On the battlefield.
Haku gritted his teeth and fought with everything he had.
But as the battle went on, he grew secretly alarmed. The demon before him was stronger and faster than the one he had encountered before, the one with "Upper Rank Six" carved into its eyes.
He had already pushed his "speed" to the limit, yet he could barely keep up with his opponent.
At the same time,
he noticed that his opponent seemed to keep exhaling mist, seemingly without meaning to. It reminded him of Shinji.
"Shinji seems to have the same habit when we spar."
As Haku remembered it, whenever Shinji's breathing quickened, his speed and strength increased noticeably.
But compared with the swordsman before him, whose face bore a wave-shaped Curse Mark, Shinji's speed and strength were nothing.
The swordsman's breathing, speed, and strength were all unbelievably powerful.
Although Haku could sense the Chakra within his opponent rapidly dwindling, he knew he probably couldn't outlast him.
Boom.
After another collision, the ice dragon and water dragon dissipated together over the sea.
Amid the scattering ice shards, Haku stood on the heaving ocean, panting heavily. "Why is my Ice Release so ineffective against him?"
During the battle on the long street, after defeating Doma, the former Upper Moon Five—a demon skilled at controlling ice—Haku had acquired the [Ice Crystal Creation Technique], greatly strengthening his Ice Release Kekkei Genkai.
Not only had his control over Ice Release improved, but its power had also increased considerably.
That was how he had been able to form Hand Seals with one hand and unleash an ice dragon just now.
Before acquiring the [Ice Crystal Creation Technique], he could use Ice Release, but nowhere near as smoothly or effortlessly as he could now.
Yet even with that improvement, his Ice Release