Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Author's Note: This is the final part of the battle against Hanzo where Tsunade, Jiraiya and Orochimaru risk it all. Special thanks to Magnusrae who has been sending me many reviews to help me improve. I understand if you don't have time, but I have been getting many views and I just want to ask that if you can, please just drop a quick review because it would help me a lot. Thanks! Please read and enjoy!
Tsunade, Jiraiya and Orochimaru were dying.
Tsunade had blown out Poison Mist to counteract Hanzo's poison, but if it was helping, the change was unnoticeable.
''What's going on Tsunade? Why can't you heal us?'' spluttered Jiraiya.
Tsunade staggered to her feet and examined the mist thoroughly. At the same time, Orochimaru was examining the chakra salamanders which Hanzo had released. They seemed harmless, but if they were a part of Hanzo's ''ultimate'' ninjutsu, they had to be dangerous somehow.
Tsunade's eyes widened as she realised what had happened.
''Both of you listen to me carefully,'' she hissed. ''The poison surrounding us is of the same composition as that of the salamander, but it's on a totally different level of potency.
Jiraiya opened his mouth to ask something but a fierce look from Tsunade effectively shut him up. Orochimaru needed no such warning. When it came to poison, no one was better than Tsunade.
''However, that isn't why I couldn't counter it. The composition of the poison differs in one way.'' She turned and glared in Hanzo's direction. ''The poison itself is thicker than air, so we can't breathe properly or blow it away.''
The other two stared at her as if she were insane. ''Then how are we breathing Tsunade?'' asked Orochimaru, his voice laced with scepticism.
''We're not,'' she said flatly. The other two opened their mouths to argue, but Tsunade cut them off. ''I don't know how, but Hanzo has managed to cut off our sense of perception. We were dying the whole time and we didn't even know.''
Orochimaru seemed to be aroused by this and his head suddenly shot up, his eyes darting around. ''The salamanders,'' he said urgently. ''These salamanders aren't here to attack us. They're here to steal the electricity in our bodies that help us move and think.''
Tsunade's eyes widened in alarm and she stared at the other two. ''We need to get out of here now. If we don't we'll stop breathing altogether and die.''
It was at that precise moment that Jiraiya held up a hand and said clearly ''stop.'' The other two gaped at him.
''Stop?'' said Orochimaru incredulously. ''If we don't leave now there's no way we'll survive.''
''And if we leave we'll die anyway.'' Jiraiya said these words with such certainty that they instantly trusted him.
Jiraiya knew he wasn't as intelligent as his teammates, but he wasn't stupid in any sense of the word. He was normally happy to leave planning and deduction to Orochimaru and Tsunade, but this time he had noticed something that they hadn't.
''Think about it. If those salamanders suck away our perception when they're at the very edges of the mist, getting any closer will mean that we won't even be able to think, let alone escape the poison.''
Orochimaru and Tsunade looked at Jiraiya with newfound respect. Without him, they probably would have ran straight into that trap.
''Then what do we do Jiraiya?'' asked Tsunade with a grim smile. ''Stand here and wait for the end to come?''
''Exactly,'' echoed Hanzo's voice through the mist. ''I don't know what you're planning but no matter what you do, you can't win. The salamanders can't be destroyed and the mist is controlled by my chakra, so in the end-
''SHUT UP!'' The cry that had come from Jiraiya was so powerful that for a second, his teammates had staggered away.
''We're not dead yet so keep your mouth shut until we are,'' he said with so much venom that even Hanzo was surprised.
''Let's end this now Hanzo!'' he continued, every word filled with conviction. Jiraiya looked at his teammates- no, his friends, and steeled himself for what could be their last battle.
They sprang into action, knowing each other so well that words were unnecessary. Jiraiya and Orochimaru stood shoulder to shoulder while Tsunade stood in front of them. The mud blew away from them as they built up chakra.
Hanzo readied himself. The three ninja were so far away from him now and were trapped in his Salamander Hell technique.
At close range the woman with the medical techniques would do away with him in minutes, but at long range she couldn't defeat him and the other two had powerful ninjutsu, but at such a range, the power of any attack would be reduced.
Their chances of winning were slim to say the least, but Hanzo had learned not to underestimate these three ninja. The ground began to blow away from him as he kneaded chakra.
