Kekkei Genkai

"Sir... we need to conserve our strength, don't we..." The White-Clad Samurai heard the probing in the Bandaged Samurai's tone and stepped between him and Tenzo's squad.

"Bai, there's no need to worry. Since we'll be traveling together for the next few days, we should make sure they're worthy of having our backs..." The man's voice was cold, brimming with confidence in his own strength and undisguised probing.

"But you have a point, Bai. I trust you. Test their abilities for me..." The White-Clad Samurai's words had made some impression on him. Although he wanted to fight the famous Konoha ninja himself, he reconsidered and decided this wouldn't be their only chance, so he gave his permission.

The White-Clad Samurai nodded his masked head, changing to a forehand grip on his sword. His other hand stayed ready to draw it in a quick slash.

"I won't betray your trust, sir..." A cool voice came from beneath the White-Clad Samurai's mask. Only now did Zi Xu and the others get a clear impression of his voice. It belonged to a boy with a rather androgynous voice, and he didn't sound more than a few years older than Zi Xu and the others.

Tenzo wasn't surprised by the situation. He glanced around and decided there was nowhere nearby suitable for a fight, so he suggested they keep moving and spar once they reached a more open area. The Bandaged Samurai agreed. Both sides kept their guard up and traveled as two clearly separated groups.

"Don't panic when something like this happens. Situations like this come up often while carrying out missions. They're testing us, but they're also warning us..." Tenzo began explaining to Zi Xu and the others.

Chino and Zi Xu focused their attention on the White-Clad Samurai, while Hatsumi left a few bugs along the way every so often. At Tenzo's words, she turned back in confusion and asked:

"A warning? They just don't trust our abilities, don't they? How is that a warning? They're obviously looking down on us." She pushed her glasses back into place, as they had shifted from running so fast.

"That's part of it, but testing our strength also means, 'If you aren't strong enough, don't come here to get yourselves killed'..." Tenzo noticed that Zi Xu and Chino weren't looking at him and curiously followed their gazes.

"You noticed it too, didn't you..." Chino turned and raised her chin toward Zi Xu, rubbing her tired eyes.

"Yeah, I sensed something. The temperature around that White-Clad Samurai is really low..." Zi Xu replied, but didn't tell her everything. From his perspective, blue-white cold air surrounded the White-Clad Samurai's body, making him look like a block of ice.

Chino met Tenzo's eyes as he turned to look at them. She was about to ask something when a cold voice from behind interrupted her.

"It's open here. Let's do it here. I don't want to keep sir waiting. If you're not strong enough, you can just go back. We're not far from your village..." The temperature around the White-Clad Samurai kept dropping, and white mist visibly spread from all around him.

"I'll go first..." Hatsumi had been annoyed by the other man's arrogant attitude for a while. Of course she wanted to take him on herself now that she had the chance.

"No. All three of you, together. That'll be quicker." The White-Clad Samurai gently shook his head. The bells in his hair ornaments rang out clearly.

"Don't underestimate Bai. Just come at him together..." The Black-Clad Samurai folded his arms across his chest and looked down at everyone with an air of superiority.

Hatsumi didn't say anything. She used the Body Flicker Technique to appear about two meters to the White-Clad Samurai's left, throwing several tender green bugs around him with both hands. At the same time, her hand seemed to be coated in flowing water as she thrust a kunai, wrapped in pale blue energy, toward him.

"An opening!" A glint flashed in the White-Clad Samurai's eyes beneath his mask. Just as Hatsumi was about to come out of the Body Flicker Technique and regain control of her body, the other samurai's blade flashed. A streak of white light stopped in front of Hatsumi—not because he had held back, but because several straw-doll-shaped puppets had appeared to block the strike for her.

"Grass Puppet Bugs. They can blend into the grass around them and use blades of grass to form bodies for battle. They can even heal themselves to a certain extent..." Chino recalled the results Hatsumi had shown her not long ago. So these must be them.

"The back of his blade? He still wasn't taking this seriously?" Zi Xu had noticed that the White-Clad Samurai had struck with the back of his blade, which was why the Grass Puppets had been able to block it. It seemed this samurai really was quite skilled.

"Hatsumi, come back. He'll be a tough opponent for you." Zi Xu rushed forward, pulled Hatsumi behind him from the shelter of the Grass Puppets, and prepared to face the enemy himself. He wanted to see what he could do now, too.

"Forgive me..." The White-Clad Samurai didn't stop moving. He swung again, this time with a backhand slash. Before the blade arrived, its cold gleam came first, cutting at Zi Xu's left shoulder from a tricky angle.

In Hatsumi's eyes, the slash was too fast to dodge. Chino, with her Byakugan, could see the blade's path clearly, but her body couldn't possibly keep up with her reactions.

But Zi Xu seemed to trip over a stone beneath his feet. He stumbled into a turn and perfectly dodged the slash. His movement looked so natural that Tenzo couldn't tell he'd done it on purpose.

"Just as I thought. By sensing the changes in energy around him, I can predict his movements. Once mastered, this is no weaker than Observation Haki. Maybe I can even awaken Observation Haki through it."

Zi Xu turned and began throwing Shuriken at the samurai opposite him.

"Clang, clang, clang." In the flash of blades, the White-Clad Samurai knocked every Shuriken out of the air. But Zi Xu had achieved his goal. When the samurai knocked away the last one, his hands blocked his view of Zi Xu for a few seconds. Zi Xu used that time to perform the Body Flicker Technique.

His figure vanished from the spot like an illusion fading on the wind, just as Hatsumi's had when she used the Body Flicker Technique earlier.

"I've got you." The White-Clad Samurai's lips curled beneath his mask as he followed through with a slash he'd been building up power for. Zi Xu appeared right in the path of the strike.

"I've got you." Zi Xu's lips also curved ever so slightly. His body, which had been frozen in place, suddenly seemed to hit fast-forward and vanished again. The confident slash missed.

"Hm?" The Black-Clad Samurai, who had been watching from the sidelines, narrowed his eyes.

"Did he use the Body Flicker Technique twice? Or briefly reveal himself midway through the flicker... Interesting."

When Zi Xu appeared again, he was beside the White-Clad Samurai's left hand. The other man had just finished one slash and hadn't yet gathered strength for the next. Zi Xu didn't hesitate and punched the White-Clad Samurai squarely in the exposed side.

Boom! The White-Clad Samurai staggered back several steps. Zi Xu looked strangely at the spot where he had hit him. Several cracked chunks of ice had appeared there.

"Is this... a Kekkei Genkai? Ice Release?" Tenzo looked at the chunks of ice and spoke in surprise.

The drop rate for Edo Hashirama is really low.