"GO IBUSEEEE ! ! !" Hanzõ shouts.

*PUOOOOOFFF

A large cloud of poisonous smoke covers the battlefield.

Yamasaki carries Hamada away from the battlefield, leaving only Miura and Kotaka, who both jump to escape Hanzõ's poison.

Kosuke is frightened by the poisonous fog surrounding them, but observing his sensei's calmness in the fog, Kosuke is relieved to realize that his mask protected him from the poisonous cloud.

When Miura and Kotaka land, they notice a strange movement in the ground around their feet.

"Katon: Kibaku Enjin"

The ground around Miura and Kotaka's feet deforms, becoming explosive paper and moving towards their feet.

Kotaka jumps back against the ground so as not to lose contact with the surface in order to dodge more immediately, but Miura, in an act of desperation, jumps backwards, but upwards, while Miura had successfully dodged the explosive papers, he hears in the distance.

*VUOOOOOOSSSHHH TCHRIMmMmMm

Hanzõ's Kusarigama came at him with a sharp cut to the stomach.

"Huh?" Miura exclaimed in surprise.

Miura couldn't dodge it and his kunai probably couldn't withstand the impact.

*VUOOOOOOSSSHHH TCHRIMmMmMm

Kotaka appeared in the air in front of Miura, holding the kusarigama with his iron glove. While holding the blade, Kotaka notices an explosive paper in Hanzõ's scythe.

*Tsiuuu

The paper prepares to explode.

Kotaka kicks Miura out of the way, concentrates a chakra cape around his glove, and holds the bomb paper with his right hand to control the explosion.

*BOOM

The bomb paper explodes in front of Kotaka with reduced force.

The impact of the explosion pushes Hanzõ's scythe away from Kotaka in the opposite direction, where Hanzõ takes the opportunity to bring the scythe back into his grasp.

Kotaka falls to the ground in fighting position.

"Humph Humph" Kotaka sighs, opening the palm of the iron glove in front of him, watching the smoke and heat.

"I'm sorry Kotak..." Miura apologizes, only to have his apology cut short by Kotaka's reply.

"MIURA!" Kotaka shouted.

Miura was startled and listened intently.

"Think of this fight as a one-shot fight, Hanzõ will use every opportunity to hit you, I don't need to explain why, you know very well" Kotaka said.

Miura showed a surprised expression when he was warned.

Hanzõ, the salamander ninja, has one of the most deadly poisons in the ninja world, a single cut would be able to immobilize even the most powerful ninja in the ninja world, a single blow would mean death.

It was then that Miura realized his challenge.

A horizontal beam that cut through the poisonous smoke of Hanzõ's blow gradually reached the level of vision of all the participants on the battlefield, allowing them to see each other through the gap.

Kotaka advanced.

*VUOSHHH

With incredible speed, Kotaka moves through the gap left by Hanzõ's cut, keeping his face close to the gap where the poison has dissipated.

Kotaka moves towards Hanzõ and strikes a deadly blow with his iron glove.

Kosuke surprisingly manages to observe Kotaka's movement and takes Hanzõ's lead, using his suzaku lotus to defend the blow.

*Tchlack tchlack tchlack tchlack tchlack tchlack tchlack

*TUMmMmMm

Kosuke defends the blow in front of Hanzõ who throws them both a few meters away from the impact.

Hanzõ holds Kosuke to maintain his defensive position.

Inara jumps back and throws 3 kunai with explosive seals in front of Kotaka.

Kotaka takes advantage of his speed and dodges back, sweeping through the cloud of poison while still taking advantage of the gap in Hanzõ's cut next to Miura.

After Hanzõ and Kosuke recover from the blow, Hanzõ thinks.

"It is amazing that he was able to withstand such an impact from one of Kotaka's blows... many would have given in to such a blow."

Kosuke stayed in fighting position next to Hanzõ so as not to obstruct his view of the battlefield.

"Brave..." Hanzõ thought.

"Kid, this tool is a great defense, but being a ninja is not only about being able to defend yourself, you also have to be a good attacker" Hanzõ said.

"Huh?" Kosuke exclaimed and listened attentively to Hanzõs words.

Hanzõ placed his left palm on the center of Kosuke's suzaku lotus and made a jutsu seal with his other hand.

"Bakuton : Shi no fūin"

*Tsum

A seal formed in the center of Kosuke's suzaku lotus.

"This is an explosive seal, you can use it to repel the enemy's attack, or even as a counterattack, using the force imposed by the enemy's blow to your advantage" Hanzõ said.

"Oh..." Kosuke said in surprise and looked at the explosion symbol.

"IDIOT, DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME?" Hanzõ shouted.

"Glup" Kosuke gulped ceasing his suzaku lotus unthinkably.

"IT'S AN EXPLOSIVE SEAL... (Hanzõ sighed and calmed down) never turn it towards you, at least not until you have mastery over it" Hanzõ said in a scolding tone.

"Ah... YES MASTER!" Kosuke said submissively out of respect for Hanzõ.

"Hm..." Hanzõ sighed.

Hanzõ looked at Kotaka, who was standing in a fighting stance, and Hanzõ, who now kept his eyes on Kotaka, finished his speech.

"It's a simple seal to use, you can improve it later, but for now, when you want to use it, concentrate your chakra in the center of your suzaku."

"OoOo... OK!" Kosuke said, nervous and determined.

"Hm" Hanzõ sighed.

Ibuse was preparing another batch of poison, it took him an average of 5~7 minutes to have a new batch of poison that would be effective on the battlefield, Hanzõ needed to buy time if he wanted to use his poison cloud again, so Hanzõ shouted.

"INARA, BUY TIME!" Hanzõ shouted.

"HM!" Inara murmured in agreement.

"Suiton: Suikoudan no Jutsu"

Inara creates 4 water sharks that cut through the poison fog, using the opportunity to cover the attack.

*SPLASHHHH

*VOOOOSHH

Directly in front of Kotaka and Miura, the four water sharks emerge from the fog at an amazing speed and prepare to bite Kotaka and Miura.

Kotaka takes the lead and says.

"Raiton : Sen no shi no ken"

A chakra cloak with lightning bolts forms around Kotaka's iron glove and he fires a blow at the 4 sharks.

*PUOSHHHHH

The 4 sharks disperse into the air along with a continuous hole in Hanzõ's now not so thick poisonous smoke.

"Huh... Raiton?" Hanzõ wondered.

In the middle of the beam in Hanzõ's poisonous smoke, flashes of lightning could be seen.

"That explains his incredible speed, but in so many wars, I've never seen an Amegakure ninja capable of using the thunder style..." Hanzõ thought.

"Hm" Kotaka sighed angrily.

"It seems, Mr. Hanzõ... that I don't have much time for my counterattack" Kotaka exclaimed.

Hanzõ listened attentively without showing any emotion.

"He's been in countless battles with me, he may not know for sure, but he probably knows that I can't use Ibuse's poison fog at short intervals... damn it..." Hanzõ thought.

"Well, I won't hold back" Kotaka said immediately.

"Raiton: Chakura Moodo"

*TUSHHH

A chakra cloak with flashes formed around Kotaka.

A form that would be developed and improved by the third and fourth Raikage later in the story.

His chakra cloak form wasn't completely finished and he couldn't maintain it for long due to the high demand of chakra, so he would probably pass out on the battlefield after using it due to fatigue.

So Hanzõ wasn't sure how effective this form was for Kotaka, how much stronger, more agile, faster and so on.

Hanzõ was impressed.

 //
Author note 
10 chapters ahead at patreon.com/persima