"Konoha really is full of monsters."
Hanzo stared at Yagami for a long moment, his expression turning grave.
At that moment, he was reminded of the battle he had fought during the Second Shinobi World War, when he had personally granted the title of Konoha's Sannin to those three Leaf shinobi.
But compared to them back then, the young man standing before him now was on an entirely different level.
"State your name. A shinobi like you deserves to be remembered."
Looking at Yagami in the distance, Hanzo finally spoke in a deep, solemn voice.
By now, he no longer looked down on him because of his age.
Instead, he was treating Yagami as an opponent worthy of standing on the same battlefield as him.
"Konoha jōnin, Yagami."
Yagami answered casually, though there was a faint trace of helplessness in his tone.
He was getting tired of being asked for his name every time.
Still, he figured it wouldn't be long before that name spread throughout the entire shinobi world anyway.
"Yagami..."
Hanzo gave a slow nod.
"Good. I'll remember it."
The moment his words fell, Hanzo moved.
He immediately charged at Yagami without the slightest hesitation.
Facing someone on this level, he had no intention of waiting around and giving his opponent the initiative.
"Chain Sickle Art: Second Strike!"
Hanzo gripped the end of the chain tightly with his left hand while his right hand swung the sickle in a violent arc like a windmill.
This was the same technique he had once used to defeat Mifune of the Land of Iron.
"Hah!"
The instant the sickle's momentum reached its peak, Hanzo's right arm snapped forward and hurled it straight at Yagami.
The speed was so fast it seemed to tear through the air.
"Clang!"
Yagami casually lifted the light sword in his right hand and knocked the sickle aside in one clean motion.
"Whoosh!"
At that exact moment, the sound of the chain whipping through the air rang out.
The sickle that had been knocked away suddenly changed direction and came slashing back toward Yagami from another angle.
"Oh?"
Yagami raised an eyebrow, a little surprised.
"So it can be used like that too?"
An attack like that, coming from an unexpected direction, would have taken down plenty of careless opponents on the spot.
"Clang!"
Another sharp metallic collision rang out.
Yagami swung his light sword again and sent the sickle flying away once more.
This time, however, Hanzo had already rushed in right behind it.
"Clatter!"
The chain whipped out directly toward Yagami.
At the same time, Hanzo gave it a sharp pull, stopping the sickle midair before catching it neatly back in his hand.
As Yagami twisted aside to avoid the incoming chain, he let out a quiet sigh in his heart.
As expected, every Kage-level shinobi had their own style.
It had been the same with Chiyo.
And it was the same with Hanzo.
Every one of them had something uniquely dangerous about them.
Even so, Yagami wasn't the least bit shaken.
At his current level, he had more than enough confidence.
Seeing Hanzo rush at him with sickle in hand, Yagami couldn't even be bothered to dodge.
Holding the light sword in one hand, he simply stood there without moving.
"Flash Step Slash!"
Hanzo's eyes narrowed when he saw Yagami remain rooted to the spot.
Then, in the very next second, Hanzo accelerated explosively.
His figure shot forward so quickly that an afterimage seemed to trail behind him.
"Clang!"
"Ngh—!"
The sharp sound of metal crashing rang out again.
Hanzo's sickle cut toward Yagami's abdomen, only to be stopped with ease by the dazzling blade of light.
Hanzo's eyes widened slightly.
Yagami's amused voice drifted down from above him.
"Using a sickle like a sword... that's pretty rare."
The moment Hanzo heard that teasing tone, every hair on his body seemed to stand on end.
He immediately poured more strength into the sickle, pressing down harder.
Then, just as Yagami matched that force head-on—
Hanzo suddenly pulled back instead.
He leapt backward in one swift motion, instantly widening the distance between them.
The instincts and battle experience he had honed through countless life-and-death fights were on full display.
Yagami watched him retreat and smiled.
"You took two swings at me, and I returned the favor twice."
He rolled his shoulder lightly, then brushed his left hand over the spotless blade of his light sword as if wiping away dust that didn't exist.
"Now it's my turn."
The instant he finished speaking, Yagami stomped the ground and shot forward.
In the blink of an eye, he closed the distance.
The light sword in his hand rose high, then came crashing down toward Hanzo in a direct slash.
"Clang—!!"
Hanzo's expression changed instantly.
Heavy!
That was the first thought that flashed through his mind.
Yagami hadn't used any fancy technique in that strike.
There was no trick, no hidden skill.
It was just raw power.
Pure overwhelming force.
And even that alone was enough to blast Hanzo away.
At his age, even Hanzo could no longer match that kind of brute strength head-on.
His body flew backward like a stone thrown across the battlefield, then slammed violently across the rain-soaked ground.
He tumbled several times before finally grinding to a stop.
"Hanzo-sama!"
"Chief Hanzo!"
Cries of alarm erupted from the Rain shinobi army the moment they saw him get sent flying.
At the same time, even the Konoha shinobi watching from the rear couldn't help but tense up.
Seconds passed.
Then more seconds.
But Hanzo still lay there without moving.
Even Yagami stared at him for a moment before the corners of his mouth twitched.
"…Oi. Don't tell me that did him in."
His voice carried a trace of disbelief.
He could clearly sense Hanzo's condition.
That attack hadn't done much more than scrape him up a little.
There was no way a man like Hanzo would go down from something like that.
"Hahaha...!"
A burst of laughter suddenly rang out.
Hanzo, who had been lying motionless on the ground, slowly began to rise.
"Kid... let me teach you something about how ugly the shinobi world can be."
Yagami narrowed his eyes slightly.
So that was it.
Hanzo had deliberately stayed down to buy time.
He had been preparing something in secret the entire time.
The Rain shinobi let out relieved breaths the moment they heard his voice again.
Even the Konoha side visibly relaxed a little.
Then Hanzo slammed both palms onto the ground.
"Fire Style: Detonating Tags Flame Formation!!"
The instant his voice rang out, the ground beneath Yagami's feet suddenly sank.
In the next moment, countless explosive tags burst out from underground.
Like living things, they rapidly wrapped around Yagami's legs and climbed upward.
In only two breaths, his entire lower body was tightly bound in layers upon layers of explosive tags.
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