Chapter 36: Fighting Hanzō
=============
30+ chapters: patreon.com/Reborn_noob
============
"Oh! I'm saved!"
"That's great! Even if I die, at least I'll take an enemy with me first. At least my death won't be in vain."
"As expected of the Konoha Silver Fox, one of the Twin Stars of Konohagakure! He is surely a monster, a true monster." Someone uttered the most unpleasant words with the utmost respect.
Hearing this, Yuta couldn't help but twitch his lips. 'If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all.'
Yuta instantly leaped onto the wall, his gaze fixed on Hanzō, who was rapidly approaching.
"How are you holding up? Are you certain?" The Uzumaki clan head and the Great Elder also appeared beside Yuta, their eyes focused on the Mizukage, who trailed slightly behind Hanzō.
"We'll do our best! Who would have thought we'd have to face an enemy like the Mizukage before we die?" The Great Elder's aged voice held a resolute tone.
Hearing the Great Elder's words, Yuta turned and said, "That might disappoint you. You are not allowed to die. Just delay him for half an hour. Do not overexert yourselves."
With that, he vanished over the wall.
"So fast!" Sensing Yuta's speed, Hanzō's pupils contracted slightly. In less than ten seconds, the other party came into view.
He looked up and saw a figure standing on the sea before him, squinting and observing him.
The figure held a tantō, and Hanzō could vaguely discern that the other person was not very old, yet his chakra was nearly as potent as his own.
"The Konoha Silver Fox? I admit I underestimated you." Salamander Hanzō regarded Yuta coldly.
Even a fool could deduce that the massive Earth Release ninjutsu from moments ago had been executed by the young man before him, confirming that the Konoha Silver Fox indeed lived up to his reputation.
But in the next instant, Hanzō's expression abruptly shifted. He saw a streak of silver light approaching, like a cold flash cutting through the void.
His vision simply couldn't keep pace with the other's speed.
"Swish!" Yuta's figure blurred past, meeting Hanzō head-on and landing behind him. "Too much unnecessary talk!"
Yuta maintained the posture of swinging his tantō, glancing sideways at Hanzō, who stood motionless.
Hanzō also maintained his forward-rushing stance.
"What incredibly swift swordsmanship!" Hanzō exclaimed in admiration.
"Hyōton: Hyōsō Tenjin!" The Mizukage, following closely behind Hanzō, witnessed Yuta's apparent swift defeat of the Salamander and launched a surprise attack.
A frigid current swept across the sea. "Crack! Crack!" The once rippling blue surface rapidly transformed into a glacier stretching for kilometers.
The Kiri Shinobi who had found stable footing leaped off their boats, bypassed the unfolding battle between Yuta and the Mizukage, and rushed towards the city wall on the shore.
"Splash!" Hanzō's body was cleanly bisected, yet a flicker of unnaturalness remained in his eyes before his entire form dissolved into a stream of water, revealing it to be a Suiton bunshin.
And in the next moment, the glacier beneath Yuta's feet suddenly surged like a mire, morphing into a multitude of Kage Fūin: Baku that adhered to Yuta's legs and wrapped around him. "Explode!"
Hanzō reappeared beside the Mizukage not far away, forming a single hand seal. A cold glint flashed in his eyes. With a roar, Yuta, ensnared by the detonating seals, was instantly engulfed by the violent explosion.
"Is that all there is?" Salamander Hanzō narrowed his eyes, observing the scene.
His sensory perception detected no other chakra signatures of the same nature approaching, indicating that it was indeed the original body caught in the blast.
"Retreat!" Before the smoke from the explosion had even begun to dissipate, the Sandaime Mizukage suddenly yelled.
Observing the Mizukage violently retreating using his Ice Release, Hanzō didn't hesitate. He flashed away, disappearing in an instant.
"Swish!" Another silver flash cut through the air, and Yuta reappeared at the exact spot where Hanzō had just stood.
