Chapter 42: The Name of Demigod and the Secret Mission
However, to say that Hanzo was uninjured would not be entirely accurate. Although he narrowly escaped the range of the ninjutsu, it was after all a combined ninjutsu that reached S-rank power. Even just brushing against the edge of the explosion still injured Hanzo.
Although there were no visible signs of injury and no abnormalities in the perception of sensory ninjas, Hanzo could clearly feel that his internal organs were somewhat displaced and slightly damaged.
Suppressing the urge to spit out a mouthful of blood, Hanzo said faintly to Sarutobi Hiruzen, "As expected of the renowned Professor of Ninjutsu in the ninja world, to be able to easily combine five elemental ninjutsu to launch an attack. Hokage-dono's strength is indeed formidable! Let's call it a draw for today."
The cunning Hanzo pretended to be unharmed and nonchalant, but he knew his own situation best. Suffering from serious internal injuries, Hanzo was eager to end the battle.
Hanzo had indeed underestimated his opponent this time. Relying on his own powerful strength and the momentum of his great victory over the Third Kazekage, the overconfident Hanzo had come alone. He was truly afraid that the Konoha ninjas would turn hostile and, upon discovering signs of his injuries, would keep him here forever.
Sarutobi Hiruzen didn't know Hanzo's ulterior motives. He was still shocked that Hanzo could escape his Great Consecutive Shots unscathed.
Therefore, also not wanting to continue a deadly fight with Hanzo, he began a round of mutual flattery with Hanzo. "Hanzo-dono, you are too kind! In the end, you were still superior! I once had the honor of witnessing Lord Hashirama's power. Although your strength is not yet enough to compare with the God of Shinobi, you should be the strongest in this current era! In my opinion, you can completely be called a demigod!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen finally revealed his true intentions at the end of his words. Losing ground in the exchange with Hanzo was extremely detrimental to his reputation.
The Third Hokage of Konoha, the strongest ninja village in the ninja world, couldn't even defeat the leader of a small Rain Village. This was truly a great joke in the ninja world.
Therefore, his idea was to raise Hanzo's status in the ninja world as much as possible. After all, the leader of the Rain Village and the strongest person in the current ninja world were two completely different concepts.
Moreover, regardless of whether Hanzo was the strongest in the current ninja world, Sarutobi Hiruzen would make sure to crown Hanzo as the strongest today. No matter who praised Hanzo, Sarutobi Hiruzen would definitely lend his support!
Hanzo didn't discern Sarutobi Hiruzen's little scheme, but at this point, he could barely suppress his injuries. Without responding further to Sarutobi Hiruzen, Hanzo decided to retreat first, turning around and slowly leaving.
Having consecutively defeated the Kazekage and the Hokage, Hanzo was confident that he was now the strongest ninja in the entire ninja world. Although he hadn't fought the Tsuchikage, Raikage, and Mizukage, Hanzo thought that the strength of the Kage of the five great ninja villages shouldn't have too much of a gap between them. Therefore, he gladly accepted the title of demigod and went further and further down the path of self-inflation afterward.
However, Hanzo, who came from a small country like the Land of Rain, ultimately had a slightly inferior perspective. At least Kiyoshi clearly knew that there was still a significant gap in strength between the five Kage.
The Third Kazekage, hailed as the strongest Kazekage, could be said to be the weakest among the current five Kage, merely relying on the advantage of his Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai.
As for why he could be called the strongest Kazekage?
The First Kazekage, Reto, although he pacified the chaotic era of the Land of Wind and founded the Sand Village, did not possess a Kekkei Genkai. He also captured the One-Tail Shukaku with the assistance of a large number of Sand Village ninjas.
Looking at the Second Kazekage, Shamon, let's just say one thing: his main profession was a puppeteer, and puppeteers were generally recognized in the ninja world as rarely producing top-tier powerhouses. Although Shamon studied the One-Tail Shukaku and developed the Sand Manipulation Technique, his strength was ultimately limited, just a stronger Kage-level ninja.
The Third Kazekage, Iron Sand, possessed the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai and inherited and combined the Sand Manipulation Technique developed by the Second Kazekage Shamon, turning it into his own unique Magnet Release: Iron Sand. He also possessed the ability to suppress the rampaging One-Tail Shukaku alone in the vast desert. No wonder he was called the strongest Kazekage by the Sand Village ninjas.
However, in Kiyoshi's opinion, the Third Kazekage was indeed stronger than the First and Second Kazekage in terms of pure strength, but he was slightly inferior compared to the Third Kage of other villages in the same era.
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki of the Two Scales, was the grandson of the First Tsuchikage Ishikawa and the disciple of the Second Tsuchikage Mu. In addition to being proficient in Earth Release, he also inherited Mu's Dust Release, a Kekkei Tota that surpassed Kekkei Genkai and could decompose enemies into molecules. Moreover, he was one of the few ninjas in the ninja world who could fly.
