"Hokage-sama, against a warrior of your caliber, these meaningless probing attacks are no longer appropriate."
Hanzō's bones cracked and popped audibly, as though he were activating some technique that used chakra to stimulate and strengthen his body.
"It's time for us to show our true abilities."
"And please, do not hold back."
Hanzō felt fantastic.
The feeling of devoting himself entirely to battle...
He hadn't experienced it since before the Second Shinobi World War.
Crossing blades with a powerful opponent.
Testing strength and conviction against another warrior.
After returning to Amegakure following his defeat, Hanzō had buried himself in political maneuvering, balancing interests, and endless schemes. On the surface, he had been consolidating his authority, but deep inside, his anxiety had only grown stronger and stronger...
After all, deceiving yourself was the hardest deception of all.
"Then dance to your heart's content, Hanzō-dono..."
Hiruzen was in an excellent mood as well.
Although this was supposedly a spar, at its core it was also a contest of force to establish who would hold the greater voice in their future cooperation.
A heavier hand wouldn't hurt.
As long as he left Hanzō breathing, Tsunade would be able to patch him up afterward.
When Hiruzen sparred with people in the village—Danzō, Minato, and the others—it was usually focused, modular training designed to improve specific skills. It wasn't true life-and-death combat...
After all, what kind of Hokage beat his own people so badly they couldn't get back up?
But Hanzō was different.
He was the one asking to get beaten up.
In fact, he was the type who would consider it disrespectful if Hiruzen didn't beat him properly.
Hiruzen rather liked that sort of request.
Water Release: Rain Tiger at Will Technique!
Hanzō rapidly formed hand seals and drew water from the nearby lake.
In an instant, the lake water seemed to fall under the control of an invisible giant hand.
Rather than forming an attack, however, it surged outward and spread across the battlefield, transforming the area into something resembling a massive barrier field.
The water rose to roughly knee height.
The expressions of both Orochimaru and Tsunade immediately darkened.
This was Hanzō using his mastery of Water Release and the surrounding terrain to reshape the battlefield into the environment that suited him best—the perpetually flooded conditions of Amegakure.
As long as sufficient water was available, Hanzō could combine his Water Body Technique with aquatic Body Flicker movements, making it seem as though he were constantly teleporting...
Even if he occasionally revealed an opening, his margin for error remained incredibly high.
Watching the scene, Orochimaru couldn't help but think back to the battlefields of Amegakure.
'Even now, I don't think I have a reliable way to defeat Hanzō. Though I certainly wouldn't lose.'
Part of the inspiration behind his Snake Style Substitution Technique had come from Hanzō's Water Body Technique.
'There's no need for me to rush. Time is on my side.'
'My research strengthens the village, which in turn creates a more stable environment for my research. And that accelerates technological progress.'
'Whether it's the Curse Mark or Hashirama Cells, I can simply wait for the final perfected versions and create customized variants for myself. That's the true path toward reaching my maximum potential.'
Thinking that, Orochimaru smiled faintly.
When he looked at Hanzō again, there was even a trace of superiority in his eyes.
Poor Hanzō...
Since childhood, he had risked his life to gain power by implanting a salamander's poison sac into his body. Through his youth and middle age, he had fought nonstop without ever properly maintaining himself...
He had charged forward relying solely on talent and willpower, obsessed with immediate combat strength while never searching for his true upper limit.
'You should lament the tragic fate of not being born in Konoha.'
'I hope you earn Sensei's approval.'
'As the man who defeated me, you'd make excellent research material as well...'
Orochimaru shifted his gaze to his teacher, Hiruzen, anticipation rising within him.
He genuinely wanted to know how Sensei would break through Hanzō's Water Release system.
"Hiruzen!"
Hanzō suddenly roared.
Hiruzen blinked.
Why was he announcing his attack beforehand?
In all these years, the only person Hiruzen had met who did that was Danzō. Before every spar, Danzō would shout his name like he'd just been injected with stimulants.
"Hanzō!"
Hiruzen had no better response, so he shouted back.
Otherwise, it would have felt rude.
Hanzō's eyes sharpened.
His chain-scythe became wrapped in razor-sharp chakra, while Water Release chakra flowed over its surface. The normally gentle water began spinning violently.
'A shape transformation similar to Severing Wave Water Blade?'
'He and Tobirama-sensei would probably have a lot to talk about...'
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes as Hanzō's chain-scythe shot straight toward him from a distance.
This time, a kunai wouldn't be enough.
Hiruzen formed hand seals.
His skin darkened as Earth Release: Earth Spear covered his body.
'A Hardening Technique? The same type of jutsu that Kakuzu uses...'
A thought flashed through Hanzō's mind.
'As expected of the Professor of Ninjutsu... he's mastered all five elemental transformations!'
'But no matter how strong your defense is, if all you do is endure attacks without striking back, it will eventually break!'
