Chapter 47

"Where the hell is our reinforcements?! We are getting blown up like some insects! Hum, no offense, Aburame Clan." a Jōnin declared as the surrounding terrain was burned and full of holes made by blasts

"This damn Explosion Corps, they are slaughtering us so easily." another Jōnin from Konoha said as he was angry

*BOOM*

"Shit, they are coming our way!" another one announced panicked

Many Jōnin from Konoha had to retreat to a certain area because of the repetitive assault from the Explosion Corps.

Hundreds of shinobi already died by their hands, and they regrouped themselves with the wounded, which was a blessing for the enemy corps.

A group of around thirty shinobi appeared in the sky, having located the area that Konoha's troops used to regroup.

All of them had smirks visible on their faces and started doing some hand signs before launching a joint assault of destructive explosives on Konoha's forces.

"We are doomed..." one of Konoha's Jōnin said since they learned that Earth Walls weren't enough to protect them from the last confrontation

But when they expected to be blown up, the sound of explosions was muffled somehow.

Glancing over them, they saw a giant and thick formation made of wood that took the explosion for them, and in the small area that was still opened, they saw a tall black-clothed man, with long white hair and a single large wing on the left side of his back that, although made of black chakra, seemed to have feathers as if it was a real one.

[Here]

"An angel... A one-winged angel just saved us!" one of the Jōnin said before another one shouted "It's Yuichi-sama! He came to save us!"

'I suddenly want to yell a 'don't worry for I am here'' I thought as I looked briefly at them before shifting my gaze on the Explosion Corps who took a step back at my intervention

"Listen to me shinobi from Konoha! Do not falter against your enemies! Now that I am here, I will lead you against them so we can show them the might of Konoha!" I shouted as I used a special Genjutsu that took effect with my voice

Using chakra to make myself heard by everyone, the auditory Genjutsu made every shinobi from Konoha lose their fear of fighting, boosted their motivation to fight for their life, and calmed their mind.

At the same time, it did the opposite for those whom I deemed enemies, as they only felt fear and took a hit in their confidence.

Chakra then suddenly left my hand which was aiming at the ground and started reaching every shinobi from my side, healing their wounds at an unusual pace as well as refilling their chakra reserve.

I then shifted my cold gaze back to the Explosion Corps who were in disarray, and as they flinched, I ordered "Do not let them leave this place alive!" while I pointed at them with my sword and made the wood structure disappear

Everyone then screamed in unison, intimidating the Explosion Corps even more, and started using different Ninjutsu or Shurikenjutsu to get them.

My appearance and Genjutsu seemed to have worked just fine as some of the Explosion Corps members didn't react in time, or at all, against the sudden overwhelming assault.

Only those who were more experienced quickly left the place and prepared another bombing raid.

Only one of them, surprisingly capable of floating, dashed towards me.

I smirked and said "Bring it on!" as I taunted him with a motion of my empty hand

The man propelled himself with explosions before trying to land a powerful elbow blow right where my sword was, before making a huge explosion at the end of it.

This caused smoke to hide whatever happened to me, but when he realized that my sword didn't get destroyed, but became even bigger with large blue scales and a mouth at the tip, he was stupefied.

I nourished my sword with a large amount of my chakra which made it extremely large and threatening.

I then quickly used it as a flail with great speed and struck the man in front of me, who tried to block the blow with an explosion, only to get surprised by a sudden huge explosion coming from my blade.

The man got knocked back really far, and I could see between my sword's mouth an entire arm being chewed.

'My 'Blowing Flail' seems to work wonders' I thought as I used what could be considered a Kenjutsu technique

Masamune was happily squirming in my hand as it tasted the fresh meat of my target, but it was more because it tasted my chakra just before.

'I have so much to train and discover once the war is over because of everything I collected' I thought as I looked over those that were still alive and did their best to not get overwhelmed by the suddenly more powerful shinobi from Konoha

When we are at peace, I will use clones to train in every release I got these last few years, letting them experiment and discover ways of usage while informing me at the same time.

