Chapter 12: The Difficult-to-Defeat Duo

Under the enhancement of the Mangekyō Sharingan, Tsunade gained the capability to engage in close-quarters combat with Hanma, but it was only in terms of raw power. Tsunade's strength was already extraordinary; combining her Senju's monstrous strength with the Mangekyō Sharingan, she could match Hanma's power. But could she keep up with Hanma's speed? The answer was no.

Hanma swiftly maneuvered around Tsunade, his afterimages rapidly flashing on the ground, ethereally attacking Setsuna. A moment ago, Setsuna's massive Yasaka Magatama bombardment had been a saturation attack, leaving no room for evasion. But how many more times could he use such a technique? Setsuna was frantic but not brainless. At over fifty years old, he could not haphazardly use his ocular powers like Sasuke, casually shooting arrows and forcibly activating the Uttengou Susanoo.

Hanma led Tsunade by dozens of body lengths, his hands flourishing with lightning, materializing a long lightning blade, and slashed at Setsuna. Setsuna steadily intensified Susanoo's solidity, lifting his snow-white longsword to meet Hanma. Unexpectedly, Hanma retracted his blade mid-attack, twisting his waist in mid-air, dodging the strike, and landing at Susanoo's flank.

Hanma's thigh muscles bulged explosively as he grasped Susanoo's sides tightly. Lightning Release chakra surged, propelling him into the sky. 

"——Thunder Bomb!"

The vulnerability of the second-stage Susanoo was its lack of ground defense. The white war god was lifted high, and with a mix of intense electricity and terrifying strength, it was slammed brutally into the ground.

Having struck successfully, Hanma glanced at Tsunade and then instantly distanced himself again. Observing the fight intently, Mitokado Homura, upon seeing this violent yet familiar scene, adjusted his glasses and could not help but say, "Hiruzen, Danzo, Koharu. I believe Hanma's strength can completely rival the Second Raikage back then."

The Third Hokage exhaled smoke slowly, feeling a sense of disillusionment, and with a face of indifference, he said, "Yes, this is the first time I've heard that an Uchiha's Susanoo could be lifted. Truly eye-opening." 

Jiraiya sported a rigid expression, "Indeed. And it was lifted by an Uchiha." 

Upon hearing this, the onlooking jonin all smiled subtly, even Danzo was no exception.

With great difficulty, Setsuna stood up. Half of Susanoo's armor was tattered, revealing bones and veins. The immense force had badly shaken him too, causing blood to stream from his nose and ears.

Tsunade helped Setsuna up, using her palm healing technique to treat his injuries, but it had limited effect. Setsuna waved his hand, and his left eye's Mangekyō started spinning again, tears of blood trickling down. In a flash of white light, his injuries were once more healed.

"No worries, old man thinks it's worth it even if I go blind today!"

Seeing the stubborn Setsuna, Tsunade hesitated no longer and summoned a giant slug. 

"Lady Slug, please take care of this Uchiha."

The slug gently swayed, splitting into dozens of smaller slugs that climbed onto Setsuna, emitting a green glow and replenishing his chakra. 

Setsuna, controlling Susanoo, swung his long white sword, carving trenches dozens of meters around them, turning himself and the slug into an island surrounded by deep pits.

The slug slightly opened its mouth, releasing slimy, corrosive acid that eroded away Hanma's limited space to exert force. 

Hanma observed Setsuna's countermeasures and smiled faintly, circling the island he created. His fingers fluttered, and after a long time, he used traditional five-element jutsus.

"Composite Jutsu: Lava Style!"

The strong wind fueled the flames, igniting the Earth Dragon Bullets, turning them into a powerful stream of lava projectiles that rushed at Setsuna from all directions. 

Setsuna, ablaze with youthful fighting spirit, shouted, "Such ninjutsu, we Uchiha have never taken them seriously!"

With that, the white longsword swept across, its powerful strike splitting the lava, rendering it harmless. 

Setsuna's right-eye Mangekyō began to spin slowly, and the chakra within Tsunade surged fiercely once more.

The white Susanoo sat upon the isolated island like a commander on the battlefield. 

Tsunade charged at Hanma again, their fists and feet clashing once more. This time, Hanma employed a new strategy. 

To heavily injure Tsunade, he needed to land heavy blows on vital areas. However, heavy punches required small charges, allowing Tsunade to keep up using her method of enduring injury to trade blows. 

Hanma's speed was consistently a level above Tsunade's. Despite the Mangekyō's enhancement, she couldn't completely match his speed.

Hanma dodged left and right, using butterfly steps to evade, dodging Tsunade's straight punches, hooks, and side kicks. Occasionally, he took advantage of pauses in her attacks to expend her stamina with light punches.

Tsunade, frustrated by the harassment, leaped back and shouted to Setsuna, "How much longer? Let's decide the outcome with one more strike!"

Hanma chuckled. Judging by her words, she planned to lock him in place with an area-covering strike and then land a powerful hit. The tactic was simple but indeed indomitable.

Hanma resumed his guerrilla warfare, continuing to use jutsus to harass Setsuna, while engaging in brief exchanges of blows with Tsunade. He seemed unconcerned about Setsuna's eyes slowly recovering.

Enduring the piercing pain from his eyes, Setsuna thought to himself, "It seems I can only use another ocular technique if I don't wish to go blind."

He shouted loudly to Tsunade, "Proceed with the same tactic as before!" 

Although it was an overt strategy, it was a fair ploy — combining monstrous strength with Susanoo's long-range attacks to force Hanma into their rhythm.

Hanma glanced at the sky, spotting a black dot rapidly descending. He smiled; victory hinged on this moment.

With a long howl, Hanma seemingly ignored Setsuna and launched a powerful attack on Tsunade.

Finally, the Yasaka Magatama bombarded him again, while Tsunade silently gathered her strength, aiming for the moment when Hanma had no escape to deliver a thunderous blow.

As the cover of the magatama rained down, Hanma dodged and weaved endlessly, with Tsunade watching keenly for defensive gaps.

A black shadow, carrying a massive rock, slowly appeared in the sky — the recently-summoned hawk, Black Hawk.