Chapter 56: Hanzō's Plan Exposed
Hanzō stood proudly atop his giant salamander, gazing down at the disheveled Orochimaru and the others, feeling a surge of arrogance and ambition.
From his perspective, the Sand Shinobi were now his unshakable allies.
"The Sand finally pulled out all the stops, deploying their Tailed Beast to pin down that bastard," he thought.
After Chiyo convinced the One-Tailed Beast to make a move, although she was ordered to remain in the village by the Third Kazekage, she immediately notified Hanzō of the situation.
To hasten Hanzō's decision to send his forces, Chiyo exaggerated the battlefield's circumstances.
Still, Hanzō was extremely cautious. He continued to wait for Fuma's actions. When he received the report of the battle between Fuma and the One-Tail, Hanzō finally smiled and began mobilizing all of Amegakure.
In his estimation, that monster of a man wouldn't lose to the One-Tail, but its enormous size would certainly give him some trouble.
Hanzō's predictions were somewhat logical. Unless the One-Tail swallowed Fuma whole, the fight wouldn't end anytime soon.
The confusing nature of the fragmented information led Hanzō to become deeply immersed in a feeling of immense joy. In his view, everything was going according to plan.
As he marched his forces, he could already picture himself donning the "Kage" hat and Amegakure rising to become one of the Six Great Shinobi Villages.
The salamanders Hanzō summoned, though not possessing the wisdom of sages, were undeniably lethal weapons on the battlefield.
Thick purple mists sprayed from their mouths toward the Konoha ninja, marking death for whoever inhaled them.
Every five minutes, an adult salamander could spew out massive amounts of poison, then disappear into the ground, waiting for the next opportunity to strike.
Hanzō, pleased with the performance of his salamanders, lifted his chained scythe, ready to begin his slaughter.
"Swish!"
Hanzō's figure darted across the battlefield like a ghost, his wide chains swinging greedily, drinking the blood of the Konoha shinobi.
He resembled Sakumo Hatake in many ways—if you couldn't match his speed, any method of attack was practically useless.
Orochimaru, with a cold smile, didn't bother to stop Hanzō. Instead, he, Jiraiya, and Tsunade formed an attack formation and simultaneously slammed their hands on the ground, summoning their respective creatures.
After a burst of thick smoke, the Three Great Summons stood tall on the battlefield. Following a brief exchange, the colossal creatures also began their slaughter of the Amegakure ninja.
Gamabunta gripped his giant sword and, with a heavy sweep, sliced seven or eight Ame shinobi in half.
Manda, ever greedy, opened his massive jaws and devoured anyone in his path, friend or foe.
Katsuyu spat out corrosive acid, turning Amegakure shinobi into puddles of sludge on contact.
The involvement of lower-tier ninja sometimes only served to drain the chakra of top-tier combatants. Their lives were as insignificant as weeds, hardly valuable.
The battlefield had morphed into a grotesque scene resembling a chaotic, free-for-all deathmatch.
Konoha's shinobi were falling in droves, their faces turning black and purple, or their heads flying as the gleaming iron of Hanzō's chained scythe flashed by.
At the same time, Amegakure ninja were dying as well, crushed into meat paste by the summoned beasts or slain by ninjutsu, or raw physical might.
When Hanzō saw Orochimaru's counterattack, his heart tightened.
"This bastard—he's trying to compete with me in killing speed?" he thought. "Amegakure isn't Konoha—we can't afford losses on this scale!"
Two thousand casualties might be a serious blow to Konoha, but for Amegakure, it would mean complete annihilation.
Seeing his ninja fall one by one, Hanzō roared in anger, "Everyone, prepare the Rain Clouds Shroud technique!"
Amegakure shinobi scrambled to find safe positions, channeling their chakra into nearby water bodies and sending fireballs into the sky.
Within moments, the battlefield was filled with thick mist and vapor.
Seeing this, Orochimaru shouted, "All Konoha shinobi, use Wind Release techniques to the south! Disperse the mist!"
"Wind Release: Multi-Faced Gale Technique!"
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
The Konoha shinobi poured their chakra into their techniques, summoning a powerful gale that dispersed the mist just as it began to form.
A shadow passed over Hanzō's face. His jutsu had been thwarted!!
As one of the leading scientific minds of the ninja world, Orochimaru immediately saw through the so-called artificial rain cloud technique.
It was nothing more than a process of heating the ground and nearby water bodies with fire release, causing the water vapor to rise. Dispersing it was no big deal.
By now, both sides' forces had suffered heavy losses, with their numbers dwindling rapidly.
Even with the antidote in play, the poison from the salamanders remained a deadly threat to those with ordinary constitutions.
Amegakure's shinobi, wearing specially designed gas masks, gained the upper hand in close-quarters combat with the Konoha ninja.
The battlefield had turned into a gruesome meat grinder, with both sides tearing at each other, then falling in turn. The vanguard forces on either side were nearly wiped out.
Hanzō's eyes glinted with murderous intent. Now, the time had come to "capture the king."
In a flash, he closed in on the three of them, his large chained scythe appearing in front of Jiraiya. Hanzō's blinding speed left Jiraiya no time to react.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Several thick snakes shot out from Orochimaru's sleeve, blocking the strike for Jiraiya.
Taking advantage of the opening, Jiraiya grabbed Hanzō's arm, his long white hair rising as he formed a one-handed seal.
"Ninja Art: Needle Jizo!"
Jiraiya's white hair transformed into countless sharp needles, shooting toward Hanzō's face at high speed.
Hanzō didn't dodge. His body liquified and slipped out of Jiraiya's grip, reforming mid-air to grab his scythe and slash at Jiraiya's abdomen.
"Swish!"
Jiraiya dropped to one knee in pain. The slash had nearly disemboweled him.
Tsunade leaped forward to support him, her fists infused with chakra as she threw a punch toward Hanzō.
Once again, Hanzō turned to liquid, easily evading her strike. He looked at her mockingly and commented,
"All strength, no speed."
Tsunade ignored the taunt and directed Katsuyu to heal Jiraiya's wound.
Sarutobi's squad and Hanzō continued their standoff. By now, there were hardly any living shinobi left on the battlefield. The sound of titanic beasts clashing echoed across the battlefield as Hanzō's salamanders cried out in pain.
Hanzō's summoned salamanders were being relentlessly pursued by the Three Great Summons.
Katsuyu sprayed copious amounts of acid, forcing the burrowing salamanders to surface. Gamabunta and Manda then worked together to tear the giant creatures apart.
The salamanders let out helpless roars. Without Hanzō backing them up, their combat effectiveness had plummeted. Most of these salamanders hadn't even developed sentience yet, fighting purely on instinct.
Hanzō's eyes gleamed with ferocity. The brutality of this battle was far beyond anything he had anticipated.
First, his enemies developed an antidote to the poison, then they nullified his jutsu. Now, all he had left were his body flicker technique and his scythe skills.
"It's been a long time since I've been in such a difficult situation," he thought.
But rather than backing down, Hanzō felt his fighting spirit ignite. He understood now that Amegakure had already lost this battle.
However, he could not afford to lose. If he did, both he and the Land of Rain would be consigned to eternal damnation. He needed to capture these three alive and secure a chance to negotiate with Konoha!
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