Chapter 887: A Hero

Hearing Mizunuki Ryosuke's question, Hanzo of the Salamander's expression became uncertain, and his gaze toward Mizunuki Ryosuke flickered constantly.

For a time, the atmosphere fell into a stalemate, as he couldn't understand why Mizunuki Ryosuke would ask this.

Things had reached this point; Hanzo of the Salamander felt that if Kirigakure had intended to help the Rain ninjas, they would have done so long ago. Why wait until now?

After some thought, he concluded that Mizunuki Ryosuke was playing with him, and his heart immediately grew colder.

"What if I want to win? What if I don't?"

He responded coldly to Mizunuki Ryosuke's question, his tone filled with coldness and distrust.

Clearly, the various experiences they had been through had already brought the mutual trust between these temporary allies to freezing point.

Such an impolite response also almost indicated that Hanzo of the Salamander had already concluded that no matter what Mizunuki Ryosuke said, it was impossible to help the Rain ninjas reverse the situation.

This actually also showed that Hanzo of the Salamander, in his subconscious, didn't hold much hope for the Rain ninjas' chances of winning.

"If you want to win, I might be able to help you."

"But if you don't want to win, it means Leader Hanzo may have already thought of a way out."

Mizunuki Ryosuke said slowly, his eyes carrying a deep meaning.

After hearing Mizunuki Ryosuke's words, the expression on Hanzo of the Salamander's face didn't change significantly.

A titan of the Ninja World like Hanzo of the Salamander is hardly someone who can be bluffed by a few words from Mizunuki Ryosuke.

Since he had already concluded that the Rain ninjas' defeat was inevitable and that Mizunuki Ryosuke was there to mock him, Hanzo of the Salamander simply watched Mizunuki Ryosuke's statement coldly and remained silent.

"Heh."

Seeing this, Mizunuki Ryosuke's face remained unchanged; he just smiled and shook his head.

Although Hanzo of the Salamander didn't believe anything he said, and his words didn't provoke any other reaction from Hanzo, he didn't care in the slightest.

"Since Leader Hanzo doesn't believe me, I won't say anything more."

"Let's wait and see what happens in the future."

"I just hope Leader Hanzo doesn't forget our bet."

Afterward, Mizunuki Ryosuke said, his expression still very gentle, still giving people a sense of intimacy like a spring breeze.

But at this moment, Hanzo of the Salamander didn't feel any friendliness at all; he just felt that Mizunuki Ryosuke's expression was unfathomable and could not be judged by common sense.

"Hmph!"

To this, Hanzo of the Salamander didn't answer directly, just snorted coldly without taking a stance.

Seeing Hanzo of the Salamander's attitude, Mizunuki Ryosuke didn't linger; after all, his purpose had been achieved, and there was no point in staying any longer.

Afterward, right in front of Hanzo of the Salamander, Mizunuki Ryosuke's figure disappeared from where he stood.

Watching Mizunuki Ryosuke disappear, a trace of wariness flashed in Hanzo of the Salamander's eyes again. After a long time, confirming that Mizunuki Ryosuke had indeed left, the aura on Hanzo of the Salamander's body suddenly relaxed.

Although Mizunuki Ryosuke's arrival was just an accident, and Hanzo of the Salamander already lacked trust in him, Mizunuki Ryosuke's words did indeed remind Hanzo of the Salamander that he should think of a way out.

The toughness and determination originally on Hanzo's body vanished, replaced instead by a sense of a hero at the end of his road.

After leaving Hanzo of the Salamander's place, an unfathomable expression appeared on Mizunuki Ryosuke's face.

With the decisive battle between Konoha and the Rain ninjas about to start, his reason for specifically coming to see Hanzo of the Salamander was certainly not just to waste a few words with him.

He had come specifically to test Hanzo of the Salamander.

In a few sentences, he had tested Hanzo of the Salamander's current attitude.

Hanzo of the Salamander was a very important part of Mizunuki Ryosuke's plan, so he naturally had to ensure that no mistakes occurred.

Therefore, testing Hanzo of the Salamander at this time was very necessary.

And although Hanzo of the Salamander seemed to have said nothing, Mizunuki Ryosuke had already roughly read Hanzo of the Salamander's heart from his behavior and words just now.

This was not Mizunuki Ryosuke's baseless conjecture, but a reasonable judgment based on the original plot.

In the original work, the Second Ninja World War launched by Hanzo of the Salamander leading the Rain ninjas ended in a rather anticlimactic way.

The iconic battle that marked the end of the Second Ninja World War was the battle that made the Sannin famous.

That was Hanzo of the Salamander fighting one against three, bestowing the title of "Legendary Sannin" upon Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade during the battle.

In the battle against the young Sannin, Hanzo of the Salamander ultimately defeated the Sannin with a significant advantage and won the battle.

But afterward, he did something unexpected—he actually released the Sannin and other Konoha ninjas on the grounds that he admired the Sannin.

Judging from Hanzo of the Salamander's past experience, such behavior was undoubtedly very ridiculous.

The number of ninjas who had died at the hands of Hanzo of the Salamander was at least eight hundred, if not a thousand. When had he ever spared other opponents for such a reason?

Furthermore, these three were ninjas from Konoha, the mortal enemy of the Rain ninjas.

And the reason he made such a move was actually very simple.

That was that the Rain ninjas were on the verge of falling apart, and Hanzo of the Salamander had realized that with his and the Rain ninjas' strength, they simply couldn't compete with Konoha.

In one sentence, Hanzo of the Salamander had been beaten by the reality of the Ninja World and had recognized the truth.

Not only did he spare the Sannin, but he was also willing to become a stepping stone for the Sannin's fame, just to exchange it for a way to survive.

To put it bluntly, Hanzo of the Salamander's spirit had been worn away by Konoha, and he had accepted his fate.

And this was something that had actually happened in the original work.

Compared to when Mizunuki Ryosuke first met Hanzo of the Salamander, the Hanzo at this moment seemed like a completely different person.

Initially, when he first met Hanzo of the Salamander, the feeling Hanzo gave Mizunuki Ryosuke was like an ambitious lion, preparing to hunt across the entire grassland.

The "Theory of the Pond" was the best proof of this.

And now, he was like an injured old lion.

He was sensitive, irritable, and held an extremely exclusionary attitude toward Mizunuki Ryosuke's approach.

As for why Hanzo of the Salamander would show such a posture, it was actually not hard to understand.

Because in Hanzo's subconscious, he had already lost his confidence.

Just like an injured old lion, when encountering any other lion, he would instinctively stand up to deter them.

This was undoubtedly a manifestation of being strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

Just now, Mizunuki Ryosuke had actively used topics like providing help to test Hanzo of the Salamander.

If it were the previous Hanzo of the Salamander, he wouldn't necessarily agree immediately, but he would definitely get to the bottom of it with Mizunuki Ryosuke, trying every possible way to obtain aid from him.

This was because Hanzo of the Salamander had still been full of confidence in himself at that time, so even if there was only a glimmer of hope, he would try every way to defeat Konoha.

But now, Hanzo of the Salamander was indifferent to Mizunuki Ryosuke's proposal.

This showed that in his subconscious, Hanzo of the Salamander no longer held hope for defeating Konoha. ===== CHAPTER 889 =====