What is wrong with this kid? Are all Leaf ninja this reckless?
On the battlefield, Hanzo looked down at the silver-haired, wavy-haired boy standing barely as high as his waist. His brow furrowed slightly, and his lips pursed beneath his respirator.
Having spent decades traversing the shinobi world, Hanzo knew he was still a far cry from the "God of Shinobi," but he had carved out a formidable reputation for himself. Among his peers, he was considered one of the elite.
This "peerage" wasn't limited to the Land of Rain. Looking at the five great nations, the name "Hanzo of the Salamander" carried no less weight than the current Five Kage—certainly more so than the reclusive Third Mizukage.
And yet, standing before this ten-year-old brat, Hanzo saw no trace of fear. Instead, the boy was looking at him with... joy?
It was an expression both familiar and alien. It was familiar because, in his youth, Hanzo had looked at his seniors with that same hunger. Then, he would use those eyes to watch them die beneath his sickle.
It was alien because it had been far too many years since he had encountered a "senior" worth looking at that way. Or rather, he had become the senior, and he had yet to meet a junior brave enough to stare him down with such intent.
Hanzo keenly noticed the boy clenching his fist. The tip of the chakra short blade in his hand rose slightly. Is he... actually planning to make a move against me?
Whoosh—!
Just as the tension peaked, two figures blurred into position, shielding the boy. Hanzo recognized them immediately: two of the Third Hokage's disciples.
Orochimaru lowered his head slightly toward Hanzo, maintaining a respectful but firm posture. "Lord Hanzo, please do not be swayed by the one-sided claims of the Stone. Konoha shinobi only appeared here to provide backup for us while we were being besieged by Iwa forces."
With that, he produced a scroll and offered it. This was the evidence of Iwa's operations within the Land of Rain that he and his teammates had gathered. Delivering this to Hanzo had been their primary mission.
Of course, the execution hadn't been ideal. In a perfect world, they would have completed their reconnaissance undetected and delivered the evidence to Hanzo later, inciting his wrath against the Stone from the shadows.
Orochimaru hadn't expected their mission to go sideways, leading to them being cornered. He certainly hadn't expected the Stone to have the exact same plan: baiting Hanzo's anger toward the other side.
Hanzo looked at the pale faces of Orochimaru and Tsunade. Just as he reached out to take the scroll, the Iwa-nin who had delivered the letter spoke up with a snide, mocking tone:
"Be careful, Lord Hanzo. This Orochimaru recently fought Chiyo of the Sand. He might have picked up some of their underhanded poisoning tricks."
Tsunade's eyebrows shot up in fury before Orochimaru could even react. Only the presence of Hanzo kept her from lunging across the clearing to punch the man into the next province.
Hanzo, however, spared the Iwa-nin a look of textbook disdain. Poison? Ridiculous. When it came to toxins, no one in the shinobi world surpassed him.
He took the scroll without hesitation and began to read. As Hanzo's expression darkened, the Iwa-nin's smugness faltered ever so slightly.
Now, it all came down to which story Hanzo chose to believe. However, the Iwa-nin felt their "sincerity" was superior. After all, they were prepared to withdraw from the Land of Rain immediately. Konoha's forces, on the other hand...
Certainly, the rescue unit here would escort the Sannin away, but there were many more Konoha shinobi currently deployed within the country.
While these support units were easy to pull back, the Leaf forces currently engaged with the Sand ninja inside Rain borders were another story. Furthermore, knowing Danzo Shimura's temperament, he was unlikely to accept a retreat.
"Hmph!"
Hanzo rolled the scroll back up. Before he could speak, the Iwa-nin tried to cut in, and Orochimaru tensed, ready to offer a rebuttal.
But before the Iwa-nin could get a word out, Hanzo silenced him with a harsh glare. "I do not care who invaded the Land of Rain first," Hanzo declared. "I only know that it is a fact that both the Leaf and the Stone have violated our borders."
"I will not waste my breath arguing with you. This is a matter that only your respective Kage are qualified to explain to me! I am giving you three days to withdraw every shinobi and every piece of equipment from the Land of Rain!"
"If you retreat now, I will personally seek out the two Kage in three days to demand an explanation. But if you remain obstinate and linger within my borders, do not blame me for being merciless!"
"As you wish, Lord Hanzo!" the Iwa-nin shouted immediately. "My unit only borrowed a path through the Land of Rain as a necessary measure to investigate the Leaf's wartime movements. Since Lord Hanzo has personally intervened, I trust the Leaf will cease their warmongering. On behalf of the Hidden Stone, I offer our sincerest apologies to you and the Land of Rain. We hope for a peaceful consultation between our two nations."
The Iwa-nin bowed low, abandoning all the pride usually associated with a Great Nation. Once finished, he shot Orochimaru a triumphant, sidelong glance.
Orochimaru's expression remained grim. It wasn't just exhaustion; it was the realization that the Iwa-nin's words were a trap. He was subtely implying that the Leaf was the root of all the trouble.
Moreover, he had just placed a massive stumbling block in front of Konoha. If Konoha wanted to prove their "sincerity" for peace, they would have to stop the war. But the Leaf wasn't at war with the Rain or the Stone—they were fighting the Land of Wind. Unless the Sand was brought to the table and everyone agreed to a ceasefire simultaneously, any stop on the Leaf's part would result in a brutal counter-offensive from the Sand, erasing all of Konoha's hard-won momentum.
Orochimaru felt a headache coming on as he thought about the commander on the main front. He didn't believe for a second that a hawk like Danzo Shimura would accept defeat and pull back.
