Chapter 36 : Akatsuki vs Hanzo!!

Uchiha Sogetsu clutched his neck tightly, trying to stem the flow of blood gushing out. 

It was a futile effort—the main artery had been severed, and even Tsunade, with her unparalleled medical skills, wouldn't have been able to help.

"I'll take your eyes," Hanzo said, reaching out with two fingers to gouge out Sogetsu's Sharingan.

"Stop, Hanzo!"

"Water Release: Water Dragon Technique!"

A high-pressure blade of water shot through the air, arcing sharply and cutting through rock formations as if they were paper. 

Hanzo's reflexes were fast—he quickly pulled back his outstretched arm and leaped ten meters away to a safer distance, turning to face the source of the attack.

It was a group he had come to see as a threat—the Akatsuki. Yahiko stood at the forefront, his expression torn between anger and pain. 

"Hanzo, you've joined forces with Danzo," he said, his voice heavy with disappointment.

Konan, standing beside him, was cold as ice. The beauty of her face was marred by a flash of twisted hatred. 

"Do you see now?" 

"The source of our suffering is Hanzo. He's not the protector he once was. If we don't stop him, he and Danzo will kill us all."

Nagato, his deep purple eyes reflecting the darkness of his intent, sided with Konan. 

"It wasn't just a dream. It was a vision from the God. It led us here to uncover Hanzo's deceit and expose the truth."

Yahiko looked conflicted, his heart filled with turmoil. He had once admired Hanzo, but now the man stood against everything they believed in. He didn't know what to do.

Meanwhile, Hanzo clutched his head, his thoughts muddled. Something wasn't right. It felt as though he was forgetting something crucial, a vital piece of his memory slipping away. 

But before he could make sense of it, the confrontation escalated, and the tides of fate began to shift.

Why is the Akatsuki Here?!

No, that's not important.

Hanzo's eyes burned with a sinister intensity, his expression ferocious as he barked at the three people in front of him, "The rats hiding in the sewers—I'll take you all out in one fell swoop!"

A voice in Hanzo's mind urged him on, whispering in his ear:

Kill them!

Once they're dead, you'll keep your position, and no one will dare challenge you again!

"The Hidden Rain Village belongs to me!" Hanzo roared.

He ripped off his respirator and unleashed a cloud of purple poison from his mouth. His disheveled hair whipped about as he growled, "No one can take it away from me!"

"Hanzo-sama!" Yahiko's voice was laced with a mix of sorrow and anger. "I misjudged you!"

Once, Yahiko had revered the man before him—a leader who protected the Hidden Rain Village during war and whom he considered an idol. 

But as Hanzo grew older, he became crueler, intolerant of dissent, and reigned with fear. The oppressive clouds and mist that hung over the Hidden Rain Village were a perfect metaphor for the despair that had settled into the hearts of its people.

Yahiko and his friends, having suffered through the war, believed that violence couldn't solve their village's problems. They were determined to find a new way forward.

Despite their differences, Yahiko had always believed that he and Hanzo were fighting for the same cause, just with different approaches. But now, all illusions were shattered, his faith in the leader utterly broken.

"Hanzo of the Salamander, you've changed," Yahiko said with grief in his voice. "You're no longer a hero. You've abandoned your ideals, your dignity, and you're nothing but a butcher corrupted by power!"

"You're just a pack of wild dogs—who are you to question my authority?" Hanzo lunged at the three of them in a frenzy, hurling his sickle with brutal force.

The chains on his sickle clanged loudly, drawing a dark arc in the air as the poison-coated blade sliced toward Konan.

"Konan, watch out!" Nagato was quick to react. He stepped in front of his companions, forming hand seals, and shouted, "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

A thick, solid earth wall rose up, blocking the incoming flying scythe.

"Paper shuriken!"

From behind the earthen wall, dozens of white paper shurikens shot out.

"Konan, fall back!" 

