Black Naruto: Shadow Moon

The atmosphere of the battle became more and more tense. The leader of the Hidden Rain Village, Salamander Hanzo, stared coldly at Uchiha Kagezuki and the Three Ninjas of Konoha on the battlefield.

He could tell at a glance that Yingyue had just experienced a fierce battle and had consumed a huge amount of chakra, which also meant that he could adopt more drastic tactics to suppress these strong men of Konoha.

Hanzo took a step forward, and the chakra in his body surged out.

He decided not to hold back his strength any longer.

Although he had shown some mercy to the three ninjas of Konoha in the previous battle, when facing Uchiha Kagezuki who had activated Susanoo, he realized that this was no longer a simple battle, but a contest between two top ninjas.

"It seems I need to be more serious." Hanzo said to himself, and then began to perform his terrifying water-style ninjutsu.

The rain gathered around Hanzo, and in the blink of an eye, formed several huge water dragons, which roared and pounced on Yingyue and the Three Ninjas of Konoha.

Uchiha Kagezuki's Susanoo immediately swung his sword and split a water dragon in half.

However, this is just the beginning.

Hanzo then cast an explosive fire formation, and countless explosive symbols suddenly appeared on the ground. Then the burning flames quickly spread, forming a sea of ​​explosions.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!" Hanzo shouted loudly, releasing a powerful water style technique that turned the entire battlefield into a turbulent body of water.

The interweaving of water and fire filled the battlefield with billowing steam and visibility dropped sharply.

In this chaotic situation, Hanzo wandered around like a ghost, sometimes appearing and sometimes disappearing, constantly attacking Yingyue and the Three Ninjas with swordsmanship, poison techniques and ninjutsu.

Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade each used their strengths to deal with Hanzo.

Jiraiya responded with summoning technique, calling out Gamayuki to resist Hanzo's water attack from the water; Orochimaru used his flexible body and snake-like attacks to find flaws; Tsunade used medical ninjutsu to support the three of them, and used her extraordinary strength to counter Hanzo's offensive.

However, despite their best efforts, Hanzo's offensive still pressed forward like a tide.

The three ninjas gradually realized that Hanzo's strength far exceeded their previous expectations.

In the previous battle, they were obviously underestimated by the ninja demigod intentionally or unintentionally, which ignited a stronger desire to fight in the hearts of the three of them, but they also knew that they could not win easily.

At the same time, Uchiha Yingyue continued to wave Susanoo to resist Hanzo's attacks.

Although Susanoo is powerful, Uchiha Kagezuki had just experienced a fierce battle with Ōnoki, and he had used Flying Thunder God to teleport to the battlefield over long distances, so his chakra had been consumed a lot, making it difficult for him to maintain such a high-intensity battle for a long time.

As the battle became increasingly intense, both sides suffered casualties and the situation became stalemate for a time.

Just then, Hanzo suddenly stopped.

His eyes were calm, and it was obvious that he had made a decision.

"I, Hanzo of the Salamander, recognize your strength," Hanzo's voice echoed on the battlefield, "Uchiha Kagezuki, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade, you are the Shura of the battlefield, and you are worthy of the title of the Three Ninjas of Konoha. Fighting further will only increase casualties. There is no need."

His voice exuded a kind of superior confidence, as if while announcing the victory or defeat, he was also giving his opponent due respect.

Although the three ninjas were exhausted, they also felt an indescribable respect from Hanzo's words.

Uchiha Kagezuki stood in Susanoo and looked at Hanzo with a steady gaze.

He knew that the opponent before him was not an easy one to deal with, and the other party also understood that neither he nor the Konoha ninjas could be easily defeated.

The noise on the battlefield gradually subsided, Hanzo slowly withdrew his momentum, and signaled the ninjas of the Hidden Rain Village to retreat.

The Konoha ninjas did not continue the pursuit, and the battle stopped with the tacit understanding of both sides.

Although the Three Ninjas of Konoha and Uchiha Kagezuki failed to completely defeat Hanzo, they also won each other's recognition in this battle.

The ninjas from both sides withdrew their troops from the battlefield and the battle came to a temporary end.

After the battle, Uchiha Kagezuki, Orochimaru, Tsunade and Jiraiya rested on the front line of the Rain Country.

