The Snow Clan

The brother and sister turned deathly pale the moment they saw the Headband on Uchiha Yuan's Water Clone.

"W-we're... we're residents of the Land of Bears. We came... came here to get some water." As he spoke, the boy raised the bucket he was carrying.

Only after Uchiha Yuan's Water Clone confirmed again and again that there was nothing wrong with the two did he let them pass.

After the siblings finished drawing water, they did not dare look at Uchiha Yuan and the others even once. They fled as fast as they could.

"Ordinary people in the Land of Bears don't have it easy either! Caught between us and the Kirigakure Shinobi, their country has become a battlefield too," Yamanaka Kizuki said with a sigh.

Uchiha Yuan did not reply. What Yamanaka Kizuki said was actually right. Small countries without shinobi villages or ninja could only become cannon fodder in this war.

But now was not the time to sympathize with those people. It was good enough if they could take care of themselves.

"Let's keep moving! There are still three other water sources to investigate!"

Hyuga Asana and Yamanaka Kizuki nodded, then headed to the next water source together.

Everything was normal at the second and third small water sources as well. When the three of them reached the fourth small water source, they ran into a few more ordinary people from the Land of Bears drawing water.

Because they had already run into that brother and sister before, and because the first three water sources had all been completely normal, Yamanaka Kizuki and Hyuga Asana had relaxed their guard somewhat.

Uchiha Yuan merely activated his Sharingan out of habit and swept a glance over them.

However, what Uchiha Yuan had not expected was that among this group of ordinary people, there were actually two who had chakra on them, and their Chakra Amount was not small. One of them even had more chakra than he did.

"Something's wrong. Asana, Kizuki, prepare for battle!"

At Uchiha Yuan's command, Hyuga Asana and Yamanaka Kizuki immediately pulled away from the crowd and assumed fighting stances.

Uchiha Yuan, meanwhile, directly cast Genjutsu on the one with the lesser amount of chakra.

Then he used Teleportation to leap behind the one with more chakra and threw out a row of Shuriken.

"Clang, clang, clang~" Uchiha Yuan's Shuriken were blocked by a rising Ice Wall.

"Poof~" After a cloud of white smoke, the Kirigakure Shinobi who had just been disguised as ordinary people released their Transformation Jutsu.

A black-haired girl who looked a few years older than Uchiha Yuan appeared before them.

The girl turned and smacked her companion hard on the head. Only then did the companion controlled by Genjutsu wake up.

"Senior Kiyoshi? I..."

"Idiot! You were caught in Genjutsu!"

"Huh! But isn't that guy's Sharingan only at two tomoe? Why would I get caught in Genjutsu?"

"Who knows! Be careful yourself. This guy doesn't just know Genjutsu—his Body Flicker is fast too.

"Kid, judging by your age, you should be several years younger than me, right? The Uchiha Clan really does produce geniuses," the girl said after looking Uchiha Yuan up and down.

"Was that Ice Release just now? Are you a member of the Snow Clan?" Uchiha Yuan asked.

"Senior Kiyoshi, looks like your identity's been exposed."

"Smack~" Kiyoshi smacked her companion on the head again, then said, "I already used Ice Release. Anyone with a brain could guess my identity."

Kiyoshi chatted and laughed with her companion without the slightest tension, which irritated Uchiha Yuan somewhat. He formed hand seals and used the Uchiha Clan's signature ninjutsu, Great Fireball Technique.

Facing Uchiha Yuan's attack, Kiyoshi did not form any seals, but the temperature of the surrounding air dropped considerably. Then ice-attribute chakra froze in the air, condensing into an oval-shaped wall of ice that held back Uchiha Yuan's Great Fireball.

"There it is—Senior's Ice Release Secret Technique, Ice Rock Dome!"

"Shut up! I don't need you commentating here. Go deal with those two."

The man shrank his neck back and obediently went to find Hyuga Asana and the others.

Uchiha Yuan looked at the woman before him with a somewhat grave expression. This person had blocked his attacks twice just now without forming seals. The Ice Wall had appeared as if out of thin air.

"You were the one attacking just now. It should be my turn now, right? There's water here, just in time for my Ice Release to display its power to the fullest." After saying that, Kiyoshi formed hand seals with both hands, and a huge water dragon flew up from the pond before charging toward Uchiha Yuan.

Uchiha Yuan immediately used Teleportation to dodge the Water Dragon Bullet's attack.

But what Uchiha Yuan had not expected was that Kiyoshi's Water Dragon Bullet was not meant to attack. It was meant to send water right in front of him.

The next second, the Water Dragon Bullet exploded.

Kiyoshi formed seals again, using Ice Release to condense the moisture in the air. One Ice Mirror after another formed around Uchiha Yuan, surrounding him.

Uchiha Yuan recognized this technique. It was the Ice Release Secret Technique, Demonic Mirror Ice Crystal, which Haku had used against Naruto and Sasuke in the original work. The caster could move freely through the Ice Mirrors and attack the enemy.

"Your Body Flicker is fast. You should be a speed-type ninja, right? But inside my Ice Mirrors, no matter how fast you are, it's meaningless."

Kiyoshi's voice came from all directions. The next second, her figure emerged in the Ice Mirror behind Uchiha Yuan. She gripped a Kunai made of ice and stabbed straight at his back.

With Mind's Eye active, Uchiha Yuan had long since sensed Kiyoshi's position. He turned, smiled, and waved at Kiyoshi, then his figure vanished from the Demonic Mirror Ice Crystal.

"Crack~" A few seconds later, the Ice Mirrors shattered. Kiyoshi looked at Uchiha Yuan, who had leaped to a safe distance, her face full of confusion.

This was the first time she had encountered a shinobi who could escape from the Ice Mirrors without destroying Demonic Mirror Ice Crystal.

"How did you do that?" Kiyoshi asked.

Uchiha Yuan did not answer. Instead, he continued forming hand seals.

This time, Uchiha Yuan used the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique. He wanted to test whether this woman's Ice Release was truly impossible to counter.

Facing Uchiha Yuan's attack, Kiyoshi once again used ice-attribute chakra to condense an Ice Wall and block it, then used Ice Body Flicker to close the distance with Uchiha Yuan.

Then Kiyoshi formed seals with one hand just like Haku in the original work, releasing her ninjutsu at incredible speed.

The next second, every inch within a two-meter radius of Kiyoshi was covered in a layer of frost, and Uchiha Yuan's feet were instantly buried in ice and snow as well. It looked like he could no longer move.

"Now you can't run away, can you! My Ice Release: Frozen Snow isn't that easy to—"

Before Kiyoshi could finish speaking, Uchiha Yuan's figure vanished.

Kiyoshi hurriedly looked around, only to discover that Uchiha Yuan was already standing beside his two companions.

At the same time, Kiyoshi also noticed that her own companion had already had his movements sealed by Hyuga Asana's Gentle Fist.

"What useless trash!"

"Miss, I admit that the current me is no match for you, but you can't do anything to me either. Your Ice Release Secret Techniques are useless against me," Uchiha Yuan said with a smile.

"Your Body Flicker is strange. I really can't do anything to you, but your companions probably can't use that kind of Body Flicker, can they? Do you think they can escape from my hands?

"And these ordinary people—don't you Konoha Ninja love putting on that hypocritical act of benevolence and righteousness?

"If I said that unless you surrendered, I would kill these ordinary people, what would you do?"