Chereads / Naruto: Fate System / Chapter 47 - 47 - Masks Off

Chapter 47 - 47 - Masks Off

Shin had been waiting for this opportunity. In the original story, it was mentioned that after each poison attack, Ibuse needs five minutes to recharge.

This secret was first discovered by Suna's elder, Chiyo.

Ibuse posed a significant threat to Shin. No matter how well-prepared he was, his supply of antidote pills was always limited. 

So, from the beginning of the battle, he had been planning to eliminate this summoned beast. Before Hanzō summoned Ibuse, their tactics were cautiously conservative—until this moment. 

Nagato, who had retreated far back, rushed forward, raising his hand and spreading his fingers.

Initially, Hanzō didn't realize the gravity of the situation. His eyes remained fixed on Shin.

In both the original story and now, he had always underestimated Nagato. In the original, he focused his calculations on Yahiko; now, it was Shin's presence that made him subconsciously overlook everyone else.

Only when Nagato removed the disguise covering his eyes, did Hanzō realize the massive error he had made. 

"Those eyes… could they be the Sage's eyes?!"

In the original story, almost everyone could recognize the Rinnegan at a glance, and Hanzō was no exception.

But, unfortunately, by the time he recognized it, it was already too late.

"Shinra Tensei!"

As Nagato raised his hand, a shockwave sent Ibuse flying into the air. The force of the jutsu created a momentary dome in the falling rain.

"Konan!"

At Shin's shout, Hanzō looked up to the sky, only to find himself once again stunned.

Konan, who had already taken to the skies, was fully prepared. Three six-meter-long spears, made of folded white paper, were poised in midair, ready to strike.

"Shit!"

Hanzō shouted, trying to form hand seals to release his summoning technique and call Ibuse back.

But before his hands could meet, a blade flashed before his eyes.

The plan to kill the Salamander had advanced to this stage, and Shin wasn't about to give him a chance to withdraw. 

Clang!

The blade collided fiercely with Hanzō's scythe handle, and the chains sprang back as he tried to employ his old trick once more.

But Shin's earlier misstep was merely a setup. This time, he wasn't going to fall for it again. Just as the chain started to spin, he released his grip on the blade.

He stepped back, spinning around and raising his leg high for a sidekick.

The chain wrapped around his sword's tip, and as he kicked, his sword spun faster, drawing more of the chain and even controlling the short-handled sickle Hanzō held.

This move was supposed to allow Hanzō to control his enemy's weapon with the chain, providing an opening for his other hand's scythe to strike. But now, Shin's counter was turning this tactic back on him.

While kicking the sword in midair, Shin's free hands continued forming seals. "Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets!"

With his spinning blade as a focal point, he unleashed the wind attack at close range, sending Hanzō flying.

"What?!"

Blasted away, Hanzō tumbled through the rain before catching himself. His armor scraped against the muddy ground as he slid to a stop. Pushing himself up into a crouch, he immediately assessed the battlefield through his narrowed eyes.

His gaze darted between his opponents. He looked up, searching for Ibuse, as blood trickled from beneath his mask.

Could it be… I'm really getting old? he thought, rising to his feet with a slight wince.

Above, Konan's attack reached its climax. She spread her arms, releasing the paper spears she had prepared.

Three paper spears tore through the rain, creating shockwaves as they pierced through Ibuse's body in a flash. The salamander's skin, which had withstood countless battles, offered no resistance to the chakra-enhanced paper weapons.

But it didn't end there.

After impaling Ibuse, the paper making up the spears began to ignite, burning on its own.

"Guuwa! Guuwa!"

Ibuse struggled and screeched in midair, its massive body thrashing against the foreign objects. Blood mixed with the rain as the beast tried desperately to remove the spears lodged in its body.

While Hanzō's attention was locked on his companion's plight, a tiny presence no larger than a rat moved silently through the muddy ground near his feet.

Ayumi had been waiting for this moment, using her size manipulation and Earth Release abilities to position herself perfectly. The mud masked any slight movement she made.

Hanzō never noticed the minute tremor beneath him. It was a fatal oversight.

The ground erupted as Ayumi struck. She rapidly expanded to her full height, matching Hanzō's stature. The sudden transformation sent mud flying as her enhanced trunk whipped around.

"Stone Crushing Trunk!"

