A plump Salamander, a gigantic toad, a mountain-like Katsuyu, and a winding colossal snake suddenly appeared on the battlefield, causing the surrounding Konoha Ninja to Body Flicker away one after another.
"Hmph! The foul snake from the Ryuchi Cave is indeed repulsive!"
Before their opponent Hanzo could speak, the massive Gamabunta, puffing on a cigarette, spoke up. His hand rested on the hilt of a huge short sword, his eyes glaring unfavorably at the purple horned serpent.
Tsunade and Jiraiya looked at Orochimaru with surprise. They hadn't heard about Orochimaru becoming a summoner for the Ryuchi Cave.
Noticing the gaze of his two teammates, Orochimaru's lips curled slightly upward. These two had been making significant progress in the past two years. He, the original genius, had stagnated due to various trivial matters.
He had obtained the Ryuchi Cave Summoning scroll before and became a summoner for the Ryuchi Cave. Since then, he had been looking forward to this moment.
Him! Orochimaru! The most genius ninja in the team! He's back!
"Orochimaru! You didn't mention that you'd be fighting alongside the toads from Mount Myoboku! I despise toads the most!"
Even the serpent beneath Orochimaru was shaking its head, trying to throw him off. Orochimaru quickly stabilized himself, lowering his body, and said in a deep voice, "Manda! State your terms!"
"Hmph! Offerings must be added!"
Only then did Manda stop shaking its head. With its emerald snake pupils, it scanned the surrounding Konoha Ninja, its snake tongue constantly flickering.
Orochimaru's face stiffened, then turned ugly. He gritted his teeth and said, "The Rain Ninja across from us, you can have as many as you want."
"Oh, is there discord? And not just one discord but more?"
At this moment, Hanzo, standing on top of the Salamander, finally spoke, his tone full of sarcasm. He looked at Gamabunta, Katsuyu, and the giant snake Manda disdainfully, saying:
"Are these insects giving you the illusion that you can defeat me?"
In an instant, Bunta and Manda, who had been eyeing each other warily, stopped their internal movements. Their eyes, full of killing intent, fell on Hanzo, but Hanzo remained unfazed.
He could tell that the summoning beasts of these three individuals were the ninja beasts of the three major sanctuaries. But so what? The gap between them couldn't be bridged by ninja beasts alone. Even if the ninja beasts came from so-called sacred places, it didn't matter!
Bunta, with the most explosive temper, couldn't hold back. He leaped towards Hanzo, his massive short sword aimed at Hanzo's head atop the Salamander.
"Be careful!"
The sound of chains echoed as Hanzo vanished. The sword in Bunta's hand was entangled with chains and pulled away, while at the other end of the chains was the scythe held by Hanzo.
Hanzo swung the scythe, aiming for Bunta's forehead. Jiraiya, standing on Bunta's head, quickly formed seals, spewing out ignited oil in one breath.
The flames were slashed by Hanzo, but they also stopped his descent. He tapped his feet on Bunta's head for a moment before retreating to create distance.
And here, the battle became the signal for the large-scale engagement of the two armies. Both Rain Ninja and Konoha Ninja crossed the charred middle ground, rushing towards each other.
"Minato, oil bombs!"
Tatsuma abandoned Nawaki and approached Minato.
Minato nodded, quickly forming seals with his hands. In his open mouth, globules of oil spewed out towards the Rain Ninja.
The charging Rain Ninja were drenched in oil. Even with the pouring rain, it was difficult to wash away the sticky oil from their bodies. At this moment, Tatsuma had also completed his seals, taking a deep breath.
"Fire Release! Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
"Boom!"
A strand of flames appeared in front of Tatsuma's mouth, transforming into a fiery dragon that lunged towards the Rain Ninja covered in oil.
"Boom, boom!"
The fiery dragon's fangs and claws ignited clusters of oil, and the heat of the flames washed away the early autumn chill, turning the rainforest hot.
Watching hundreds of Rain Ninja trapped in flames, Hanzo, who was currently battling Tsunade and her team, frowned deeply. He was about to use Body Flicker to eliminate that annoying brat.
He was just about to perform Body Flicker Jutsu when Orochimaru seemed to have guessed his intentions and flicked both hands towards Hanzo.
"Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Dozens of snakes shot out from his sleeves, instantly entangling Hanzo and interrupting his movement. Hanzo frowned, his chakra surged as he forcefully broke free, attempting to Body Flicker again.
But Orochimaru's instant delay had already bought enough time for his teammates.
Tsunade leaped high from Katsuyu's head, paying no attention to the unfamiliar jutsu Orochimaru suddenly used. She just swung her fist down at Hanzo. Hanzo raised his scythe to block, and Tsunade's fist landed on the scythe.
"Bang!"
Hanzo's body suddenly sank, causing the giant salamander beneath him to lower its body as well. The ground beneath the salamander was instantly compacted, sinking slightly compared to the surrounding area.
Struggling to break free from Tsunade's grip on his arm, Hanzo's expression also became serious.
These three young people, individually, weren't strong or troublesome enough for him. However, their coordination was too seamless, leaving no room for any rhythm gaps.
One could say they truly lived up to the teachings of Sarutobi Hiruzen, right?
While there was a momentary delay here, Ninjutsu on Tatsuma's side had already been completed. After the heavy rain extinguished the flames on the Rain Ninja's bodies, only charred corpses remained. Even those who didn't die were left convulsing on the muddy ground.
These were the Rain Ninja who hadn't directly faced the Fire Dragon attack, only being burned by the oil. But over a dozen Rain Ninja who were directly hit by the Fire Dragon were nowhere to be found.
Tatsuma returned to Minato's side, breathing lightly. Using such a large-scale Fire Release in such heavy rain, even with the talents of "Expand" and "Sea Overturning," was somewhat challenging.
