GSiN: Ch. 190

Golden waves of energy surged outward, sweeping up the lake water and merging with the violet poison. Under the pull of centrifugal force, everything whirled violently before being flung into the air. Suddenly, the sharp shriek of a chain-scythe cutting through the air tore apart the silence of the underground lake.

Hanzō, wielding a blade coated in venom, traced a ghostly violet line across the water's surface. Moments later, several poisoned shuriken shot out along arcing paths, sealing off every possible escape route around Ryouma.

Seeing his opponent still hadn't reacted, a flash of triumph flickered in Hanzō's eyes beneath his mask. This strike, he was certain of victory.

On the water's mirrorlike surface, golden flames of Kurama's chakra flickered and danced. Ryouma's expression remained calm. The shuriken struck the golden cloak, going through the outer layer of chakra.

But before the poisoned blades could reach flesh, they hit something harder than steel. A layer of invisible armor, Armament Haki, covered his body beneath the cloak. The shuriken clattered uselessly against it and fell away.

The real killing blow was still coming.

Hanzō's chain-scythe tore through the air, the blade's purple gleam dragging a poisonous trail as it struck from a vicious angle. The weapon pierced the chakra cloak, driving toward Ryouma's side.

Steel met Haki with a sharp clang. The chain-scythe's blade bent against the invisible armor coating Ryouma's ribs, unable to penetrate.

Still not as strong as Sukuna, Ryouma thought briefly, before his arm shot out.

From the golden cloak, two massive fox tails burst forth, sweeping up towering waves as they lashed out from both sides toward Hanzō. Wherever they passed, the air cracked under the pressure.

Facing such a wide-ranging assault, Hanzō had no choice but to retreat, using the Body Flicker to pull back and widen the distance.

With the analytical power granted by the Rikugan, Ryouma saw through Hanzō's tactic in an instant.

Using water as a medium to accelerate your Body Flicker, huh? But in the end, it's still just speed.

Since his opponent's high-speed movement relied on water, he decided to turn the entire lake into a weapon. He formed a single hand seal, pouring chakra into the lake beneath his feet.

"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Shock Wave!"

A colossal torrent erupted upward from the lakebed, forming a gigantic whirlpool hundreds of meters wide. The poisonous salamander summons in the water were instantly shredded, dissolving into drifting purple smoke. Hanzō, unable to hide any longer, was forced out of concealment.

He hurled the end of his chain-scythe upward. It embedded deeply into the cavern ceiling. With a sharp tug, he used the chain's momentum to leap high above the lake's now-deadly surface, his figure soaring through the air.

This chakra... so this is a jinchūriki, Hanzō thought, then swiftly formed hand seals.

"Fire Release: Exploding Flame Formation!"

From within the foaming waves, dozens of explosive tags surfaced, forming an array that mixed with the lingering purple poison mist from the dissipated summons.

Even as his enemy, Ryouma had to give him credit. Hanzō truly deserved his reputation as a ninja who had risen to prominence during the Second Great Ninja War.

From start to finish, every one of Hanzō's attacks had been designed to avoid triggering Full Counter's range. Even now, his explosive tags were combined with poison mist to obscure and confuse. However, when the gap in power reaches a certain level, no amount of strategy can alter the outcome.

The explosive tags ignited at his feet. Ryouma's expression remained calm. In the next instant, the golden fox tails swept across like a storm, scattering the poison mist in a violent burst. The massive chakra-formed claws crushed the explosion clouds. The shockwave tore across the lake's surface, carving a trench hundreds of meters long.

He was growing increasingly fond of using Kurama Mode. Once he donned the full Nine-Tails Chakra Cloak, he instantly gained speed beyond that of the Lightning Release Chakra Mode and offensive power to match.

Lifting his gaze to lock onto Hanzō's position, two tightly packed clumps of sand quietly adhered to the soles of his shoes. Under the control of his chakra, the sand clusters released a powerful thrust, propelling him forward like an arrow, straight toward Hanzō, who hung from the rocky cavern wall.

CRACK!

The golden chakra claws extending from Ryouma's cloak clashed fiercely with Hanzō's chain-scythe, sparks bursting in all directions. But that seemingly even deadlock lasted less than a single second. A surge of strength erupted from Ryouma's side, shattering Hanzō's blade to pieces on the spot. Fragments of steel rained down, and Hanzō's expression hardened instantly.

There was no time to mourn the weapon that had accompanied him through countless battles. He quickly released the broken hilt and fell back, shattering a stone pillar behind him. The scattered debris, infused with chakra, turned into a barrage of deadly projectiles.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!"

