The atmosphere in the hall was thick with tense anticipation. Hanzo, the leader of the Rain Village, observed his enemy with an impassive gaze, his posture upright as always. In front of him, Kaito's clone, hiding his true identity, prepared to face the greatest threat the village had ever known.
The clone said nothing. He wasn't here to negotiate, nor to make empty promises. Battle was his answer. In his mind, the mission was clear: destroy Hanzo, destroy his legacy, and free the village from his control.
"So that's your path," Hanzo murmured, watching the brat before him with a gaze that barely concealed his arrogance.
"You think a mere enemy can challenge me. Let's see how far you get."
The battle began without warning. Hanzo, surprisingly fast for his size, formed hand seals with practiced precision, generating a poisonous mist that quickly spread through the air. The clone reacted instantly, leaping backward to avoid the venom now filling the room. He didn't need to be a genius to understand the danger of that toxin. Moving with the agility he had honed through Kaito's guidance, he carefully analyzed the battlefield from a safe position.
Then, the true threat emerged. From within the green mist, a massive salamander appeared, its gleaming scales and fiery eyes glowing in the dim light. The beast roared, spewing a torrent of venom straight at the clone. He reacted with incredible speed, dodging at the last moment, but the sheer force of the attack pushed him aside, and his right arm was partially doused in the venom.
The clone silently screamed as the poison burned his skin, draining part of his energy. However, there was no room for hesitation. With a swift motion, he mercilessly sliced off the contaminated skin with his kunai.
As the beast continued its relentless assault, the clone recovered quickly and unleashed his Taijutsu with ferocious intensity, launching a barrage of punches and kicks at the salamander. But the creature was tough, each strike landing against its thick scales as if striking solid rock. For every attack he delivered, the salamander retaliated with deadlier poison. The clone kept dodging the toxic gas, but he realized that agility alone wouldn't win this fight. He needed a plan.
In that moment, the clone decided to take a risk. He leaped toward the salamander with a swift spin, evading the next venomous attack. With brutal force, he launched himself at the creature's core, activating Rage of the Earth, a devastating Taijutsu technique that concentrated all his chakra into precise, destructive blows—a skill he had learned from the Qilin.
His fists and legs struck with titanic force against the salamander's scales, causing the beast to stagger and retreat before finally collapsing with a thunderous crash. But the battle was far from over. Though the salamander appeared defeated, the venom continued to take its toll on the clone.
His arm burned with every movement, exhaustion creeping into his limbs. But he couldn't stop. He had to finish Hanzo. As the clone steadied himself, Hanzo watched from his position, calm and calculating. He hadn't yet realized he was fighting a clone. In his arrogance, he still believed he was battling Kaito himself. If he had set aside his pride, he might have noticed the deception.
The idea that a mere ten-year-old brat could challenge him in such a way only made him smirk in disdain.
"Well played," Hanzo said coldly, "but men like you don't survive here. This is my domain—the place where dreams die, Kaito."
The clone rose to his feet, his gaze locked onto Hanzo. Without revealing even a hint of his exhaustion, he advanced again, his energy still burning, his chakra manipulating his body to keep him standing. It was now or never.
"This is the end, Hanzo!" the clone shouted, launching himself forward like a bolt of lightning. The sheer force of his attack made Hanzo raise a hand, preparing to block the impact. However, the clone knew Hanzo's true power had yet to be revealed.
Hanzo moved swiftly, anticipating the strike, but at the last second, the clone feinted to the side, using his superior agility to destabilize Hanzo. With a rapid series of movements, he struck at his torso—but something changed. A subtle shift, an eerie pressure.
Hanzo smirked.
"Do you think this is enough?" Hanzo said, his tone now mocking. "What you don't know, Kaito, is that Ibuse and I are perfectly synchronized. My salamander isn't just powerful—it's unpredictable. And more than that… when it swallows someone whole, that's the end. The venom inside will kill them completely."
The clone hesitated for a fraction of a second, but that was all it took.
Ibuse, the massive salamander, disappeared underground, and the clone braced himself for the worst. What he didn't realize was that Hanzo had been toying with him all along.
Suddenly, Ibuse erupted from beneath the ground with terrifying speed. In the blink of an eye, the beast swallowed the clone whole.
The creature let out a triumphant roar, its prey now trapped within its enormous throat. The clone struggled, but the venom was overwhelming him rapidly.
Hanzo erupted into maniacal laughter, relishing his victory.
"I've done it! You're even weaker than the Sannin… Now you're nothing but a shadow of the past. Die knowing that it's all over!"
But his laughter was abruptly interrupted by a deafening sound.
Inside Ibuse, the clone began gathering chakra desperately. And before the venom could consume him—
He self-destructed in a massive explosion.
Ibuse shrieked in agony as the sheer pressure and energy from the blast tore through its body. The salamander collapsed, writhing in its death throes as its massive form disintegrated. The force of the explosion shook the entire chamber, the ground cracking beneath the power of the detonation.
Hanzo's laughter stopped instantly.
His previously triumphant expression twisted into sheer disbelief as he watched his beloved salamander perish along with the clone.
The leader of the Rain Village stood in stunned silence, his face shifting between fury and shock.
What he had thought was an easy victory had vanished before his very eyes. His precious companion was gone.
But that wasn't the worst part…
Suddenly, a deep, mocking laugh echoed through the hall, reverberating through the silence that had followed the explosion.
A warm yet defiant whisper filled the air:
"Were you really that happy… just for killing my clone?"
Hanzo whirled around, his eyes burning with rage as he recognized the figure standing at the entrance.
Kaito. The real Kaito.
He stood there, a smug grin on his face.
With his arrival, the energy in the room shifted. For the first time, Hanzo's dominance seemed insignificant.
"No matter what you do, Hanzo," Kaito said, his voice dripping with certainty.
"Today is not your day."