'It seems that as long as I remain on the ice, I cannot escape the Mizukage's sensory perception,' Yuta thought to himself.
He sheathed his tantō, clasped his hands together, and declared,
"Doton: Kaeru no Daichi!"
"Crack! Crack!" The coastline in front of the city wall began to fracture, then abruptly rose upwards, slamming down towards the glacier like a colossal fly swatter.
The Kiri Shinobi who had been speeding across the ice were caught in the devastating earth manipulation, suffering countless casualties in an instant.
"This is the power of Konohagakure's Silver Fox!" An Uzumaki clan ninja standing on the city wall, prepared to meet the enemy, gaped in disbelief at the scene.
"That's incredible! Yuta-sama did a magnificent job!"
"Hmph! Hmph! Some mere Mist Ninja dared to set their sights on our Land of Whirlpools. Now they see just how formidable we are!" A ten-year-old Uzumaki child proclaimed proudly, seemingly forgetting that Yuta was a ninja from Konohagakure.
The other Uzumaki looked at the boastful child and fell silent. If it weren't for the dire circumstances, who would willingly send children to the battlefield?
"Now it's a more even playing field!" Yuta narrowed his eyes, his gaze fixed on the Mizukage and Hanzō in the distance, as if he had accomplished something trivial.
Observing the drastically altered terrain of the battlefield, the Mizukage's expression turned solemn for the first time.
"Swish! Swish!" The Uzumaki clan head and the Great Elder appeared behind Yuta.
"Leave the Mizukage to the two of us; Hanzō will be Yuta-kun's opponent!"
As soon as the Uzumaki clan head finished speaking, he surged directly towards the Mizukage, eight chakra chains erupting from his back and lashing out.
Seeing this, the Great Elder sighed and said to Yuta, "If the worst comes to pass... I entrust the remaining members of our clan to Yuta-kun's care."
Witnessing the two elders resolutely charging towards the Mizukage, Yuta no longer intended to conceal his power.
The Hanzō before him was not the same Hanzō who would later join forces with Danzō to confront Akatsuki two decades hence.
His physique, taijutsu, kenjutsu, and ninjutsu were all at their zenith. Years later, he would defeat Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru, even condescendingly bestowing upon the defeated trio the title of "Konoha's Sannin" – arguably the greatest humiliation of their lives.
Observing Yuta drawing his katana not far away, Hanzō's expression turned grave, and his hands swiftly began forming seals. Judging by the sequence, it was undoubtedly Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!
However, the seals were completed in an instant, yet the iconic dragon-shaped water column did not materialize beside Hanzō. Instead, the already fractured glacier emitted a series of creaking sounds and began to break apart continuously.
Hanzō did not cease his seal formation, immediately transitioning into another sequence – this time, the same Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!
It wasn't that Hanzō was unwilling to employ lower-level ninjutsu or end the battle swiftly with a single Water Dragon Bullet; rather, he sensed that Yuta's strength was likely on par with his own. Utilizing weaker techniques would only serve to deplete his chakra unnecessarily.
Yuta was not so arrogant as to wait for Hanzō to fully activate his ninjutsu before attacking. He flashed forward, appearing a short distance from Hanzō in an instant, poised to strike the decisive blow.
Hanzō appeared oblivious to Yuta's approach, his hands continuing their rapid sequence of seals! Suddenly, Hanzō paused, his expression turning more ferocious.
The seawater instantly surged behind Hanzō, forming a massive horizontal vortex with the salamander as its center. The colossal waves effortlessly breached the weakened ice layer.
Hanzō stood like a sea deity, the immense waves, wind, and rain at his command, rapidly coalescing into a gigantic water dragon! Then one split into two, two into three, and in a mere moment, the sky was filled with a multitude of roaring water dragons.
___________
I started using Naruto universe terminology and used Japanese names for jutsu. Would you like otherwise or should I continue?