Ryouma didn't dodge. The stone shards struck his golden cloak, some punching through the outer chakra layer. But each one that reached his body hit the invisible barrier of Armament Haki coating his skin and shattered harmlessly. The swirling chakra storm around him ground any remaining debris into dust.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

Biting his thumb, Hanzō swiftly formed hand seals. Two massive purple water dragons, infused with venom, surged from the lake with thunderous roars.

This jutsu, an advanced combination of summoning and Water Release, required Hanzō to summon his salamanders' poison first, then merge it into the water dragons, creating a deadly fusion of brute force and lethal toxin.

It was, without exaggeration, Hanzō's ultimate hidden technique, one he hadn't even revealed during his brutal wars with Suna.

Yet after only a few short exchanges, he was already forced to use it just to stay alive. Cold sweat began to trickle down his back.

As the dragons lunged toward him with their jaws wide open, Ryouma calmly raised a hand.

Three enormous hands of condensed sand erupted from the lakebed. Two of them crushed the venomous dragons midair. The third hand had only one target. Hanzō, suspended helplessly in midair with nowhere to retreat. Watching the sand hands pulverize his strongest jutsu, he felt the blood in his veins turn cold. He doubted he could survive the next strike.

As the sand hand drew closer, the wind roared past his ears. In that instant, his life flashed before his eyes.

So I can finally rest.

A sense of weary relief washed over him. His gaze drifted toward the elite Ame ninjas who had come with him.

If I die here, Konoha will likely spare them, for Yahiko's and Konan's sake. That way, the Land of Rain might still retain a flicker of hope.

But not everyone on the battlefield was ready to let Hanzō fall so easily.

On the distant lakeshore, Sōto, who had been silently observing, cursed under his breath as he saw Hanzō failing to last even a few minutes.

"Aoi, fire a Tailed Beast Ball to back him up."

"But, Sōto-sama, didn't you say the enemy can reflect all ninjutsu?"

"Enough talk. Do as I say."

"Yes, Sōto-sama!"

Aoi said no more. She knelt down, her body quickly enveloped by a Tailed Beast cloak. Yin-Yang chakra compressed rapidly before her, forming a jet-black sphere, the Tailed Beast Ball, radiating a pulse of overwhelming destructive power.

WHOOSH!

In the next instant, the bomb shot out like a cannon round, flying straight toward the massive sand hand about to crush Hanzō.

Of course, Sōto wasn't acting recklessly. Even if the enemy could reflect any ninjutsu, they held hostages. Not only was his brother still there, but the numerous Taki ninjas present would also force Ryouma to hesitate.

And indeed, Sōto's calculation was correct. While Ryouma could use the precision of the Rikugan to subtly adjust the reflection path of his Full Counter, the sheer explosion radius of a Tailed Beast Ball meant that no matter how he redirected it, friendly fire was inevitable.

However, he had no shortage of ways to handle a Tailed Beast Ball. With a simple flick of his wrist, a three-pronged kunai flashed like lightning from his hand.

The kunai intercepted the trajectory of the Tailed Beast Ball mid-flight. Immediately afterward, a series of complex black sealing marks rapidly spread through the air.

Before Aoi's disbelieving eyes, the space around the giant sand hand suddenly twisted, instantly swallowing the Tailed Beast Ball that had been radiating powerful chakra waves.

A second later, a deafening explosion thundered from beyond the waterfall outside Taki.

"What was that?" she muttered blankly.

A bead of cold sweat slid down Sōto's forehead as he spoke slowly, "That's the Flying Thunder God. In the entire shinobi world, only the Fourth Hokage and Ryouma can perform it."

Since the end of the Third Great Ninja War, such information had long been classified. Naturally, Sōto had heard whispers of it. But he truly hadn't expected that a space-time jutsu, known only for teleporting oneself, could actually transfer distant objects as well.

How were they even supposed to fight this? If ninjutsu gets redirected, and close combat is impossible, wasn't the enemy basically invincible?

---

On the roiling lake surface, a massive sand hand stood tall and unmoving.

With all obstacles now cleared away, the giant hand suddenly clenched shut

The elite ninjas of Ame looked on in terror, watching helplessly as that sand hand gripped Hanzō tightly in its palm.

From their perspective, it all happened far too quickly that it felt like they must all be trapped in some genjutsu.

Yahiko and Konan both looked up at the enormous sand hand in the sky, emotions tangled within their hearts. Anyone born in the Land of Rain could hardly feel no trace of reverence toward Hanzō, once hailed as a hero.

At that moment, Ryouma landed steadily atop the lake, sending out faint ripples beneath his feet.

"Good work. That's exactly how you fight, haha."

