Mifune vs. Hanzō

Falling back toward their meeting point, the Surprise Attack Division is run down by reinforcements from the Akatsuki's Surprise Attack and Diversion Platoon. Hanzō of the Salamander is among them, and he calls up his salamander Ibuse, which spews a cloud of poison that leaves the division paralyzed. Mifune's own division reaches them in time to blunt the strike that would have been fatal.

Trading blows while reflecting on the past and the roads each of them chose, Mifune and Hanzō test one another. Hanzō orders his salamander up from where he had concealed it underground, and the creature swallows Mifune whole. Hanzō declares the fight won too soon, for Mifune splits the beast's head open with his blade and steps back out. Pressing forward for a finishing strike, Mifune snaps Hanzō's sickle and shatters his respirator.

His memory of their earlier meeting in life restored, Hanzō reaches for his broken kusarigama and uses the blade to take his own life by seppuku, entrusting his conviction to Mifune. The act severs the poison sac that had been implanted in his body during childhood, letting the toxin drain out and evaporate. To Kabuto Yakushi's shock, Hanzō's corpse stops obeying his commands, and the legendary shinobi is quickly bound and sealed away.