''Explosive Wall!'' Hanzo slammed his palm on the ground after making a sequence of seals and the ground seemed to turn into explosive tags as they were summoned and made to form a huge wall. Hanzo smiled smugly. If this was hit, the explosion would be channelled out along the trajectory of hat it had been hit by.
In other words, one attack and the three ninjas would be blown to bits.
Suddenly, Tsunade raised her hand with the fingers open like in a karate chop. Without hesitation, she slammed it down onto the ground and her own monstrous strength along with all the chakra she had left created an immense chasm.
The defensive wall Hanzo had formed fell into the chasm along with Ibuse and Hanzo had to jump off of it to avoid falling. Ibuse disappeared with a poof and a huge amount of rocks were blown upwards at Hanzo as soon as the wall exploded.
His eyes filled with dust, he was momentarily distracted and as Tsunade collapsed, Jiraiya and Orochimaru released their attack. The sword of Kusanagi extended through the dust at incredible speed with half a dozen snakes flying out of Orochimaru's mouth alongside it.
At the same time, Jiraiya soaked the blade with oil and lit it with the most powerful flame he could manage. A huge flame was lit and the extending blade carried it along, the heat turning it into a true sword of fire.
The blade hit Hanzo, tearing through his stomach like butter and the snakes sunk their poisonous fangs into his arms. The cry of agony he let out was inhuman and he collapsed on the ground, almost falling into Tsunade's chasm.
Jiraiya collapsed alongside Tsunade; both of them having used up almost all their chakra and Orochimaru fell on one knee, close to collapsing himself. The three managed to rise with Orochimaru practically holding them up.
They stared at Hanzo, his burnt bloody form lying on the ground.
Suddenly, his body shook violently and he clambered to his feet, his arms and stomach bleeding profusely.
''You survived that?'' Tsunade asked incredulously. She had never seen anyone recover from wounds of that magnitude in all her years as a medic. ''Are you immortal?''
Hanzo smirked. ''Hardly.'' He pulled up his shirt, revealing a tag that read ''Shield.'' ''I have been pierced in the stomach before and to prepare for such events I made a special tag imbued with chakra to block any stomach attack. However, I never expected you to be able to pierce it.''
Orochimaru's mind had been working furiously to find a way to get out of this situation. They were all exhausted and none of them had enough chakra for a jutsu. The other two were too tired to even walk, let alone run. On top of that, they were still trapped in the Salamander Hell. It was truly over.
Hanzo held up a hand. ''That's enough,'' he said wearily. ''I respect your power. Not only did I fail to kill you so many times, but you almost managed to kill me.'' He tilted his head and looked at them. ''Tell me your names and in exchange I will let you live and give you the name of Sannin, which you will carry into battle from now on.''
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. ''Why would you do that?'' Hanzo raised an eyebrow.
''You don't have much time,'' he said, gesturing to the poison fog. Orochimaru stared at his dying friends and closed his eyes.
''I am Orochimaru, and these two are Jiraiya and Tsunade.'' Hanzo nodded and made a seal. The poison evaporated and the salamanders disappeared, giving them back their sense of perception.
They suddenly realised how little air they had left and all of them nearly blacked out instantly. They fell on the ground, their heads swimming. It took them several minutes to regain their strength and even then they were unable to stand.
''Why are you doing this?'' questioned Orochimaru. Hanzo seemed to ponder the question.
''Konoha (The Village Hidden in the Leaves) will undoubtedly win this battle in the end and you three deserve recognition for your skills, so I wanted to reward you for giving me such a challenging fight.''
The three looked at each other and smiled. They were now The Three Legendary Shinobi. They were the Sannin.
Later, as Hanzo trudged back to Amegakure (The Village Hidden in the Rain); he looked at the receding forms of the three ninja. Throughout the entire battle, he had not inflicted one lasting injury upon them. The only time he had nearly killed them was when he had activated Salamander Hell.
Also, in the battle, he had sensed something powerful in them. Something stronger than any ninja skill. He smiled. Perhaps with ninja like those three, his meagre dream for peace could come true one day.
Author's note: I worked on many ideas for Hanzo's Salamander Hell. I needed something powerful, but not something that would seem ridiculously over the top. It took me a while but I hope you enjoyed it. My next Naruto Fanfic will be about Tsunade against a certain someone I think she should have fought against in the actual series. Please check it out once it's done and review. Thank you!