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Description

When the cold, heavy rain at last let off around ten o’clock PM, the drenched band of Konohagakure forces took heart. Now that the deafening pelt faded to a soft drip, each shinobi could hear their neighbor sigh in relief, for this sign, like so many others, signaled the end of Amegakure’s war was near. At the outset, they had been so cocky. How could one small nation stand against their own, let alone two others of comparable strength? They never questioned their victory. And they still didn’t. But now, after nearly a year of heavy bloodshed, they questioned the cost. After many more humbling defeats than Konohagakure would like to number, the Land of Fire had at last awakened to the fact that the little Land of Rain was a worthy adversary and that if they failed to strategize against it, they risked losing more than their pride.

Turning the tables so late in the game had not been easy. Even before they had so much as lifted a finger to fight back, the damage had been done. Amegakure’s sudden invasion and occupation of their homeland had shattered their confidence. The name Sanshōuo no Hanzō, once inspiring fear and awe, now struck the Leaf shinobi with debilitating terror. And smelling Konohagakure’s fear, Sunagakure and Iwagakure had used every tool in their arsenal to exploit it. Finally, after many months of ceaseless struggle, Konohagakure had finally managed to expel the invaders and at last set foot upon Konohagakure’s soil.

Tonight marked one of the last battles they would need to wage on Amegakure’s soil. Their target: a village garrison of great strategic importance. Crouching in the thick forest brush outside the village, the shinobi force waited for nightfall and better visibility. As the end of the rain signaled both, the Konohagakure general, Hirohito motioned to the three front teams. Nodding in understanding, the nine shinobi departed to infiltrate and destroy village.

Farther back from the front, three shinobi crouched together and exchanged dubious glances. “This doesn’t feel right. What’s Hirohito thinking? There’s got to be loads of civilians in that village. This is going to be a massacre!”

“Quiet, Jiraiya!” the shinobi’s pale-faced teammate, Orochimaru, hissed. “It’s no worse than what they’ve effectively done to us. It’s shameful that the Leaf has lost so much to this puny nation. Finally, we’re about to put them in their place and give them a true taste of despair.”

“As much as I hate to agree with the idiot,” their third teammate, Tsunade, sighed, “he has a point. We can’t blame innocent people for the decisions of their government. Hirohito has crossed a line this time, and when the Third hears about it, he won’t be pleased. For now, I’m just thankful we weren’t selected for the initial infiltration.”

“Same here,” Jiraiya agreed. “Besides, it looks like our friends on the inside are making quick work of this. I haven’t heard an alarm or sensed any disturbance whatsoever. Maybe they’ll manage to seize the garrison with minimal bloodshed, and later we can force the villagers to evacuate.”

“I’m beginning to wonder if there are any villagers there in need of evacuation,” Orochimaru’s snake-like eyes narrowed in suspicion. “There’s something wrong here. No matter how stealthy our forces may be, I find it hard to believe no one has noticed them by now or sounded an alarm. Even if shinobi don’t leave a trial, dead bodies do.”

“Hirohito’s cupping his earpiece,” Tsunade said, pointing to their commander, “so he must be getting some message from our comrades on the inside.” For several moments, the three focused their attention on the shinobi general as he processed the incoming message. Slamming the small speaker closer to his ear, Hirohito rocketed violently to his feet and signaled the motion to retreat.

“Retreat?!” Jiraiya’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “But why? They can’t possibly have an army hidden in that tiny village, and there’s at least a hundred of us still in the forest!”

“They don’t need an army,” Orochimaru tensed in alarm. “In this war, the Third gave us flee-on-sight orders for one man, which could only mean . . .” Tsunade and Jiraiya’s eyes widened in horror and understanding before Orochimaru could even finish his sentence. The Third had directed everyone to steer clear of one man, and that one man was Sanshōuo no Hanzō.

And apparently, he was waiting for them.

