The world blurred, and Yako found himself back a few days earlier.
He had just received his mission: to leave the village alongside Danzo and head for the Land of Rain to negotiate with Hanzō.
[Arc of the Waning Moon activated!]
The host gains only one chance of revival each month. Upon death, revival occurs on the night of the previous full moon.
Reward: one lottery draw:
-Sword Art · Double-Strike with Chain-Scythe
-Venom Spray
-Water Release: Water Body Flicker Technique (A-rank, Beginner)
The first option was a scythe-based kenjutsu developed by Hanzō himself—paired with chains, it struck like a phantom, the blade often materializing behind the enemy to tear into their exposed back.
For Yako, it was useless. He had no desire to carry around a clunky chain-scythe at all tis.
The second option, Venom Spray, clashed entirely with his current abilities. He dismissed it without hesitation.
The third option, however—Water Release: Water Body Flicker Technique—lit up his eyes.
This was Hanzō's very core ability.
The Body Flicker Technique itself was already a rare skill across the shinobi world.As the saying went: Among all ninjutsu, speed is invincible.
If you were even half a step faster than your opponent, you could suppress them entirely.
No matter how powerful the ninjutsu—if you couldn't even finish weaving your hand signs, if you barely raised your hand before a kunai pierced your throat—then it was worthless.
The essence of a shinobi battle lay in this: delivering a kunai to the enemy's heart in the shortest possible ti.
And so, Yako chose Water Release: Water Body Flicker. At that very instant, he grasped it.
He understood imdiately: this technique required terrain soaked in water.
By infusing chakra into the surrounding moisture, the caster could, upon attack, form a single hand seal—instantly liquefying into water, scattering into droplets, and re-forming their body at another water source nearby.
Unlike the standard Body Flicker, which drove the body forward with explosive leg force, the Water Body Flicker propelled upward—the body collapsing into fluidity, dissolving into the ground's water, then reforming in a blink.
It wasn't just speed—it was escape.
He rembered: when his Earth Spears trapped the salamander, Hanzō had evaded with this technique, dodging flas and freeing his beast in the sa motion.
The difficulty lay in the instant water-transformation.It was reminiscent of the Hōzuki clan's Hydrification Technique—though where they could sustain hydration for extended periods, the Water Body Flicker could only last a fleeting mont.
Both the Hidden Cloud and the Hidden Mist produced water-style prodigies, yet Hanzō's gift with Water Release was unmatched.
Now, that gift was Yako's.
Another forbidden card up his sleeve—one he could never reveal.
After all, only Hanzō's own son could be expected to wield this technique. Not even his closest disciples would be entrusted with it.
Should I investigate Hanzō's past lovers? See if he left any traces in his youth?
A shinobi never passed down his trump card lightly.
Yako sighed. As strong as it was, this jutsu could never be his mainstay. It was a hidden blade, reserved only for dire monts.
The march toward the frontline camp continued. The Fox Squad welcod new reinforcents, including White Ram.
Soon after, Danzo led the Yellow Dog Unit into the Land of Rain.
The ground was flooded with puddles and flowing water. Yako tested it, infusing chakra into the moisture at his feet. If attacked now, a single hand seal would send him flickering away—or better, right behind his enemy.
In such terrain, this was a beggar's version of the Flying Thunder God.
Outside Agakure's capital, Danzo t with Hanzō.
Naturally, Hanzō refused to admit Ōnoki had outwitted him. Their words clashed, and blades followed.
Just as before, Yako summoned Earth Spears to trap the salamander, only for Hanzō to vanish with Water Body Flicker again and again, escaping unscathed.
When the Yellow Dog Captain prepared his Fire Release, Yako had already ford the seal for Earth Substitution.
Hanzō and the salamander materialized at Yako's back, the chain-scythe hooking for his throat—
—only to slice into a puddle of mud.
Yako had swapped places with the earth itself using Earth Substitution, then sank underground with the Hidden Fish in Earth Technique.
"Hm?"
Hanzō faltered, surprised at missing his mark.
Even the salamander tilted its head, confused at the vanishing ANBU.
The Yellow Dog Captain turned, just in ti to see Yako erging behind Hanzō, unhard.
"Well done, Fox!" he shouted.
Shaking Hanzō's attack off lifted morale instantly.
The Yellow Dog Captain unleashed another Fire Release, hurling flas at Hanzō and the massive salamander.
But before the flas struck, the beast exhaled a noxious mist—instantly wiping out an entire squad.
Yako's heart clenched, but relief followed. It was the Hippo Squad's team, not his Fox Squad.
He surfaced quickly, weaving signs, summoning new Earth Spears.
Yet Hanzō and his salamander flickered across the battlefield, water to water, again and again. His Earth Style couldn't keep up.
Neither could the Yellow Dog Captain's fire.
In re seconds, three entire squads of the Yellow Dog Unit were dead.
So this is the power of a demi-god of the shinobi world. His Water Body Flicker, his poison—they're overwhelming.
At the rear, Danzo finally spoke:"Use Lightning Release."
Three ANBU surged forward, slamming palms to the ground.
"Lightning Release: Earth Current!"
Sparks crawled like a web across the ground, striking indiscriminately at every shinobi's feet.
The numbing sensation in his soles reassured Yako.
Sure enough, Hanzō and his salamander avoided the lightning, keeping their distance.
The battle paused, tension hanging thick.
And then Danzo leapt back suddenly.
The puddles across the ground—when had they been laced with explosive tags?
"Exploding Fla Array!"
The blasts consud the three Lightning Release ANBU instantly.
Hanzō didn't just master poison and water. Explosive tags, too, were his specialty.
Danzo landed safely on a tree trunk, glaring at Hanzō.
"Hanzō. I can't kill you, and you can't kill . Think carefully. Don't believe that being 'one of the strongest in the world' makes you untouchable. To Ōnoki, you're nothing but a pawn—a blunt weapon to be used.
End this war. Stop interfering with Konoha's campaign against Iwagakure.
If you reconsider, send word. I'll be waiting."
He turned and leapt away.
"Hold it!"
Hanzō's shout froze every shinobi. All eyes turned to him.
He glanced at the corpses of his fallen A-nin.
He feared none of Konoha's shinobi. But compared to Konoha's forces, the A-nin were fragile, weak.
"My n…" Hanzō said. "Konoha is vast. Even if your entire ANBU fell, you'd rebuild easily. But my A-nin are few. Each of these n was handpicked, and now they lie dead at your hands.
Danzo… their deaths cannot be for nothing."
He pulled a scroll from his robes and hurled it forward.
"This is my condition."
The Yellow Dog Captain intercepted midair. If it was packed with tags, Danzo's death would be laughable.
Unfurling the scroll, he scanned it before handing it to Danzo.
The ssage was clear: Since Agakure's declaration of war, Sunagakure shinobi had been spotted near the Yoshimizu River in southern A.
Hanzō's demand was simple—drive the Sand shinobi out of his country, and A would withdraw from the war, no longer hindering Konoha against Iwa.
The Land of Rain truly was the crossroads of the shinobi world, the battlefield of all four nations.
And Hanzō's core demand: purge Sunagakure from his land.
Danzo considered it, then passed the scroll back to the Yellow Dog Captain.
"You handle it."
User Comments
0 comments from readers