Cold sweat slid down Hanzo's forehead.
Using chakra, he barely managed to suppress the bleeding from his shattered arm. His remaining right hand still gripped his weapon tightly.
So this is the strongest man Konoha has...
Hanzo's breathing grew ragged. With death hanging over him like a shadow, he stared at Kizaru without daring to relax for even a second.
If that attack came again, there was no way he could avoid it in his current state.
If he attacked again, Hanzo would die.
Without question.
"Ooh... you really are Hanzo of the Salamander," Kizaru said as he landed lightly on the broken rock, hands in his pockets, smiling as he looked at Hanzo from a short distance away. "You're quite the monster yourself."
Who's the real monster here...?
Behind Kizaru, Jiraiya walked up beside Tsunade and Orochimaru. Looking at the massive, bottomless fissure stretching hundreds of meters across the battlefield, he could not help shouting in his heart.
That kick was absurd.
Unlike Jiraiya, who was still reeling from the shock, Orochimaru studied the enormous crack in silence before shifting his gaze back to Kizaru, his eyes turning thoughtful.
So it was not just his kekkei genkai.
Kizaru's physical ability itself was far beyond that of an ordinary person.
Orochimaru's gaze lingered on Kizaru's tall frame, and a strong thirst for knowledge began to rise in his eyes.
Perhaps after the war was over... he could study him properly.
Tsunade, meanwhile, had already noticed something else.
When Kizaru had delivered that kick-slash, she had felt the familiar burst of chakra from his right leg.
There was no mistaking it.
That had been the chakra control method she had taught him.
A smile slowly spread across Tsunade's face.
Looking at the massive crack Kizaru had torn into the earth, she felt an indescribable sense of accomplishment.
Kizaru had saved her from Hanzo.
And then he had used the technique she taught him to cripple Hanzo in a single blow.
At that moment, Tsunade felt both joy... and something a little more subtle stirring in her chest.
"You are the strongest shinobi I have ever seen... Konoha's Yellow Flash, Shimura Kizaru."
As Hanzo repeated the name Kizaru had given earlier, a piece of intelligence he had read some time ago surfaced in his mind.
Konoha shinobi Shimura Kizaru had crushed Kumogakure's forces and even captured the Third Raikage alive.
When he first heard that report, Hanzo had looked down on the Third Raikage and dismissed Kumogakure as pathetic, even rejecting their proposed alliance.
But now he understood how ridiculous that had been.
It was not that the Third Raikage or Kumogakure were weak.
It was that Shimura Kizaru was simply too strong.
For the Land of Fire to produce a monster like this...
Konoha truly deserved its title as the strongest hidden village.
"Ara ara, that's embarrassing," Kizaru said, putting on an obviously fake modest expression as he casually raised his fingers in a small gesture. "I'm only a little stronger, you know~"
There it was.
Jiraiya, who had fought Kizaru before and was already familiar with that shameless act, felt his face twitch.
There it is again...
But Hanzo took it seriously.
"As expected of Konoha's Yellow Flash," he said solemnly. "Even with such strength, you remain humble."
"Hanzo," Kizaru said calmly, "are you ready to surrender?"
Hanzo fell silent.
Then he let out a slow breath.
"The Land of Rain... has no hope of defeating Konoha."
That battle had forced Hanzo, a man once so confident that it bordered on arrogance, to clearly understand the gap between the Land of Rain and the great nations.
Especially after Kizaru had appeared.
Especially after that devastating kick.
Hanzo still had one final trump card left—Ibuse's poison.
But when he thought of Kizaru's speed, that body that could turn to light and move like teleportation itself, Hanzo could not convince himself that a surprise attack would work.
He did not want to die here.
And somewhere along the way, the ideals he once clung to had already begun to crumble.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Hanzo finally made his choice.
"I, Hanzo, on behalf of the Land of Rain... am willing to surrender."
The moment those words left his mouth, it was as if all the strength drained out of him.
His whole figure visibly sagged.
The proud Hanzo of the Salamander—the man who had once carried ambition enough to challenge the world—had had his spirit broken by a single kick from Kizaru.
And the one who did it...
Had only appeared on the battlefield for less than ten minutes.
In less than ten minutes, the war in the Land of Rain had ended at Kizaru's feet.