“Let’s get out of here!” Tsunade shouted, encouraging her teammates to their feet. Before the two men had risen halfway, however, the three were rocked back to the ground by a violent tremor. “What on earth?!” Bracing themselves against the ground and readying their kunai, the trio turned to face the epicenter of the quake. Further into the woods than any of their eyes could see in the darkness, shouts began to erupt, followed shortly by a shinobi stampede fleeing back towards the village.

With a forceful tug, Jiraiya pulled one of the panicked shinobi to his side. “What’s going on back there?!”

“I don’t know,” the man stuttered in response, “but—” The shinobi’s final words were suddenly cut off by the tremendous crash of a felled tree. Regaining his terror anew, the shinobi pulled free of Jiraiya’s grip and fled as the outline of an enormous creature arrested the trio’s attention. With great effort, the ovalesque beast raised itself on its hind legs, bracing its titan-like body with webbed hands against two tree trunks. Soundlessly, the creature lowered his head and opened its cavernous mouth, releasing its breath with an ominous exhale. The thick plume of gas that emerged quickly swallowed up and silenced the forest, including all those unlucky enough to have straggled behind.

“Hanzō’s salamander, Ibuse,” Orochimaru confirmed. “Let’s go. Traveling these woods is no longer an option.”

“But where to?” Tsunade gasped as they began to run. “If Hanzō’s in the village and Ibuse’s patrolling the woods, that only leaves the plain beyond the village. Since Hanzō was clearly expecting us, he probably has an army already stationed there waiting for us. We’ll be sitting ducks!”

“If the rumors I’ve heard are true,” Jiraiya said, clenching his teeth, “we’d do better running into an army than Hanzō.”

Exchanging solemn frowns of agreement, the three pressed on in the direction of their fleeing comrades. Bypassing the village, they raced on towards the plains. Casting a sideways glance at the scorched earth beneath them, Tsunade could see that this ground was no stranger to battle. Luring them here had been Hanzō’s plan all along. Amegakure now held the home field advantage, and almost as if sensing the turning tide, the sky once more began to pour. As the forces raced blindly onward, a mass of objects in the distance became visible. The weather worsening, a bolt of lightning flashed above them briefly, but long enough to confirm Tsunade’s fears: Hanzō’s army stood ready and waiting. “How many of them are there?”

“A lot more than us,” Jiraiya said, gritting his teeth. “Taking them head on without a plan isn’t going to work.”

“I wonder if they plan to take us on at all,” Orochimaru observed. “They don’t seem concerned that we’re racing towards them. But it also doesn’t look like they’re preparing to attack.” Sure enough, the silent army remained still and unflinching as the Konohagakure forces raced towards them. However, as the trio drew nearer, it became apparent that the army was becoming smaller and smaller as it receded into the distance. “They’re retreating, but why?”

Seconds later, a second bolt of lightning cracked above them, directing their attention to a massive, falling object from the sky. All gaped in astonishment as the creature from the forest reappeared in midair, though this time, not alone. For a brief moment, the shinobi could see a solitary figure atop the beast’s head before vanishing into thin air. Ibuse, mere moments before crashing into the earth and burrowing into the ground, opened his massive jaws once more to bathe the battlefield in a plume of poison. Wasting no time to confer with one another, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru scattered, becoming separated in the evacuating stampede. Believing herself safe, Tsunade turned to survey the damage. Even with the purple haze still permeating the field, she could sense that their loss from that one attack had been great. Up to a third of their forces were likely dead or would be soon as the toxins flooded their systems. And without an antidote, there was nothing she could do. And I call myself a medical shinobi, she laughed bitterly. If Konohagakure was going to continue waging wars this way, they needed a stronger and better equipped force of medical shinobi. All around her, comrades dropped like flies. Perhaps she could save a handful, but it would be a drop in the bucket. If she survived this war, she decided, she had an idea or two to run by the Third about medical shinobi reform.

A burst of sudden shouts behind her whipped her back to reality, reminding her how unlikely surviving this war had just become.

