I am the most popular character in Naruto!

"what's the situation?"

Jiraiya cleared his throat, reached out and put his arms around Tsunade and Chiaki, separating them from each other.

Cool!

It felt so good to have two women on my left and two right! Even if it was only for a second!

Tsunade rolled her eyes. She knew Jiraiya was secretly pleased, but she couldn't be bothered to say anything.

Qianqiu tilted her head, looking completely bewildered.

"My informant told me that Hanzo received a challenge and went alone to the waterfall on the outskirts of Amegakure."

Orochimaru, with a grim face, pulled out a scroll and quickly began writing commands on it.

Bang

After a puff of white smoke, a ninja hawk used for delivering messages appeared on Orochimaru's arm. He tied the scroll to the hawk's foot and released it into the air.

"go!"

Orochimaru immediately identified the direction and began to move, with Chiaki quickly following.

"You just adjusted the marching orders?"

Jiraiya easily caught up with the two and asked in confusion.

"Well, since Hanzo the Salamander has gone out to accept the challenge, let's take this opportunity to take him down!"

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "Our forces stationed in the Land of Grass can now launch a full-scale attack. We'll suppress them with maximum force."

"We must defeat Hanzo the Salamander today!"

Tsunade smirked and continued her train of thought: "After he finishes fighting that idiot, if we defeat a demigod head-on, the four of us should be considered famous throughout the ninja world, right?"

"The leader of the Land of Iron seems to be planning something big; he's the one who sent the challenge to Hanzo the Salamander."

Orochimaru turned his head and smiled mischievously, "I'll tell him about what you called him an idiot."

"It doesn't matter, he can do whatever he wants if he doesn't need treatment or detoxification."

Tsunade angrily shook her hand. Only two people in the entire ninja world can cure the poison of the salamander: Chiyo and Tsunade.

Even Hanzo the Salamander himself couldn't detoxify the salamander's poison; he could only rely on his resistance to the poison to endure it.

"Only the three of you are famous throughout the ninja world, not me..."

Chiaki quickly waved her hand, explaining that she was just a lowly Chunin who was merely tagging along to gain experience.

According to the original storyline, the three Sannin should have been Kage-level when they fought Hanzo of the Salamander, but the demigod was so powerful that even the three Kage-level warriors combined could not defeat him.

Although the demigod Hanzo won, he didn't win completely. In the end, he left behind a harsh remark and a word of praise before running away.

Now that the three of them haven't even broken through to the Kage level yet, are they going to cause trouble? Won't they get killed instead?

Thinking this, Chiaki looked at the three people beside her with concern and asked, "By the way, have you reached the Kage level yet, sisters?"

"Hehe, I'm the strongest of the three, just one step away from becoming a Kage."

Jiraiya clearly didn't understand what Chiaki meant, and said smugly.

"Idiot, Chiaki is worried that we can't beat the demigod Hanzo."

Tsunade rolled her eyes at him and frowned slightly, saying, "That is indeed the problem. The three of us are probably only one step away from breaking through. Perhaps we need a life-or-death battle like this to facilitate our breakthrough."

"What?! Don't be afraid!"

Jiraiya patted his chest. "I'm not afraid of ordinary Kage-level opponents. Although breaking through to Kage level brings a lot of physical improvement, the three of us are not pushovers. If we can't even beat a Kage-level opponent with low health, I might as well quit being a ninja!"

Orochimaru murmured from the side, "The gap between Kage-level ninjas is huge. Do you know why he's called a demigod? It's because ordinary Kage-level ninjas can't beat him..."

"Uh... can he beat the old man?"

Jiraiya hesitated for a moment, then asked cautiously.

"You can't beat them, can you? The current strongest ninja in the world is no joke."

Orochimaru shook his head, making a rather decisive judgment.

"That's it! The old man has to be careful around the three of us. He's just a demigod. Today, we'll slaughter a god and give everyone some fun!"

Jiraiya waved his hand dismissively, feeling much relieved.

However, Tsunade added, "Yes, before every battle, the old man always tells me to be careful. He's afraid he might accidentally kill you, so how could he not be careful?"

Chapter 42 Weakness is the Original Sin

"Pfft..."

Chiaki laughed out loud, and Orochimaru also curled up the corners of his mouth. When it comes to survival skills, Jiraiya is definitely the worst.

"Cough cough cough..."

Jiraiya coughed and almost fell off the tree.

The four were heading towards the waterfall and were getting closer to their destination.

"If we hadn't intercepted that batch of military equipment, this battle would probably have lasted a long time."

