Outside Amegakure, on a barren stretch of rocky ground, Tsunade and the others were locked in battle against Hanzō.
Because this had been a rapid strike mission, the elite force led by Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru was not large—just over three hundred shinobi.
Most of those three hundred had already been intercepted by Amegakure's ninja and were engaged in battle farther away.
Only a small group of elites had managed to follow Tsunade and the others all the way to Hanzō.
Unfortunately, against Hanzō's overwhelming speed and the poisonous gas released by his summoned salamander, Ibuse, everyone other than Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru had already been struck down and collapsed to the ground.
Rain poured heavily from the sky.
All three of them were injured as they stood in a triangular formation, watching Hanzō with wary eyes.
He stood atop the head of Ibuse, hands raised before his chest.
As a veteran shinobi with countless battles behind him, Hanzō did not waste even a moment. With a flick of his hand, he sent several kunai flying out, each one fitted with explosive tags.
"Tsunade! Orochimaru!" Jiraiya shouted.
The three of them leapt into the air at once, narrowly avoiding the first wave of attacks.
A violent explosion erupted, and smoke spread across the ground.
Using the cover of the smoke, Hanzō immediately locked onto Tsunade's landing position with his sensory ninjutsu.
His hands moved through seals in an instant.
The second attack came immediately after.
"Fire Release: Exploding Flame Formation!"
Hundreds of explosive tags burst up from the ground, surging toward Tsunade's feet like a tidal wave.
"Ninja Art: Needle Jizō!"
Seeing Tsunade in danger, Jiraiya reacted without hesitation.
His white hair suddenly extended, surging forward like a living thing as it shot toward Tsunade.
Just as Jiraiya's hair was about to wrap around her and pull her clear—
A streak of golden light flashed across the battlefield.
Before anyone could react, it had already reached Tsunade.
An arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her into a firm chest.
At the same instant, Kizaru appeared beside Jiraiya as if he had teleported, lazily lifting one leg and kicking Jiraiya away from the blast radius before the explosion swallowed the area.
Boom!
A deafening explosion roared out.
Kizaru bent slightly, shielding Tsunade in his arms.
A wall of light bloomed behind him, while Armament Haki coated his body. The flames and shockwave crashed against him—but left not even the slightest mark.
Then he stepped calmly out of the fire.
As Kizaru set her down, Tsunade stared at him in a daze, her face already flushed.
Kizaru simply looked toward Hanzō and gave his usual lazy smile.
"Ooh… how is it going?"
"Kizaru!" Tsunade snapped back to herself at the sound of his voice. She immediately grabbed his arm, worry showing plainly on her face. "Are you alright?"
As she spoke, she hurriedly looked over him—only to find that not only was he uninjured, even his clothes had not been burned.
Her expression froze for a moment.
As she straightened up, her eyes met his.
"Kizaru… what are you doing here?"
"Ohhh… maybe I just got a little curious," Kizaru replied with a faint smile.
Tsunade shot him an annoyed look, but this was still a battlefield. She quickly turned her attention back toward Hanzō, her expression tightening once more.
"Be careful. He's dangerous."
Jiraiya, who had landed safely after being kicked clear by Kizaru, grinned as he looked over.
Hanzō had been putting enormous pressure on him from the very start. Kizaru showing up now could not have been more timely.
As expected of Konoha.
There was no shortage of monsters.
Hanzō's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the newcomer.
The momentary shift in his focus did not escape Orochimaru.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Taking advantage of that opening, Orochimaru launched a precise sneak attack.
Several long snakes burst from the smoke and coiled around Hanzō before he could fully evade.
As the smoke began to clear, Orochimaru crouched low beneath him, using the snakes to pin Hanzō in place.
"Jiraiya! Kizaru!" he shouted sharply.
"Got it! Needle Hell!" Jiraiya responded at once.
His long white hair spread out and hardened into countless sharp needles, which all fired toward Hanzō at once.
