Konoha: Naruto of Sekiro

Hanzo of the Salamander—Demigod of the Shinobi World, leader of Amegakure.

None of the Akatsuki members, before the meeting, or even before the incident unfolded, would have ever imagined that such a renowned hero would resort to such despicable tactics.

Using peace as bait to lure them in, all under the noble pretext of being "for the sake of the Land of Rain."

With such an unconvincing reason, he intended to slaughter them all on the spot.

Watching the Amegakure ninja launch their assault, the Akatsuki members were filled with disbelief; some even froze where they stood, dumbfounded.

Boom!

Only when the fuses of exploding tags tossed into their midst ignited, and the flames of the explosion consumed their comrades, mangling their bodies into bloody messes, did they finally realize—

Amegakure had never considered them partners!

"Kill!!!"

Wiping the blood and grime from his face, Shinko roared, his voice hoarse, his eyes bloodshot. With the flimsy shuriken in his hand, he lunged at an approaching Amegakure ninja.

Their forms met and separated in an instant. Blood spurted.

Shinko clutched desperately at his neck, trying to staunch the gushing flow, but all that greeted him was an endless, icy cold and a boundless darkness.

Yako, I'm sorry…

Thud!

His lifeless body slammed onto the ground, kicking up a spray of muddy water.

The Amegakure ninja merely glanced at the corpse before focusing on another Akatsuki member.

Chosen by Lord Hanzo, how could he be matched by mere rabble?

"Why?!" Yahiko stared at his former idol opposite him, roaring in a complete loss of composure.

Pursuit by ninja, betrayal by followers, the hardships of their path, the organization teetering on the brink of collapse multiple times…

Countless predicaments, endless suffering—none of it had ever made him lose his hope for the future, his thirst for peace.

But this time—

The very person he had once looked up to, a former hero, had committed such a treacherous act! Yahiko felt his convictions shatter.

"I've already answered," Hanzo stated calmly. "You appeared in an era where you shouldn't have."

"If it had been earlier, or even later…"

"You should have had a much brighter future!"

"But it's a pity."

Before his words had even faded, Hanzo, wielding his chained kusarigama, appeared before Yahiko. If things went as expected, Yahiko, completely devoid of fighting spirit, would meet his end here.

Clang!

A strand of red hair fluttered. Nagato, kunai in hand, stared sharply at the enemy before him.

He didn't harbor the same complex feelings for Hanzo of the Salamander as Yahiko did.

His life had been saved by Yahiko and Konan. They considered him family, and he had long since come to see them as his own.

And now, the enemy before him had nearly killed Yahiko, someone he regarded as family.

Never before had Nagato felt such an overwhelming urge to kill someone.

"Konan, get Yahiko away from here," Nagato said, his tone eerfedrily calm.

Without a moment's hesitation, Konan supported the dazed Yahiko and swiftly retreated from the battlefield.

Nagato was the strongest among them. If even he couldn't face this enemy, her and Yahiko's presence wouldn't make much difference.

"Brat, huh?!!" Hanzo, who had been in the midst of a verbal onslaught, was startled by the pair of purple, rippling eyes that met his gaze.

Sometimes, when one reached a certain level and understood enough, the more mysterious something was, the more terrifying it became.

"The Rinnegan?!"

The eyes of the progenitor of shinobi—their mystique and everything else they represented carried an immense pressure.

However, as a top-tier ninja who had weathered the Second Great Shinobi War and earned great renown, Hanzo quickly composed himself and launched a fierce offensive against the ninja before him.

Even if this pair of eyes truly was the Rinnegan of the Sage of Six Paths, this battle had to be fought.

To hope for an enemy's mercy was always the greatest cruelty to oneself.

Their figures quickly intertwined and separated—fists, feet, elbows, knees, kunai, shuriken, and exploding tags were all employed to their fullest in the ensuing battle.

On one side was Hanzo of the Salamander, the 'Demigod'; on the other, a nameless young ninja.

In the taijutsu exchange, Hanzo, with his weapon, held a slight advantage.

As a battlefield veteran, Hanzo naturally pressed his advantage, progressively widening the gap.

But Nagato's temperament meant he wasn't one for hubris; he wouldn't foolishly fight at a disadvantage. He quickly created distance.

Compared to close-quarters combat, he was far more adept at ninjutsu attacks.

"Such fast hand seals!!"

The moment Nagato created distance, Hanzo instantly grasped his opponent's strategy. Just as he was about to close the gap again, he was stunned by the enemy's ridiculously fast hand seal speed.

"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!"

A massive output of chakra unleashed a torrent of water, as if the floodgates of a celestial river had been thrown open, directly altering the surrounding terrain on a small scale.

"Water Style: Rain Cleaver!"

Immediately following, a peculiar Water Release chakra instantly filled the space around them.

Rain Cleaver—a secret technique that weakened all ninjutsu and chakra apart from Water Style.

Hanzo carefully observed his surroundings. Although the Land of Rain was far from the Land of Water, he still had some knowledge of such unique ninjutsu.

"I'm curious how you learned this. If I recall correctly, Rain Cleaver is supposed to be a secret technique exclusive to Kirigakure's assassination squads."

"…"

Silence. Apart from the sound of rushing water, there was nothing.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!" "Water Style: Rain of a Thousand Needles!"

From beneath, a devouring water dragon erupted from the surface; from above, chakra-infused needles of rain, as hard as steel, fell like a downpour, sealing off the surrounding space.

Surrounded by ninjutsu attacks, Hanzo showed no panic, instead rapidly forming hand seals.

"Water Style: Water Prison Technique!"

A jutsu typically used to immobilize an enemy, he had inversely applied it to himself.

The defensive power of a widely known Water Release ninjutsu capable of trapping an enemy within a sphere of water was self-evident.

The powerful impact of the Water Dragon Bullet slammed him into the distance, yet it only managed to create ripples on the water prison's surface.

Seeing this, Nagato quickly canceled Rain Cleaver.

"Water Style: Water Shockwave!" "Wind Style: Pressure Damage!"

Ninjutsu akin to a natural disaster swept through the area where Hanzo was located, which also happened to be where the bulk of the Amegakure forces were positioned.

Hanzo's pupils contracted, his expression no longer as composed as before.

He hastily bit his finger, his hands flying through seals.

"Ninja Art: Summoning Technique: Ibuse!"

A massive cloud of smoke erupted. The giant salamander, Ibuse, appeared and instantly swallowed its summoner, then burrowed underground with incredible speed.

But the other Amegakure ninja possessed no such escape.

Caught in the water shockwave filled with wind blades, it was as if they had been thrown into a shredder. Their bodies were instantly torn into several pieces, unable to even utter a scream.

Once a certain level of power was reached, numerical superiority became so utterly meaningless.

After the destructive torrent subsided, a visible cloud of poison mist slowly rose from where the salamander had vanished, spreading across the entire battlefield.

Experienced Amegakure ninja, upon seeing this, quickly distanced themselves from the enemy and donned the gas masks they had long kept ready.