Orochimaru sighed, "I estimate that we won't face the demigod Hanzo until about a year from now. By then, we should have already reached the Kage level."

"However, it's not entirely without a chance. While Mifune is challenging Hanzo, we can try to pick up some loose ends."

"It's not that I look down on Admiral Mifune, it's just that I really think he can't beat the demigod Hanzo."

Jiraiya nodded in agreement: "I know Admiral Mifune's strength. He has a great talent for swordsmanship, but unfortunately he is not a ninja."

Samurai can only use swords, but in this world, swordsmanship cannot even produce sword energy, let alone fly on a sword or shatter the sky with a sword.

A straightforward fighting style is quite ineffective against a ninja world filled with ninjutsu, escape techniques, and various bloodline limits.

It's like an ordinary person who has stumbled into a fantasy world, completely overwhelmed and bewildered by the bizarre and wonderful world.

Chiaki suddenly spoke up: "If possible, why not just annex the Land of Rain..."

"It's not impossible. If we can kill him on the spot, it will be a huge blow to the morale of Amegakure."

Orochimaru's snake-like eyes narrowed, and he grinned excitedly.

"If Shadow were so easy to kill, everyone would be doing assassinations."

Tsunade sighed. Although she hadn't reached the Kage level yet, she had already begun to devise a self-defense system.

Judging from one's own experience, no Kage would be foolish enough not to develop their own means of self-preservation. Killing a Kage is an extremely difficult task.

The death of the shadow...

What impressed Chiaki the most was the plot about the death of the shadow that took place in the Land of Rain.

That was the future battle between Jiraiya and the Six Paths of Pain, in which Jiraiya ultimately died from exhaustion.

Subsequently, the Land of Rain, which served as the base of the Akatsuki, rose to prominence and launched the Fourth Shinobi World War.

If Konoha had wiped out Amegakure during the Second Shinobi World War, what other things would have happened in the future?

Chiaki looked at Jiraiya with pity. The longer she spent with Jiraiya, the more grateful she became to this somewhat unconventional mentor. The thought of him facing death alone in the future made her heart ache.

"???"

Feeling a little flustered by Chiaki's gaze, Jiraiya looked himself up and down, then chuckled awkwardly and asked, "You've been staring at me like that, there must be something wrong with me, right, little Chiaki?"

"No...nothing..."

Chiaki blinked. "Jiraiya-sensei is too narcissistic. Where was I looking at you the whole time?"

Those peach blossom eyes stared straight at Jiraiya, making Jiraiya a little shy.

"is it?"

Jiraiya awkwardly touched his cheek, glancing at the topic under Tsunade's disdainful gaze.

Chiaki quietly exhaled, secretly resolving that if given the chance, she would definitely save Jiraiya in the future!

"We're almost there, be careful!"

Orochimaru, who was at the forefront, turned around, glanced at Chiaki, and then said to Jiraiya and Tsunade, "The three of us will go first. Chiaki should not show up unless absolutely necessary."

"I'll take control first, Jiraiya will follow up, and Tsunade will finish it off."

"learn!"

Jiraiya clenched his fist, the excitement and thrill of challenging a demigod of the ninja world making him tremble slightly.

The battle, originally scheduled for a year later, is about to begin.

Even if they didn't fight a demigod of the ninja world in a fair and square manner, but instead fought by taking advantage of the situation, it is still commendable that three elite Jonin were able to defeat the strongest Kage-level ninja.

After all, they are ninjas, not samurai. Victory is the only rule and means of survival for ninjas.

It doesn't matter.

……

Under the waterfall.

"Why does Your Excellency intend to attack my Iron Country?"

Mifune placed one hand on his katana and said, “In the past, our Iron Country and the Rain Country should have had no enmity with each other.”

"ridiculous."

Hanzo the Salamander was amused by Mifune's words. He stood with his hands behind his back, completely lacking any desire to fight Mifune, even though he knew that Mifune was also a Kage-level shikigami.

"Weakness is the original sin, just like you."

The Iron Country is quite weak, but because of the superb skills of its craftsmen, its weapons and military equipment sell very well. At the same time, it has always maintained a neutral stance, which is why it has not been annexed by other countries.

In reality, the Land of Iron was merely the result of compromise and entanglement among the five great powers, since no one wanted to have to buy military equipment from other countries.

This money would be better used to give to the samurai kingdom, which can't cause much trouble anyway; at least it poses no threat.

"...Is weakness the original sin?"

Mifune silently gripped the katana at his waist, his gaze sharpening.

"Then, for the sake of the weak Land of Iron, I, Mifune, shall challenge the mighty demigod!"