At this moment, Uchiha Yuan had already engaged in combat with Hanzo.
Salamander Hanzo was once called a "demi-god" in the ninja world. In the original work, his most glorious achievement was defeating a young Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru in battle.
To be honest, Uchiha Yuan had always doubted Hanzo's strength.
In the original series, even after being reincarnated with Edo Tensei, he was sealed by Mifune of the Land of Iron. What right did he have to be called a demi-god?
So when facing Hanzo, Uchiha Yuan chose his best strength—speed—and planned to end the battle quickly.
Yuan immediately activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, enhancing his Chidori Blade with Magatsuhi, then teleported in front of Hanzo.
Hanzo's eyes couldn't keep up with Yuan's movement. So when Yuan suddenly appeared before him, Hanzo had no time to react and his throat was slashed instantly.
But to Yuan's surprise, there was no blood gushing from Hanzo's wound. Instead, purple poison mist leaked from the gash.
Moreover, Yuan could sense no chakra or life force escaping from Hanzo's body.
Yuan was sure the Hanzo in front of him wasn't a shadow clone—so why was this happening?
"What incredible body flicker speed. You're no worse than the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, are you?" Hanzo's voice suddenly came from behind Yuan.
Yuan turned around quickly—and to his shock, it wasn't a human speaking, but Hanzo's summoned salamander.
The salamander raised a claw and swatted Yuan away, slamming him hard into a cliffside.
Yuan climbed up from the ground looking a bit disheveled.
Yet Hanzo did not press the advantage. Instead, he calmly said, "Uchiha Yuan, you and I have no deep hatred. I've never offended Konoha either. Why don't you retreat?"
Yuan didn't reply. With his Sharingan, he could clearly see that the throat wound on Hanzo—who stood atop the salamander—was now gone. It was as if he'd never been hurt.
Then he understood: the Hanzo before him had chakra and life force coming from the salamander under his feet, but no life signature within his own body.
In other words, this Hanzo was a special kind of projection—connected to the summoned salamander. Even when taking fatal injuries, he wouldn't disperse.
Realizing how this "Hanzo" remained alive even after his throat was slashed, Yuan grinned and gathered a Lightning Release: Rasengan in his hand.
He teleported again—this time not to Hanzo himself but directly onto the salamander's back.
With a thunderous slam, the Lightning Release: Rasengan detonated, blasting a large scorched area into the salamander's back.
Being in Amegakure, where everything was drenched with rain, the lightning release spread through the water. Ordinary Amegakure ninja nearby were electrocuted and fell one after another.
"Damn you! Uchiha Yuan, you're seeking death!"
Hanzo roared in anger.
Yuan glanced at him dismissively and said, "You think a projection like yours can stop me?"
"You—how did you—" Hanzo's face changed drastically. He hadn't expected Yuan to uncover the truth so quickly.
"Hanzo, it seems your performance is over. Now disappear."
Yuan vanished again. Hanzo tried to counter by having the salamander release poisonous gas all around, hoping to force Yuan to retreat.
Unfortunately, he overlooked one key point—Yuan had Susanoo.
Protected by Susanoo, the salamander's poison was meaningless.
Yuan ignored the toxic fog, and his Susanoo, wielding a blade, struck down.
Though the Hanzo projection was protected by the salamander, the salamander itself had no one guarding it.
With a clean strike, Susanoo cleaved the salamander in two.
Poof! The salamander vanished in a puff of smoke.
"No more salamander—what now, Hanzo?"
Yuan slashed again.
Squelch!
With a strange sound, the Hanzo projection vanished as well.
After taking out Salamander Hanzo, Yuan used Inari to gather the life force from the fallen Amegakure ninja, then teleported rapidly to catch up with Nagato and the others.
At that moment, the trio was in a cave. Konan held Yahiko's "corpse" in her arms, tears in her eyes. Nagato looked on, stricken with grief.
"Sorry to interrupt, but Yahiko's vital signs haven't completely disappeared yet. In other words, there's still a chance to save him."
Nagato froze for a second, then asked excitedly, "You—you mean it?"
"Yes. There's still a chance. Take me to a drier place, quickly."
Nagato and Konan exchanged glances, then led Yuan to their nearest base. Yuan immediately began emergency treatment.
Yahiko had been pierced through the lung by a kunai, suffered severe blood loss, and lay soaked in the rain for a long time. His life force was critically weak.
If not for Yuan's Mind's Eye, he wouldn't have even known Yahiko was still alive.
Sadly, Yahiko's condition was so poor that ordinary healing methods were ineffective—and Yuan didn't know any medical ninjutsu. The bleeding and wound treatment were handled by other members of Akatsuki.
All Yuan did was one thing: he used his Mangekyō Sharingan ability Inari to infuse the gathered life force directly into Yahiko's body.
As the life force entered, Yahiko's injured body began rapidly regenerating. Soon, color returned to his pale face.
About half an hour later, his body was completely healed.
Yuan used Lightning Release chakra to stimulate Yahiko's heart, helping circulate the blood through his body.
Moments later, Yahiko slowly opened his eyes.
Yuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. Truthfully, he hadn't been confident in saving Yahiko—it was a gamble.
He had remembered how, in the original work, Tsunade could ignore fatal injuries after unsealing Byakugō and rapidly regenerate—even after being impaled by Uchiha Madara.
His technique Inari had the ability to gather life force. So Yuan figured—why not try channeling it into Yahiko and see if it works?
That was why he'd gone all-out with Lightning Release: Rasengan to kill so many Amegakure ninja earlier.
And it worked.
Yahiko lived.
(To Be Continued...)