Swiveling towards the origin of the shouts, Tsunade arrived just in time to witness a group of shinobi encircled by a linked chain. As the chain drew them closer together, the shinobi were suddenly ensnared within a bubble of paper bombs that ignited in quick succession. Leaping from the explosion, the massive figure of Sanshōuo no Hanzō quickly leapt to the next group of shinobi, doing away with them in rapid succession. Against him, all techniques appeared futile. A hapless Uchiha, activating his sharingan in preparation for a genjutsu attack, found himself suddenly blinded by a paper bomb. Next, a Hyuuga gearing up for a soft fist technique was suddenly deprived of his fists by a cruel slice of the Rain leader’s kusarigama. Both mesmerized and terrified, Tsunade stood petrified as she watched the fierce leader annihilate all in his way.

Once Hanzō’s kusarigama crashed down upon a familiar head of long, white hair, Tsunade at last regained her ability to move. Adrenaline surged through her as she watched Jiraiya prepared his Lion’s Mane ninjutsu to defend himself, only to suffer Hanzō’s blow before completing the technique. While Hanzō raced on to his next victim, Tsunade rushed to the staggered Jiraiya. “JIRAIYA! Are you hurt?!” Her teammate merely groaned in response. Gently, Tsunade lowered him to the ground to inspect the wound. “He clipped your side. Had it not been for your hair, you would have been disemboweled. The cut looks deep, but not life threatening. I can patch you up for now, but you need serious help as soon as possible,” she said, laying her hands upon his waist to perform her medical jutsu.

“How is he?” Orochimaru’s voice called from behind.

“Orochimaru, where the hell have you been?!” Tsunade hissed between clenched teeth.

“I’ve been a little too busy strategizing a counter attack to stand around and gape like you,” Orochimaru retorted.

“Knock it off, both of you,” Jiraiya grunted, feeling well enough to sit up. “To stand a chance of making it out of here alive, we’re going to have to work together. Can’t you see? Hanzō’s taking advantage of the chaos to cut us down one by one. Remember Hiruzen’s bell training? Three are stronger than one.”

“But Jiraiya,” Tsunade frowned, “are you feeling well enough to fight?”

“I’ll manage. Orochimaru, any ideas on how to beat this guy?”

“I have a few, so listen carefully.”

_____

With one final slice of his kusarigama, Hanzō paused to enjoy the newfound quiet. The battlefield was silent now, save for the pelting rain. Calling off his forces had been the right decision, he determined. He was more than strong enough to take on this small army, and by taking care of it himself he protected his men from further loss of life. Regretfully, he admitted that this war had lasted longer than he could afford. He no longer possessed the foothold necessary to occupy Konohagakure, nor the forces necessary to regain it. Ending the war with terms most favorable to Amegakure would now become his top priority.

Glancing behind him, Hanzō surveyed his three remaining opponents. One he thought he’d already killed. The other two must have hidden from him in the shadows. No matter. He would make quick work of them like he had every other opponent in this battle. “Ibuse!” he called to the burrowed salamander. “Let’s finish this.”

As the beast sprung from the earth, Hanzō leapt to avoid the falling debris and take his place on his summon’s head. Below him, the three stalwart shinobi gazed up at him in challenge. What a shame that none survive to witness your bravery, Hanzō thought ruefully. Deciding to honor their courage with quick deaths, Hanzō attacked with a barrage of explosive kunai. As the three attempted to dodge, he pursued them with continued assault until they landed into his next trap. Starting with the girl, Hanzō activated the hidden explosive tags around her feet, causing them to encircle her legs. Before detonation, however, Hanzō watched with surprise as her teammate pulled the girl to safety with his hair, shielding them both from the blast. “What?!,” Hanzō’s eyes widened in intrigue. So this is how he survived my attack earlier.

