The rain began to fall thicker.
Streams of water trickled down hair already soaked, then into eyes and across cheeks…
Yet, of the four in confrontation, not one bothered to wipe away the rain that stung their eyes. Their entire focus was on the people standing opposite them.
Hanzo, holding his scythe, stood proudly atop the Salamander Iwagakure, looking down at the three juniors in the distance whom he hadn't initially taken seriously. A shadow began to creep into his heart.
"Has the younger generation of Konoha truly reached this level of strength?"
Hanzo felt that with his own body, he likely wouldn't be able to withstand a single punch from Tsunade, who could make the air itself hum and tremble with her fists alone.
Although he could use Body Flicker to evade Tsunade's punches, Hanzo knew his own limitations. In a prolonged battle, the victor would likely be the descendant of the Senju, whose chakra was far superior.
Then there was Orochimaru, who, with his agile body and incredibly swift reactions, was holding his own against Hanzo in taijutsu and kenjutsu. His peculiar snake ninjutsu, his heightened danger perception, combined with the divine weapon in his hand that could easily damage Hanzo's scythe, and the Sage Mode, a technique said to have only been mastered by the First Hokage…
Based on his own strength alone, Hanzo didn't have a 100% certainty of defeating him.
And then there was Jiraiya, bristling with defiance, his unique hair-based ninjutsu capable of both offense and defense. What surprised Hanzo even more was Jiraiya's current state; it seemed to be Sage Mode, similar to Orochimaru's…
Any one of these three individuals, taken alone, was likely the hope for a major ninja village for the next several decades.
And Konoha actually had three such excellent, strong juniors!
Not to mention the Leaf's White Fang, who had made a name for himself on the Sand Village battlefield…
For the first time, Hanzo began to doubt his ambition for the Hidden Rain Village to stand on equal footing with the Five Great Ninja Villages.
But what of it?
Hanzo gritted his teeth in his heart. He still had a trump card!
"Iwagakure!"
Hanzo bent down and patted the salamander beneath him, calling out softly.
Iwagakure understood, nodding its large head and letting out two soft chirps. It then opened its mouth to its absolute limit, spewing forth a torrent of poisonous mist that engulfed the three in front of it.
A resolute look flashed in Jiraiya's eyes. He clapped his hands together, his cheeks puffing out like a true toad's. After a slight exertion of power, he roared and spewed out a waterfall-like stream of amber toad oil.
The two Sages perched on his shoulders were already prepared. As Jiraiya sprayed the toad oil, two powerful wind and fire ninjutsu blasts shot forth simultaneously from their mouths.
"Sage Art - Wind Release - Tornado Hurricane!"
"Sage Art - Fire Release - Great Flame Bullet!"
"Sage Art - Goemon!"
The two toad Sages and Jiraiya chanted in unison. With the help of the Slug, their surging senjutsu chakra erupted from their bodies.
"Roar!"
The pervasive poison mist that had spread across the battlefield was instantly enveloped by the hurricane. Under the scorching flames ignited by the senjutsu power acting on the toad oil, a colossal flame tornado formed. It swept across the battlefield with sky-rending intensity, illuminating the entire area in a deep red.
A brilliance like that of the great sun rose for the first time in the perpetually overcast Land of Rain. The flames were so hot, and the light so strong, that even the people of the Land of Rain, several miles away, could see it clearly.
Scorching airwaves rolled and churned. The rising air currents, caused by the intense heat, spun and instantly evaporated the raindrops falling from the sky. The earth, under the roasting flames, quickly dried and cracked.
Goemon, which burns all tangible things!
The Salamander Iwagakure, struggling to open its small eyes, watched the poison mist crackle and pop under the flames of Goemon. It slowly closed its mouth and, with a hint of fear, chirped twice at Hanzo above.
Hanzo looked up at the sky-obscuring flame tornado. Perhaps due to the extreme temperature, he felt his mouth dry out. He swallowed twice and, without a word, retreated tens of meters with Iwagakure.
Orochimaru also felt a tightness in his chest and quickly pulled Tsunade with him, flickering far away from the ever-expanding flame tornado of Goemon.
The ninjas of both sides who had been fighting fiercely had long since stopped their actions. They clutched their chests, gasping for breath, and desperately retreated towards their own formations.
The senjutsu chakra that had been accumulated in their bodies for a long time was instantly drained. The high temperature of the Goemon flames had almost completely consumed the oxygen in the surrounding air. Jiraiya felt his vision blacken and, with the help of the two Sages, quickly followed Orochimaru and Tsunade to distance themselves from the center of the flame tornado.
"Orochimaru…"
"Huff… huff…"
Jiraiya involuntarily exited Sage Mode. The two Sages on his shoulders, not wanting to further deplete Jiraiya's chakra, voluntarily returned to Mount Myōboku.
After taking deep breaths of the scalding air, Jiraiya shakily pointed at Orochimaru with a trembling finger, his face filled with resentment.
"You guy who values lust over friendship, Jiraiya-sama remembers you!"
"You… you just wait and see…"
Orochimaru cast a disdainful glance at Jiraiya, who had reverted to his human form, with no trace of guilt or sympathy in his eyes.
