"Normal attacks don't work?"
After hearing Yagami's explanation, the confusion on Hanzo's face did not lessen in the slightest.
After all, he had not seen it with his own eyes. Yagami's body had turned completely elemental.
So naturally, he could not understand how an attack could simply be rendered ineffective.
And more importantly, the explosive tags had continued going off for nearly ten full seconds.
Could that still really be called a "normal attack"?
Seeing that Hanzo was still struggling to understand, Yagami could not be bothered to explain it any further.
In just a few days, Hanzo would understand it clearly enough on his own.
"Now then…"
"Do we still need to go through twenty exchanges?"
Yagami's voice cut through Hanzo's thoughts and pulled him back to the present.
If Hanzo still insisted on finishing all twenty moves, Yagami was fully prepared to end it quickly.
This was the front line of a battlefield, after all. Time would not wait for anyone.
They had already spent more than enough time in the Land of Rain.
Hearing Yagami's words, Hanzo came back to himself.
He looked up at Yagami, fell silent for a few breaths, then finally said slowly,
"Since you're in such a hurry…"
"We'll end this contest here."
"Though I have not fought with everything I had, I've already acknowledged your strength."
Hanzo was not merely trying to save face.
It was true that, with age catching up to him, his strength had already begun to decline little by little.
But even so, he still had several methods he had yet to use.
For instance, if he summoned the Ibuse again, there was still the deadly poison within his own body as well.
But those were methods reserved for a true battle to the death.
"In that case, thank you very much."
Hearing Hanzo's answer, Yagami gave a small nod.
It was true that Hanzo had not used his full strength.
But then again, neither had he.
If the two of them had truly been trying to kill each other here and now, Yagami was confident he could have taken Hanzo's life in a short amount of time.
At this point in time, Hanzo knew nothing about the full range of Yagami's abilities.
If Yagami chose to strike with surprise, killing him outright was not impossible.
"Everyone, move out!"
Turning around, Yagami raised his voice and called to the shinobi behind him.
At some point, the heavy rain had weakened into a light drizzle.
Because of that, his voice carried clearly across the area.
Even the view ahead had become much clearer.
"The whole army, advance!"
After receiving Yagami's command, the Konoha jōnin leading the formation also shouted their orders to the troops behind them.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
The sound of footsteps splashing across the wet ground began to echo once more.
Konoha's forces started moving again.
As the formation drew near, Yagami gave Hanzo one more nod in thanks.
Then he led the troops forward without hesitation, heading straight through the ranks of the Rain shinobi.
At that moment, Hanzo raised his right hand in a silent gesture of farewell.
The Rain shinobi forces quickly moved aside, opening a broad path for Konoha's army.
Beside that road was a deep trench.
It had been carved into the earth by Yagami's earlier slash.
[Ding! Congratulations, Master. You have gained the admiration of 1125 people. Prestige increased by 1125 points.]
[Ding! 985 people have developed fear toward the Master. Prestige increased by 985 points.]
As Yagami led Konoha's forces through the Rain shinobi formation, every Rain shinobi present got a clear look at him.
In an instant, Yagami gained another small wave of prestige points.
As for the Konoha shinobi following behind him, all of them had their heads held high, their spirits clearly lifted.
In just a few dozen breaths, under Yagami's leadership, Konoha's forces disappeared into the distant curtain of rain.
"Hanzo-sama!"
"Hanzo-sama!"
After Konoha's forces had vanished from sight, several Ame jōnin quickly approached Hanzo.
At the moment, Ibuse was gone, so the poisonous mist had naturally disappeared as well.
"Konoha truly is a village full of monsters. It cannot be underestimated."
Hanzo remained standing where he was, still watching the direction Konoha's forces had left.
As he recalled his brief exchange with Yagami, he could not help but let out another quiet sigh.
He had said earlier that he had not used his full strength.
But in truth, only Hanzo himself knew that even if he had gone all out, he still could not say with confidence that he would have won.
His gaze shifted toward the deep trench in the ground.
Hanzo's heart trembled again.
In the past, he had traveled through the Land of Iron, a country filled with samurai.
Yet even there, he had never seen a slash as terrifying as that one.
And Hanzo had a lingering feeling that Yagami had actually held back.
Otherwise, whether his summon could have escaped in time would have been hard to say.
"Let's return to the village first."
Suppressing the emotions in his heart, Hanzo turned and leaped away to the right.
The Ame jōnin commanders immediately began shouting orders, directing their men to fall back toward the village as well.
Then they hurried after Hanzo.
…
"Thank goodness it didn't turn into a battle."
Seeing that war had been avoided, Yahiko let out a sigh of relief.
At that moment, the members of the Akatsuki were still gathered on the hill to the left.
They had remained there the entire time, watching Konoha's forces leave.
"Konoha's commander…"
"He doesn't look much older than we are."
Nagato spoke slowly, his expression unreadable.
Earlier, the rain had made it difficult to get a clear look at the other side.
But now that it had let up, his Rinnegan allowed him to see Yagami's appearance clearly.
From Nagato's estimate, the other man's age could not be more than a few years older than them.
"What?!"
"He's around our age?!"
The members of the Akatsuki were all stunned.
After seeing him clash with Hanzo so fiercely, they had naturally assumed he must be someone far older—at least a man in his thirties, maybe even older.
After all, he had stood at the very front of Konoha's army.
Someone in that position could only be one of Konoha's commanding figures.
And yet, none of them had expected that the one leading those forces was actually around the same generation as them.
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