Hanzo's eyes landed on Orochimaru. The message was clear: The Stone has made their stance. Is the Leaf going to do the same? I don't need a greater gesture—just match theirs.
"Lord Hanzo, I will report your stance and the events here to my village as quickly as possible," Orochimaru said, forcing the words out. "We will draft a reasonable plan and execute it. Please believe in the Leaf's sincerity regarding peace."
Hanzo's expression, which had briefly softened, darkened again. This was a non-committal answer. It meant the Leaf wasn't ready to stop fighting.
"Sincerity regarding peace? Weren't you the ones who declared war in the first place?" the Iwa-nin sniped.
Tsunade clenched her fists, her teeth gritted as she glared at the man. The Iwa-nin didn't flinch, staring right back.
"Three days. I hope the Leaf makes the wise choice!"
Hanzo finished coldly. Before turning to leave, he spared one last glance at the brat tucked behind Tsunade's back, then vanished in a Body Flicker.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!
The moment Hanzo left, and before Tsunade could settle the score with the Iwa-nin, dozens of Rain ninja appeared, surrounding both groups. They left two distinct paths open.
Clearly, Hanzo wouldn't stop them from leaving, but he would no longer tolerate any violation of the Land of Rain's sovereignty.
"Still staring?! Let's go!"
Tsunade clouted Tatsuma on the head and grabbed him by the back of his collar, beginning the retreat. The Iwa-nin didn't push their luck further. With Hanzo gone, if they provoked the Leaf into another fight, they would be the ones Hanzo viewed as the enemy for breaking the ceasefire.
Under the watchful eyes of the Rain ninja, the two groups diverged, heading back toward their respective borders.
Tatsuma, still smarting from Tsunade's bonk, finally snapped out of his trance. He knew he'd been a bit too excited, but... he'd just unlocked a whole new path.
Host: Sakamoto Tatsuma
Attributes:
STR: 4365 / 9913
SPD: 4901 / 10101 [Extra Augmentation (Pending)]
PHY: 4612 / 9447
INT: 3537 / 6653
NIN: 3482 / 7526
GEN: 2365 / 4729
ENG: 4096 / 9985
SEA: 3655 / 7138
Special Talents:
Space-Time
Ninjutsu Development
Ninja Tool Projection (Minato Namikaze Edition)
Sensing
Sealing (Uzumaki Kushina Edition): 75%
Limited Talent:
White Yaksha
This was Tatsuma's current system panel. Over the last nine months, his potential had been converting into real stats at a staggering rate. Ever since he focused on his physical attributes, his growth speed had outstripped even Minato's.
But that wasn't the headline. Because the system judged the Iwa-nin as defeated in this skirmish, Tatsuma's "Kudos" and "Match" objectives had been completed successfully. This massive reward had pushed his SPD (Speed) attribute to break the 10,000 mark—the threshold for Jonin-level stats.
Upon breaking 10,000, a new option for an "Extra Augmentation" had appeared. His dazed state had been due to this sudden evolution.
SPD: 4901 / 10101 [Extra Augmentation (Pending)]
Augmentation Options:
[Godspeed]: Once activated, provides a permanent bonus to travel and movement speed that scales with the attribute's progress. Grants a corresponding bonus to all non-space-time Body Flicker techniques.
[Divine Intellect]: Once activated, provides a permanent bonus to thinking speed that scales with the attribute's progress. Grants a corresponding bonus to strategy, battlefield reaction time, and calculation efficiency.
Tatsuma wanted both, but he could only choose one. He was agonizing over the decision.
If he chose [Godspeed], his raw movement and combat speed would skyrocket. It would likely set him on a path to eventually reach the levels of Shisui Uchiha or the Fourth Raikage, Ay.
The fact that it only applied to non-space-time techniques didn't bother him. There were only a handful of space-time jutsu in existence anyway, and the only one he could feasibly learn was the Flying Raijin. Things like Amenotejikara or Kamui required specific Bloodline Limits he simply didn't possess. Besides, space-time speed wasn't determined by physical speed, so the restriction made sense.
[Godspeed] was tempting because the results were immediate and visible.
However, [Divine Intellect] was something he found hard to let go of. Thinking faster was often more valuable than moving faster. Look at Minato Namikaze—he didn't earn the "Yellow Flash" title just because of the Flying Raijin. His incredible mental processing speed was his true gift. In his first clash with Kamui, Minato won because he thought faster than his opponent.
Thinking faster meant better timing for ninjutsu and taijutsu, and staying one step ahead of the enemy's offense and defense. It was an invisible talent, and therefore, the hardest to quantify in value.
If I already had [Divine Intellect], I'd probably be able to calculate the pros and cons of this choice in a split second, wouldn't I?
The thought made Tatsuma chuckle out loud, which promptly earned him another bonk from Tsunade. She shot him a glare and unceremoniously dropped him onto the ground.
Tatsuma didn't mind. He reached out with one hand, intending to vault back to his feet in a stylish landing. However... he used his left hand. Now that he was out of combat, the injury to his left shoulder made it impossible to support his weight.
As the ground rushed up to meet him, Tatsuma panicked. His body twisted awkwardly as his brain scrambled for a way to save the fall. At this height, he'd have to rely on pure instinct.
In the next instant, Tatsuma jerked his head to the side at the limit of its range, taking the impact on his left shoulder instead of his head or neck. He transitioned into a simple roll and popped back up, dusting off his clothes.
Is this how a genius like Minato thinks all the time?
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