After all, with a salamander's poison sac in his body, even Hanzo's breath was toxic.
It would not be an exaggeration to call him a smaller version of a salamander.
Over time, people came to call him "Hanzo of the Salamander."
Hanzo did not deny this title; in fact, he had truly taken "Salamander" as his surname.
Furthermore, as he unified the Hidden Rain Village and crippled the other small villages, the name "Demigod" became even more renowned among them than many of the famous ninjas from the five great nations.
This could be seen from the title they had given him.
"Demigod," by definition, was second only to a god.
In other words, in the eyes of these ninjas from the small villages, Hanzo of the Salamander was a super-powerhouse second only to the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju.
Even the five great villages had begun to take him seriously.
Because even the ninjas they had sent to gather intelligence on him had died from the salamander's poison gas.
Only Konoha, with Tsunade as the strongest medical ninja, had managed to save their intelligence personnel.
Furthermore, they had also specifically created an antidote for the poison.
And it was from this poison that Konoha had confirmed that without Tsunade's antidote, even Sakumo Hatake or Hiruzen Sarutobi would not last long if they inhaled the gas.
To a certain extent, it was not unreasonable for him to be called a "demigod."
It was just like Li Anshi's Little Li's Flying Dagger. Those who could survive it could ignore its threat.
Those who could not survive the salamander's poison were utterly powerless against Hanzo.
However, after Tsunade had successfully created the antidote, the threat he posed to Konoha had been greatly reduced.
Without his poison gas, although Hanzo of the Salamander was still very strong, he was not invincible.
At most, he had just stepped into the ranks of the "Kage."
Perhaps because he truly believed he had become the strongest under the God of Shinobi, Hanzo even wanted to make the Hidden Rain Village the sixth great ninja village, on par with the other five.
He had even begun to have the ninjas in his village call him the "Rain Kage."
It was important to know that in the ninja world, only the leaders of the five great villages could be called "Kage."
Hanzo's intentions were now clear to the entire world.
For a time, the Land of Earth, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Fire, all of which bordered the Land of Rain, began to gather ninjas from their respective villages at the borders.
The atmosphere was tense, bearing all the signs of an impending Great Ninja War.
…
The ninja world remained at peace. The gradually escalating turmoil had no effect on Li Anshi, who lived in Konoha.
His days were spent either carving things he liked or bickering with Tsunade about the shop's rent.
There was no helping it. Although he didn't care much for money, he would occasionally want to close the shop for a few days and go out to enjoy himself.
However, because his shop was completely undefended against Tsunade, almost every day's earnings were taken by her as gambling funds.
At most, when she saw that he was out of softwood for carving, she would leave him some money to post a mission.
This had created a terrifying situation—
Li Anshi had no money!
If he were to close the shop for even a day, without cooking for himself, he wouldn't even have enough money to eat out.
He had told her many times to leave some for him.
But every time, she would agree readily, only to forget the very next day.
Therefore, for the past few years, it was only during the periods when Tsunade was away on missions that he would have any extra money to relax for a few days.
Afterwards, he would have to work overtime for a few days, carving more to sell, to ensure that the shop's turnover didn't fluctuate too much from his days off, lest she notice something was wrong when she returned.
As for why he had to hide this from her, he had some inkling.
However, he also quite enjoyed their current dynamic and had no intention of changing it.
In any case, he didn't think he would lose out to Dan Katō, or Jiraiya.
This was his confidence in himself.
At the same time, it was also a trust built from his many years with Tsunade.
He could also feel that she was completely unguarded with him.
Otherwise, did they really think the Senju clan couldn't afford her gambling debts?
But unexpectedly, when Tsunade came to his shop today, she did not immediately take the money from the drawer. Instead, she performed a dogeza, kneeling on the ground in a deep bow before him.
"Anshi, I'm begging you. This is a lifelong request!"
Li Anshi was completely bewildered, having no idea what she was doing.
"I say, Tsunade, isn't this a bit much?"
"Also, whatever you need to ask of me, you have to tell me first, so I know if I can agree."
With a wry smile, Li Anshi tried to help her up, but to his surprise, she used her chakra to stick herself to the floor.
If he really wanted to get her up, he would either have to use a greater force than hers to pull up the section of floor she was stuck to, or use his own chakra to disrupt hers and pull her up.
"No, Anshi, if you don't agree, I won't get up."
Hearing her say this, he froze for a moment.
Over the years, he had come to understand her.
And the reverse was also true.
Tsunade understood him as well.
For her to act like this, her "request" must be something that conflicted considerably with his lifestyle, personality, and even his life goals.
Under normal circumstances, he would certainly not agree to it.
However, this request was also too important to her.
This had forced her to resort to such means to "compel" him to make a choice.
"Sigh..."
He gave another wry smile.
"Tsunade, you're being too cunning."
"Now that you've done this, how can I possibly not agree?"
"Get up and tell me what's going on."
"Really? You've agreed?"
Hearing his words, Tsunade was overjoyed. She sprang up from the floor and asked him with pleasant surprise.
"Yes, I've agreed."
Seeing the wry smile on his face, a hint of awkwardness appeared on hers.
She also knew that what she had done was not right.
"Alright, tell me. What is it you want me to do?"
After they had both sat down, Li Anshi asked.
He had a few guesses as to what her request might be.
It had to be something related to being a ninja.
