyond a threshold—
Treatment became meaningless.
According to intelligence, Ibuse required roughly five minutes between poison discharges.
They had to eliminate it before that window reset.
"Jōnin stay with me and engage Hanzo! The rest—kill the beast!" Danzō ordered.
Only three jōnin remained.
Three.
Danzō's heart twisted.
Jōnin were the backbone of any village.
Root had spent decades cultivating fewer than thirty.
He had brought nearly twenty to Rain.
Now—
Only three stood.
The rest lay dead.
"Watch his poison! Do not let the sickle cut you!" Danzō warned.
Hanzo's blade was laced with a compound toxin far deadlier than Ibuse's mist.
Danzō knew that firsthand.
He had already burned one Izanagi to survive it.
Escalation
"Water Release: Water Shockwave!"
Pressed by Danzō and three elite jōnin, Hanzo no longer moved as effortlessly as before. Several shallow wounds now marked his body.
Minor—but telling.
He needed space.
A towering surge of water crashed outward, forcing Danzō to retreat.
Hanzo vanished.
In the next instant—
One Root jōnin was cleaved cleanly in half.
The chain snapped taut—
The iron weight whipped through the air—
And smashed another jōnin's skull into fragments.
Two dead—
In a heartbeat.
But victory demanded payment.
The final jōnin lunged—
A lightning-infused kunai piercing cleanly through Hanzo's shoulder.
"AAAAAAH!"
A scream followed—
But not Hanzo's.
Hanzo's blood splattered across the attacker.
His blood—
Carried venom.
Skin sizzled.
Flesh melted.
Cratered holes spread across the jōnin's body as the toxin corroded him from the outside in.
Hanzo was called a "poison man" for a reason.
The toxins in his body were so potent even he treated them cautiously.
He kicked the dying shinobi away.
Steel met steel once more—
Hanzo's sickle locked against Danzō's blade.
They stood face to face.
Breathing heavy.
Blood dripping.
The battlefield had narrowed.
The inferno fading.
The poison thinning.
The Root elite nearly annihilated.
Now—
Only the two of them remained.
The battle had reached its boiling point.
And neither would leave unscarred.
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