Chapter 84: The Name that Echoes on the Battlefield

'How shameless can he be?'

Tanaka didn't know what to say...

However, he wasn't bothered by the fact that other ninjas were coming. He simply formed a hand seal and created five shadow clones, leaving them to hold off the group of ninjas while he advanced toward Danzo.

In truth, the nearby ninjas had noticed Tanaka, but pretended not to. After all, recognizing his presence and doing nothing about it was something questionable... And when they heard Danzo shouting as he fled, they looked at him with hatred. Now, obviously, they could no longer feign indifference.

It may seem cowardly—and perhaps it was—but to them, facing this boy from the Uzumaki Clan, after what he had demonstrated so far, was not much different from throwing themselves directly into the mouth of a shark to be devoured.

When they noticed the shadow clones created by Tanaka, several ninjas stopped.

"Damn, how is he able to create so many shadow clones?"

"Son of a...! He's going to do that again!"

"Screw it, how much chakra does this guy have?"

Upon seeing Tanaka's clones floating in the air and manipulating several stones of considerable size, fear clouded the minds of many. Especially those who had already witnessed the terror of this approach.

"Tanaka Uzumaki... I need to remember that name..." murmured one of the ninjas aloud.

"Tanaka? Is that his name?" asked another.

"That's what I heard the princess of the Uzumaki Clan call him."

"I see..."

Soon, Tanaka's name spread quickly. After all, with everything he had done, many were curious to learn more about him, even if it was just his name.

Before, they saw a powerful figure from the Uzumaki Clan; now, they had a name to go with that face.

Unaware of all this, Tanaka reached Danzo, who was fleeing, sweating profusely.

Danzo, looking back and seeing Tanaka approaching, cursed in his mind: 'Damn it...! Why can't I get rid of this pest? Why is he so fixated on me?'

No matter what, even knowing that Tanaka had exposed him, Danzo believed he had no enmity with that Uzumaki boy...

But little did he know that because of his actions, Tanaka had nearly died at least twice.

Perhaps not even a saint would forgive him for that. And, obviously, Tanaka wasn't the original target, or Danzo would have recognized him. The fact is, the Uzumaki as a whole were the targets of Danzo's schemes, and Tanaka had nearly had the misfortune of falling into one of his traps and dying...

As for forgiving Danzo? Not a chance~

In the next instant, Tanaka enveloped himself once again in lightning, reaching Danzo instantly and blocking his path.

Danzo stopped abruptly, skidding on the snow, creating a gust of wind with his hands to steady himself.

About to form hand seals, Danzo suddenly froze.

"What the...?" Stunned, he realized he was losing control of his body.

Out of the corner of his eye, Danzo saw chakra threads connecting to him, powerful enough to restrain his movements, much like the shadows of the Nara Clan. However, it only took Tanaka moving a finger for Danzo to start moving like a puppet under his control.

"How?" Danzo couldn't believe it. Even when he tried to use his chakra to break free, he felt powerless.

And it wasn't just that. Danzo could feel his chakra being drained through the chakra threads connected to the back of his arms and legs.

'Is it because of that sword?' Danzo speculated, sweating coldly. 'No... that information was never mentioned. Only direct contact should be able to do this. So how?'

The only plausible explanation was that this was due to the ability of the Uzumaki standing before him.

"No more running, Danzo." Tanaka, moving his fingers, made Danzo walk and stop in front of him.

Holding Samehada, he pressed the blade against Danzo's chest.

"Ughhh!"

Danzo tried not to scream, but what seemed like a simple touch sent an electric shock through his body, numbing him entirely, while pain spread through him.

Danzo's black hair stood on end, stiff. His face turned white and pale as blood began to trickle from his mouth.

"Y-You will regret this!" Danzo exclaimed with all his might.

"I'm not Hiruzen~" Tanaka shrugged off Danzo's words, not taking them seriously.

Soon, golden chains appeared, wrapping around Danzo, and then Tanaka took a scroll from his inventory and opened it. It was a scroll about 2 meters long.

"Be sealed for a while, I'll decide later what to do with you." Tanaka said, but didn't wait for a response from Danzo, who looked at him with fear and hatred.

In the next moment, the chains pulled Danzo into the scroll, sealing him in the process.

[12+8=XX]

Meanwhile, on Jiraiya's side, with Orochimaru and Tanaka's clones, the battle had reached a stalemate.

Hanzo was giving a complicated look at Tanaka's clones, because no matter what he did, nothing seemed to work against him. Furthermore, until now, Hanzo felt as if Tanaka was merely toying with him, not taking him seriously. This wounded his ego as a Demi-God.

Hanzo took a deep breath and asked in a muffled voice through the mask he wore, "Boy, tell me your name."

"Tanaka, Tanaka Uzumaki." One of the clones responded with a smile, "By the way, Hanzo... I discovered something very interesting..."

In the clone's hand, there was a note, and on the note, it said that his plan had worked and the barrier around Amegakure was established.

With a smile full of interest, Tanaka continued, "It's about Amegakure. Are you interested in knowing?"

Hanzo frowned at this. He felt that the boy before him didn't seem to be bluffing.

Even Jiraiya and Orochimaru looked at him with curiosity. After all, they were in the middle of a battle; if something like this was mentioned, they thought it must be something big enough to justify such an action.

"Speak." Hanzo narrowed his eyes.

"Haha, no need to get so serious~" Tanaka spoke playfully, shrugging his shoulders and extending his hands as if he wasn't plotting anything. He continued, "It's something you'll soon find out, even if I don't say anything. After all, right now, Amegakure has been taken over by an external force. And that's not all, a powerful barrier seems to have been created... Isn't that interesting? Don't you feel excited? I mean, while you're here, someone has stolen your home! So, tell me, how do you feel? Happy? Sad?"

Faced with the obvious provocation, Hanzo didn't show much emotion, but the meaning behind the words... it made him furious!

Hanzo's chakra flared. He was no longer in the mood to play. He had already found it strange that none of his men who remained in Amegakure had reported anything in a while, but he hadn't expected that while he was away, someone would be bold enough to set their eyes on his village!

"Haha. Mm, I see, I understand, I understand." Tanaka's clone seemed satisfied, nodding as if he had gained some understanding from Hanzo's reaction.

"Boy... If you're lying..."

"Haa! Don't be foolish, Hanzo," Tanaka interrupted him. "The current me is just a clone, none of your threats affect me, and even if you say you're going after my real body... Haha, do you really believe you have the power to go against me?"

His confidence came from his confrontation with Hanzo. Although Hanzo was strong, he wasn't particularly specialized in anything and knew a little of everything. In particular, he knew more about poison, but that was useless against Tanaka.

So, faced with Tanaka's words, Hanzo was furious but seemed unable to refute them. After all, even after so much time had passed, he hadn't managed to get rid of a simple shadow clone. On what grounds could he claim he had the power to confront the original body, which would be even stronger?

Jiraiya, standing beside him, looked at Tanaka with admiration. He already respected the boy after seeing him in action, but even so, his words and actions still left him surprised.

Orochimaru thought a bit differently, but even he felt some admiration for Tanaka, along with a hint of fear.

Hanzo, now terrified that he had lost his village, was no longer interested in the war.

Are you kidding? What's the point of defeating Konoha if he doesn't even have enough power to reclaim Amegakure? And even if he returns after winning the war, he'll just lose more strength and won't be able to recover his village. That's why he raised a smokescreen and shouted loudly, "All Rain ninjas, return with me to our village now!"

Hanzo's words caught many ninjas by surprise, especially the allies fighting against Konoha. The sudden change made them feel that something was seriously wrong.