Just as the spinning water-blade chain-scythe was about to reach Hiruzen—
Hiruzen raised a hand.
But Hanzō, along with the chain-scythe, suddenly dissolved into water and scattered apart.
The next instant, using the accumulated water covering the battlefield as a medium, he appeared directly behind Hiruzen.
His mastery of Water Release and the Water Body Technique had clearly reached a supernatural level.
The combination of those abilities in Hanzō's hands could scarcely be described as a Body Flicker Technique anymore.
It resembled spatial displacement itself.
Yet what truly astonished Hanzō was that—
Hiruzen still managed to react.
The hardened black hand seized the chain-scythe.
Ignoring the teeth-grinding screech of the water blade scraping against his palm, Hiruzen drove a punch straight into Hanzō's abdomen!
Hanzō's entire body shattered on impact, dissolving into a puddle of water before reforming in the distance.
Hiruzen cast an approving glance toward Hanzō.
The combination of those two Water Release secret techniques, when used in the proper terrain, had produced an effect comparable to the Flying Thunder God Technique...
Under certain circumstances, it was even superior.
After all, Flying Thunder God required marked kunai, which were highly conspicuous. Hanzō, on the other hand, only needed water.
'No wonder Orochimaru and the others couldn't handle him...'
'Unless this Water Release battlefield is neutralized, Hanzō will always hold the initiative.'
A strange feeling arose within Hiruzen.
It wasn't that he was targeting Hanzō specifically...
But why did it feel as though his skill set naturally countered the man?
Whether it was Lightning Release Chakra Mode, Ice Release, or even Boil Release, all of them were particularly effective against Hanzō...
As for Hanzō's high-speed movement assaults, Hiruzen handled them with relative ease as well.
That was because he frequently sparred with Namikaze Minato to sharpen their reflexes together. He was already accustomed to tracking the real Flying Thunder God Technique.
Compared to that, this "Water Flying Thunder God" was hardly difficult to follow.
'Have I simply ended up being an accidental counter to Hanzō...'
'Or has my growth allowed me to deal with a wider range of situations than before?'
Hiruzen smiled.
Whatever the answer, he would continue moving forward one step at a time.
The mysterious expert who had defeated Uchiha Yashiro had served as a warning bell.
The shinobi world was vast, and formidable people could emerge from anywhere.
The players on the board might not be limited to the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
"Why isn't Sensei using that technique?" Tsunade whispered to Orochimaru.
She was referring to Ice Release.
"When experts fight, the goal is to learn from one another, not to kill each other."
Orochimaru glanced at her.
"Besides studying medicine, you should spend more time studying combat strategy. Relying on Monster Strength to solve every problem through brute force is certainly effective..."
"But if you encounter an opponent that brute force can't overcome, your options become painfully limited."
"Watch how Sensei handles this situation. Becoming Hokage isn't as easy as you think."
Without making it obvious, Orochimaru was quietly undermining Tsunade's ambitions of becoming Hokage.
Part of that was selfishness.
If Tsunade ever actually ran for the position, she'd be a troublesome competitor...
But it was also for the village's benefit.
Because Orochimaru knew Tsunade well.
She truly wasn't suited to becoming Hokage.
"Hmph."
Tsunade snorted.
"Why are you sounding more and more like Sensei? Always lecturing people."
Still, Orochimaru wasn't wrong.
A brute-force fighting style worked exceptionally well against opponents physically weaker than oneself.
But if brute force failed to break through...
The situation became extremely awkward.
You could end up unable to fight back at all.
Hanzō let out a slow breath.
He had seen it.
Although Earth Spear had temporarily blocked his water-blade chain-scythe, elemental affinities didn't create absolute advantages.
As long as he found the right opportunity and concentrated his attacks on a single point, he could eventually break through Hiruzen's defenses.
And once the first wound appeared, the second and third would follow in rapid succession...
More importantly, while continuously moving through the battlefield, Hanzō had secretly been laying down hidden formations in his liquid form.
Waiting for the right moment to activate them.
This was one of his trump cards:
Explosive Flame Formation.
'I can't let Hiruzen relax.'
'A warrior like him possesses tremendous stamina and chakra reserves...'
'I have to keep biting at him relentlessly if I want to find an opening!'
Hanzō was also puzzled.
Why had Hiruzen done nothing but defend up until now?
But he quickly reached a conclusion.
His combat system was extremely difficult for a single opponent to break.
Otherwise, he never would have stood at the top of the shinobi world, even briefly, nor earned such widespread acclaim.
A coordinated team combining their strengths might be able to dismantle his system.
But in a one-on-one fight?
That was nearly impossible.
No one could master that many jutsu.
And that was precisely one of the reasons Hanzō had become somewhat disillusioned after the Second Shinobi World War.
The great hidden villages were overflowing with talent.
Yet he himself had no companions capable of supporting him.