Chapter 477

Behind the Rashomon summoned by Orochimaru, the Iron-Cutting Iaijutsu, which had previously flashed by like a meteor, suddenly erupted with another burst of brilliant, dazzling light.

Iron-Cutting: Second Stage!

In an instant, the gate exuding the deathly aura of the underworld was actually breached by this blade light!!!

"SHING!!"

The grim and ominous gate collapsed under the single strike. Fortunately, Jiraiya had sensed the danger in advance and used the Earth Wall for defense.

As expected, Jiraiya’s Earth Wall could not hold up for long under this blade light and was sliced clean through the middle.

However, behind the Earth Wall, the figures of Tsunade and Jiraiya were already gone.

The two were not foolish; they had naturally taken advantage of the cover provided by the Earth Wall and the Rashomon to retreat a step ahead.

"BOOM!!!"

Under the curtain of rain, as the Earth Wall and Rashomon collapsed with a roar, Hanzo of the Salamander slowly retracted the sickle in his hand, his eyes remaining calm.

He seemed unbothered that his Iron-Cutting Iaijutsu had ultimately missed its mark and failed to achieve its goal.

"WHOOSH!"

On the other side, Tsunade and Jiraiya, who had escaped elsewhere using the Body Flicker Technique, watched Hanzo of the Salamander with vigilance, their eyes filled with gravity.

Although both sides had only engaged in a round of probing attacks, the narrow escape of Jiraiya and Tsunade had undoubtedly showcased the strength of Hanzo of the Salamander, the "Demigod of the Ninja World."

This made the three of them even more tense when facing Hanzo.

Now, after one round of combat, Hanzo remained in the center of the battlefield, while the Sannin had formed a triangular formation, surrounding him.

"RUMBLE!!!"

With another clap of thunder, the rain intensified. Bean-sized raindrops pelted the group, bringing an extremely heavy sense of oppression.

The Sannin exchanged glances and nodded gravely. Years of tacit understanding allowed the three to understand each other's thoughts with just a look.

Ninja Art: Many Serpent Array!

This time, Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, took the initiative to attack.

In an instant, Orochimaru’s body went limp, sticking to the ground as if he had no bones, resembling a winding python.

Next, a scene that made one’s scalp tingle occurred: Orochimaru, pressed against the ground, suddenly opened his mouth wide and vomited a massive quantity of green venomous snakes.

The dense swarm of snakes surged out from Orochimaru’s mouth, covering the ground within a radius of over ten meters in an instant, and then these snakes rushed toward Hanzo like a tidal wave.

Seeing this, even the battle-hardened Hanzo could not help but frown; there was no other reason than the fact that this scene was indeed too disgusting.

Let alone Hanzo, even Tsunade, Orochimaru's teammate, couldn't help but furrow her brows at the sight.

"Hmph!"

Hanzo let out a cold snort, his eyes filled with a hint of disgust.

Because salamanders and snakes were seemingly natural enemies.

Hanzo reached out and gripped the base of his sickle, then violently swung it out. Due to the chain at the base of the sickle, the close-combat range of Hanzo's Iaijutsu instantly doubled.

Like mowing grass, wherever the sickle swung, thick green blood splattered, and the severed bodies of countless venomous snakes flew everywhere, looking extremely grotesque.

Not only that, while swinging the sickle, Hanzo’s other hand was not idle...

He continuously threw ninja tools at Orochimaru, who was performing the Many Serpent technique, intending to stop him.

To this, the Sannin naturally would not let Hanzo succeed. Tsunade quickly arrived at Orochimaru’s side to provide cover, drawing the kunai at her waist to deflect the tools Hanzo threw.

At the same time, Jiraiya was not idle either; he had circled to the opposite side of Orochimaru and was also performing hand seals to use a ninjutsu.

Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!

This was a ninjutsu created by the Third Hokage, inspired by the Shadow Clone Technique developed by the Second Hokage. He threw a giant shuriken forward, which then split into thousands, attacking the opponent with overwhelming numbers.

Jiraiya pulled out a giant shuriken and, after performing the seals, threw it fiercely at Hanzo.

In an instant, this giant shuriken split and replicated into dozens in mid-air, attacking Hanzo’s back from all directions.

Clearly, Jiraiya’s mastery of this technique was still far behind that of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi; he could only manage to create dozens of shuriken clones at once.

But even so, facing the pincer attack of the snake swarm and dozens of shuriken, Hanzo seemed to be pushed into a desperate situation for a moment.

