Coincidence?

This malicious voice, like the whisper of a devil, constantly battered the fragile nerves of the genin in Team 7.

"Damn it... I can't see him at all, and I can't even sense where he is!" Sasuke gripped his kunai, his body taut and cold sweat sliding down his temple; this was the first time he had felt such helplessness.

Yet, in this dense mist that would make even a jonin feel troubled, there was one person whose vision remained completely unaffected.

Ling Xuan.

What the Eye of Truth saw was not a world composed of visible light. Although the thick fog existed in his field of vision, Zabuza Momochi's massive, icy chakra source was marked with absolute clarity.

He could even see the trajectory of Zabuza's high-speed movement through the mist, see the contraction of every muscle in his body, and hear every beat of his heart.

In this fog that was a death trap for others, every move the enemy made had nowhere to hide from Ling Xuan.

[Target: Zabuza Momochi. Status: Hidden Mist Technique activated, moving at high speed along an irregular route, searching for openings.]

Meanwhile, Naruto gripped his kunai nervously, attempting to form a defensive formation with Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura was already trembling with fear, shielding Tazuna tightly and not even daring to breathe.

Although Kakashi had activated his Sharingan, his abilities were suppressed to the limit in this dense fog. He was currently relying more on his battle-hardened experience and intuition to defend, but even intuition could fail.

Ling Xuan did not move; he simply channeled a trace of extremely faint chakra, using the Mental Resonance technique he had deciphered from the Ninja Academy library, to silently link with Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei." A calm voice resonated directly within Kakashi's mind.

Kakashi, who was on high alert, shuddered, but he immediately identified this as Ling Xuan's voice. This technique of communicating on a mental level without passing through the air...

Just how many secrets was this kid hiding?

"It's me, Ling Xuan." Ling Xuan's voice continued, concise and efficient, "I can see him. This mist is ineffective against me. From now on, I will provide you with real-time coordinates."

A look of shock appeared on Kakashi's face, but he had no time to hesitate and immediately made the most correct choice: trust.

"Speak," he responded in his heart.

"Seven o'clock direction, left rear, fifteen meters away, low-profile stealth. He is preparing to attack your lower body."

Almost the instant Ling Xuan's words fell, Kakashi leaped toward the front right without hesitation.

Swoosh! A cold-glinting kunai grazed the spot where he had just been standing, shot out from the dense fog, and embedded itself deep into the ground.

Zabuza let out a soft sound of surprise from within the mist.

A coincidence?

"He hasn't stopped. He is circling to your right at high speed, preparing for a second attack."

After landing, Kakashi didn't even look; he backhanded a kunai toward the direction Ling Xuan had specified.

Clang!

A crisp metallic collision echoed through the mist. Zabuza's figure flashed and vanished; he had dodged the kunai, but the rhythm of his surprise attack was completely disrupted.

"How is this possible?!" Zabuza was horrified. "How could he keep up with my movements in the mist?!"

The core of the Silent Killing Technique lay in using the mist to hide one's form and killing intent, launching a fatal strike from the enemy's most unexpected angle. Yet now, every step he took seemed to be within the opponent's expectations!

"He is gathering chakra directly in front of you. It's a Water Clone!" Ling Xuan's voice sounded again.

"Water Style: Water Clone Technique!" Zabuza's voice came from all directions. Several water clones identical to Zabuza emerged from the mist, attacking Kakashi from different angles simultaneously.

"The real body is at the twelve o'clock position, twenty meters away, hiding behind the water clones. The others are all clones; their chakra core strength is less than one-tenth of the original," Ling Xuan provided the data calmly.

"So that's it!" A sharp glint flashed in Kakashi's eyes. He ignored the incoming water clones and quickly formed hand seals!

"Earth Style: Fanged Pursuit Technique!" He slammed his hands onto the ground, and several ninja dogs made of earth and stone roared as they burst from the soil, precisely bypassing all the water clones and lunging straight for the coordinates Ling Xuan had provided.

"Not good!" Zabuza was shocked. He hadn't expected Kakashi to lock onto his real body so accurately. In his haste, he had no choice but to swing his Kubikiribōchō to hack the incoming earth-style dogs to pieces, but in doing so, his position was completely exposed.

"Found you!" Kakashi's figure appeared behind Zabuza, his kunai stabbing straight for his heart!

However, Zabuza was, after all, a long-renowned elite ninja with extremely rich combat experience. The moment he was exposed, his body had already reacted.

"Water Style: Water Prison Technique!"

Zabuza advanced instead of retreating. As he turned, a massive amount of chakra erupted from his body. The surrounding mist seemed to be drawn to it, instantly condensing into a giant sphere of water that engulfed Kakashi, who hadn't been able to react in time!

"Damn it!" Kakashi's heart sank; he had been caught.

Once the Water Prison Technique succeeded, the caster had to keep their hand on the prison and could not move, but the trapped person was equally unable to move and would gradually lose strength due to suffocation.

"Hehehe... Kakashi, so what if you can see through my movements?" Zabuza's real body maintained the water prison and sneered. "You are nothing but my prisoner now. Next, I'll deal with the remaining brats."

He formed seals with his other hand, and a water clone condensed beside him once more, walking step by step toward the terrified Team 7 with a kunai in hand.

"It's over," the water clone said hoarsely.

Kakashi watched this scene from within the water prison, burning with anxiety but powerless to act. "Damn it! Naruto! Sasuke! Ling Xuan! Take the client and run! Don't worry about me!"

Yet, at this desperate moment, Ling Xuan moved. He didn't issue any orders; instead, he took a step forward, blocking the path in front of Sasuke and Naruto.

"Ling Xuan?" Sasuke and Naruto both looked at him.

"Protect the client and fall back," Ling Xuan's voice was calm, yet carried an irresistible power.

He watched the encroaching water clone, his Eye of Truth operating at unprecedented power. The target of his analysis was no longer the enemy, but the technique itself that held Kakashi captive.

[Ninjutsu Analysis: Water Prison Technique. Principle: Uses the caster's own chakra as a framework to bind a large volume of water molecules, forming a high-pressure, high-density water cage.]

[Chakra Flow Pattern: From the caster's arm, passing through a primary node, it distributes radially and uniformly across the entire surface of the water sphere, forming a stable tetrahedral chakra force field structure.]

[Structural Weakness Analysis: To maintain the absolute stability of the water prison, over 90% of the chakra is used to maintain the force field, resulting in the water prison's own defensive strength being unremarkable.]

[Its structural apex—the connection point where chakra is injected from the caster's arm into the water prison—is the energy hub and the point of highest structural stress for the entire technique. If this point receives an energy impact exceeding its threshold, it will cause the entire chakra force field to lose balance, triggering a chain collapse.]

Found it.