Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 294 Hanzo the Salamander

"Are you alright?"

Aokiji stood in front of Orochimaru.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you."

Orochimaru broke free of the ice shards covering his body, and stood up with a wry smile.

Aokiji can adjust the power of Ice Age by the amount of chakra he uses; the move he just used wasn't intended to freeze anyone.

"Don't mind it. We're comrades."

Aokiji glanced at Orochimaru behind him and softly comforted him.

In the original work, Orochimaru was brutally defeated by Hanzo when he was in his twenties, so it's really too much of a stretch to say that he's only sixteen or seventeen now.

Aokiji looked up and sized up Hanzo.

After one round of fighting, Aokiji had a general idea of ​​Hanzo's basic abilities.

These are all very basic skills.

It's hard to imagine that a demigod in the ninja world would use such a ninjutsu.

It's worth noting that any skill randomly selected from the Akatsuki organization is incredibly cool and powerful, making their abilities seem rather simple compared to those of demigods.

They even brought out explosive tags, things that only ordinary ninjas use.

However, what appears to be an ordinary skill actually contains hidden secrets.

Take the seemingly ordinary Water Instantaneous Movement as an example; the fact that he can move along with the salamander beneath his feet shows just how terrifying it is.

Or, what about the explosive tag fire array? It looks like trash, what kind of thing uses fire jutsu and still needs explosive tags? Actually, that's the brilliance of the salamander.

Because Hanzo relies entirely on explosive tags to deal damage, his chakra consumption is extremely low when using this technique, possibly negligible.

Of course, it's not without its drawbacks; it's just that it's quite expensive.

While Aokiji was sizing up Hanzo, Hanzo was also sizing up Aokiji.

Of the four people, the only one he was wary of was Aokiji in front of him.

It's not just because Aokiji is the strongest of the four, but also because Aokiji's abilities are more effective against him.

His fire release technique is different from other fire release techniques. It is a ninjutsu based on explosive tags, which has the advantages of low chakra consumption and great power. However, it has a drawback: the explosive tags have an ignition action. This is not a drawback in itself, but it is magnified infinitely by Aokiji's ice release technique.

One Ice Age attack would freeze and extinguish all of his explosive tags.

Besides, his most proficient Water Release technique doesn't offer much advantage against Aokiji.

At this moment, Jiraiya, who had already recovered, approached Aokiji and said, "Aokiji, his summoning beast is quite troublesome."

Aokiji nodded.

Salamanders can burrow underground, release poisonous gas, and are quite agile. When facing other summoned beasts, they can paralyze and poison them, making them the nemesis of other summoned beasts.

But that depends on the situation.

For example, the summoning beasts of Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru all have a certain resistance to poisons.

With that in mind, Aokiji said to the three of them, "Let's use a summoning beast."

Following Aokiji's advice, the three bit their fingers and, in perfect unison, summoned their summoning beasts.

After three plumes of smoke, three enormous creatures, each as large as a salamander, appeared.

They are slugs, toads, and snakes.

The slug and toad are Kuma-no-Kara and Gamabunta, and the snake is not Manda, but another snake. Orochimaru's personality is not as gloomy and indifferent to human life as in the original work, so he would not choose such a brutal summoning beast when selecting a summoning beast.

"It's really rare to see them appear together."

Gamabunta was smoking a pipe, puffing out clouds of smoke.

Jiraiya pleaded, "Please, Toad Boss."

Gamabunta snorted, but decided to give him face for the time being, and leaped into the air, drawing his sword and slashing.

The moment he jumped, the salamander anticipated his movement and burrowed underground.

By the time Gamabunta chopped him down, he had already disappeared.

"Damn it, where did it run off to..." Gamabunta was thinking when suddenly something popped out from behind him, catching him off guard, and pounced on him, spewing out poison gas from its mouth.

Gamabunta inhaled too much and collapsed, losing his fighting ability.

In the blink of an eye, a summoning beast collapsed to the ground, and Jiraiya clutched his head, yelling, "Gamabunta, what are you doing?!"

He told Gamabunta to come out and help, not to deliver it.

"I'm sorry..."

Gamabunta weakly uttered a sound, triggering the protective mechanism of the summoning jutsu, and returned directly to Mount Myōboku. It seemed he was going back to receive treatment.

Aokiji: ...

He now understood why, in the original story, the summoning beasts of the Sannin disappeared by the end, while Hanzo's summoning beast was still alive and well.

Aside from the slug, both Manda and Gamabunta are about the same age as their masters. Being young, it's no wonder they were easily defeated by a seasoned veteran like the salamander.

Aokiji felt ashamed; it seemed that in the end, he still had to rely on himself.