They had mixed feelings, as the fierce fighting over the past few months had made them realize clearly that the Rain Country was not something that could be easily conquered.

The unshakable strength of Hanzo of the Salamander and the elite Rain Ninjas under his command made Konoha's ninja troops return empty-handed.

Despite their best efforts, progress was limited.

"Hanzo's poison and swordsmanship are nearly invulnerable," Orochimaru mused, "If we continue to tangle with him, it will only be in vain."

Tsunade nodded in agreement: "We must admit that it will be difficult for Konoha to gain a decisive victory in this war in a short period of time. Perhaps it is time to return to Konoha and report the situation here to Lord Hokage."

Yingyue also had a serious expression on his face: "The defense of the Hidden Rain Village is too strong, and our consumption here is increasing. I also think that it is time to go back and summarize our experience and redeploy our strategy."

The four finally reached a consensus and decided to end this stage of the battle and return to Konoha.

However, just as they were about to set off, a thin figure suddenly emerged from the ruins on the side and bravely stood in front of them.

He was a little boy with orange hair, his eyes showing a toughness and courage that did not match his age.

"Do you have anything to eat?" the little boy asked boldly, followed by a little boy with red hair and a little girl with purple hair.

The four people from Konoha were a little amused and helpless when they saw this.

They understood that the three children in front of them were just victims of war, and orphans like them were not uncommon in the war-torn Rain Country.

Jiraiya was the first to react. He took out dry food from his ninja tool bag and handed it to the three children.

The little boys took the food and devoured it ravenously.

Through a brief conversation, they learned that the three children were named Yahiko, Nagato and Konan.

Uchiha Yingyue looked at Nagato and suddenly felt a sense of familiarity in his heart.

The names of these three children instantly triggered his memory, and he realized that he had met people who would stir up the ninja world in the future.

Nagato, Yahiko and Konan, they will become Jiraiya's disciples and eventually establish the Akatsuki organization, playing an important role in the future ninja world.

However, at the moment they were just three hungry and skinny children.

After eating, the three children were supposed to leave, but Yahiko suddenly plucked up the courage and caught up with the four again.

Konan handed a flower to Jiraiya with hope in her eyes, while Yahiko said, "We saw your fight, you are so strong. We want to learn ninjutsu from you, become ninjas like you, change the Rain Country, and bring peace to the ninja world."

Orochimaru refused coldly, "Ninjutsu? What's the use of learning it? In the end, you'll just be cannon fodder. This is the fate of war orphans. Why bother struggling? It's better to give you a relief and save you from pain."

His tone was stern, as if reminding these children that their requests were nothing but pie in the sky and that not becoming ninja would be a better life choice for them.

However, Jiraiya and Kagezuki clearly see things differently.

Jiraiya felt guilty, and he shook his head at Orochimaru: "They are just children, poor people destroyed by war. We can't deprive them of the hope of survival, at least give them the opportunity to choose."

Uchiha Kagezuki also stood on Jiraiya's side. He said in a deep voice: "Orochimaru, don't be so heartless. We should give them a chance and help them instead of letting them despair."

Jiraiya looked at the three children and made a decision in his heart: "I will stay and take care of them. Shadow Moon, Orochimaru, Tsunade, you go back to Konoha first."

Uchiha Yingyue admired Jiraiya's kind behavior. Although he knew that the future destiny might not be as one wishes, giving these children some warmth might be the best choice at the moment.

So he took out a sealing scroll from his ninja tool bag, which contained 10,000 taels of funds, and handed it to Yahiko and the other two.

"This money can help you get through this difficult time," Uchiha Yingyue said, "I hope you can stay strong and live on."

Yahiko, Nagato and Konan took the scrolls with gratitude. They might not be able to fully understand the intentions of these powerful Konoha warriors before them, but they knew that this was a major turning point in their lives.

Watching the backs of Yahiko and the other two walking away, Uchiha Kagezuki made a secret decision in his heart.

The fate of the future is unpredictable, but he will try his best to change what can be changed.

Afterwards, Uchiha Kagezuki, Orochimaru and Tsunade bid farewell to Jiraiya and set out on the journey back to Konoha.

In their hearts, each of them had deep thoughts about this war and the future.