As for the real me, I would need to grow the chakra I got from the tailed beasts by myself, to have as much chakra as each beast has, the sooner the better.

The more tails they had, the longer it took.

Luckily, I started with the Nine-Tails and then the Eight-Tails, which are both almost over since I couldn't do it lately.

'Regardless, it is time for me to end the war against Iwa' I thought as I absorbed one of the dead Explosion Release users before leading my shinobi to victory

====================

*Yuichi's clone POV*

The war between Ame and Konoha became more and more problematic for Konoha.

The forces on our side were tired from the never-ending battles, and they didn't have any time to rest after making Suna retreat.

One of Konoha's Corps was sent within the Land of Rain to prepare for a huge battle.

This Corps wasn't small at all, nearing a thousand shinobi, and as they were moving inside the Land of Rain, they didn't end up facing one of Ame's Corps as planned but fell right in front of a single man.

You wouldn't expect a thousand shinobi to struggle against one single man, but there are always strong people capable of such a feat, myself being one of them.

And the man they crossed paths with was none other than Hanzō of the Salamander, leader of Amegakure.

A man that, in this era, was capable of facing almost anyone in close combat with his Bukijutsu skills and deadly poison.

And don't talk about getting him with Ninjutsu, he is quick enough to evade most of them with ease, and the environment was a great advantage for him.

His speed in the rain may be unmatched.

"Please hang on! I will save you!" a woman's voice shouted with a slightly trembling tone

This woman was none other than Tsunade who was trying her best to save the life of her allies around them.

She looked to have been injured judging by the messy clothes she had, but her wounds were healed.

"It's useless Tsunade-san, he's already dead." a nonchalant voice she knew well said behind her

"Shit!" she shouted as her fists were clenched before someone set a hand on her shoulder to ease her a little

Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya were all present in this Corps, but when Hanzō found them, he started blowing up many shinobi by encasing their legs in explosive tags that were hidden in the ground, before summoning Ibuse, a massive salamander.

It then released a quick and massive cloud of poisonous smoke that paralyzed whoever was still alive.

Orochimaru survived by using a substitution technique, Tsunade did take the explosion but healed herself as Jiraiya used his hair to extract her from the explosive attack but got half of his arm paralyzed by the smoke afterward.

They were in a now flattened area, the three of them as the last survivors, and a Giant Salamander with a blond man on top of it was nearing them.

The three of them looked at him approaching before Jiraiya declared "I don't like this... This feeling of powerlessness is annoying!"

Orochimaru then added "If Yuichi-san was here, he could've fought against him alone."

"We can't stay like this." Tsunade first said as perseverance was appearing in her eyes "How can I be considered his wife if I am so far behind!"

"I agree with Tsunade, I don't want to see Yuichi's face when he learns that we got humiliated like this." Jiraiya added with a smile

Orochimaru smirked when he heard how they were now ready to fight and also prepared himself.

"Only the three of you survived? Impressive." Hanzō asserted as he was now in front of them

He then frowned when he saw that even while being wounded, they were ready to fight against him.

"And you've got guts too, it's been a while since someone wished to face me. Show me your strength." Hanzō declared as he started swinging his Kusarigama

[Hanzō]

Tsunade didn't waste any second and started spreading her chakra around herself, creating an armor that she could shape at will as she opened the 'Strength of a Hundred Seal' giving her an excessive amount of chakra.

Orochimaru's pale body started becoming redder and hotter as some blood he had on his skin evaporated, while he had his hands in his pouches preparing something.

He wasn't the best in close combat so he had to boost himself to keep up against Hanzō.

Lastly, Jiraiya whose left arm was still paralyzed, but not putting him in danger thanks to Tsunade, ate a pill that would allow him to move it for a certain duration before feeling a heavy backlash.

He then summoned Gamabunta to help them with facing Ibuse, since it was the best summon to face it.

Hanzō let everything happen since he was still someone arrogant who didn't believe anyone could defeat him.