Hanzo stood facing the four people with the salamander's face and sneered, "Is that all you've got?"

Jiraiya looked displeased, but there was nothing he could do; after all, his summoning beast had been sent away the moment it was summoned.

The bigger the face you showed just now, the bigger your eyes are now.

At this moment, Aokiji suggested, "Orochimaru, Jiraiya, you two stand next to me, and I'll put my Ice Crystal Cloth on you."

Hanzo's Fire Release: Exploding Tags is quite troublesome, so Aokiji plans to add a layer of defense to the two of them while he has the chance.

Orochimaru and Jiraiya, knowing the structure of Aokiji's ninjutsu, stood in front of him without saying a word.

Aokiji formed several hand seals, placed his hands on Jiraiya and Orochimaru's shoulders respectively, and dressed them in the Gold Cloth—oh, no, the Ice Crystal Cloth.

Taurus and Ophiuchus.

This is armor made using ice magic, and it has extremely high defense.

After completing the above actions, Aokiji quickly did the same for himself and Tsunade as well.

Aquarius and Virgo's Ice Crystal Cloth

"This is..."

Danzo frowned as he looked at the four people wearing armor that shimmered with ice crystals.

Aokiji wasn't the first ice-style ninja to fight him, but the fact that he could develop ice-style techniques to such an extent shows his exceptional talent.

Although they were rival ninjas, Hanzo couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for their talent, revealing an expression of appreciation, and his blood began to boil.

"Interesting. Well then, I, Hanzo the Salamander, will fight with all my might from now on."

He spewed out a torrent of water like a tsunami from his mouth, which rushed outwards and engulfed everyone in it.

A giant ellipsoidal water sphere, covering an area of ​​several kilometers, formed on the flat ground in the blink of an eye, trapping everyone.

"impossible!"

Inside the water sphere, the four people, including Aokiji, wore expressions of disbelief. To be able to use ninjutsu of this level and range, their chakra must be comparable to that of a tailed beast.

Seeing this, Aokiji finally realized that the title of demigod was well-deserved.

When Hanzo was young, a venom sac of a salamander was implanted in his body. In addition to giving him super strong resistance to poison, this sac also gave him a huge amount of chakra and an affinity for water-style chakra.

His mastery of Water Release ninjutsu was so high not only because of his outstanding talent, but also because of this poison sac.

With little time to think, the four decided that getting out of trouble was the most urgent task.

The salamander's name itself includes "fish," clearly indicating that it is well-suited for fighting in the water.

Hanzo clearly wouldn't let them get their way, so he sent the salamanders rushing towards them.

Fighting in the water was extremely disadvantageous for them, and the four of them could only desperately defend themselves and score points.

This won't do, we'll lose if this continues...

Jiraiya glanced at him, seemingly suggesting they split up.

He figured it out: this ninjutsu was based on the user's movement, and at his speed, he couldn't swim faster than the salamander.

What's worse, the salamanders also spray poison and pollute the water during this process, which will lead to their complete annihilation.

Aokiji shook his head and rejected the idea, saying that splitting up would also be risky, with the risk of being defeated one by one.

Aokiji quickly thought about it and realized that the current situation might actually be a good approach.

Overwhelmed with longing, Aokiji conjured a giant killer whale from the water.

Hanzo, who was preparing for the next attack, was stunned. He hadn't expected that a Konoha ninja would contract such a summoning beast.

Normally, ninjas fight on land, and considering the needs of combat, they are basically all terrestrial creatures.

Even if there is a demand for marine life, it should be for amphibious creatures like him that are involved in the contracting.

Aokiji is extremely rare. It would make more sense in the Land of Water, but how could a country like the Land of Fire have such a summoning beast?

For a moment, Hanzo was completely baffled.

Meanwhile, Aokiji summoned the killer whale, which swallowed them all and swam upwards.

The salamander is a good swimmer, but it's no match for the killer whale. The killer whale quickly shook it off and burst out of the water. While the salamander was still in the water, Aokiji and the others jumped out of the killer whale's mouth and stood on the surface.

"Cancel the summoning technique," Aokiji said, forming hand seals to cancel it.

Everyone was stunned for a moment, then obediently did as instructed.

"Tsunade..."

Aokiji shouted, "Give me your chakra!"

Without Tsunade's "power bank" ability, Aokiji wouldn't have been able to freeze such a large area of ​​water jutsu.

Tsunade completely trusted Aokiji, released the Yin Seal, placed her palms on the back of her hands, and poured her chakra into his body.

Aokiji entered his second-stage Sage Mode, formed hand seals, and then slammed his hands onto the water's surface.

"ICE AGE..."

In an instant, the oval-shaped water sphere, spanning several kilometers, froze completely.

(End of this chapter)