"Are you okay, Tatsuma?"
Minato asked, and Tatsuma shook his head. Seeing this, Minato continued, "It's a powerful jutsu, I'm willing."
"Prepare Lightning Water Dragon Bullet."
Minato, interrupted, felt a bit regretful but still asked, "Do you have enough chakra?"
"No problem, but this time, I'll be using a lot of chakra. Make sure to keep up," Tatsuma replied, shaking his head. He began to form hand seals, and Minato nodded in response, swiftly forming his own hand seals. Chakra from Lightning Release was continuously extracted.
"Water Release! Water Dragon Bullet!"
The hand seals - rat - dragon - rabbit - tiger didn't seem to follow the usual pattern of Water Release, but they made contact. Rainwater around them was quickly mobilized, and the rainwater along with the accumulated water on the ground began to rotate.
Soon, the flowing water enveloped the two of them, and a massive water dragon emerged on the battlefield. Seeing the size of the water dragon, Minato gritted his teeth, accelerating the speed of chakra refinement.
"Lightning Release! Thunderclap!"
Minato opened his mouth, releasing Lightning Release chakra up to his control limit, which transformed into lightning and infused into the water dragon. In an instant, the water dragon was surrounded by dazzling lightning, and although its eyes were made of water, they seemed to have a lifelike brilliance.
Tatsuma switched to the "bird" hand seal midway, allowing him better control of the lightning water dragon. Under his control, the lightning water dragon behaved like a real dragon.
Swiftly swaying, it evaded several large-scale Ninjutsu attacks, then lunged towards the Rain Ninja below. The water dragon moved at an incredible speed, and even when the Rain Ninja used Body Flicker Jutsu, they could only barely avoid colliding with the dragon.
The lightning on the surface of the water dragon expanded its attack range, dragging any Rain Ninja touched by the lightning into the dragon's body.
"Swordsmanship! Kusarigama Counter Slash!"
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~"
A scythe, tethered by chains, flew from a distance, cutting through the lightning water dragon. Rain Ninja caught in the dragon's body fell out one after another, but the lightning also followed the scythe and chains, creeping toward Hanzo.
In an instant, the paralysis caused by the lightning made Hanzo stiffen. Tsunade's attack arrived simultaneously, an Enhanced Strength punch slamming into Hanzo's chest, knocking him off the giant Salamander.
As Hanzo fell, he saw a gaping mouth lunging toward him, ready to bite. Startled, he finally regained his senses and his body moved abruptly.
Inside the snake's mouth, Hanzo performed the Body Flicker Jutsu, escaping just before Manda closed its mouth.
"Hiss~"
Manda spat out some snake saliva, its emerald eyes spinning in surprise at Hanzo's terrifying speed. This Body Flicker Jutsu was the fastest it had ever seen from a ninja.
Just as Hanzo escaped the snake's mouth, he saw a massive sword slashing towards him. His brows furrowed, and he couldn't help but mutter, "Ibuse!"
Ibuse was the name of Hanzo's summoning creature, the giant salamander. But at this moment, the fat salamander had disappeared without a trace. As Hanzo shouted, the ground suddenly trembled.
A massive salamander burst through the ground, pushing aside Bunta's descending hand. Simultaneously, its mouth opened, and purple Poison Mist sprayed out.
"Fire Release! Big Flame Bullet!"
Jiraiya naturally wouldn't allow the salamander to spew Poison Mist unchecked. In an instant, he completed his seals, spitting out burning oil that collided with the Poison Mist, incinerating it.
Meanwhile, Hanzo retrieved his scythe, slashing down the venomous snakes summoned by Orochimaru in succession. Then, he maneuvered his scythe around a tree, dodging the acid sprayed by Katsuyu and deftly landing on the head of the salamander.
But none of these mattered. The combined attack of the three individuals and their summoning creatures was effortlessly defused by Hanzo and Ibuse.
Seeing the serious expressions on the faces of the three, Hanzo couldn't help but smirk beneath his mask, saying, "You think you can defeat me with such power?"
Upon hearing this, the three's faces darkened. Bunta and Manda let out angry grunts, and even Katsuyu became unusually quiet.
Orochimaru was the first to regain composure. He regained his calm and smiled, saying, "But, Hanzo-sama, you can't do anything to us three, can you? However, it seems that the Rain Ninja are unable to stop Konoha's attacks."
With these words, Hanzo grunted heavily. He hadn't expected Orochimaru to lack the youthful impulsiveness and hot temper typical of young people. Being reminded by Orochimaru, Tsunade and Jiraiya also snapped out of it.
Just Tatsuma and Minato, in a short period, had caused casualties of over two hundred Rain Ninja. The effective fighting force of the Rain Ninja now numbered less than four thousand, with many still lurking outside.
Furthermore, the Rain Ninja's calculation of their effective force differed from Konoha's. Konoha placed great importance on this decisive battle. Only Chunin and above were allowed to participate as combatants.
However, the Rain Ninja included any Ninja capable of fighting, even Genin, in their combat strength. Yet they barely managed to muster less than four thousand. As for their main force, it numbered only around three thousand.
With four thousand Chunin and above facing a legion of three thousand including Genin, the outcome was foreseeable given enough time. The only one who could change the situation, Hanzo, was being held back by Tsunade and her companions.
This made Hanzo grow impatient. He said viciously, "Then I'll kill you three and claim victory in this battle!"
But as soon as he finished speaking, a massive explosion erupted in the distance. He turned to look and saw the white-haired youngster who should have needed a brief rest to recover his strength and chakra due to exhaustion, rejoining the battlefield.
Moreover, the amount of chakra he emanated made even Hanzo feel uneasy.
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