Haku vs. Suigetsu!

"The Reincarnation Technique is nothing but a path to death!"

At this point, Orochimaru understood Sakura Haruno's thoughts.

An expected answer.

"That's right, Sakura Haruno, you noticed it too," Tobirama Senju added. "I can roughly sense that Orochimaru's spiritual power is vast but impractical, and his soul shows signs of damage. Therefore, even though he stole some of my brother's power, he can't fully utilize it..."

"Hmph, what a blabbermouth!" Orochimaru snorted coldly, but made no move to refute the Second Hokage. "We need to continue perfecting the control over the jutsu. Next time I summon you, you won't be able to say a word!"

"Are you still planning to use this Ninjutsu?" Tobirama Senju asked, his brow furrowed.

"Of course! Such a useful technique... I have to thank you for developing it!" Orochimaru sneered.

To be honest, if Tobirama Senju hadn't been holding Sakura Haruno back, Orochimaru probably wouldn't have been able to hold out for so long... The ocean provides an insane boost to Water Release ninja of her caliber!

"It seems we'll have another chance to meet..." The Second Hokage ignored Orochimaru and said to Sakura, "You developed your own Ice Release Kekkei Genkai, right? It's very similar to my older brother's Wood Release, so you should still have a lot of potential to grow... You should be even stronger when we meet next time!"

Sakura Haruno smiled slightly, "Don't worry... next time we meet, I'll definitely beat him into a dead snake!"

Tobirama Senju strained to control his neck and nodded almost imperceptibly.

He mobilized his Chakra again and said, "We're leaving! I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble."

"It's not much of a problem..." Sakura nodded to him, "Farewell, Second Hokage!"

Whoosh!

Tobirama Orochimaru Tobirama Senju, used the Flying Thunder God Technique to instantly teleport behind a distant mountain; Sakura Haruno sensed their Chakra flashing in that direction for a moment, then they instantly teleported even further away, beyond her perception range...

"Looks like they've left..." Sakura Haruno gazed in the direction they had gone, sensed their presence for a moment, and then sighed.

"We can't relax yet!" she clenched her fist. "We need to meet up with Bai first!"

Let's rewind to a slightly earlier time.

When Sakura Haruno asked, "Where did that young man who can turn into water go?" just as Orochimaru had predicted, Suigetsu had already slipped into the valley while the two were fighting, intending to seize the Kubikiribōchō.

"Huff, huff, huff!" Suigetsu rushed into the valley at top speed, but stopped panting after running for a while; running at full speed was not his forte. [Note]

The silver-haired youth unfastened the water bottle from his waist, gulping down large mouthfuls of water as he muttered to himself, "What terrifying Chakra! Both of them are monsters!"

"Getting caught in the crossfire would definitely mean certain death... Things should be alright here, right?" He looked back and saw that the battle had already begun; the thunderous sounds of Ninjutsu clashing could be felt even thousands of meters away!

Boom! Suddenly a loud noise rang out, and Suigetsu shrank back in fright, trembling. He looked up in horror and saw that half of the mountain was illuminated by orange Kakkō in the distance, turning the mountain's outline into a golden light and dyeing the clouds above yellow!

"What the hell is this..." Suigetsu took a step back, staggered, and almost fell to the ground.

Then came a scorching wave of air that knocked all the flowers, grass, and trees in the valley to the ground, and even uprooted several large trees; the gale whipped up a shower of rocks and broken branches that lashed his face.

Suigetsu quickly reached out to block the sand and pebbles that had flown into his mouth; the gust of wind and shock subsided soon after, but the look of shock on his face remained. He muttered, "That's an exaggeration..."

Standing here, the aftershocks are already so powerful; what kind of contest is taking place between the two people on the battlefield? What a breathtaking battle it must be!

Just imagining it made Suigetsu's heart tremble.

"Let's get a little further away," the silver-haired youth exhaled a breath of stale air, "We need to find it quickly!"

He turned around, about to continue walking forward, when he suddenly heard voices.

"What are you looking for?" A clear, gentle voice sounded behind him.

Suigetsu turned her gaze and saw a woman in a floral dress walking gracefully towards her.

She was a beautiful woman, but also a ninja... Suigetsu's first impression was of her beauty, but he quickly realized that he could sense a faint Chakra emanating from her, suggesting that she was quite powerful!

They are Konoha Ninja.

Suigetsu's gaze swept over the woman's face, which was as bright as the autumn moon, and landed on the Forehead Protector tied to her arm. Recalling the Konoha Ninja he had just encountered, he quickly guessed the woman's stance and identity.

"I'm looking for the Kubikiribōchō," the silver-haired youth grinned, revealing his gleaming white teeth. "You should know where it is, right, Yuki Haku?"

His tone was very confident as he smiled at the woman before him. It wasn't difficult to guess her identity: Orochimaru was gone, Yuki Haku would come to the Land of Waves to pay Zabuza, and the ninja from before was Sakura Haruno, so this woman could only be Haku.

Unless there were more than two of them.