Regarding the current "desperate situation," Hanzo remained indifferent, the expression on his face as calm as ever.

Seeing that the combination of ninja tools and the sickle could not break Orochimaru's Many Serpent Array, he simply retracted his sickle.

Facing the pincer attack of the snakes and the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, Hanzo even had time to disgustedly shake off the thick green snake blood from his sickle.

Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu.

These are the three elements of a ninja, and so far, Hanzo had only been using Taijutsu to fight.

If one thought that Hanzo’s methods were limited to this, they would be greatly mistaken. A ninja who could be crowned with the title of "God," even if only a "Demigod," was not a ninja who could be judged by conventional logic.

Hanzo put his sickle behind his back and, under the surging snake swarm and the imposing cluster of shuriken, began to perform rapid hand seals without pause. The speed of these seals was so fast it became a blur!

Water Style: Rain Tiger Shuriken Technique!

As Hanzo of the Salamander completed his hand seals, a terrifying scene unfolded.

The raindrops filling the sky had all transformed into shuriken, ready to be wielded by Hanzo of the Salamander!

"Clang!"

That was not all; an even more horrifying scene occurred.

These shuriken, condensed from rainwater, began to spin continuously in the air, emitting a startlingly sharp aura.

Hanzo of the Salamander had actually used some unknown method to infuse the secret art of Iai into these shuriken!!!

Although the "Iai" carried by the Rain Tiger shuriken was merely a negligible trace of Iai aura, even so, it made the power of these Rain Tiger shuriken no less than that of iron shuriken.

For a moment, looking up, the entire firmament was densely packed with nothing but spinning, sharp-edged rainwater shuriken!!!

Hundreds or thousands of snakes? Dozens of Shadow Clone shuriken attacking together?

Beneath this dense rain of shuriken, they were nothing.

If you were to ask how many rainwater shuriken were in the sky at this moment—five thousand? Ten thousand? Or perhaps a hundred thousand, a million?

I think the final answer is that no one could say for sure.

Since they were uncountable, the quantity was merely a number.

No wonder Hanzo of the Salamander chose to attack during a torrential downpour; and no wonder he appeared not the least bit anxious when facing the flawless, tight offensive of the Sannin.

Because at this moment, beneath this curtain of rain—he was a god!

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!!"

14[4

The next second, Hanzo of the Salamander moved; he suddenly raised a hand and swung it downward.

At the same time, these shuriken suspended in the firmament finally moved!

"Juniors, witness the power of a demigod!!!!"

Hanzo of the Salamander roared at the sky, as if proclaiming his own martial might, or perhaps protesting the unfairness of fate to the heavens.

The Rain Tiger shuriken, like a tsunami, poured down from the sky. Beneath the curtain of rain, the pupils of the Sannin contracted slightly at the same time; all three felt their hands and feet grow cold and their breathing become difficult.

It was just like the feeling of helplessness one has when standing before a tsunami; in the face of such a massive offensive, everyone was extremely insignificant.

Whether it was the snake swarm or the Shadow Clone shuriken, beneath the tsunami-like Rain Tiger shuriken, they were all too insignificant to withstand a single blow.

"Don't panic!!!"

"He is also human! His chakra is also limited!!!"

Tsunade was the first to react; she gritted her teeth and shouted to Orochimaru at her side, which also brought the struggling-to-breathe Orochimaru back to his senses.

Orochimaru instantly calmed down. Tsunade was right; no matter how strong Hanzo of the Salamander's strength was or how tough his methods were.

He was still a man, not a god. Being human, his chakra was limited. Even with the aid of the rainstorm, such an attack could not be sustained indefinitely.

"Block it together!"

Orochimaru said in a low voice with a heavy expression, while biting his finger to quickly perform hand seals.

"Right!"

Tsunade nodded in agreement, performing hand seals simultaneously with Orochimaru.

Summoning Jutsu: Triple Rashomon!!!

Three consecutive Summoning: Rashomon gates rose from the ground in front of the two.

Just a moment ago, using only one gate, Orochimaru had nearly blocked Hanzo of the Salamander's Iai Iron-Cutting strike. Now, with three consecutive Rashomon gates, the defensive power was increased exponentially.

This technique was a forbidden jutsu recorded in the Leaf's Scroll of Seals, and its defensive power was unquestionable.

In the original work, both Orochimaru and the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, had used this technique to withstand the ultimate attacks of their opponents.

It was just that the First Hokage used the final version of the Summoning: Rashomon—the Fivefold Rashomon.

And given Orochimaru's strength, it was clear that three gates were his limit.