But the fastest one to move was Kizaru.
The moment Orochimaru called out, Kizaru had already raised his right hand.
His index finger glowed.
A laser shot forward with terrifying speed.
"Body Flicker Technique!"
Faced with the combined assault, Hanzō vanished instantly with his summon, using his signature high-speed movement technique to escape.
"What—?!"
Orochimaru's expression changed as he narrowly avoided Hanzō and the salamander reappearing from above.
Hanzō's reaction speed was so absurdly fast that even Orochimaru and Jiraiya nearly failed to keep up.
Nearly.
Because there was still one person on the battlefield faster than Hanzō.
"Too slow, you know."
Golden particles gathered behind Hanzō.
Kizaru appeared there out of nowhere.
For the first time, true shock flashed across Hanzō's face.
Relying purely on battle instinct honed through countless life-and-death fights, Hanzō whipped his leg backward in a brutal side kick.
His heel tore through the rain with a sharp crack and drove straight through Kizaru's waist—
But there was no impact.
No resistance.
His leg passed straight through.
Hanzō's eyes widened.
Kizaru, still wearing that easy smile, remained right there.
"Ooh… that was close. I nearly got kicked to death."
It was not a genjutsu.
He had simply turned his body into light and let the attack pass through him.
Hanzō's expression changed completely.
Using his sensory ninjutsu, he could still clearly feel the overwhelming chakra in front of him.
That only made the scene even more unsettling.
Without a second of hesitation, Hanzō vanished again, rapidly widening the distance between them.
At the same time, his summon moved in perfect coordination. Ibuse raised its head and slipped underground to reposition.
Kizaru leapt into the air.
Using Observation Haki, he instantly locked onto Hanzō's movement through the battlefield.
In the next moment, he became a streak of golden light and reappeared behind Jiraiya.
Clang!
Kizaru raised his Armament-coated right hand and casually blocked Hanzō's surprise strike aimed at Jiraiya.
Jiraiya reacted the instant he heard the clash.
"Ninja Art: Wild Lion's Mane Technique!"
His white hair exploded outward, twisting like a living storm as it surged toward Hanzō to bind and crush him.
But the "Hanzō" caught by the hair suddenly burst apart into water.
A Water Clone.
The real Hanzō had already slipped away again using his high-speed movement.
He landed atop Ibuse as the giant salamander resurfaced from underground.
Now holding his sickle and chain in hand, Hanzō stared down at Kizaru with full seriousness.
The speed he had always taken pride in had been matched—and even surpassed—by this newly arrived shinobi from Konoha.
For the first time in a long while, Hanzō felt real pressure.
"State your name, shinobi of Konoha," Hanzō said in a deep voice.
Kizaru looked up at him, still smiling lazily.
"Shimura Kizaru."
Hanzō's gaze sharpened.
"I acknowledge your strength, shinobi of Konoha. From this day onward, I, Hanzō, shall call you the Yellow Flash."
Kizaru's smile twitched a little at that.
"What a troublesome title…"
Hanzō mistook the reaction for modesty.
"No need to be humble, Konoha's Yellow Flash! Your strength has earned it!"
The corners of Kizaru's mouth lifted higher.
Then he vanished.
He appeared directly in front of Hanzō in a burst of golden light.
His right leg rose, radiance flooding around it.
Armament Haki hardened over the strike, and Tsunade's monstrous strength was layered into it as well.
Then Kizaru brought it down without the slightest mercy.
Hanzō's instincts screamed.
At the very edge of death, he released his summon and forced himself to use his movement technique again, barely evading the full blow.
Barely.
A golden slash tore through the battlefield.
The dark clouds above split apart.
The earth below was ripped open.
Everything in front of Kizaru was cleaved apart in one strike.
Then, beneath the sudden shaft of sunlight breaking through the storm—
A mist of blood slowly scattered through the air.
One of Hanzō's arms had been cut cleanly to pieces by Kizaru.
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