Seeing Hanzo surrender, Kizaru lazily knocked him out with a chop, then turned and walked over to Tsunade and the others.
"Orochimaru, Jiraiya," he said with a smile. "I'll leave the rest to you."
Then he looked at Tsunade.
"Tsunade-senpai, I need to tell you something."
Before she could respond, Kizaru naturally reached out, took her by the arm, and led her away.
Being dragged off like that, Tsunade should have exploded on the spot.
And yet, unlike how she treated everyone else, she did not shake him off.
She only shot him a glare, her expression carrying the faintest trace of embarrassment, and allowed herself to be pulled away.
As he watched Tsunade leave with Kizaru, Orochimaru glanced at Jiraiya with a hint of concern.
Jiraiya, however, looked surprisingly calm.
He even smiled.
Sensing Orochimaru's gaze, Jiraiya turned toward him and said lightly, "Come on. Let's check on Hanzo."
Orochimaru nodded. He said nothing more and followed Jiraiya toward Hanzo.
Once they were far enough away, Kizaru released Tsunade's arm and turned to face her.
"I already asked Tsuchikage Ōnoki to cancel the bounty on Nawaki," he said, lowering his head slightly so he could meet her eyes properly. "And you don't need to worry about Kumogakure either. Nawaki should be safe now."
Tsunade froze.
The faint annoyance on her face vanished instantly.
She just stared at him.
For a moment, no words came out.
Then, slowly, she smiled.
It was not forced.
Not teasing.
Not proud.
Just pure relief, gratitude, and happiness rising straight from her heart.
She raised her hand and looked up at the tall Kizaru.
"Lower your head."
With a smile, Kizaru did as he was told.
Tsunade placed her right hand on his head and gently rubbed it.
Then, while he was still blinking at her in surprise, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.
"Thank you, Kizaru," she whispered softly beside his ear.
A moment later, she let him go and stepped back.
Kizaru straightened up and touched his head, then put on a deeply disappointed expression.
"What a shame..."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes.
"A shame?"
The smile on her face instantly turned dangerous.
She punched him in the arm.
Not hard enough to injure him, but definitely hard enough to make her point.
"What exactly were you expecting?"
"I thought the reward would be a little better," Kizaru said, looking at her with a shameless smile.
A flush crept across Tsunade's face.
In the next second, she raised her fist again and swung at him in embarrassment and fury.
"You idiot! Go die!"
Boom!
The massive boulder behind Kizaru exploded into countless fragments.
"Oohh, scary~ Tsunade-senpai," Kizaru said as he casually sidestepped out of the way.
"You bastard, say something properly for once!" Tsunade snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I am saying it properly, Tsunade-senpai~" Kizaru replied with a grin as he strolled right back to her side.
Tsunade's arm shifted slightly, and her elbow drove into his waist with just enough force to make him feel it.
"Let's go."
The anger on her face had already melted back into a smile as she turned and walked toward Hanzo.
Rubbing his waist, Kizaru followed after her with a lazy grin.
By the time the two of them returned, Orochimaru and Jiraiya had already given Hanzo basic treatment and stabilized his condition for the moment.
Jiraiya looked between the two of them curiously.
"What did you say to each other? You both look way too happy."
"The matter with Nawaki is settled," Tsunade said.
For so long, Nawaki's safety had been the weight pressing on her heart.
Now, at last, that burden was gone.
"Nawaki's safe? That's great!" Jiraiya laughed loudly, genuinely happy for her.
Orochimaru, having already heard the details from Jiraiya, gave a faint smile as well.
"Orochimaru," Tsunade said, turning toward him, "Nawaki is safe. I'll leave his training to you, just like we agreed."
Orochimaru nodded.
"I'll teach him well."
There was already a trace of anticipation in his eyes at the thought of his first student.
Hanzo watched the four of them talk and laugh together, and for the first time in a long while, he felt something close to envy.
Companions like that...
How wonderful it would have been to have people like that at his side.
Then his gaze dimmed.
Against a nation as powerful as the Land of Fire...
What future did a small country like the Land of Rain even have?
--------------------------------------
Support me at patreon.com/Arthorain and read upto 50 Advanced Chapters and R-18 Content!
--------------------------------------
Update schedule: 7 chapters/week
Every 200 power stones = 1 Extra Chapter
By voting with [power stones], you can easily get double the number of chapters.