Distracted by the shinobi’s unusual technique, Hanzō suddenly found his body restrained by tight coils. No, not coils. Snakes. Out of the corner of his eye, Hanzō could see the third shinobi summoning the reptiles from his sleeves. If the plan was to immobilize me, that must mean the others are preparing to attack. The whistle of needles flying through the air confirmed Hanzō’s suspicion. The white-headed shinobi was now using his hair offensively, firing dart after dart of spine-like hair towards him. Clever, he acknowledged, but useless. With a small burst of chakra, the Rain leader teleported himself and Ibuse out of range.

Reappearing this time closer to the three shinobi, Hanzō watched in satisfaction as the hopelessness of their situation dawned upon their faces. To his surprise once more, however, the tenacious white-haired shinobi gritted his teeth and launched himself for yet another desperate attack. Choosing not to react, Hanzō allowed Ibuse to toss the man aside with a heavy thwack of his tail. With a heavy thud, the shinobi landed upon the muddy earth and struggled to raise himself for a time before helped to his feet by his female teammate. Uncertain how to proceed, the three stared him down, gasping to catch their breath.

Hanzō had to give them credit. Not only had they managed to survive this long, but also, they refused to run away in the face of certain defeat. It had been years since he’d witnessed such pluck from mere foot soldiers. It’s courageous men and women like these we need to change the world, he realized. Making up his mind, he addressed the trio for the first time. “I predict Konohagakure shall emerge victorious from this battle. Therefore, I shall let you three live,” he decided.

“We don’t want your sympathy!” the white-headed shinobi barked. “We can still fight!”

“Jiraiya, stop!” the female shouted in effort to silence him.

“You three are very strong,” Hanzō marveled. “You survived even this battleground . . . I, Hanzō, hereby christen you the Three Sannin of Konoha. In exchange for your lives, I would know your names.”

The three glanced at one another in hesitation before sounding off.

“Jiraiya.”

“Tsunade."

“Orochimaru.”

“Then Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru, return to your country. Use your intelligence to question the corrupt order around you and your strength to change it. Now go.”

Not needing to be told twice, the three shinobi turned their tails and fled, glancing back only briefly to catch one last glimpse of the man who had just changed their lives forever.

Description

When the cold, heavy rain at last let off around ten o’clock PM, the drenched band of Konohagakure forces took heart. Now that the deafening pelt faded to a soft drip, each shinobi could hear their neighbor sigh in relief, for this sign, like so many others, signaled the end of Amegakure’s war was near. At the outset, they had been so cocky. How could one small nation stand against their own, let alone two others of comparable strength? They never questioned their victory. And they still didn’t. But now, after nearly a year of heavy bloodshed, they questioned the cost. After many more humbling defeats than Konohagakure would like to number, the Land of Fire had at last awakened to the fact that the little Land of Rain was a worthy adversary and that if they failed to strategize against it, they risked losing more than their pride.

Turning the tables so late in the game had not been easy. Even before they had so much as lifted a finger to fight back, the damage had been done. Amegakure’s sudden invasion and occupation of their homeland had shattered their confidence. The name Sanshōuo no Hanzō, once inspiring fear and awe, now struck the Leaf shinobi with debilitating terror. And smelling Konohagakure’s fear, Sunagakure and Iwagakure had used every tool in their arsenal to exploit it. Finally, after many months of ceaseless struggle, Konohagakure had finally managed to expel the invaders and at last set foot upon Konohagakure’s soil.

Tonight marked one of the last battles they would need to wage on Amegakure’s soil. Their target: a village garrison of great strategic importance. Crouching in the thick forest brush outside the village, the shinobi force waited for nightfall and better visibility. As the end of the rain signaled both, the Konohagakure general, Hirohito motioned to the three front teams. Nodding in understanding, the nine shinobi departed to infiltrate and destroy village.

Farther back from the front, three shinobi crouched together and exchanged dubious glances. “This doesn’t feel right. What’s Hirohito thinking? There’s got to be loads of civilians in that village. This is going to be a massacre!”

“Quiet, Jiraiya!” the shinobi’s pale-faced teammate, Orochimaru, hissed. “It’s no worse than what they’ve effectively done to us. It’s shameful that the Leaf has lost so much to this puny nation. Finally, we’re about to put them in their place and give them a true taste of despair.”