Perhaps she wanted him to assassinate someone.
In fact, for him, such a thing was no big deal at all.
In the current ninja world, if he wanted to kill someone, as long as he had information on them and knew where they were, no one could escape his attack.
And this was the kind of thing where no amount of protection would matter.
Once he had marked someone, it was no different from being dead.
"It's like this..."
"This year, Nawaki graduated from the Ninja Academy."
"Oh?"
Li Anshi's eyebrows shot up.
He hadn't expected that, in the blink of an eye, Nawaki was already twelve years old...
As for Tsunade, she was already sixteen this year.
Glancing at her, his eyes drifted slightly downwards.
Mm, the future number one in the ninja world is already taking shape, showing a hint of her future glory.
However, he remembered that in the original story, Tsunade, even if not comparable to Sakura, was not much stronger.
For an ordinary person, it would be impossible to grow to such a scale in two or three years.
In other words, she had perhaps been using her medical ninjutsu in strange ways?
"What are you looking at?"
Perhaps sensing his gaze, Tsunade's face flushed slightly. She then slammed her hand on the table and yelled at him.
"Listen to me seriously!"
"Yes, yes, I'm listening."
Li Anshi held up his hands, proclaiming his innocence.
"Hmph!"
"I'd be a fool to believe you!"
Tsunade gave him a roll of the eyes.
Did he really think she didn't know he closed the shop for a few days every now and then?
If she hadn't gotten the information from certain channels, why would she have used her medical ninjutsu in such a strange way?
Did he really think she had that much free time?
However, looking at it now, the effect was quite good.
"Master Hiruzen is preparing for the three of us to become squad-leading Jonin."
"And Nawaki's squad has been assigned to Orochimaru."
Six years had passed, and Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya had all long since been promoted to Jonin.
Furthermore, their true strength had already reached the level of Elite Jonin.
It was only because there were no major battles in the ninja world at the moment that they had not yet made a name for themselves.
And the three of them were the very proud type who didn't like to boast, so they had also refused the village's offers to promote their names.
In their view, with their strength, their future reputations would definitely not be weak.
They just needed one battle to write their own legends.
"However, I'm not very confident in Orochimaru."
Tsunade's voice grew a little faint.
She also knew that her suspicion was completely baseless.
Elite Jonin. This was already the top-tier combat power in the five great villages.
Besides the Kage of each village, the Elite Jonin were the highest combat power.
How many Academy students were assigned to an Elite Jonin's command right after graduation?
Did they really think Elite Jonin were that idle?
There were so many high-level missions in the village that required the strength of an Elite Jonin to complete.
How could they possibly be used to lead Genin and waste their time?
However, among the students graduating this year was Nawaki Senju, the grandson of the First Hokage. Even Hiruzen had to be careful.
The descendants of the Senju clan had to be protected with the highest level of vigilance.
Back then, when Tsunade, the granddaughter of the First Hokage, had just entered the Academy, she had already been taken as a disciple by the Third Hokage.
Now that Nawaki was graduating, he naturally had to be protected by a top-tier powerhouse as he grew.
However, at this time, Hiruzen was no longer suitable to lead a team.
Fortunately, his three disciples had all grown up.
Entrusting Nawaki to any one of them would ensure he was well protected.
It was for this reason that Hiruzen had taken the three of them off high-intensity missions, to let them water the new seedlings of Konoha.
However, although Tsunade also knew that having Orochimaru as Nawaki's squad leader was already a great guarantee, it was not one hundred percent safe.
In her heart, even if Nawaki were assigned to her, she was not confident she could protect him completely.
If there was anyone who could protect Nawaki with one hundred percent certainty and ensure his safe growth, in her heart, there was only one person.
And that was—
Little Li's Flying Dagger, Li Anshi!
As the direct grandson of the God of Shinobi, both Konoha and the other four great villages were paying close attention to Nawaki Senju.
They also wanted to know if he could awaken the Wood Release and bring back the glory of the Senju clan.
At the same time, they also wanted to get their hands on him, to study his body and unlock the secrets of the "Wood Release."
The pursuit of strength among ninjas was endless.
Let alone ninjas from other villages, even in Konoha, as far as Li Anshi and Tsunade knew, there were ninjas in the village who had voluntarily become research subjects, trying to bring back the Wood Release of the First Hokage.
Fortunately, due to Li Anshi's existence, the research in the village was limited to extracting blood, cells, and other things that did not cause great harm to the ninja.
The specific progress had not yet reached the stage of human experimentation.
But while this was the case in Konoha, the other great villages would not be the same.
If they were given the chance, they would definitely not pass up the opportunity to obtain the bloodline of the Senju clan.
After all, perhaps in their eyes, the Wood Release was the only thing in the ninja world that could contend with, and even suppress, Little Li's Flying Dagger.
"You want me to become Nawaki's squad-leading Jonin?"
Now that she had said this much, how could he not know what she wanted him to do?
"Yes."
Tsunade nodded repeatedly.
"You..."
Knowing what she was asking of him, Li Anshi couldn't help but shake his head.
And here he had thought she was going to ask him to assassinate the Kage of the other four great villages.
To make such a big fuss, only to ask him to become Nawaki's squad leader...
Wasn't this a case of her using her ultimate move before he had even used a basic attack?
He also knew just how much Tsunade cared for her younger brother, Nawaki.