It's no use! We can't lose them.
Tango! Get HQ!
The Commando Unit, attempting to retreat, is reporting
that the enemy pursuit team is closing in.
A relief team from Fifth Company has been dispatched.
Give them the coordinates of the closest rendezvous point.
It's just from one segment, but they're voicing opposition.
They are saying most samurai remain neutral,
so why must we team up with the shinobi?
Samurai are neutral, eh?
They say that because they don't know the past.
Moreover, they cannot understand the current situation.
Some also say that
a shinobi war must be resolved by the shinobi themselves.
Yet these former foes still cannot find a common ground.
How do they expect to end this without our help?
Go forth! Show them how we samurai fight!
– Right! – Right!
Mifune vs. Hanzo
I said let me outta here, hmm!
Lord Orochimaru's chakra is penetrating my skull
and coursing throughout my body.
I must succeed in my mission.
Over that way…
Whether it was Akatsuki or Orochimaru…
Whoever revived me will regret it!
Everyone is going to think I was playing possum again!
How embarrassing is that?!
I'm trying to focus. Can you shut up, puppet granny?
You shut up, old man snorkel face!
Just a little more.
This is close enough.
Summoning Jutsu!
Wha—?!
Ibuse, do it!
Poison Fog!
What?!
He resorted to the poison because he was fed up with chasing us?!
Damn it!
I should be resistant to poison, but my body's going numb.
Are those reinforcements?!
Hey, I'm over here!
I've caught up to you.
Damn it!
Hanzo, I presume?
I am Mifune, leader of the samurai.
I wish to challenge you!
We're saved.
Sorry we're late.
Are you all right?!
Be careful. The enemy uses poison.
The masks we wear are specially made for fighting ninja
and are impervious to poison.
Put it on!
Thanks.
They need antidotes!
Take the Commando Unit members to the Medical Corps immediately!
Lord Mifune!
Assistance is unnecessary!
If you don't want to get hurt, stay out of my way.
So you're Mifune.
Why do you side with the shinobi?
You are staunchly samurai.
To be serving the shinobi…
How can you call yourself samurai?
We do not serve the shinobi.
The one master that we follow has never changed since the olden days.
It is peace!
Peace?!
We pledge ourselves to peace, and act upon that conviction!
The battlefield is getting lively.
Now then…
Lady Chiyo!
I haven't been playing dead.
You understand, don't you, Kankuro?
Uh…yes?
Never mind that.
Hanzo controls a poison salamander!
I fought him many times in the past.
That's why I know the ingredients to the antidote.
I am also aware that the salamander takes five minutes
to produce and store up its poison.
That old hag… Rambling on about everything!
Ibuse! Retreat for now!
Even though I'm being manipulated,
it seems I don't have to fight them right now.
Then you, Hanzo…
You must know who my original foe in battle was!
I will not hold back from the Five Great Shinobi Nations!
I am going.
Here he comes!
It's hard?!
You countered that nicely.
You're not bad for a weak man of peace and neutrality.
Don't look at me that way.
I once sought peace myself.
I wanted to unite the Five Great Nations
into one shinobi world.
But I realized right away that such a thing was impossible.
Realized?
Battle after battle after battle….
And all that's left at the end is death!
"Pledge yourselves to peace?!"
You know better than anyone, what happened to that samurai!
Many samurai have become shinobi instead,
and your techniques have been passed over to the shinobi.
Capture them!
Sorry, but my body is acting on its own and running away.
Samurai no longer have a role in this world!
They don't believe in peace, are influenced only by money,
and their roles have been taken over by ninja who wield powerful ninjutsu.
Those shinobi fight and die, leaving nothing behind.
I am the same.
You are wrong.
It's not about life or death.
I don't care if I lose my life in the pursuit of peace!
Having conviction is to stir oneself into action!
Your conviction has been warped!
According to the Samurai Way,
people are the sword and they can live on in memories…
like my Famed Blade Kurosawa.
Do not compare people to swords!
What can you possibly glean from a lump of iron?
Take your ritual of seppuku.
Why do you samurai try to diminish one's own life?
I repeat…conviction does not fade.
Enough of this nonsense!
I will get rid of you samurai, once and for all.
I will not allow you to use ninjutsu beyond this point!
The rumors were right. You are indeed a master swordsman.
This is what they meant by ninjutsu being useless on you.
You didn't even give me time to weave a sign.
And that second attack with my sickle and chain…
Even if one was familiar with that move,
no one has ever countered it.
Long ago, when I was still unknown,
you and I fought,
although you probably do not remember.
Is that so? Then why aren't you dead?
You snapped my sword with that sickle and chain,
and slashed my head.
But somehow I survived.
So you're that samurai…
You didn't die?
Well then, this time I will make certain of it.