Jiraiya strode toward him. He lifted his hand, hesitated for a second, then patted Ryouma on the shoulder. The golden light surrounding him was still warm, surprisingly not scorching to the touch.

"But hey, you didn't actually kill him, did you?"

Ryouma turned his head. "Why?"

Jiraiya scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Nothing much. It's just, back in the day, Hanzō did spare my life, Tsunade's, and Orochimaru's too. So, you know, if it's possible, maybe let him live."

That was a lie. In truth, he was more concerned that without Hanzō, the Land of Rain would no longer be able to maintain its neutrality. If that happened, the three bordering great nations might start another war, and that would be a disaster.

"Relax. I didn't kill that guy."

"Huh? Really? That's great—"

Yahiko, overhearing this, suddenly brightened, only to remember their current conflict with Hanzō, and hurriedly swallowed the words he was about to say.

Ryouma shrugged and continued, "I'm not one of those bloodthirsty types from Kiri. In peacetime, I've only ever killed one Konoha missing-nin."

Well, in his mind, the monsters of Uzushio didn't count as human anyway, so he figured that statement wasn't wrong.

"Alright, enough chat. There are still a few more people to deal with."

Flexing his wrist slightly, he began walking toward Sōto and the remaining group.

"Um, do you need our help?" Konan called softly.

Ryouma didn't answer. He simply raised a hand behind him as he walked away.

Watching his back, Konan couldn't help but sigh inwardly. So the so-called rumors of the shinobi world really were unreliable.

All that talk about Leaf's Gale being ruthless, that a fifth of the casualties in the Third Great Ninja War were his doing, what utter nonsense.

Along the lakeshore, the aftermath of the battle stirred up waves, soaking the hems of the Taki ninjas' trousers.

Sōto frowned deeply as his mind raced, desperately searching for any possible way to turn the situation around.

With the enemy closing in step by step, he could only grit his teeth and bark an order, sending his subordinates charging forward in a last attempt to create an opening.

At his command, dozens of Taki ninjas, though trembling with fear, stubbornly raised their weapons and let out hoarse battle cries, rushing at Ryouma like cornered beasts driven to despair.

But Ryouma didn't stop. If he were feeling idle, he might have humored them, perhaps exchanged a few taijutsu blows for sport. Unfortunately for them, he was far more curious about what Shiori was doing near that tree, circling around it again and again.

So, best to finish this quickly.

He clapped his hands together. A massive surge of chakra flooded into the ground.

"Iron Sand World Method!"

In an instant, the earth began to quake. Countless grains of sand burst upward from below, drawn together by an invisible force, forming a vast field of swirling quicksand.

BOOM!

The sea of sand exploded to life. Whirlwinds of sand roared skyward, thunderous waves of sand devouring the charging Taki ninjas in a blink.

Moments later, within the storming sand sea, countless thick sand ropes surged upward. Under Ryouma's precise control, they slithered like serpents beneath the sand, coiling tightly around each trapped ninja.

Soon, the sand serpents lifted their captives one by one from the sandstorm, each Taki ninja bound tight. They struggled, but the sand clinging to their bodies only tightened, like beasts trapped in an unbreakable cage.

Such was the reality of the shinobi world. Ordinary ninjas could only throw themselves into battle, obey orders, and charge bravely ahead. But ninjas like Ryouma had far too many options. And honestly, with so many choices, it was almost mentally exhausting for someone with decision fatigue.

Meanwhile, Sōto watched helplessly as dozens of his men had charged forward, only to be wiped out instantly without even forcing their opponent to take a single defensive step.

Anger surged in his chest. But he refused to surrender.

He suddenly uncorked a small glass vial in his hand. If he drank this Hero Water, his chakra would multiply dozens of times over in an instant. Even if his opponent was the legendary Leaf's Gale, perhaps he could still stand a chance.

Yet, as he stared at the shimmering liquid, hesitation rippled through his heart.

He knew the truth. The first use wasn't always fatal, but looking at his brother's frail, half-crippled state all these years after drinking it, he understood that if he took it now, his body would be ruined forever.

"What's wrong? Thinking of taking a gamble?"

A voice suddenly spoke near his ear.

A chill shot down his spine. He instinctively leapt back several steps, eyes wide with terror.

"Bastard!"

"I don't like that title, ok?" Ryouma sighed, spreading his hands. "So... Do I really have to walk over step by step like some scripted cutscene?"

He paused, his gaze falling to the bottle in Sōto's trembling hand.

"That thing you're holding, that's the Hero Water, right? I've heard the side effects aren't small. No wonder you're hesitating. Still, if you're planning to drink it, you'd better hurry. You won't get another chance later."