Raijin - Thousand-Armed Killing

On a grassy clearing two kilometers from the forest where it had all begun, Li Chuan finally intercepted Haku, who was carrying Zabuza.

Haku was not slow, but carrying someone naturally made him slower than Li Chuan, a master of Body Technique.

Li Chuan had wanted to keep his distance from Kakashi and the others, so he waited until they had left the forest before catching up to stop Haku.

"Kakashi didn't pursue us. Looks like he isn't as relaxed as he appeared. Haku, kill this little monk, then go back and kill Kakashi and Tazuna."

By then, Zabuza had already pulled the senbon from his neck and awakened.

After learning what had happened from Haku, he immediately concluded that Kakashi must have been seriously injured as well.

Otherwise, with Kakashi's strength, he should have been able to stop Haku when Zabuza's feigned death was exposed. Even if he had failed to stop him, he would not have allowed this little monk to pursue them alone.

"If you leave now and do not interfere with my mission, I can spare your life."

Haku gently set Zabuza down, then removed his mask, revealing a delicate face no less beautiful than a woman's as he tried to persuade Li Chuan.

Kind-hearted by nature, he did not want to hurt anyone. Yet he could not disobey Zabuza's orders, because if Zabuza had not taken him in and acknowledged him, he would have long since lost any reason to live.

"There's no need to talk about killing people at every turn. This little monk did not catch up to kill either of you. I merely wish to make a deal with you."

Li Chuan stored the longsword in his hand back into Mission Space and assumed a harmless posture.

"Haku, finish him quickly, then go back and kill Kakashi."

Zabuza had no interest in listening to the little monk's nonsense. If they delayed any longer and Kakashi recovered, this rare opportunity would be lost.

"I'm sorry. Since you refuse to leave, I can only kill you!"

Haku apologized to Li Chuan, then formed hand seals with both hands.

"Ice Release Secret Technique: Demonic Mirror Ice Crystals!"

In an instant, sheets of ice mirrors appeared around Li Chuan, surrounding him.

"I know your Body Technique is powerful, but within my secret technique, no matter how strong your Body Technique is, it will be useless."

Once the ice mirrors appeared, Haku touched one of them and instantly merged with it. Then, a Haku appeared in every mirror, encircling Li Chuan from all sides.

"Looks like I'll have to defeat you first before we can discuss what comes next."

Looking at Haku, who had unleashed his Ice Release secret technique, Li Chuan took a deep breath and assumed a strange stance.

Haku was a descendant of the Snow Clan, possessing the inherited Kekkei Genkai of Ice Release. He had the strength of a jonin, was a rare genius ninja capable of forming seals one-handed, and the Ice Release ninjutsu he had developed himself was exceptionally powerful.

Knowing all that, Li Chuan had naturally come after him alone because he had a certain degree of confidence.

"Raijin - Thousand-Armed Killing!"

With a thunderous shout, Sage Art Chakra within his body shone with golden light. Then, a golden Thousand-Armed Guanyin statue three or four meters tall emerged from his body, enveloping him within it.

Fire Temple's strongest Secret Ninjutsu had already been taught to him by Chiriku before he set out on his travels.

Although he still could not unleash as much power as Chiriku did, he was confident that he could shatter Haku's ice mirrors.

Haku's Demonic Mirror Ice Crystals secret technique allowed him to move freely through every ice mirror at incredible speed. Even a jonin trapped within would be unable to keep up with him.

Moreover, the ice mirrors stood in every direction, leaving no blind spots in the attack and making defense impossible.

Under normal circumstances, Li Chuan truly had no good way to deal with it. Unless he took a suit of full-body armor from Mission Space and put it on, defeat would only be a matter of time.

But as luck would have it, Haku's secret technique was perfectly countered by the Fire Temple's ninjutsu.

That was because Raijin - Thousand-Armed Killing could defend in all directions without blind spots, while also attacking, defending, tracking, and counterattacking.

"Useless. Before absolute speed, all resistance is futile."

Haku shot out of an ice mirror at a speed too fast for the naked eye to follow, thrusting his ice needles rapidly toward Li Chuan.

"That assumes you can hit this little monk."

Li Chuan smiled faintly. Just as Haku's ice needles touched the golden Thousand-Armed Guanyin statue covering his body, a golden palm immediately extended and precisely struck Haku back into an ice mirror.

"How could this be?!"

Inside the ice mirror, Haku clutched his stomach and stared at the Thousand-Armed Guanyin statue covering Li Chuan, surprise written across his face.

It was the first time someone had intercepted his attack within the ice mirrors and knocked him back.

"Your speed is indeed fast, but I have three thousand hands to attack with. No matter how fast you are, can you be faster than my three thousand hands?"

Maintaining the stance for Raijin - Thousand-Armed Killing, Li Chuan spoke calmly.

Combat was not only about strength. Intelligence and psychological warfare were equally important, as had been clearly demonstrated in Kakashi and Zabuza's earlier battle.

Zabuza had lost because he did not understand the Sharingan's abilities well enough and had already lost ground psychologically.

Li Chuan was the same. He knew everything about Haku, while Haku only knew that his Body Technique was powerful.

Li Chuan said those words now to pressure Haku mentally, forcing him to expose an even greater opening so he could crush him in one blow.

After all, Raijin - Thousand-Armed Killing's weakness was that it consumed an enormous amount of Chakra while leaving his body unable to move. If the battle dragged on and Haku discovered that weakness, he could only run.

"Then let's try it!"

Haku flew out of an ice mirror again, continuously darting through the various mirrors and attacking Li Chuan from above, below, left, and right from different angles. Yet every time, he was knocked back by the Thousand-Armed Guanyin's palms.

"Water Style Secret Technique: Thousand Water Sharks!"

After realizing he could not get close at all, Haku formed hand seals within the ice mirror again. Countless droplets of water in the air transformed into ice needles, launching a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree attack against Li Chuan without any blind spots.

Yet every ice needle was blocked by the Thousand-Armed Guanyin, leaving Li Chuan completely unharmed.

"Now!"

Seeing Haku freeze in shock as his secret technique proved ineffective, Li Chuan knew it was time to counterattack.

"Wrathful Vajra!"

The second stage of Raijin - Thousand-Armed Killing, Wrathful Vajra, activated.

The golden Thousand-Armed Guanyin statue instantly transformed into a red Wrathful Vajra statue. Red Chakra fists shot forth, smashing every ice mirror surrounding him to pieces. Haku, caught off guard in his daze, was struck out of the mirrors before he could defend himself.

Dispelling the Wrathful Vajra statue, Li Chuan spread his remaining Chakra throughout his body. His legs suddenly exploded with force as he charged toward Haku, who had been sent flying through the air.

"Ice Release: Ice Rock Temple Nothingness!"

In midair, Haku recovered and swiftly formed hand seals. A semicircular ice wall wrapped around him.

"Xingyi - Beng Quan!"

Facing the rising ice wall, Li Chuan did not hesitate in the slightest. He used Beng Quan, the technique he was best at and the one with the greatest power.

His waist and stance moved as one, gathering the strength of every muscle in his body into a single fist. Combined with Sage Art's enhancement of his physical body, the punch was as mighty as a mountain collapse and earth-shattering landslide. It smashed straight through the ice wall and stopped before Haku's eyes.

"This little monk truly means no harm. We can talk now, can't we?"