Chapter 85: Tsunade's Lion King Awakens – The Sannin Turn the Tide
Tsunade leaped high and slammed down with a kick. Hanzo dodged urgently. Under the enhancement of Hundred Beast King, Tsunade's Heaven-Breaking Kick was even more powerful than before.
Hanzo looked at the ground where he had just stood—now shattered into pieces—and felt a chill of fear.
Even a powerhouse of his level couldn't take Tsunade's full punch or kick unscathed, so he prepared to focus his attacks next.
But before he could catch his breath, Jiraiya and Orochimaru's assault arrived.
Hanzo naturally wasn't too worried about the taijutsu of the two in front of him. His scythe slashed toward Orochimaru's Tōichimonji, while the chain lashed toward Jiraiya.
It could be said that at this point in time, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade's combat power hadn't fully developed yet. Orochimaru's body modification was only in its early stages—even the idea of the Great Serpent Substitution Style had only come up recently due to the butterfly effect.
Jiraiya hadn't learned Sage Mode yet, and even the most important Rasengan hadn't been invented by Minato.
Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred Seal wasn't fully mastered either—at this period, she didn't have the blue crystal on her forehead that appeared later.
So even with Orochimaru having Tōichimonji and Tsunade having Hundred Beast King Transformation, they still couldn't easily defeat Hanzo.
But at least now they had the ability to tangle with him.
Unlike the original story where Hanzo defeated them as easily as guiding juniors.
Tsunade raised her fist again and smashed it toward Hanzo. Hanzo narrowly dodged—but then found himself ensnared once more by Jiraiya's hair.
And Tsunade's second punch was already coming fast.
To the trio's shock, Hanzo activated Water Body Flicker Technique—without forming any hand seals.
The startup speed of his Water Body Flicker felt comparable to space-time ninjutsu.
Hanzo let out a pained grunt, his face twisting in agony, body trembling slightly.
It turned out Orochimaru had been lurking in the shadows all along, like a cunning venomous snake waiting for the perfect moment.
When Hanzo's attention was fully drawn by Tsunade and Jiraiya, Orochimaru struck—slashing viciously across Hanzo's back.
Hanzo's sturdy armor blocked most of the damage, but Tōichimonji's razor-sharp blade still cut through his skin, letting blood seep out. Realizing the situation was bad, Hanzo immediately put distance between himself and his enemies, warily scanning around.
At this moment, Hanzo instinctively did what most people cut by Tōichimonji liked to do—use chakra to try sealing the wound.
But he quickly discovered this method didn't work. The wound continued bleeding slowly and steadily on its own.
At that moment, he finally understood why his beloved pet salamander had bled nonstop earlier.
Hanzo realized that if the wound weren't so small, he might already be unable to continue fighting.
Even so, he could still feel his physical strength slowly draining away—this made his expression grow darker and darker.
In truth, Orochimaru had shamelessly coated Tōichimonji with deadly poison—but clearly, against Hanzo and Ibuse who possessed terrifying poison resistance, it had little effect.
On the other side of the summoned beast battlefield, the fight had also entered its white-hot phase. Fukasaku was sent flying once again, his short sword flying far away.
Ibuse seized the chance and viciously bit down on Katsuyu. Katsuyu had no choice but to split into many smaller slugs to escape the attack.
At that moment, Ibuse's poison mist had fully replenished. It opened its huge mouth and unleashed a massive surge of purple poison gas like a raging flood, instantly blanketing the entire battlefield.
Under the erosion of this poison gas, Fukasaku and Katsuyu were almost immediately forced back to the summoning realm.
Back on the human battlefield, the three once again inhaled Ibuse's poison mist. The fog nearly caused Jiraiya and Orochimaru to collapse on the spot.
And Hanzo didn't waste such a perfect opportunity. Because he had been wounded by Orochimaru's Tōichimonji, he could no longer drag out the battle as casually as in the original story.
Now Hanzo only wanted to end the fight quickly!
Tsunade naturally wouldn't let Hanzo go attack her teammates. She charged forward again with her fist raised.
Tsunade's fists were very strong and very hard—but ninja battles were filled with all kinds of techniques and abilities, so up to now she hadn't landed a single punch on Hanzo.
Seeing Tsunade being so persistent, Hanzo relied on his taijutsu to dodge her fist and viciously slashed her abdomen with his scythe.
"Tsunade!"
Jiraiya cried out in alarm as he saw Tsunade get cut.
They knew very well how powerful Hanzo's poison was—even the ordinary poison mist was already so deadly, let alone the one that entered through blood.
Although Tsunade had Hundred Beast King Transformation, under the continuous poison and injuries she temporarily collapsed.
Hanzo once again showed off his Water Release—forming only three hand seals before unleashing the technique.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Hanzo created a water dragon behind him and sent it crashing toward Orochimaru, blasting him far away.
Jiraiya saw the menacing Hanzo approaching. Knowing his taijutsu was inferior to Hanzo's, he once again unleashed a ninjutsu.
"Ninja Art: Needle Jizō!"
Using chakra to harden his silver hair into a lion's mane shape, he turned himself into a hedgehog-like form covered in sharp points, attempting to attack Hanzo.
Facing this "hedgehog," Hanzo directly sprayed the poison gas from his stomach poison sac toward Jiraiya.
Jiraiya collapsed completely to the ground.
Hanzo crossed his arms, looking down at the three fallen Konoha ninjas with an air of dominating the world. But just as he was about to pose and bestow titles on the three Konoha ninjas—
The fallen Tsunade activated Lion Never Dies. The injuries on Tsunade—who had just collapsed from extreme poison—recovered at a visible speed. Even the massive amount of deadly poison inside her body was adapted to.
Hanzo stared in shock at the rising Tsunade. He seemed to see the phantom of a gigantic red lion appearing above her head.
"Don't you dare underestimate Konoha ninjas!" At this moment, Tsunade charged toward Hanzo almost completely unguarded.
Hanzo also felt that the Tsunade in front of him had gone mad. He genuinely worried he might accidentally kill this princess of the Land of Fire, granddaughter of Senju Hashirama, and prized disciple of the Hokage. If he had to choose one among the three he least wanted to kill—it would absolutely be the Tsunade before him!
She had too many buffs stacked.
In just a moment, Tsunade reached Hanzo again. Hanzo's scythe viciously slashed across her body once more. The poison soaked in—but it had no effect on Tsunade at this moment.
The slashed wound recovered completely in Hanzo's shocked gaze.
Just as Hanzo tried to pull back his scythe, Tsunade's cat claw (big cats are still cats!) grabbed hold of Hanzo's scythe. Then a terrifying force transmitted through the scythe.
Hanzo felt his body being pulled along by the scythe—he could only humiliatingly let go of his weapon.
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