Her strike crushed into his back, the sound of cracking ribs echoing through the rain. The impact was precise, targeting the exact spot where his armor was weakest.

Before he could process what had happened, Ayumi's trunk coiled around his torso like a python.

"Shin, catch!" she called out cheerfully, as if throwing a training dummy rather than the legendary Salamander.

With a powerful swing, she launched him toward Shin. But the veteran shinobi wasn't finished yet. Even with broken ribs and the wind knocked from his lungs, Hanzō managed to hook his kusarigama into a nearby tree, using the chain to alter his course away from the waiting Shin.

At that moment, Kakuzu opened his hands toward the sky.

From the stitching on his arms, countless black threads shot up, wrapping around the plummeting Ibuse and preventing it from pulling out the paper spears.

The detonating paper ignited by Konan's technique turned into explosive tags in the end.

As Hanzō crashed back to the ground and bounced up again, he looked up to see the paper spears erupt into explosions, consuming Ibuse in midair. "When did—"

Boom!

The explosion lit up the rain-darkened sky, turning water droplets into glittering shards of light. Pieces of the mighty salamander scattered through the air, some still burning with paper bombs, others trailing poison that the rain quickly dispersed.

"No!"

Hanzō, half-kneeling, let out a pained howl as he watched helplessly while his old companion was blown into pieces in the rain. His hands trembled, whether from rage or despair was impossible to tell.

His reputation as the Salamander was due, in large part, to his summoned animal, Ibuse. This salamander had rarely been countered since the time Chiyo restrained it once in the Second Great Ninja War.

Its poison had ended countless lives, its very name striking fear into the hearts of shinobi across the nations. But today, Ibuse's grand journey had come to an end.

In the next moment, everyone involved in the battle turned their gaze back to Hanzō.

The sheer pressure from the Sage's eyes left him no time to mourn his old companion.

With his trusted summoned beast gone and his scythe and chains lost in the skirmish, Hanzō faced a threat of death he hadn't known in years.

He reached for his mask, hesitating before finally grasping it firmly. The respirator had been his constant companion, protecting others from his toxic breath. Now it would serve a different purpose.

He still had one last move.

Everyone knew of Ibuse's unparalleled poison, but few were aware that Hanzō's deadliest poison came from himself.

Long ago, a lethal poison sac was implanted within him, even more terrifying than the one in Ibuse's body. Because of it, every breath he took released trace amounts of poison, which is why he had worn a respirator every day of his life.

Driven by anger, Hanzō ripped his respirator off.

"Let's die together!"

Yet, at that moment, he noticed the faint smirk on Shin's face. The boy's expression hadn't changed since the battle began, as if every move, including this final desperate act, had been anticipated. 

"What do you think I sealed at the beginning?"

Standing on the riverbank, Hanzō felt a deep sadness. Like the endless leaves falling and the river flowing below, his memories washed over him.

He remembered the pain of the poison in his young body, and the promise he made when he saw his village Ame torn apart by war.

The Second Shinobi World War threw him into endless battles—against Ōnoki, Chiyo, and the future Sannin. Each fight built his legend, but drained his spirit. Victory cheers began to ring hollow, and celebrations lost their meaning.

By the time the war finally ended, he had entirely forgotten his former beliefs and resolve, leaving behind only an overwhelming fatigue. The fire that once drove him to protect Ame had dimmed to barely glowing embers.

When had it started? He no longer heard Ame's cries.

All he cared about was whether the title of Salamander was still celebrated, and filling his days with music and dance. The fearsome shinobi had become nothing more than a shadow of his former self.

Looking down, he saw his true reflection in the puddle—a face aged and worn, creased by time, his eyes devoid of light. He touched his cheek, watching ripples distort the stranger below.

Is this me?

At that moment, Hanzō felt all his resistance drain away, like water seeping through his fingers.

"When did you start to despise me? Were all those letters you sent last year merely lies?"

Shin had once been Hanzō's pride. Each letter had seemed so genuine, filled with admiration and respect.

"Since the beginning."

"What?"

"Do you know? Last year, when Akatsuki went to Kusa, the ninjas there scoffed at you for losing your ambition."

"Hanzō, even the enemies have noticed your decline over the years. So why would you think I would still hold you in any regard?"

The plain question pierced like a kunai deep into Hanzō's heart. He had no words in response and could only manage a bitter smile.