“As much as I hate to agree with the idiot,” their third teammate, Tsunade, sighed, “he has a point. We can’t blame innocent people for the decisions of their government. Hirohito has crossed a line this time, and when the Third hears about it, he won’t be pleased. For now, I’m just thankful we weren’t selected for the initial infiltration.”

“Same here,” Jiraiya agreed. “Besides, it looks like our friends on the inside are making quick work of this. I haven’t heard an alarm or sensed any disturbance whatsoever. Maybe they’ll manage to seize the garrison with minimal bloodshed, and later we can force the villagers to evacuate.”

“I’m beginning to wonder if there are any villagers there in need of evacuation,” Orochimaru’s snake-like eyes narrowed in suspicion. “There’s something wrong here. No matter how stealthy our forces may be, I find it hard to believe no one has noticed them by now or sounded an alarm. Even if shinobi don’t leave a trial, dead bodies do.”

“Hirohito’s cupping his earpiece,” Tsunade said, pointing to their commander, “so he must be getting some message from our comrades on the inside.” For several moments, the three focused their attention on the shinobi general as he processed the incoming message. Slamming the small speaker closer to his ear, Hirohito rocketed violently to his feet and signaled the motion to retreat.

“Retreat?!” Jiraiya’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “But why? They can’t possibly have an army hidden in that tiny village, and there’s at least a hundred of us still in the forest!”

“They don’t need an army,” Orochimaru tensed in alarm. “In this war, the Third gave us flee-on-sight orders for one man, which could only mean . . .” Tsunade and Jiraiya’s eyes widened in horror and understanding before Orochimaru could even finish his sentence. The Third had directed everyone to steer clear of one man, and that one man was Sanshōuo no Hanzō.

And apparently, he was waiting for them.

“Let’s get out of here!” Tsunade shouted, encouraging her teammates to their feet. Before the two men had risen halfway, however, the three were rocked back to the ground by a violent tremor. “What on earth?!” Bracing themselves against the ground and readying their kunai, the trio turned to face the epicenter of the quake. Further into the woods than any of their eyes could see in the darkness, shouts began to erupt, followed shortly by a shinobi stampede fleeing back towards the village.

With a forceful tug, Jiraiya pulled one of the panicked shinobi to his side. “What’s going on back there?!”

“I don’t know,” the man stuttered in response, “but—” The shinobi’s final words were suddenly cut off by the tremendous crash of a felled tree. Regaining his terror anew, the shinobi pulled free of Jiraiya’s grip and fled as the outline of an enormous creature arrested the trio’s attention. With great effort, the ovalesque beast raised itself on its hind legs, bracing its titan-like body with webbed hands against two tree trunks. Soundlessly, the creature lowered his head and opened its cavernous mouth, releasing its breath with an ominous exhale. The thick plume of gas that emerged quickly swallowed up and silenced the forest, including all those unlucky enough to have straggled behind.

“Hanzō’s salamander, Ibuse,” Orochimaru confirmed. “Let’s go. Traveling these woods is no longer an option.”

“But where to?” Tsunade gasped as they began to run. “If Hanzō’s in the village and Ibuse’s patrolling the woods, that only leaves the plain beyond the village. Since Hanzō was clearly expecting us, he probably has an army already stationed there waiting for us. We’ll be sitting ducks!”

“If the rumors I’ve heard are true,” Jiraiya said, clenching his teeth, “we’d do better running into an army than Hanzō.”

Exchanging solemn frowns of agreement, the three pressed on in the direction of their fleeing comrades. Bypassing the village, they raced on towards the plains. Casting a sideways glance at the scorched earth beneath them, Tsunade could see that this ground was no stranger to battle. Luring them here had been Hanzō’s plan all along. Amegakure now held the home field advantage, and almost as if sensing the turning tide, the sky once more began to pour. As the forces raced blindly onward, a mass of objects in the distance became visible. The weather worsening, a bolt of lightning flashed above them briefly, but long enough to confirm Tsunade’s fears: Hanzō’s army stood ready and waiting. “How many of them are there?”