Clearly, Suigetsu guessed correctly.

"Kubikiribōchō?" Bai Xiu's slender eyebrows furrowed slightly, a subtle crease appearing on her smooth forehead, and her sweet voice turned cold. "You know me?"

"Of course, I also know that you come to the Land of Waves every year at this time to Zabuza," Suigetsu said flippantly. "He was a traitor to our Kirigakure!"

How did he know about me? Yuki Haku was startled, and her expression changed slightly.

The woman frowned as she looked at him, took a step back, and subtly adopted a defensive stance. Her clear, autumn-like eyes turned cold and sharp, and she looked at him with a hint of wariness.

"Excuse me, I am a ninja from Konoha Ninja Village." A cool voice rang out, and Hakudo said calmly, "It seems you are not a ninja from Kirigakure either! But that's not important... What do you want with the Kubikiribōchō?"

"Don't be nervous, I'm not a bad person..." Hozuki Suigetsu said with a smile, "I've been training diligently because I admire the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, hoping to inherit their name and hear Zabuza's sword remain here, so--"

The silver-haired youth looked at Yuki Haku and stopped talking; his meaning was self-evident.

"So you want to take the Kubikiribōchō," Bai said coldly.

She placed her hands on her chest, assuming a defensive posture.

"I'm sorry, the Kubikiribōchō is Mr. Zabuza's keepsake..." The woman looked at him with a firm and unwavering gaze, refusing his request, "I cannot let you take it."

Hozuki Suigetsu carefully examined the ninja in front of him for a few moments.

Her beautiful face, so stunning it could be described as breathtaking, and her slender, graceful figure didn't seem like the kind of person a highly skilled ninja would be...

"What if I insist on taking it?" he said, his left hand slowly reaching for the ninja tool pouch at his waist.

Yuki Haku did not answer him.

The ice Senbon that had materialized in his hand had already given him the answer!

"Looks like I'll have to defeat you to get the Kubikiribōchō..." Hozuki Suigetsu laughed, revealing eight sharp teeth, his smile turning ferocious and terrifying!

He assumed a posture ready to attack.

According to Orochimaru's information, Yuki Haku is an Ice Release ninja.

So, is this battle a clash between the Hydrification Technique and the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai? The Hydrification Technique is quite weak against Ice Release! It seems we'll have to rely on sheer strength to forcefully defeat our opponent!

The two exchanged a glance, said nothing more, and simultaneously threw their ninja tools in perfect unison!

The Kunai and Senbon collided in mid-air, spinning as they landed on the ground, signaling the official start of the battle.

"Ice Release: Swallow Snow Storm!" "Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

The two used Ninjutsu almost simultaneously!

Far from the battlefield where Sakura Haruno and Orochimaru were fighting, two ninjas accompanying them also began their duel.

In the midst of the fierce battle, Sakura Haruno and Orochimaru, though aware that they had likely stumbled upon, or even engaged in, battle somewhere in the valley, had no time to concern themselves with the affairs of these two.

After the two "Kage" level ninjas finished their battle and left the battlefield, Sakura Haruno remembered what had happened on Haku's side and hurriedly went over there.

At this point, Bai and Suigetsu's battle had ended.

The battle ended with Yuki Haku easily securing the final victory.

This is quite natural, because Suigetsu is completely countered by Haku in both Taijutsu and Ninjutsu.

Ice Release is actually very effective against Water Release: At the beginning of the battle, Suigetsu tried to Water Release to stall Haku for a while, but Haku completely sealed his Water Release with his superior Ice Release skills!

He defiantly unleashed his full power with a "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique"—though not as exaggerated as Sakura Haruno's, creating a water dragon two or three hundred meters long in one go—condensing the surging water into a giant dragon tens of meters long, just as it was about to crash into Haku, when he saw Haku use a Frost Ice Burial technique, directly freezing the water dragon into an ice dragon!

"No way?" Suigetsu's eyes widened!

The once mighty dragon was frozen into a massive, crystalline block of ice, no longer able to surge or rise. Instead, it was powerless to control itself and crashed solidly to the ground, shattering into countless ice fragments...

All that painstaking Chakra expenditure in the Ninjutsu was gone just like that!

The silver-haired youth was immediately taken aback.

Fortunately, the pacifist Yuki Haku did not take the opportunity to attack. Looking at the somewhat dazed Suigetsu, she simply said, "It seems your Ninjutsu is ineffective against me, so give up on that idea! I will not give you the Kubikiribōchō!"

She wasn't as violent as the pink-haired girl, who would beat someone down before reasoning with them; Haku thought that after demonstrating the difference in strength and the counter-relationship of Ninjutsu, Suigetsu should back down.

Unfortunately, Suigetsu didn't exist.

"Damn it, I haven't lost yet! I can still use my Taijutsu!" Suigetsu said, her face full of annoyance, as she drew two Kunai and charged forward.

"Taijutsu are where I truly excel!"

That's certainly true.

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[Note: Suigetsu has very poor stamina.]