Nagato's eyes narrowed, sensing danger. The nightmare had shaken Konan, and she was so upset that she couldn't maintain her usual calm. 

Facing a powerhouse like Hanzo, she charged right at him from the front!

"Yahiko, stop Konan!" Nagato channeled chakra to his feet, trying to rouse the disoriented Yahiko, and then dashed to save his teammates from another angle.

"Don't be impulsive, Konan, get back here!" Yahiko finally snapped out of his daze. "We're not here to fight!"

The original reason they came here was to calm Konan down and keep her from dwelling too much on her nightmares. But things had taken a sudden turn toward violence!

Clang, clang, clang! 

Hanzo swung his chain and hammer in a whirlwind of metal, creating a storm-like barrier.

All the white paper shurikens were deflected. Hanzo spun his body halfway and launched his hammer with all his might, sending it hurtling toward Konan like a meteor.

Buzz, buzz—

Yahiko threw three shurikens, aiming them into the gap between the hammer's chain links. His aim was spot-on, stopping the hammer mid-air and knocking it off course. 

At the same time, Nagato, seizing the opening, burst forward with a surge of chakra. As he closed the distance, he formed hand seals and unleashed a jutsu: "Wind Release: Gale Palm!"

The compressed wind shrieked as it flew toward Hanzo's neck, a sharp and transparent blade of air.

At the same time, Yahiko, positioned to the left, finished his hand seals and took a deep breath: "Fire Release: Flying Flame!"

The wind fueled the fire, and the fire strengthened the wind.

The synchronized attacks from the two ninjas instantly cut off all of Hanzo's escape routes.

"Damn you, kid!" Hanzo growled, his eyes narrowing as a sinister glint crossed his weathered face. "You think you can kill me? You're way too young!"

Water Release: Water Body Flicker!

Hanzo, caught in the wind-and-fire assault, suddenly dissolved into a puddle of water and vanished.

However, before he could launch a surprise attack, Hanzo's stealth was foiled when the red-haired boy shouted out his location.

"Konan, fifteen meters behind Yahiko, to the right!"

"HANZO!!!"

Konan's paper wings unfurled behind her, lifting her into the air. Her pretty face turned cold and murderous as she locked onto her target: "If I kill you, then the future I saw in my dreams won't happen!"

The prophetic visions she'd experienced were coming true, one after another. She couldn't accept the tragic fate of losing Yahiko and Nagato. The thought of enduring that kind of pain again was unbearable.

If that's the case, she would sever that future at its root!

"Dance of the Paper Shiki!"

Her paper wings disintegrated into countless razor-sharp shards, cascading down like a storm of blades.

BOOM BOOM BOOM.

The rain of paper swords struck with ferocious intensity. The ground, solid rock, was as soft as tofu against the onslaught, leaving it riddled with holes.

Underground, Hanzo, trying to evade the attack, was shredded by the paper swords, bleeding profusely.

"AHHHH! Damn you, brats!" Hanzo, bloodied and with his clothes in tatters, had none of his former 'heroic' presence. He looked like a cornered beast, his expression wild and desperate. "You've pushed me too far!!!"

"Be careful, he's about to go all out!"

Nagato felt a shiver of fear as he saw the madness in the opponent's eyes. His heart raced, and he immediately warned the others.

"Hold on a minute, Hanzo, let's not overreact!" 

Yahiko's expression changed drastically. He sensed something was off and yelled out, "Konan, Nagato, slow down! Something's not right!" 

He felt a strange tension, as if something was amiss, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Unfortunately, no one was listening to him.

Konan, plagued by dark premonitions, was convinced that Hanzo had to be killed to prevent a terrible future from unfolding.

Nagato, siding with Konan, also believed that Hanzo needed to be eliminated.

Hanzo, perceiving the Akatsuki as a threat to his position, decided he needed to take drastic action to eliminate those who challenged him.

Everyone seemed to have their own reasons.

But... it all left Yahiko with an uneasy feeling he couldn't shake off.

It all seemed too coincidental.

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