“A lot more than us,” Jiraiya said, gritting his teeth. “Taking them head on without a plan isn’t going to work.”

“I wonder if they plan to take us on at all,” Orochimaru observed. “They don’t seem concerned that we’re racing towards them. But it also doesn’t look like they’re preparing to attack.” Sure enough, the silent army remained still and unflinching as the Konohagakure forces raced towards them. However, as the trio drew nearer, it became apparent that the army was becoming smaller and smaller as it receded into the distance. “They’re retreating, but why?”

Seconds later, a second bolt of lightning cracked above them, directing their attention to a massive, falling object from the sky. All gaped in astonishment as the creature from the forest reappeared in midair, though this time, not alone. For a brief moment, the shinobi could see a solitary figure atop the beast’s head before vanishing into thin air. Ibuse, mere moments before crashing into the earth and burrowing into the ground, opened his massive jaws once more to bathe the battlefield in a plume of poison. Wasting no time to confer with one another, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru scattered, becoming separated in the evacuating stampede. Believing herself safe, Tsunade turned to survey the damage. Even with the purple haze still permeating the field, she could sense that their loss from that one attack had been great. Up to a third of their forces were likely dead or would be soon as the toxins flooded their systems. And without an antidote, there was nothing she could do. And I call myself a medical shinobi, she laughed bitterly. If Konohagakure was going to continue waging wars this way, they needed a stronger and better equipped force of medical shinobi. All around her, comrades dropped like flies. Perhaps she could save a handful, but it would be a drop in the bucket. If she survived this war, she decided, she had an idea or two to run by the Third about medical shinobi reform.

A burst of sudden shouts behind her whipped her back to reality, reminding her how unlikely surviving this war had just become.

Swiveling towards the origin of the shouts, Tsunade arrived just in time to witness a group of shinobi encircled by a linked chain. As the chain drew them closer together, the shinobi were suddenly ensnared within a bubble of paper bombs that ignited in quick succession. Leaping from the explosion, the massive figure of Sanshōuo no Hanzō quickly leapt to the next group of shinobi, doing away with them in rapid succession. Against him, all techniques appeared futile. A hapless Uchiha, activating his sharingan in preparation for a genjutsu attack, found himself suddenly blinded by a paper bomb. Next, a Hyuuga gearing up for a soft fist technique was suddenly deprived of his fists by a cruel slice of the Rain leader’s kusarigama. Both mesmerized and terrified, Tsunade stood petrified as she watched the fierce leader annihilate all in his way.

Once Hanzō’s kusarigama crashed down upon a familiar head of long, white hair, Tsunade at last regained her ability to move. Adrenaline surged through her as she watched Jiraiya prepared his Lion’s Mane ninjutsu to defend himself, only to suffer Hanzō’s blow before completing the technique. While Hanzō raced on to his next victim, Tsunade rushed to the staggered Jiraiya. “JIRAIYA! Are you hurt?!” Her teammate merely groaned in response. Gently, Tsunade lowered him to the ground to inspect the wound. “He clipped your side. Had it not been for your hair, you would have been disemboweled. The cut looks deep, but not life threatening. I can patch you up for now, but you need serious help as soon as possible,” she said, laying her hands upon his waist to perform her medical jutsu.

“How is he?” Orochimaru’s voice called from behind.

“Orochimaru, where the hell have you been?!” Tsunade hissed between clenched teeth.

“I’ve been a little too busy strategizing a counter attack to stand around and gape like you,” Orochimaru retorted.

“Knock it off, both of you,” Jiraiya grunted, feeling well enough to sit up. “To stand a chance of making it out of here alive, we’re going to have to work together. Can’t you see? Hanzō’s taking advantage of the chaos to cut us down one by one. Remember Hiruzen’s bell training? Three are stronger than one.”