"Heh, you were the one who wanted to steal the spotlight!"
"Go back and think about how to perfect your Sage Mode before you talk to me about this!"
Jiraiya grumbled and panted for a while, finally recovering some chakra with the continuous supply from the Slug. He glared at Orochimaru with indignation for a moment before shifting his gaze to the still-unabated flame tornado behind them.
Looking at the powerful attack he had unleashed in Sage Mode, Jiraiya instantly threw all his unpleasantness aside and began to chuckle.
"Heh heh!"
"Orochimaru, Tsunade, take a good look. This is the future path of Jiraiya-sama!"
"One day, I will unleash ninjutsu of this magnitude with my own abilities!"
Orochimaru nodded in agreement, making Jiraiya feel like he was floating.
"Jiraiya, don't celebrate too early!"
"This is just the salamander's own poison. Hanzo still has some left in him!"
Tsunade's gaze shifted between the two of them and she said with a hint of jealousy.
Jiraiya's expression stiffened, then he waved his hand dismissively.
"It's fine, once my chakra recovers, I'll just do it again!"
Orochimaru nodded gently and stepped forward, looking at Hanzo in the distance through the now-weakening flame tornado.
"Lord Hanzo, I wonder if the strength of us juniors has caught your eye?"
Salamander Hanzo remained silent for a long time. He slowly raised a hand and placed it on his lower abdomen. His gaze wandered between the three of them and the flame tornado ahead for a long while before he finally lowered it.
"Remarkable youths!"
"Although I still have some means left, but…"
Hanzo waved his hand, gathering the Rain Village ninjas, who had been cut to pieces by the Konoha ninjas, behind him. He looked at the three with a detached gaze.
"Through this battle, I have also understood the gap in foundation between the Hidden Rain Village and Konoha."
"This war, which I initiated, no longer has any reason to continue!"
"However…"
Salamander Hanzo tightened his grip on his scythe and continued in a deep voice,
"If you Konoha wish to continue, we, the sons and daughters of the Hidden Rain Village, will not shrink from battle!"
Orochimaru sneered and, leading the Konoha ninjas gathered behind him, stepped forward with an imposing aura.
"You start a war and then stop it as you please, the Hidden Rain Village? It's not that easy!"
"Either surrender to Konoha, or…"
"Use the lives of the Hidden Rain Village ninjas to atone for the heroes of Konoha who died on the battlefield!"
Killing intent surged in Orochimaru's eyes as he raised his right hand high.
Tsunade's chakra surged anew, and Jiraiya, with a snap, clasped his hands together once more.
The Konoha ninjas behind them roared in unison with excitement, shaking their various ninja tools which they had not yet retracted. Their desire for battle was evident.
The Rain Village ninjas hiding behind Hanzo trembled and instinctively took a step back.
Hanzo's pupils contracted, and he felt a bitter pang in his heart.
"This guy…"
"Must he force me, the legendary Salamander, to do this?"
"Forget it…"
"For the sake of the village, I…"
A complex expression flickered in Hanzo's eyes. He finally lowered the proud head of a demigod.
"For the future of the village, the Hidden Rain Village… surrenders!"
As soon as Hanzo finished speaking, the Rain Village ninjas hiding behind the salamander let out an inexplicable sigh of relief. A joy of surviving a near-death experience instantly filled their chests.
Sensing the state of the ninjas behind him, Hanzo sighed even more deeply in his heart.
"The future of the Hidden Rain Village will likely be even more difficult!"
Orochimaru's lips curved into a confident smile. He looked at the dejected Hanzo and, pushing his luck, said,
"Not enough!"
Hanzo's heart burned with anger. The veins on his palm, gripping the scythe, bulged.
"Orochimaru!"
"I have already agreed to surrender the Land of Rain to Konoha on behalf of our country. What more do you want?"
"Are you insulting my spirit as a samurai?"
Orochimaru shook his head with a cold laugh.
"I naturally trust the promise of the esteemed Demigod, but simply surrendering is far from enough!"
Hanzo gritted his teeth, struggling to suppress the urge to unleash his abdominal poison sacs, and said hatefully,
"What do you want me to do?"
Orochimaru ignored Hanzo's anger and calmly stated, word by word,
"I want your Hidden Rain Village to become an eternal ally of Konoha, a subordinate force to Konoha!"
Hanzo's heart hardened. Chakra surged at his fingertips, and he was about to tear open his poison sac to fight this greedy snake once more.
"In exchange, I guarantee, in the name of a disciple of Konoha's Third Hokage, that Konoha will not levy war reparations from the defeated party of the Land of Rain, and promises the Land of Rain access to mutual commercial exchange with Konoha!"
"Intelligence and resources. As a subordinate ally, the Land of Rain can receive preferential support from Konoha!"
Hanzo's expression underwent a fierce transformation. The finger he had extended towards the poison sac trembled for a moment before finally falling back in defeat.
"I…"
"Accept your terms!"
Orochimaru's face finally broke into a satisfied smile. He nodded calmly.
"Then I shall await the news from Lord Demigod at the border of the Land of Rain. Farewell!"