Chapter 486

Salamander Hanzo instantly elevated the "Sannin" of Konoha to a position on par with himself.

Anyone who mentioned the term "Sannin" in the future would surely treat them as equals to the demigod of the ninja world, Salamander Hanzo.

Before this, the Sannin were just ninja with a little fame within Konoha. Even Sakumo Hatake, who was willing to be the "transparent minister" in Konoha, probably had more fame than the Sannin before participating in the war.

After all, Sakumo Hatake was the head of the Mist Anbu, one of the real high-level officials of Konoha.

This time, it was no exaggeration to say that the Konoha Sannin had "ascended to the sky in one step."

There was no doubt that every bit of Salamander Hanzo’s great reputation was fought for and killed for with the kusarigama in his hand!

For this, Salamander Hanzo had experienced more than a hundred or a thousand battles.

And now, the Sannin had gained such huge prestige in just this one battle, which had to make people sigh that the world is truly impermanent.

"Now, I am a little curious."

"How far you three can go in the future."

"You may go, I will not kill you."

Saying this, Salamander Hanzo turned his back and no longer looked at the Sannin behind him.

Salamander Hanzo’s words had already completely stunned the Sannin in place. They had thought they were doomed, but who would have expected such a dramatic turn of events.

What did this mean?

The hatred between the two sides could probably be described as a "blood feud" without any exaggeration.

In this situation, Salamander Hanzo not only let the three of them go but also acted as a stepping stone, giving them three a huge reputation.

Such a thing could simply be described as bizarre.

"Swish, swish!"

Salamander Hanzo still did not look back, just turned around and flicked a few pellets toward his back.

Although the Sannin were extremely weak, catching these few pellets was effortless.

"This is the antidote for the Salamander’s deadly poison. You may go."

Perhaps guessing the doubts in the Sannin’s hearts, Hanzo said without looking back.

Even with the antidote developed by Tsunade and the continuous detoxification by the Slug, the Sannin had stayed at such a close distance to Hanzo for so long that their bodies had long been deeply eroded by the Salamander’s deadly poison.

Without Salamander Hanzo’s unique antidote, they probably wouldn't have lasted long.

Hearing Hanzo’s explanation, the Sannin had different expressions.

Orochimaru looked suspicious, clearly not believing that there was such a good thing in the world, and for a moment, he even doubted the ingredients of the pills in his hand.

On the other side, Jiraiya was skeptical. His reason told him there was no such thing as a free lunch, but his emotional, heroic nature was telling him that he should choose to believe Salamander Hanzo.

And Tsunade, who was in the middle of the two, didn't have so many thoughts; she actually swallowed the antidote pill given by Hanzo directly.

After all, Tsunade knew very well that the disparity between the enemy and them was huge, and if Hanzo wanted to finish them off, there was no need to go through all this trouble.

What’s more, without the antidote, they wouldn't be able to hold on for long.

Seeing this, Orochimaru and Jiraiya were both shocked and stopped hesitating.

After all, since Tsunade, the "professional," had already swallowed the antidote, what else did they have to doubt?

The efficacy of the antidote was not immediate but would continuously alleviate the symptoms of poisoning.

But after swallowing the antidote, the Sannin’s poisoning symptoms were initially alleviated, which made them slowly feel relieved.

They also concluded that Salamander Hanzo was not lying and was truly prepared to let them go.

Salamander Hanzo still had no intention of looking back, maintaining his previous state with his back to the three, which made them hesitant, not knowing how to act for a moment.

"Sigh."

Finally, the Sannin looked at each other tacitly and sighed in their hearts simultaneously.

Since they had been defeated and Hanzo had let them go, what was the point of them staying here?

They couldn't continue to fight, could they? Not to mention the implication of "returning evil for good," the most important thing was, could they really win?

Forcibly fighting would only be asking for humiliation. They had already exhausted their efforts in this battle and had already accounted for the village.

Since that was the case, what were they waiting for if they didn't leave?

Thus, the Sannin’s expressions tightened simultaneously, and regardless of whether Salamander Hanzo could see them, they bowed solemnly to Salamander Hanzo, who had his back to them.