“But Jiraiya,” Tsunade frowned, “are you feeling well enough to fight?”

“I’ll manage. Orochimaru, any ideas on how to beat this guy?”

“I have a few, so listen carefully.”

_____

With one final slice of his kusarigama, Hanzō paused to enjoy the newfound quiet. The battlefield was silent now, save for the pelting rain. Calling off his forces had been the right decision, he determined. He was more than strong enough to take on this small army, and by taking care of it himself he protected his men from further loss of life. Regretfully, he admitted that this war had lasted longer than he could afford. He no longer possessed the foothold necessary to occupy Konohagakure, nor the forces necessary to regain it. Ending the war with terms most favorable to Amegakure would now become his top priority.

Glancing behind him, Hanzō surveyed his three remaining opponents. One he thought he’d already killed. The other two must have hidden from him in the shadows. No matter. He would make quick work of them like he had every other opponent in this battle. “Ibuse!” he called to the burrowed salamander. “Let’s finish this.”

As the beast sprung from the earth, Hanzō leapt to avoid the falling debris and take his place on his summon’s head. Below him, the three stalwart shinobi gazed up at him in challenge. What a shame that none survive to witness your bravery, Hanzō thought ruefully. Deciding to honor their courage with quick deaths, Hanzō attacked with a barrage of explosive kunai. As the three attempted to dodge, he pursued them with continued assault until they landed into his next trap. Starting with the girl, Hanzō activated the hidden explosive tags around her feet, causing them to encircle her legs. Before detonation, however, Hanzō watched with surprise as her teammate pulled the girl to safety with his hair, shielding them both from the blast. “What?!,” Hanzō’s eyes widened in intrigue. So this is how he survived my attack earlier.

Distracted by the shinobi’s unusual technique, Hanzō suddenly found his body restrained by tight coils. No, not coils. Snakes. Out of the corner of his eye, Hanzō could see the third shinobi summoning the reptiles from his sleeves. If the plan was to immobilize me, that must mean the others are preparing to attack. The whistle of needles flying through the air confirmed Hanzō’s suspicion. The white-headed shinobi was now using his hair offensively, firing dart after dart of spine-like hair towards him. Clever, he acknowledged, but useless. With a small burst of chakra, the Rain leader teleported himself and Ibuse out of range.

Reappearing this time closer to the three shinobi, Hanzō watched in satisfaction as the hopelessness of their situation dawned upon their faces. To his surprise once more, however, the tenacious white-haired shinobi gritted his teeth and launched himself for yet another desperate attack. Choosing not to react, Hanzō allowed Ibuse to toss the man aside with a heavy thwack of his tail. With a heavy thud, the shinobi landed upon the muddy earth and struggled to raise himself for a time before helped to his feet by his female teammate. Uncertain how to proceed, the three stared him down, gasping to catch their breath.

Hanzō had to give them credit. Not only had they managed to survive this long, but also, they refused to run away in the face of certain defeat. It had been years since he’d witnessed such pluck from mere foot soldiers. It’s courageous men and women like these we need to change the world, he realized. Making up his mind, he addressed the trio for the first time. “I predict Konohagakure shall emerge victorious from this battle. Therefore, I shall let you three live,” he decided.

“We don’t want your sympathy!” the white-headed shinobi barked. “We can still fight!”

“Jiraiya, stop!” the female shouted in effort to silence him.

“You three are very strong,” Hanzō marveled. “You survived even this battleground . . . I, Hanzō, hereby christen you the Three Sannin of Konoha. In exchange for your lives, I would know your names.”

The three glanced at one another in hesitation before sounding off.

“Jiraiya.”

“Tsunade."

“Orochimaru.”

“Then Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru, return to your country. Use your intelligence to question the corrupt order around you and your strength to change it. Now go.”

Not needing to be told twice, the three shinobi turned their tails and fled, glancing back only briefly to catch one last glimpse of the man who had just changed their lives forever.