Raindrops struck the ground one by one, tapping against every surface.
Inside the abandoned Konoha camp,
all eleven chūnin who had been left behind were now dead—
slain by Amegakure's ninja.
In the future, their names would be carved onto Konoha's Memorial Stone as heroes.
Inside one of the small storage sheds, several Rain-nin rummaged through supplies, curious about what Konoha shinobi ate on deployment.
That was when—
"Ninja Art: Hidden Shadow Snake Submersion."
Orochimaru's voice slithered through the forest,
the chakra pulse rippling straight into the heart of the base.
Hanzō sensed it immediately.
He stood at the edge of the ruined camp and roared:
"ALL UNITS, PULL BACK—NOW!!"
Six squads were inside:
16 Rain chūnin,
2 Special Jōnin.
Amegakure couldn't mass-produce ninja the way Konoha could.
Losing eighteen trained shinobi—including two elites—
would be a devastating blow.
Hanzō's shout made the Rain-nin freeze mid-search.
Inside the warehouse, one chūnin had just discovered a crate of fruit rations.
His eyes sparkled as he grabbed a can, planning to sneak a bite—
A shadow flickered.
A brownish python flashed past him and sank fangs into his neck.
Two more Rain-nin beside him didn't even have time to react.
"Hel—HELP M—ARGHHH—!"
Three screams pierced the camp.
Everyone stopped moving instantly.
The Special Jōnin's face paled beneath his mask.
"NOT GOOD!"
"RETREAT! NOW!!"
But it was too late.
Orochimaru's jutsu had already activated.
From the ground—
dozens upon dozens of thick serpents burst upward,
writhing, lunging, and tearing into any moving target.
Rain-nin tried to form hand seals—
but the snakes swarmed too fast, too many.
Even elite shinobi couldn't react under such chaos.
Orochimaru had deliberately replenished serpent numbers underground while retreating earlier.
These weren't chakra beasts—just ordinary pythons, temporarily stripped of hostility toward him and set to attack upon trigger.
Hanzō, drunk on victory a moment ago, had failed to recognize the danger in time.
Within mere minutes—
over twenty Rain chūnin were dead.
Against true battlefield chaos, even trained shinobi struggled to survive.
Hanzō's face twisted with grief and fury.
But at least his two Special Jōnin had escaped with their lives.
Hanzō Unleashed
"Hiding… slithering…"
"Fine. Let this old man erase your entire camp!"
His voice boomed, and his hands blurred through seals faster than most shinobi could track.
The soaked valley, the dripping treetops, the pools gathering on the ground—
all trembled in response to Hanzō's chakra.
Ripples spread.
The earth shook.
Even Orochimaru felt the air distort.
"Hanzō is taking this seriously," he muttered.
Orochimaru had already spent a large portion of his chakra on the previous A-rank technique.
The overwhelming wave of chakra from Hanzō told him one thing:
This next jutsu wasn't A-rank. It was beyond that—S-rank territory.
If he were alone, he could only run and make sure to at least retrieve the bodies of his dead comrades.
"Uchiha Fire Unit—prepare your fire techniques!" Orochimaru barked.
"Yes, sir!" ×N
Uchiha Kizuna and Special Jōnin Uchiha Mikoto formed seals.
Six Uchiha chūnin, including Uchiha Kaedei, followed suit.
Before them—
A massive surge of water rose, pooling together into a roaring tidal mass.
If unleashed, it would create a mudslide strong enough to bury the entire valley, including wounded forces retreating behind them.
"DIE, Konoha shinobi!!!"
Hanzō released a furious roar—
"Water Release: Wave Surge Technique!"
Less powerful than the grand "Waterfall Technique,"
but disastrous when amplified by terrain and rain.
Mud, stones, uprooted trees, and floodwater merged into a catastrophic wave.
The Uchiha Counterattack
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!!" ×8
Eight giant fireballs ignited the sky,
evaporating sheets of water and steam.
Kizuna shouted:
"Combination Ninjutsu — Uchiha Fire Barrage!!"
The roaring mudslide met blazing hellfire.
Steam exploded.
The two forces clashed violently—
But the mudslide still pushed forward.
Kizuna gritted his teeth.
Then—
His eyes twisted.
Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Crimson Lotus Inferno!"
The temperature spiked.
The Uchiha fireballs turned blinding white-hot under Kizuna's Mangekyō enhancement.
The mudslide stalled—
then solidified as its moisture evaporated.
A giant lotus-shaped inferno bloomed in the valley,
pushing back the catastrophic tide.
Three long minutes later—
The mudslide froze in place.
Kizuna slumped against a tree trunk, sweating and panting.
"We… stopped it."
Mikoto remained calm.
It was she who had once scolded Kizuna for abandoning comrades—
the very catalyst that awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Without that awakening,
there would be no reinforcement squad today.
Orochimaru stared at the scorched battlefield.
"If not for Kizuna…
my entire force would have been annihilated."
He continued quietly:
"Hanzō the Salamander… is a terrifying opponent.
Poison mastery, experience, overwhelming ninjutsu—
he rivals the Kage of any great village."
He glanced toward the ruined Konoha camp.
Even Orochimaru felt a faint chill.
And then he looked toward Kizuna again.
A Mangekyō Sharingan emerging in the Uchiha clan—
This would shake Konoha's upper hierarchy to its core.
As for Kizuna himself—
He trembled slightly, still catching his breath,
realizing Hanzō's true scale:
"A single B-rank water technique…
delivered S-rank devastation."
"A man like this…
no wonder they used to call him 'Demi-God.'"
—That title no longer stood.
To read advanced Chapters, head over to p@treon:
patreon.com/nani_kaito