The salamander, not willing to let Gamabunta act, began to gather poison inside its mouth.

Tsunade then kicked the ground and flew with great speed towards Hanzō, her fist clenched and covered by a second layer of darkened chakra ready to punch something.

Hanzō may be arrogant, but he was smart enough to realize, in such a low amount of time, that trying to block such a blow was far from being a good idea, so he quickly disappeared from her sight, making her hit nothing but air.

The salamander, feeling that someone was above him, began shifting its mouth upward but Gamabunta sprayed toad oil from his mouth while Jiraiya used 'Fire Release: Flame Bullet' setting fire to the oil which successfully interrupted the creature.

The moment Hanzō reappeared on the ground a bit further, he got surprised by a bunch of kunai coming his way, which he simply deflected by flailing the chain of his weapon.

As he was deflecting the projectiles, he sensed someone quickly sneaking up on him from behind so he used the sickle part of his weapon to intercept the snakes coming his way.

Orochimaru clicked his tongue as if he was annoyed to have missed the opportunity, which was not unseen by Hanzō who started smirking before getting punched in the head, sending him meters away.

"I still wonder why Yuichi loves a brute like you Tsunade-san." Orochimaru said which made a tick mark appear on the forehead of Tsunade before she replied "Uh? You should consider yourself lucky that I can't afford to punch you right now..."

*CRASH*

Looking behind them, they saw the wounded salamander angrily crush Gamabunta under its weight while Jiraiya jumped out of range before using 'Hair Needle Senbon' which sent thin projectiles from Jiraiya's head at the Salamander, successfully injuring it.

"Impressive indeed, youngsters!" a male voice proclaimed hidden behind the smoke made by the previous blow

"But you did a huge mistake girl." he added as he was now visible to them, his head slightly injured but more importantly, his mask completely shattered

A trail of poisonous gas was now starting to appear around him, which made close combat even more dangerous.

"You have so much potential... But you are still too inexperienced with facing a stronger opponent." he announced before vanishing from their sight

"Wha-" Tsunade tried to say but got interrupted by the sudden attack of Hanzō who swung his sickle at her, sending her away since the chakra armor took the blow

Orochimaru quickly reacted and conjured snakes to bite Hanzō, only for him to turn his head and blow a small poisonous gas at his face.

This started paralyzing Orochimaru extremely quickly, and with his hastened blood pressure not helping, this made him fall on the ground incapable of moving.

A powerful gust of slashing wind then reached Hanzō who simply evaded it, before feeling the ground below him crumble, forcing him to jump.

He was now facing Jiraiya who joined his two teammates and sent a multitude of water bullets at Hanzō who once again used the chain of his weapon to deflect them.

When Hanzō came back on the ground, Tsunade came from above and sent a powerful falling kick at him.

He barely avoided it but was unbalanced because of the destruction it did to the surrounding, which Jiraiya took as an opportunity by sending an X-shaped slash of wind followed by fire bullets to enhance the technique.

Hanzō deflected the first half but had to take the fire bullets that came after it, as they were coming from two different sides.

Smoke once again rises when the bullets reached Hanzō, but when Jiraiya landed, a sickle was thrown at him with great force, before being followed by water needles that he couldn't avoid.

"Argh!"

Tsunade came back towards Hanzō but heard Jiraiya's scream which was caused by the end of his pill's effect, making him feel immense pain.

She tried to land a blow on Hanzō but even if she was strong and resilient, her speed lacked against him under the rain.

"I would gladly battle you for a while, but I feel like doing so will only make you weaker and... Your friends may not make it." Hanzō said as he was smiling because of the joy of fighting

Tsunade stopped her assault and her medical-nin instinct kicked in as she heard Hanzō's warning.

"But your courage and strength are not to be laughed at, here, take this." Hanzō said as he threw a small flask at her

Tsunade grabbed it before quickly rushing at Orochimaru, opened the flask, and made him drink most of it as his condition from directly inhaling the poison worsened quickly.