The Third Raikage, A, could use the Hell Stab: One-Finger Spear, known as the strongest spear, and the Lightning Release Armor, known as the strongest shield. He could also fight the Eight-Tails Gyūki one-on-one without a clear winner and had a record of suppressing the rampaging Eight-Tails alone.
As for their own Third Mizukage, Ice, Kiyoshi, as an Anbu member, had seen him more than once.
In Kiyoshi's perception, although Ice's battle power had begun to decline due to his age, his Chakra aura was still terrifyingly powerful, on par with the Sarutobi Hiruzen he had just seen. Moreover, as the bodyguard of the First Mizukage Byakuren, one of the founders of the Hidden Mist Village, and someone who had mastered Water Release and Ice Release to an incredible degree, Ice's strength was at least at the same level as the Third Kazekage.
Therefore, in Kiyoshi's opinion, the ranking of the five Kage should be: Third Raikage ≥ Third Tsuchikage > Third Hokage ≥ Third Mizukage > Third Kazekage.
(The Third Tsuchikage Onoki's Dust Release is invincible, basically guaranteeing death for anyone hit, but it can't hit the extremely fast Third Raikage A. Therefore, I believe the Third Raikage is the strongest Third Kage, and even in this era before any overpowered characters appeared, he can be called the strongest in the ninja world. As for the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen's so-called strongest Hokage, this is purely a result of Kishimoto's later chaotic settings. However, I think he does indeed have some skill and can be called a strong individual, but without any particularly outstanding achievements, this is the only way to rank him.)
(Also, the Third Tsuchikage Onoki of the Two Scales, "Two Scales" is just a title, a compliment from the people of Iwagakure for Onoki, praising his shrewdness in handling village affairs and his ability to secure the greatest benefits for Iwagakure in diplomacy. It is not his surname.)
Seeing the battle end and Hanzo leave, the ninjas from various countries who had come to observe gradually began to disperse, spreading the newly minted title of "Strongest in the Ninja World," Salamander Hanzo the Demigod, to every corner of the ninja world.
At this moment, Kiyoshi, using the unique Anbu method to release seals, unsealed the mission scroll that Ken had given him when he left. After quickly Browse through the special mission issued by the Third Mizukage, Kiyoshi ordered the others, "Hana, you take the lead and bring them back along the original route first. The Mizukage has another mission for me. I will catch up with you as soon as I complete it."
"Hai!" everyone replied and then left under Hana's leadership.
Seeing that everyone had left, Kiyoshi touched the ground with two fingers, and his Chakra perception began to spread frantically in all directions. Suddenly, Kiyoshi's eyes lit up. He sensed several unusually conspicuous Chakra signatures in the direction of the Land of Grass to the north, moving away at an extremely fast speed. One of the signatures had an extremely large amount of Chakra, exceeding his own by dozens of times. It was the largest amount of Chakra Kiyoshi had ever sensed.
Guessing that the Cloud Village people wouldn't be so bold as to cross the Land of Fire, Kiyoshi knew he had probably found the right target. He continued to sense the other party's movements, then unleashed his Chakra and used the Body Flicker Technique continuously to chase after them.
At the same time, among the group from the Cloud Village who were on their way back, an Anbu suddenly said, "Lord Fuyuki, someone just sensed us, but I couldn't sense them at all."
"It doesn't matter! Slow down and see what the other party's intentions are. Our lineup isn't afraid of anyone," Fuyuki replied calmly, then directed the Cloud Village group to gradually slow down and wait for Kiyoshi's arrival.
Who was this Fuyuki? He had another name: B, the B in the Third Raikage's Third Generation A-B combo. He was also the Third Raikage A's brother and the first Eight-Tails Jinchuriki of the Cloud Village.
(There were a total of four Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. The last one is the well-known Killer B. The one before him was Fukai, the one with half white and half green hair. The one before that was his uncle, and the first one was his father, Fuyuki. Fukai later also inherited the name B.)
Kiyoshi sensed that the speed of the other party's group was gradually slowing down, knowing that they had also discovered him. He thought to himself that the Cloud Village also had capable people, then further increased his speed, thinking about completing the mission as soon as possible so he could rejoin his subordinates and quickly return to the village.
Having been out for so long, he was a bit homesick.
"He's here!" the Cloud Village Anbu with sensory abilities shouted.
As soon as his voice fell, Kiyoshi's figure had already appeared in their sight.
Kiyoshi also recognized Fuyuki after seeing him. At the same time, he understood why the other party's Chakra amount was so large—he had already become a Jinchuriki. Kiyoshi, who had the memory of the Chakra auras of all nine tailed beasts, easily recognized the Eight-Tails' aura when he met Fuyuki, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, face to face.
"Lord B, greetings. I am here under the orders of the Mizukage to deliver a letter to the Raikage-sama," Kiyoshi said, while handing the mission scroll to Fuyuki.
This mission scroll was specially made by the Third Mizukage using his Ice Release Chakra. After Kiyoshi read it, the part containing his mission automatically dissipated, leaving only the part written for the Third Raikage.
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