After a while, he raised his hand, silently removed his outer clothing piece by piece, then knelt down heavily in the muddy riverbank.

"Could I have a sword?" he suddenly asked.

Shin stopped the wary Nagato and Konan with a gesture. He then severed the chain at the end of his scythe and threw it back to Hanzō, the weapon spinning once in the air before landing perfectly before the kneeling man.

Konan instantly assumed a defensive stance, paper already beginning to flutter around her.

But Shin could see clearly—Hanzō had lost all will to fight. The man's shoulders had already slumped in defeat, his posture that of someone who had made peace with death.

He took the scythe, but instead of striking back, he turned the blade upon himself. The weapon felt foreign in his hands, so different from his familiar kusarigama, yet it would serve its purpose just as well.

Hanzō, like in the original tale, chose seppuku, preserving the last shred of his dignity.

"Would you like me to stand behind you as your second?" Shin asked calmly.

"No need. My hands are steady," Hanzō replied indifferently. At least in death, I will not shame myself further.

The blade of the scythe sliced through his abdomen without hesitation, almost cutting him in two. No sound escaped his lips—only a slight widening of his eyes betrayed any pain.

The hands of a veteran shinobi—swift and unflinching to the very end.

Witnessing this scene, Kakuzu, Konan, and Nagato couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow. Here was a man who had once made the Five Great Nations tremble, now ending his life in the mud of his own village. Even as adversaries, they couldn't help but feel pity for the fallen Salamander.

All except Shin.

He remained expressionless, counting the seconds—one, two, three. After three seconds, Shin asked, "Ayumi, is he confirmed dead?"

"My sensory abilities detect no signs of life. He's truly dead. " The response came quickly.

Upon confirmation, Shin sprang into action, catching Nagato and Konan off guard. His sudden movement sent rainwater flying as he rushed toward Hanzō's body.

"Ayumi, spread the scrolls. Help me set up the formation. Hurry! Prepare the seal!" His hands were already moving through a complex series of seals.

Konan asked, confused, ""hat are you doing?" She stepped forward, paper swirling protectively around.

Without looking back, Shin replied, "I'm sealing the poison source. That old man's entire body is toxic. If we don't deal with it immediately, Ame might be littered with corpses."

Nagato was puzzled, "Didn't you already seal his poison sac during the fight?" Rain streaked down his face as he watched Shin work, Rinnegan eyes narrowing in confusion.

Shin's casual reply nearly overloaded Nagato's brain.

"That was a lie."

"What?"

"Have you ever seen a sealing technique that can single out and seal just one organ while the person keeps fighting without noticing?"

"Uh…" Nagato was momentarily speechless, the rain dripping from his red hair as he processed this revelation.

Konan, quicker to catch on, asked, "So you used genjutsu to interfere with his perception, making him believe the poison sac was sealed?"

"Yes, now hurry over here. This time, we're really sealing the poison sac."

Konan and Nagato exchanged glances and joined him, still dazed.

Moments ago, they had been certain that Shin's composure meant he had defeated Hanzō decisively. But who could have guessed it was yet another deception?

Not even those close to him had sensed the slightest flaw in his performance.

In the end, even the famed Salamander, who reigned for twenty years, had been deceived into ending his own life. 

Further behind, Kakuzu's gaze flickered with mixed feelings, but ultimately, he dared not make any move, instead standing by with his masked creatures on guard.

He now suspected he had also been deceived earlier. The memory of his own recruitment felt suddenly less certain, less like his own choice. How much of what I believed is real?

But after seeing Hanzō's fate firsthand, he knew he couldn't entertain any escape plans.

After minutes of intense work, Shin, Konan, and Nagato finally managed to completely seal the toxic source and cleared the surrounding contamination.

As they finished, gazing at the unimpeded river ahead, they couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement. 

The road ahead was now clear. It seemed they were but one step away from uniting the entire Ame.

But just then, they heard a sudden bird cry from the sky.

They turned to see several birds diving toward them, crashing into their arms. Their feathers were ruffled and wet, having fought through the worst of the storm to reach them.

"Aren't these the messenger birds of Ajisai?"

Each bird carried a message on its leg, the paper somehow preserved despite the rain.

They unrolled the first note. In the next instant, all three turned pale.

"I'm going back!" Nagato shouted.

The message contained three words:

Base under attack.

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