Chapter 534: Hanzo of the Salamander's Water Release Ninjutsu
Back in the day, Hanzo of the Salamander had used his title of "Demigod of the Shinobi" to help make a name for Konoha's "Sannin." According to the values of ninja of that era, this was a senior of the ninja world promoting and acknowledging his juniors.
Hashirama Senju was the "God of Shinobi." The general consensus was that Hanzo, in his prime, was slightly weaker than him, hence "Demigod of the Shinobi."
In reality, this was mostly a matter of commercial flattery. Because the Hidden Rain Village was situated at the border of the Stone, Sand, and Leaf villages, none of the three wanted to push the Kage-level powerhouse that was Hanzo into the opposing camp. It's unknown what the village leaders were thinking, but they began to hype him up, placing him on a high pedestal.
In truth, Hanzo of the Salamander was in no way deserving of the title "Demigod," but when the legends of the eyes were not in play, his strength was still worthy of recognition.
This acknowledgment from a senior of the ninja world was a huge boost for the Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru of that time.
From an outsider's perspective, it would be one thing if the Sannin didn't repay his kindness, but to send their disciple to attack his village when he was old and frail was indeed somewhat improper.
"It's all fake! In my opinion, Hanzo was killed by the Akatsuki long ago!" the Third Tsuchikage still insisted on his view.
Ino sent the messenger hawk and waited patiently for a reply.
She then asked the Tsuchikage with great interest, "Lord Tsuchikage, have you met Hanzo of the Salamander?"
"I have. That guy is sinister and cunning, suspicious by nature, always hiding in the shadows researching poisons and doing other shady things!" As a ninja of the same era, the Tsuchikage's evaluation of Hanzo was not polite.
Ino thought for a moment and said, "I heard that Hanzo was also a very powerful Water Release user. The ninja world's evaluation of him is that 'no one can surpass his mastery of Water Release.' Is his Water Release really that amazing? How does it compare to mine?"
The Third Tsuchikage gave his granddaughter a strange look. You have to help me. When this Konoha kunoichi gets shameless, even I have a hard time handling it!
The next day, a letter arrived from Minato Namikaze. It stated that neither Tsunade nor Jiraiya cared about the matter. As for Orochimaru? The fact that Orochimaru hadn't cut open Hanzo's belly to slice up and study his poison sac was already showing great respect to the old senior!
The village's order was that regardless of who the current leader of the Rain Village was, the operation to purge the Akatsuki would proceed as planned.
With the moral obstacles cleared, Ino immediately ordered the ninja to conduct a full-scale search of the Hidden Rain Village. Anyone who dared to resist was an accomplice of the Akatsuki and was to be killed on sight.
"Let's go. We're going to pay a visit to this Demigod of the Shinobi, this living legend," Ino said, leading Shikamaru and Choji toward the location of what was said to be Hanzo's castle.
According to rumors, this demigod had no sense of security and required ninja guards 24/7. This alone showed how shallow his "Demigod" title was.
Nagato was dead, and no one was using the Rain Tiger at Will Technique anymore, but the dark clouds over the Hidden Cloud Village had not dispersed; it was covered in a constant drizzle year-round.
Hanzo's castle was located in the deepest part of the Hidden Rain Village, surrounded by an extremely empty area. In the drizzling rain, the castle looked pitch black, like a monster waiting to devour fresh flesh and blood.
As the leader of the allied forces, Ino certainly couldn't wear her purple, midriff-baring outfit. She had changed into a standard military green jonin vest. To distinguish her rank, she had a white armband with a red triangle on her left shoulder. In a way, this could be considered the "Hokage's short sleeves" of fanfiction...
As she rounded a corner, she came face to face with the floating Third Tsuchikage and Kurotsuchi by his side. Ino smiled.
"I'm here to pay my respects to a senior of the ninja world on behalf of Teacher Tsunade. Is Lord Tsuchikage also here to pay respects to a 'senior of the ninja world'?"
"What kind of senior is Hanzo? When I was a ninja, he was still playing in the mud!" Everyone knew why they were there. The Third Tsuchikage said bluntly, "The Water Release ninjutsu we find is yours, the Earth Release ninjutsu is mine."
Ino thought for a moment. "Fine. As for the rest, finders keepers."
The Tsuchikage said in his gruff voice, "Good."
Ino immediately formed hand signs. "Sage Mode! Sense!"
The Third Tsuchikage: "..."
Hanzo had been dead for nearly twenty years. To maintain appearances after occupying the village, Nagato had not destroyed some of the landmarks. Hanzo's castle had surely been looted by Nagato, but it looked well-preserved, so there should still be some things left.
Ino and the Third Tsuchikage, like bandits, charged in from the left and right and began to plunder!
Shikamaru, Choji, and Kurotsuchi couldn't keep up with their speed at all.
Ino signaled for them to go outside. Then, she formed hand signs and pulled half of the castle into the Netherworld Path. Using the dense negative energy as a shield, she searched meticulously, bit by bit. The Tsuchikage, on the other hand, used his Light-Weight Rock Technique to lift the remaining half of the castle into the sky. The old man zipped back and forth through it like a little bee.
An hour later, Hanzo's castle was a complete ruin. Ino and the Third Tsuchikage looked at each other with calm expressions.
"Little girl, what did you find?"
"I only found a Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet. What about you, Lord Tsuchikage?"
The Tsuchikage also shook his head. "I only found an Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall."
They were both acting, and neither believed the other.
Back at the allied forces' camp, Ino examined her haul.
Using her sensory abilities in Sage Mode, she had found two jonin-level Rain ninja in the castle, both middle-aged men who had lived through Hanzo's era. She directly entered their minds to read their information and found some of Hanzo's collection.
Among them was Hanzo's signature technique, the Water Body Flicker Technique.
The name seemed ordinary, and many people used the Water Clone Technique, but the Water Body Flicker was indeed Hanzo's unique ninjutsu.
She also found some other Water Release ninjutsu. Some she knew, and some she was seeing for the first time.
Hanzo's swordsmanship had some commendable aspects, but the scroll Ino found was very damaged, with only a few simple moves.
The rest consisted of some old intelligence documents and some poison recipes that had already been deciphered by the ninja world—a whole pile of miscellaneous things.
The Allied Shinobi Forces did not find any trace of the Akatsuki in the Hidden Rain Village. Not a single clue. It seemed like just an ordinary ninja village.
Ino couldn't just point at a deer and call it a horse, grabbing a random person on the street and saying, "This person is the Gedo Statue!"
There was no point in such deception.
Since her sensory abilities didn't find the Akatsuki, she dispersed the ninja and ordered them to dig three feet deep if they had to, to find any trace of the organization.
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