The rain halted for a fleeting instant.
It was forcibly blown apart by the shockwave from the collision of the two fighters.
The kusarigama in Hanzo's hand still trembled faintly, his palm numb from the impact. Behind his respirator, those seasoned eyes fixed themselves on the youth standing before him.
Twelve years old.
Only twelve.
And yet he had blocked a strike delivered with fifty percent of Hanzo's power—with a single hand.
"Impressive."
Hanzo took a slow breath. His voice was muffled by the respirator, but the admiration within it was unmistakable.
"Konoha brat, your swordsmanship is disciplined and precise. It isn't just flashy technique."
"You are the first person I've seen reach this level of mastery with a blade at such an age."
"My offer from earlier still stands. As long as you withdraw now—"
"You talk too much."
Tobirama cut off the Demigod of the Ninja World without hesitation.
He casually twirled his blade. Beneath the curtain of rain, his crimson Mangekyō Sharingan glowed faintly, his tone dripping with arrogance.
"Hanzo, haven't you misunderstood something?"
"I don't need your praise. And I certainly don't need your mercy."
"I'm standing here today for only one reason—"
Tobirama's lips curled into a grin, his white teeth flashing.
"To let you taste defeat."
Hanzo's gaze instantly turned frigid.
So he rejected the dignity I offered him.
If a genius cannot be claimed, then he can only be destroyed.
"Arrogant brat!"
"Since you're so eager to die, I'll grant your wish!"
"Body Flicker Technique!"
Hanzo vanished.
This was no ordinary Body Flicker—his speed was so extreme that not even an afterimage remained.
In the next instant, the venom-coated kusarigama struck like a viper leaving its nest, attacking Tobirama from multiple angles at once.
"Too slow."
Tobirama didn't even look back.
As though his body possessed eyes of its own, he tilted slightly to the left, narrowly evading the sickle's edge. In the same motion, he slashed upward with a reverse grip.
Clang!
Sparks erupted in every direction.
Their figures blurred together, exchanging blows in a storm of steel and rain.
Fast.
So fast that the naked eye could no longer follow them.
The surrounding shinobi—Rain and Leaf alike—couldn't see their movements at all. They could only hear the relentless clangor of metal and see sparks bursting again and again in midair.
The longer the fight dragged on, the more alarmed Hanzo became.
Those eyes… something is wrong.
They aren't ordinary three-tomoe Sharingan.
That eerie pattern—this chilling ocular power—
No matter how fast his Body Flicker was, no matter how unpredictable the angle of his kusarigama, Tobirama always reacted a fraction of a second in advance.
It was as if…
He was seeing the future.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Seizing an opening, Tobirama formed seals with one hand.
Boom!
A massive fireball detonated at point-blank range, roaring straight toward Hanzo's face.
"Water Release: Water Wall!"
Hanzo reacted instantly, a wall of water surging up from the ground.
Fire and water collided, instantly boiling into a vast cloud of white mist.
Using the cover, Hanzo prepared to disengage and reset the battle.
"Genjutsu: Shiranui."
Tobirama's voice suddenly whispered into his ear.
Hanzo's vision warped, the world shifting for a split second. His body froze—just for an instant.
Though he was a Kage-level shinobi and broke free from the genjutsu almost immediately, that moment was enough.
In a battle between masters, a single heartbeat decided life or death.
Puchi!
Tobirama's blade slashed across Hanzo's arm, blood spraying into the rain.
"Damn it!"
Hanzo roared, swinging his kusarigama wildly to force Tobirama back.
He glanced at the wound on his arm, then at the youth opposite him—uninjured, his breathing steady and unbroken.
Shock surged through his chest.
He was being suppressed.
He—the Demigod of the Ninja World—was being pushed back by a twelve-year-old boy.
Who would ever believe this?
"Is… is this a joke?"
In the distance, Jiraiya's mouth hung open, his jaw nearly hitting the ground.
"That was Hanzo… and he's injured?"
Tsunade stared blankly, disbelief filling her eyes.
She had personally experienced Hanzo's terror moments ago—the suffocating pressure that left her limbs numb.