Unfortunately, that will not happen.
From that first blow,
I understood why someone, who was as strong as you, was killed.
What?! What do you mean?
I'm amazed that a shinobi of your caliber did not notice.
Don't you remember how you died?
Who could bring me to this point?
Have you forgotten my face?
You are…
Yahiko of Akatsuki!
You are supposed to be dead.
What's going on?!
You teamed up with Danzo and betrayed us.
You now only think of self-preservation.
You're trash.
I once respected you.
But, you have changed.
Just who are you?!
How can you be so strong?!
And you don't even understand why you will lose.
Vanish, Hanzo!
S-Stop…
What do they mean?
What is it that I'm not seeing?!
Be bathed in venom and die!
I've had enough of your nonsense.
What?!
A sword that is continuously honed will gain renown
and will be passed on. And…
Men who cling to their convictions and defend them
become heroes whose stories live on throughout the ages!
How?!
How were you able to cut me this time?!
The blade is not stained at all.
Is he that fast?!
You lost your conviction and stopped honing your skills.
Your swordsmanship has lost its edge!
Your blade is dull, dirtied by blood and rusted.
A dull blade is worthless!
People are like swords!
You did not remember me.
And you probably don't recall what you said as you left me to die.
It's salamander poison.
I smeared it on my sickle too.
But do not fear.
The poison will numb the pain and you will die within two days.
Do you know why I am feared as Hanzo the Salamander?
I shall tell you my secret.
Consider it a parting gift.
In my village, there was a venomous black salamander.
I was just a boy then, but when it died,
its venom sac was implanted in me.
Right around here…
in order to turn me into a man capable of producing poison.
I can poison people just by breathing on them.
From the time I was a child, I was feared.
So I was forced to breathe through this mask.
Then why didn't you take off your mask during our fight?
I've done that in the past.
But doing that has risks.
The mask serves another purpose.
It protects me as well.
If during battle, the venom sac is cut and ruptured,
the poison would vaporize.
Even with my resistance,
my body could not counter the powerful gas,
and I would be paralyzed.
It wouldn't kill me, but it would give my foe an opportunity to attack.
Against someone of your caliber,
I must keep the mask on to prevent that.
Although, my blade was indeed dull.
People are like swords…
Which means that I wasn't sharp.
I will tell you one thing.
Death is not the end.
Loss of conviction is the end.
That's why it's such a nuisance.
It's hard to discern one's conviction just by looking at them
If you die here, it wasn't because you weren't sharp.
Blame your comrades, who cowered at the first mention of my name,
and gave up, leaving you to fight me.
H-Hanzo the Salamander?!
R-Run!
You used your body as a shield to protect them.
I shall spread word of your heroism.
So state your name as compensation for your death!
"As compensation for my death…"
Promise me one thing.
Say it.
Leave my fellow samurai alone!
Here's the antidote.
I told you that it's hard to discern one's conviction just by looking at them.
But it's possible by fighting them.
It's been a while since I fought someone like you.
I will spare you this time.
Well, it's possible that you'll die, even if you take the antidote.
It is difficult to see one's convictions through.
I, too, have my own conviction.
To bring peace to this world.
I'm going to use you as a test.
To see if you will die, still embracing your convictions…
Or you end up surviving,
and abandoning those convictions over time.
You're the one who insisted on testing me.
Have you really abandoned your conviction?
Well, that's hard to tell just by looking.
There is a way to stop me, even though I am immortal.
I believed I explained it to you before, Mifune.
So step back and wait for the opportunity to seal me.
I believe you are…
Lord Mifune!
His poison!
I'm fine.
I am resistant to this poison.
But that may not be the case from here on.
Everyone, retreat with me and get ready to seal him!
Just as I thought.
He didn't survive the poisoning for nothing.
We'll observe from here.
Lord Hanzo…
Mifune…I…
entrust you with my conviction!
Seppuku?!
By a shinobi?!
He's defied the orders in my tag!
Suicide?!
I have no choice but to switch him to mindless mode now.
Why isn't he moving?
Hanzo would never take orders from one who hides behind the shadows,
manipulating others like puppets.
You put your life on the line and regained your conviction.
My friend, you were no dull blade.
Seal him!
Yes!
They sealed him.
I shall spread word of your heroism.
I hereby witness your unwavering conviction.
Lord Hanzo, you were admirable indeed!
Lord Mifune?
I understand Hanzo did not have a grave.
I must find someplace suitable for him.
What are you doing, Choji?! I am your enemy right now!
Your movements are slow, Choji!
Pull yourself together!
We prepared ourselves for this.
This is too much for me. I can't take our sensei down!
Next time on Naruto Shippuden: "True Kindness"
Choji, fight! You coward! TRUE KINDNESS
Tune in again!