"Let's wait for Rain Ninjas and set up an ambush for them. If the masked man comes, we can get information from them, and if a normal squad comes, we will just kill them and then leave." Akane spoke after thinking for a moment, and they thought of his proposal.
"Hmm, with the three of us, it wouldn't be hard for us to escape if the masked man is stronger than us. For weaker ninjas, the ambush plus fast sneak attack is enough to take them down," Tsunade said, agreeing with Akane's words, and they looked at Orochimaru, who hadn't spoken his thoughts.
"The idea is good, but do you have the materials required to set up a good ambush?" Orochimaru asked the practical question related to the situation. He had decided to follow their ideas and see what kind of play Akane planned to show.
He also wanted the masked man to appear since he was curious about that guy's identity and what Akane and Tsunade knew about him.
"Yeah," Akane said, and he took out a few detonating talismans, trap wires and other materials required to set up the trap. Some were his own, and some were gathered by Zetsus, as he had ordered them to look for the materials when he entered the Land of Rain.
"Hmm, these should be enough." Orochimaru nodded at the quantity, and they started to set up the trap for the ambush.
The setup didn't take long, and the trio took their positions and waited for Rain Ninjas to appear.
Akane, who had spread the Zetsu to make sure that their live location was known, got a response from one, but it wasn't what he had thought about.
'Madara has started to notice, huh!'
The Zetsu told him that Madara was using the Zetsu and had started to monitor them. Akane already planned on faking their information to make sure that Madara would know about them, but only what he wanted Madara to know.
'This is good.' Akane thought a grin appeared on his face.
A few moments later, Akane got the information that Rain Village Ninjas had started their journey towards them, and fortunately, Masked Man was among them.
'If I can force him to use his summons, I will know if the masked Man is Hanzo or not. Let's see how things will go from now, and I will limit myself to using Chakra Enhancement, Shadow Clone and Lightning Release. Fuinjutsu and Adamantine Chains will be left out, and if the situation calls for it, the Zetsu that is being used by Madara will kill itself.'
Akane released his chakra to signal that the Rain Village ninjas had been sensed by him. As soon as he released his chakra, Orochimaru started to count in numbers; using this, he could estimate Akane's sensory abilities.
Not far away from their location, a masked, clothed man looked at the other three people beside him and said, "We will consider that our squad has been killed. If you find someone known, try to kill them."
"Also, remain close to me and keep your focus on me."
The three ninjas, who didn't know of the Masked Man's complete identity, but knew that he was Hanzo's right hand, nodded and accepted their orders.
The masked man proceeded to move, and the three ninjas, Jonin Level, followed him.
The sound of rain masked their presence, but the forest felt wrong. The surroundings felt very quiet, and the scenery didn't feel well, as if it had been untouched for years.
The Masked Man halted, raising a hand. The three Rain shinobi behind him stopped immediately, eyes sharp, hands drifting toward their weapons.
He surveyed the surrounding trees, his vision slicing through the mist and shadows. His masked face turned slightly, scanning the curvature of the land, the unnatural stillness in the air, and the faint chakra signatures that pulsed just out of sight.
"...An ambush," he said flatly.
The others looked at him, but before they could respond,
Snap.
The moment the first wire was triggered, the trap sequence erupted.
Boom!
Detonating tags exploded in succession, hurling fire and shrapnel across the narrow forest trail. A second wave of kunai launched from hidden compartments, propelled by chakra-threaded trap mechanisms Akane had rigged with surgical precision.
In the midst of it all, a shadow leapt from above.
Akane, with his kunai glowing faintly with Lightning Release, descended from the treetops, aiming for the Masked Man directly.
But before the blade could meet its mark, a surge of chakra pulsed from the Masked Man's body, and he slammed his palms together.
"Water Release: Crushing Dome."
In an instant, a sphere of dense, pressurised water burst outward from the Masked Man's body, absorbing the explosions mid-air and repelling incoming projectiles with sheer force. Akane's blade struck the barrier, but it bounced off harmlessly, the kinetic force redirected into a spinning ripple of water.
Tsunade lunged in from the side, her chakra-coated fist swinging like a battering ram, but the dome surged again, pushing outward with a second pulse of pressure. The shockwave struck her mid-leap, forcing her back across the mud-soaked clearing. She landed on her feet, skidding, eyes narrowed.
Orochimaru's serpents lashed out next, snaking toward the still-forming figure inside the dome, but they found only an empty swirl of mist.
The Rain ninjas had vanished.
The last pulse of the dome erupted upward in a geyser-like burst, creating a mist-heavy shockwave that obscured vision for several seconds. When the fog cleared, the Masked Man and his squad were already gone. No trails, no footprints, not even a trace of their chakra signatures.
Akane landed softly, scanning the area with sharp, narrowed eyes.
"...He recognized the ambush too quickly," he muttered, frustration evident in his voice.
Tsunade came beside him, brushing damp hair from her face. "It was almost too perfect. Like he knew how the trap worked before we even triggered it."
Orochimaru was quiet, crouching to examine the water still pooled in the scorched soil. He dipped two fingers in and sniffed it, eyes gleaming. "That technique... I've never seen such chakra manipulation in a Water Release before. Dense, fluid, responsive. Whoever he is, he's not just skilled in fighting, but also trained for escape."
Akane didn't respond immediately. His eyes were locked on the place where the Masked Man had stood.
'He didn't just block the attack... He timed the dome for after the first explosion, just enough to defend against the second layer. Which means he read the trap's sequencing while inside it.'
Thinking of this, Akane understood that this wasn't luck.
This felt more like an action of an experienced veteran.
And more importantly...
That leadership. The other three ninjas' chakra fluctuated once but then settled as if calmed by a foreign thing. Akane noticed how quick they were in obeying his order and how swiftly they moved.
This suggested the masked man wasn't just some underling. Even though Akane wasn't completely sure, 90% chances were that the masked man is Hanzo himself.
"We need to make a quick decision," Akane muttered.
Tsunade exhaled slowly, "We tried the silent kill method. What now? Full confrontation? At least we know that the masked man isn't a normal Jonin."
Orochimaru smiled faintly, fingers still wet with water. "If that's Hanzo, we may want more information before risking it. And perhaps a... trap within the trap."
Akane didn't reply, his mind already racing ahead. Fighting or leaving, Akane had to make a choice between the two. If they fought, the chances of escaping later without using 100% of their strength weren't even 10%.
Hanzo felt much stronger than expected, and even though Tsunade was stronger than she was in the Second Shinobi War in canon, he didn't know about Orochimaru.
Also, even if they could fight together, there was no synergy between them, unlike the Sannins, who had been fighting together for years.
"We have to leave."