I, who just wanted to be lazy, was forced to become the Hokage.

Chapter 523 A Thrilling Encounter!

Hanzo the Salamander's face was mostly hidden under his breathing mask, with only his eyes showing a cold, calm light.

The first attack failed.

Hanzo's eyes remained unchanged.

He skillfully manipulated the uniquely shaped scythe, changing direction and slashing downwards like a gazelle leaping down on its horns.

The chilling light emanating from the scythe's blade seemed to form a strange and cunning "7" shape in mid-air, making it impossible to dodge.

But Jiraiya has an incredibly rich combat experience.

He clearly caught the faint sound of a blade cutting through the air from diagonally above, and without hesitation, he channeled his chakra into his long, flowing silver hair, unleashing a unique secret technique.

Ninja Technique: Needle Jizo!

As a secret technique unique to Jiraiya, the [Ninja Art: Needle Jizo] can be activated at an extremely fast speed.

Almost at the very moment Jiraiya channeled his chakra into the roots of his hair, a heavy, metallic sheen suddenly appeared on his already silvery-white hair.

Her long, silvery-white hair, like a hedgehog's soft armor, firmly protected Jiraiya's body from below.

Limited by the speed of chakra flow, Jiraiya was unable to maximize the defensive effect of [Ninja Art: Needle Jizo] in a short moment, but it was enough to withstand Hanzo's sharp slash.

Ding!

The sharp scythe struck the long, silver hair, producing a clear and melodious metallic clang that carried far into the deep rain.

Despite feeling the powerful shock from the kusarigama, Hanzo's gaze remained unchanged.

His manipulation of the kusarigama was simply divine.

Following closely behind that deadly blade was a heavy iron chain attached to the end of the scythe's handle.

Amidst the rustling sound, the chain of the kusarigama resembled a long, winding black serpent, coiling around Jiraiya who was standing nearby, as if to bind him completely.

Faced with this counterattack, Jiraiya quickly launched a counterattack.

He forcibly ignored the metal scythe that was right in front of him, continued to inject chakra into his hair, and once again unleashed a new secret technique.

The technique of unleashing a lion's mane!

Jiraiya's long, silver-white hair swelled up like a balloon, and his entire appearance expanded several times over, as if he had suddenly transformed into a gigantic white fluffy ball.

Not only that.

Under Jiraiya's careful manipulation, his long, stretched silver hair resembled long, snow-white whips, wrapping around Hanzo the Salamander from all directions.

Hanzo the Salamander only had one chain.

But Jiraiya's silver hair and long whips were countless!

At this moment, Hanzo the Salamander's eyes finally showed a slight change.

The kusarigama's chains have a relatively limited range of entanglement and cannot form an impenetrable defensive barrier, making it impossible to completely block Jiraiya's "silver hair entanglement".

If Hanzo the Salamander insists on attacking.

The moment his kusarigama firmly binds Jiraiya, Jiraiya's hair will probably also completely envelop him.

Hanzo the Salamander had also witnessed the binding power of Jiraiya's "Hair Ninjutsu".

That was a power that even a salamander couldn't withstand.

Although Hanzo was a traditional ninja who was almost at the pinnacle, his body was still just a mortal.

For Jiraiya, the entanglement of the kusarigama was not necessarily fatal.

However, for Hanzo, the [Lion's Mane Technique] has a very high probability of causing a one-hit kill!

In the blink of an eye, Hanzo of the Salamander had already made his plan and activated the Water Release chakra within his body.

Just as Jiraiya's "Wild Lion's Mane Technique" was about to wrap around Hanzo's body.

The moment those silver strands of hair touched Rain Shadow's standard armor.

Hanzo the Salamander's body suddenly vanished like water, disappearing from the spot and thus avoiding Jiraiya's attack.

This is not the Hozuki clan's [Water Transformation Technique].

Rather, it's Hanzo's special technique—

Water Instantaneous Body Technique!