Thankfully, the antidote seemed to work as quickly as the poison can take effect, since Orochimaru could get up, albeit slowly, after a few seconds of ingestion.

"Next time I want to try a technique, I will do it at home... Serves me right for not training myself." Orochimaru announced, the last part being said quietly while Tsunade shared her mark with him, healing him at a quick rate

Since I gave him the chance to experiment back then, he had far less time for training himself or leaving for a mission, only doing enough to reach the quota, and didn't get to fight a stronger opponent until today.

He also knew a lot of Ninjutsu from the five nature elements but stopped using them when he was able to use them at least once, making them weaker than someone training the techniques, thus not being able to rely on them.

'Guess I will force him to train back home' I thought as I had a dangerous smirk on my face, while Orochimaru unconsciously shivered

I don't know why he didn't train by using clones, maybe they all wanted to experiment instead.

Tsunade then moved towards Jiraiya and gave him a small amount of the antidote so he could move his arm again, before sharing her mark to ease his pain and heal his wounds.

Orochimaru neared them while Tsunade helped Jiraiya get up, before hearing something approaching them.

"Is this it?" Jiraiya declared as the huge figure faced them

It was the salamander whose wounds got better, with Hanzō on top of it that announced "I predict that Konoha shall emerge victorious from this battle... Therefore, I shall let you three live."

"I, Hanzō, hereby name you 'Konoha's Sannin'." he added before leaving the place with his Salamander, making the trio dumbfounded

The three teammates then settled in a small cave to rest and eat something before going back home.

"After the war, I'm going to travel once more, hone my skill, and more importantly write another book." Jiraiya announced as Tsunade was resting not too far with her back on a wall because of her previous seal release which depleted her greatly

Orochimaru was standing guard and let out a "Quiet!" as he neared them and made everyone realize the presence of children behind one of the naturally made pillar

"Show yourselves!" Jiraiya shouted as an orange-haired boy revealed himself

He approached the Sannin, raised his hand, and asked "Give me some food!"

Jiraiya frowned and asked "What about your parents?"

The child's look became serious as he replied "They were killed by ninja because of this war."

Jiraiya then stretched his arm, presenting the kid with food before saying "Here... Have some bread."

As he said that, two other children then ran towards him and took everything he had.

'Yahiko, Nagato and... Who's this last guy?' I thought since it couldn't be Konan because of me

Nonetheless, the now named Sannin began to leave this place by taking the main road.

But the three children followed them and after a while, Tsunade shouted "We gave you food already! Why are you still following us?!"

As she said that, the boy I didn't know the name showed her a drawing made with ink that surprisingly took life, creating a beautiful black rose that didn't get washed by the rain.

"That's a gift for what you did before, thank you." the boy said as the flower wasn't looking like a painting, but a real one

While I expected Orochimaru to ask if he could kill them, he had the same glint in his eyes as mine when the boy showed this little trick.

'He can make his drawing truly real' I thought fascinated

Jiraiya was also intrigued and declared "Tsunade, Orochimaru, go on ahead, I will stay here and look after them for a while."

Tsunade sighed before saying "So you are going to do that too now?" surely referring to me and the kids I brought back home with me

Orochimaru decided to not interfere since Jiraiya decided to do something and simply started walking back towards Konoha, while Tsunade looked a bit at the children with some longing I didn't miss, before catching up with Orochimaru.

All of this was under the keen eye of Black Zetsu whose presence I felt before their battle against Hanzō, but I knew that he wouldn't look over Nagato all the time so I asked my clone to split himself.

One will stay with Tsunade and Orochimaru while the other will follow Jiraiya and Nagato, to get my hand on Madara's chakra through the Rinnegan, or more precisely, Indra's chakra, the moment I get the opportunity.

Seeing Tsunade from my clone's eyes, I was happy to know that we would finally see each other again.

Those last years without her strangely felt longer than when I left for my two years travel.

====================

[A/N: I updated the synopsis and the 'Author's Note Before Starting' so they aren't outdated, and the synopsis isn't as bad as before.]