Raijin - Thousand-Armed Killing

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

Haku was fast, but carrying someone naturally made him slower than Li Chuan, a Body Technique expert.

Li Chuan had wanted to put more distance between himself and Kakashi's group, so he had waited until they left the woods before catching up and stopping Haku.

"Kakashi didn't follow us. Looks like he wasn't as relaxed as he appeared. Haku, kill this little monk, then head back and kill Kakashi and Tazuna."

By now, Zabuza had pulled the Senbon from his neck and awakened.

After learning what had happened afterward from Haku, he immediately concluded that Kakashi must have suffered serious injuries as well.

Otherwise, with Kakashi's strength, he should have been able to stop Haku when his feigned death was exposed. Even if he failed to stop him, he would not have let this little monk 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 to reveal 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 without Zabuza taking him in and acknowledging him, he would have long since lost any reason to live.

"There's no need to talk about killing people every other word. This little monk didn't catch up to kill either of you. I merely wish to make a deal."

Li Chuan returned the long blade in his hand to the Mission Space, putting on a harmless appearance.

"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 into it. Then, a Haku appeared within every ice mirror, surrounding Li Chuan from all sides.

"It seems I'll have to defeat you first before we can discuss anything else."

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 Bloodline Limit of Ice Release. He had the strength of a jonin, was a rare genius capable of forming hand seals with one hand, and the Ice Release Ninjutsu he developed himself was exceptionally powerful.

Knowing all this, Li Chuan naturally had a certain degree of confidence in daring to chase after him alone.

"Raijin - Thousand-Armed Killing!"

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

Before Li Chuan had set out to travel, Chiriku had already taught him the Fire Temple's most powerful Secret Ninjutsu.

Though he still could not unleash power comparable to Chiriku's, he was confident that he could break 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.

Furthermore, the ice mirrors stood in every direction, leaving no blind spots in his attacks and making them impossible to defend against.

Under normal circumstances, Li Chuan truly would not have had any particularly good solution. Unless he took out a full suit of armor from the Mission Space and put it on, defeat would only be a matter of time even then.

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

Because Raijin - Thousand-Armed Killing could provide three-hundred-and-sixty-degree defense without any blind spots, while also attacking proactively and counterattacking in defense with tracking attacks.

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

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

"That assumes you can hit this little monk."

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

"How could this be?!"

Inside the ice mirror, Haku clutched his stomach as he stared at the Thousand-Armed Guanyin covering Li Chuan's body, shock written across his face.

It was the first time anyone had intercepted his attack within the ice mirrors and even 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 outrun my three thousand hands?"

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

Battle was not merely 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 abilities of Kakashi's Sharingan well enough and had also lost ground psychologically.

Li Chuan was the same. He knew everything about Haku, while Haku only knew one thing about him so far—that his Body Technique was powerful.

Li Chuan said those words now to pressure Haku psychologically, making him reveal a greater opening so he could crush him in one stroke.

After all, the weakness of Raijin - Thousand-Armed Killing was that it consumed an enormous amount of Chakra while preventing the user's body from moving. If the battle dragged on and its weakness was discovered, he would have no choice but to run.

"Then let's test it!"

Haku shot out from an ice mirror once more, constantly darting between the mirrors and attacking Li Chuan from above, below, left, and right from different angles, only to be knocked back each time by the palms of the Thousand-Armed Guanyin.

"Water Style Secret Technique: Thousand Water Sharks!"

After realizing he simply could not get close, Haku formed hand seals again within the ice mirrors. Countless droplets of water in the air transformed into icy needles, launching a three-hundred-sixty-degree, dead-angle-free assault at Li Chuan.

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

"Now!"

Seeing Haku freeze up after 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 out one after another, smashing all the ice mirrors surrounding him to pieces. Haku, caught off guard in his daze and unable to defend in time, was blasted out of the ice mirrors.

Dismissing the Wrathful Vajra statue, Li Chuan spread his remaining Chakra throughout his body. His legs explosively propelled him forward as he charged toward Haku, who had been sent flying through the air.

"Ice Release: Ice Rock Temple Nothingness!"

Midair, Haku snapped back to his senses and rapidly formed hand seals. A semicircular wall of ice enveloped him.

"Xingyi—Beng Quan!"

Facing the rising ice wall, Li Chuan did not hesitate in the slightest. He unleashed Beng Quan, the technique he was best at and the most powerful one he possessed.

His waist and stance moved as one, concentrating the strength of every muscle in his body into a single punch. Combined with Sage Art's enhancement of his physical body, the blow struck with the force of mountains collapsing and earth splitting apart. It punched straight through the ice wall and stopped just before Haku's eyes.

"This little monk truly means no harm. Can we talk now?"