The battle that took place above Gamabunta's head was swift and decisive.

Within just a few rounds, the film was filled with the thrill of life-or-death crises.

By the time Jiraiya realized what was happening, Hanzo had already retreated from Gamabunta's head and jumped back onto the head of the salamander on the other side.

At this moment, Gamabunta belatedly realized what was happening and let out a loud "croak".

The giant toad's roar was filled with rage.

Gamabunta's temperament wasn't very good to begin with.

Hanzo briefly fought Jiraiya atop its head, further stimulating Gamabunta's nerves.

The large red toad, who held the de facto title of "boss" among the toads of Mount Myōboku, decisively drew the "short knife" he always carried.

For humans, this "short knife" is several meters long and nearly a meter wide, making it an absolute super knife.

However, for Gamabunta, this "short sword" might not even be as long as his arm.

Enraged, Gamabunta drew his weapon, intending to jump onto the face of the ugly salamander and unleash a few "Secret Sword Techniques of Mount Myōboku".

But it only had a brief chance to gather its strength.

Meanwhile, the salamanders on the other side were also ready.

Hanzo instantly appeared and engaged Jiraiya in battle, solely to distract the legendary Sannin of Konoha and buy his summoning beast some time to prepare.

The moment Hanzo saw the giant toad that Jiraiya had summoned, he realized that many of his methods were ineffective against large summoning beasts like this.

Hanzo couldn't possibly use his kusarigama to slowly trim Gamabunta's webbed feet, could he?

They wanted to deal with a large summoned beast.

It can only be done through large summoned beasts.

This was Hanzo's on-the-spot assessment of the situation.

And coincidentally, he had a large summoned beast that had fought alongside him for many years.

Hanzo instantly returned to the top of the salamander's head, and the latter, understanding his intention, opened its blood-red maw, spewing out thick purple poisonous mist from its venom sac.

"Poisonous mist spray!"

At such a close distance.

Even though Jiraiya used the fastest speed of his life to unleash a [Wind Release: Great Breakthrough], which dispersed some of the poisonous mist, a considerable amount of poisonous mist still surged over.

Large summoning beasts like Gamabunta, despite their extraordinary strength, appear incredibly "clumsy" due to their massive size.

The moment Gamabunta saw the poisonous mist being sprayed, he decisively changed his jumping direction, trying to dodge to the side and behind.

Even so, its sticky skin was still covered with a lot of purple poisonous mist.

In an instant, a strong sense of dizziness surged into Gamabunta's mind.

Salamanders are extremely poisonous.

Even the giant toad of Mount Myōboku cannot ignore its existence.

While he was still conscious, Gamabunta deliberately ended the summoning effect of the [Summoning Jutsu] and returned to Mount Myōboku on his own.

If it stays here in its current state, it will likely become a real sitting duck!

They can only take the beatings, not fight back.

Therefore, Gamabunta chose a strategic shift.

But the toad boss ran away.

The toad sage, however, remained where he was.

Jiraiya pursed his lips.

Although he felt disgusted by Gamabunta's decision to run away.

However, on the surface, he remained calm.

For a large summoning beast like Gamabunta, the Salamander's wide-area poisonous mist is indeed difficult to deal with.

Jiraiya simply stopped summoning the giant toad.

Continuing to summon the toads of Mount Myōboku before completely eliminating the salamander is a high-risk behavior that could easily lead to the negative effect of wasting chakra meaninglessly.

Jiraiya clasped his hands together, forming a hand seal, and continued to channel chakra into his hair, intending to deal with the salamander first.

However, Hanzo also had a lot of experience fighting Jiraiya.

Before Jiraiya's [Wild Lion's Mane Technique] could strike, the salamander, under Hanzo's command, burrowed underground, directly avoiding a direct confrontation.

then.

Hanzo removed his breathing mask.

First update.

It's getting late...

(End of this chapter)