Naruto: I Became a Sword Saint in Konoha

Jiraiya and Tsunade's expressions changed drastically.

Neither of them had expected that the Hanzō in front of them—the one who had nearly thrown them into serious trouble—was only a shadow clone.

At the same time, the real Hanzō had already silently appeared behind Jiraiya, his sickle slicing downward with a howling wind as it cut through the air.

Jiraiya's pupils contracted. He hadn't anticipated that Hanzō's speed would be this fast. Since he had just used Needle Jizō to save Tsunade, he now had no means left to protect himself.

Just when Jiraiya thought he was dead for sure—

—the Hanzō behind him vanished in an instant.

Jiraiya turned his head and saw Hoshiyomi's sword, Mikazuki Munechika, stopped just three inches from the tip of his nose.

It was Hoshiyomi who had arrived in time, forcing Hanzō of the Salamander back with a swift strike, then promptly withdrawing his blade, thus avoiding cutting Jiraiya.

Before Jiraiya could react, a crisp clang of metal echoed from behind him

This time, Jiraiya saw it clearly: Hoshiyomi had retracted his blade just in time, precisely using the bottom of his hilt to block Hanzō's sickle blade.

Even Hanzō's eyes widened in surprise at the move.

"So this is the level of your swordsmanship… The Konoha's Silver Moon indeed lives up to his name. In pure kenjutsu, you may well be the best in the entire village."

But his astonishment didn't last long.

Just because one attack was blocked didn't mean he was out of options.

The chain and weighted end attached to the sickle were no mere decoration.

Hanzō's face remained fixed in an expression of shock, but his hand subtly exerted force.

He swung the weighted chain at Hoshiyomi's face—

—aiming directly for his head.

If it landed, even if it didn't kill Hoshiyomi outright, it would almost certainly crack his head and render him unconscious.

But what Hanzō hadn't expected was—

—before the weight even reached Hoshiyomi, a slender, jade-white hand suddenly grabbed it out of midair.

"Not on my watch!"

A crisp, fierce voice rang out.

In the next instant, Hanzō suddenly felt a huge force coming from the weight — strong enough that he almost couldn't hold onto his sickle.

But he absolutely could not let go.

To him, his weapon was his life. If he released it now, Hoshiyomi would surely follow up with a lethal slash, and then he would be the one at a disadvantage.

With this in mind, the muscles in his arms bulged. He bent his knees into a half-squat, lowering his center of gravity.

While restraining Hoshiyomi with one hand, he began trying to wrest control of the weight back from the other end of the chain.

Tsunade was just a woman, after all. Even if she had above-average strength, she couldn't possibly overpower someone who had trained in combat all his life, right?

Just as he was thinking this—

—a low, angry growl rang out:

"You're coming with me!"

Tsunade's eyebrows furrowed in fury.

She activated her Chakra Enhanced Strength, gripping the chain and giving it a violent pull.

Caught completely off guard, Hanzō was yanked into the air, still clinging to his sickle.

Tsunade's pull dragged him forward, and in one fluid motion, she grabbed the weight, spun it twice, and wrapped the chain tightly around her arm.

Then, she slung the chain over her shoulder and, with perfect form, executed a shoulder throw, hurling Hanzō straight through the air.

NANI?!

Still airborne, Hanzō's face was full of disbelief.

How was this possible?!

He—he had actually been thrown across the battlefield by a woman, and with only one hand!

In his utter shock, he even forgot to release the chain and use Body Flicker to escape, or perhaps, under the terrifying inertia created by Tsunade's Chakra Enhanced Strength, he simply had no opportunity to use the Body Flicker.

BOOM!

Hanzō of the Salamander crashed violently onto the ground, mud and water splashing everywhere.

The impact left a deep crater in the ground.

Though Hanzō had a strong body, the sheer force of the throw caused him to cough up a mouthful of blood.

Fortunately, the ground was already broken and soft from the earlier rampage of his Water Fang Bullet.

A large amount of soft mud provided him with a cushion; otherwise, that fall would have broken at least three of his ribs.

But Tsunade wasn't one to let things go after a single blow.

After tossing Hanzō, she yanked the chain again, intending to drag him back for a second hit.

However, having already suffered once, Hanzō wouldn't be fooled again.

He flung a handful of explosive tags, and at the same time, released the grip on his sickle.

With a flicker, he teleported out of the explosion's range using Body Flicker Technique.

"HAAH!"

"Wind Barrier!"

Two voices rang out in unison.

At the critical moment, Hoshiyomi grabbed Tsunade by the hand and pulled her behind him.

Then he flung out a Wind Wall, using it to shield against the explosion.

Even so, the blast radius was so wide that not all of it could be blocked.

The explosion's shockwave left burns on Hoshiyomi's sword-wielding right arm.

Luckily, Tsunade was right next to him.

Upon seeing his injuries, she quickly said:

"Jiraiya, Orochimaru—hold him off for a while so I can treat Hoshiyomi!"

As she spoke, Tsunade didn't forget to toss the sickle to Katsuyu.

"Corrode it."

Katsuyu nodded obediently and opened her mouth, spitting out a large blob of Tongue Tooth Sticky Acid.

The acid landed on the sickle with a loud sizzle, rapidly corroding the metal.

Tsunade's hands began to glow with a soft green light.

Activating Mystical Palm Technique, she quickly began treating Hoshiyomi's burn.

Hanzō clutched his chest, feeling a tightness there.

He had clearly sustained internal injuries.

Watching Tsunade heal Hoshiyomi, Hanzō knew he could not allow the healing to complete.

He reached to his waist and pulled out several shuriken wrapped in explosive tags.

With a flick of his wrist, he hurled them toward Hoshiyomi and the others.

Jiraiya and Orochimaru immediately moved to intercept.

Orochimaru formed hand signs and used an Earth-Style Wall to contain the explosion

Jiraiya, on the other hand. transformed his hair into a weapon, using Needle Jizō to form a long whip and lash out at the incoming shuriken.

In that moment, several of the shuriken were knocked aside by Jiraiya's attack.

Unbeknownst to him, however, those few redirected shuriken…

…would soon lead to an entirely new chain of events.

After the explosion, Orochimaru and Jiraiya burst through the smoke, along with Hoshiyomi and Tsunade.

The clothing on Hoshiyomi's right arm had been completely burned away by the previous explosion. Hanzō could clearly see that the skin on his previously burned arm had already returned to its smooth, fair state.

Damn it—he actually managed to heal it.

By now, Hanzō had retrieved his sickle and was once again standing atop Ibuse's head.

He glanced down at the weapon, now darkened from Katsuyu's acid.

A complicated expression crossed his face.

This sickle had accompanied him through countless battles.

It was a weapon as sharp as any legendary blade.

But now, after being corroded by that acid, its sharpness was likely severely compromised.

Fortunately, the sickle itself was well-crafted—otherwise, it might have been completely reduced to scrap by now.

Without his most trusted weapon, the battles ahead would become much harder.

But now wasn't the time for hesitation.

The fight wasn't over yet.

Even for the sake of his subordinates, he could not show weakness.

Because if he did—

—how could his followers find the strength to continue fighting?