And yet now…
That once-unassailable Demigod was being driven into a corner by Tobirama, like a cat toying with its prey.
"Is this… the power of the Uchiha?"
Orochimaru licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, golden slit pupils gleaming with an unreadable light.
On the Rain side, despair spread like wildfire.
That was their god.
How could Lord Hanzo, invincible in their hearts, be overwhelmed by a mere child from Konoha?
"Impossible! This has to be a genjutsu!"
"Lord Hanzo hasn't gone all out yet! That brat is finished!"
…
At the center of the battlefield, Tobirama flicked the blood from his blade and looked at Hanzo, who was breathing heavily.
"This is the Demigod?"
"Honestly… it's disappointing."
"If this is your full strength, then today the myth of the Hidden Rain Village ends."
Each word pierced like a blade.
Hanzo's breathing grew ragged.
Humiliation.
A disgrace unlike anything he had ever known.
He released his kusarigama and slowly began forming hand seals.
The chakra within his body surged violently, the rain around him forced backward by the pressure of his aura.
"Brat, you truly are strong."
"I admit it—you now have the right to stand before me as an equal."
Hanzo's voice turned solemn.
"To honor a worthy opponent, I will use my strongest technique to end you!"
"Water Release: Secret Technique—Water Dragon Biting Explosion!"
With Hanzo's roar, the standing water across the battlefield surged upward, condensing into a colossal water dragon over a hundred meters long. It coiled through the air, radiating world-shaking power.
Whether from Konoha or the Rain, everyone was forced back again and again, faces drained of color by the overwhelming pressure.
"Come."
Facing an attack capable of annihilating the entire battlefield, Tobirama didn't retreat.
Instead, he calmly sheathed his blade.
The Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes suddenly stopped spinning, their patterns locking together, releasing a chill that made souls tremble.
"Hanzo."
"Have you ever witnessed… true power?"
His voice was quiet, yet it reached every ear on the battlefield.
"Your so-called status as a Demigod is nothing but a joke before the power of a true god."
"The Uchiha are feared not simply because these eyes can see through movements."
"But because they can—"
Tobirama looked up sharply. His Mangekyō pattern was laid bare for all to see.
"Manifest a deity."
"Susanoo!"
Boom!!!
A vast, ominous, crimson chakra erupted from Tobirama's body.
Like tangible flames, it surged skyward, instantly dispersing the storm clouds above.
"That… that is…"
Under countless terrified gazes, a massive crimson skeletal frame formed around Tobirama.
Then tendons intertwined, flesh took shape, and armor sealed into place.
In the blink of an eye, a towering red giant—hundreds of meters tall—stood upon the earth.
Encased in armor, bearing the Yata Mirror, and with the Totsuka Blade resting at its waist, it resembled a god of destruction pulled straight from ancient legend.
Compared to it, the fearsome water dragon looked no more significant than a wriggling loach.
"W-What is that thing…?"
Hanzo stared up at the giant that blotted out the sky, his hands frozen mid–hand seal.
For the first time, true fear appeared beneath his mask.
It was the instinctive terror of a human confronting an incomprehensible, overwhelming power.
"Is this… a genjutsu?"
"How could a shinobi wield something like this?"
The Rain shinobi collapsed.
Some dropped their weapons and fell to their knees in the mud, trembling uncontrollably.
The Konoha side was equally silent.
Tsunade covered her mouth, her pupils shaking.
"So this is… the true power of the Uchiha?"
"Is this what Uchiha Madara used to fight my grandfather…?"
At the forehead of the Susanoo, Tobirama stood with his arms crossed, gazing down at Hanzo like an insect.
The feeling of absolute dominance was intoxicating.
"Hanzo."
His voice, amplified by Susanoo, rolled across the battlefield like thunder.
"Didn't you say you'd send me on my way?"
The Susanoo slowly raised its right arm.
Its massive crimson hand grasped the hilt of the Totsuka Blade at its waist.
Just the act of drawing it unleashed a gale that tore the surrounding tents apart.
"Now—"
"Let's see if you can withstand a god's strike."
"This is the power that once pacified an era of chaos."