Although they were enemies, Salamander Hanzo was worthy of their admiration in terms of strength, demeanor, and seniority, not to mention the grace of not killing them in the end.

Salamander Hanzo was absolutely worthy of this salute from them.

Subsequently, the Sannin did not hesitate, turned around, and left, disappearing into the rain.

Salamander Hanzo stood alone in place for a long, long time.

Finally, he took out his mask again, put it on his face, and at the same time canceled the summoning technique of Ibuse the Salamander. His lonely figure looked full of desolation.

From the moment he made the decision just now, Salamander Hanzo knew that he had lost completely.

From now on, the Rain ninja would probably never have a chance to turn things around.

Because in this battle, he had completely exhausted the foundation of the Rain ninja for the next ten years.

And was the matter really as he said, just because of his personal demeanor and appreciation for the Sannin that he let the three go so easily?

Are you kidding?

This is a battlefield! It is a place to fight for your life! How could he pity his opponents for such a bullshit reason? How much Konoha ninja blood had already stained Salamander Hanzo’s kusarigama; would he care about three more?

Similarly, when the Sannin were slaughtering the Rain ninja, did they ever think about letting the Rain ninja go?

On the contrary, the real situation should be that the more he appreciated the Sannin, the more he should try every possible way to kill these three people.

But now, the reality was that Salamander Hanzo chose to let the Sannin go lightly, letting go of these three enemies he once wished to get rid of as quickly as possible.

The reason was simple, because Salamander Hanzo believed in his heart.

The "Sannin" or "Konoha" were no longer his enemies, and the reason was that they were not qualified.

And the one who was not qualified was not Konoha, but he, Salamander Hanzo, himself.

After this battle, Konoha, carrying the momentum of a great victory, would only become more prosperous.

And the Rain ninja, having thrown away their foundation, would only become more barren. What would he use to fight Konoha?

Almost identical to the original work, Salamander Hanzo finally chose to let the Sannin go and used the reputation he had worked so hard to build as a stepping stone to show goodwill to the Hokage of Konoha from afar, in exchange for an "exit strategy."

In other words, he used letting the Sannin go to buy a chance for himself and the Rain ninja to survive.

Such an act would have been nonsense for the high-spirited Hanzo of the past.

But now, Salamander Hanzo making such a move was enough to explain one thing—he had changed.

Just as Mizunuki Ryosuke had predicted, the battle with Konoha had worn away Salamander Hanzo’s spirit, allowing him to see the bloody reality through his unrealistic ideals.

No foundation, no background, no origin—and you still want to try to occupy a place on the truly high ground of the ninja world? Don't dream!

Even as strong as Salamander Hanzo, he could only choose to accept his fate.

Unwilling? Of course, he was unwilling!

But even if he hated the sky, what could he do?

Hanzo looked up, wanting to vent, but in the end, he didn't know how to vent and could only stiffly look up at the gloomy clouds above the sky of the Land of Rain.

But an ironic scene occurred.

The torrential rain stopped abruptly, as if it had never fallen.

Above the frost sky, the gloomy clouds that Salamander Hanzo had always wanted to break through just dissipated like that.

The rain had stopped, and the clouds that the Land of Rain was accustomed to being gloomy just scattered, revealing the long-lost sun hidden behind them.

At this moment, the sunlight was so dazzling that Salamander Hanzo couldn't bear to look directly at it.

In mid-air, Mizunuki Ryosuke landed slowly.

As a participant, planner, and observer of this grand drama of "the hero’s twilight" and "the Sannin’s fame" from beginning to end, Mizunuki Ryosuke’s mood was also somewhat complex for a moment.

His plan succeeded, and logically speaking, he should be happy.

But for some reason, he felt a little melancholy.

But soon, he completely hid his complex emotions.

Because right now was the best time for his plan to close the net, and also the only opportunity to persuade Salamander Hanzo and bring him under his command.

At this moment, Mizunuki Ryosuke no longer hid his figure and appeared once again before this demigod of the ninja world who carried the aura of twilight.