The moment Terumi Mei made her move, Uesugi Shinji had already noticed her presence. But he hadn't intended to keep fighting Hozuki Mangetsu, so he simply let Terumi Mei take hold of his hand.
Terumi Mei's palm was soft and warm. To Uesugi Shinji's surprise, he didn't feel the least bit repulsed, despite never being comfortable with physical contact.
At that moment, Rin hurried over from not far away. Her gaze swept over Terumi Mei's hand holding Uesugi Shinji's, and she couldn't help giving a quiet huff.
"I was just about to dispel this jutsu," Uesugi Shinji said slowly.
Hearing him, Terumi Mei nodded and let go of his hand. She also flashed a meaningful smile at Rin, who was watching her with an unfriendly expression.
Terumi Mei was so poised and open that Rin felt a little awkward. She immediately turned her head away to avoid Terumi Mei's gaze.
With Terumi Mei no longer stopping him, chakra burst from Uesugi Shinji's hands, which had already finished forming the Hand Seals.
"Release!"
A dense mist billowed from the ice tornado trapping Hozuki Mangetsu's two bodies. The entire tornado melted away with the rising mist, leaving the surrounding ground and trees encased in ice.
At the same time, the ice tornado itself crumbled, freeing both of Hozuki Mangetsu's bodies from the misting ice.
Hozuki Mangetsu hadn't passed out. His consciousness remained clear. But after being frozen, his limbs and entire body were numb with cold and impossible to control. As soon as he was freed, he dropped to the ground with a thud.
The two Hozuki Mangetsus sprawled on the ground couldn't speak yet because their tongues were frozen stiff. But the white pupils in their eyes moved nimbly, repeatedly glancing toward Terumi Mei as if trying to signal her.
Rin stared in astonishment and blurted out, "Impossible! Are there really two Hozuki Mangetsus in the world?"
Rin was so shocked because she had always believed one of the two Hozuki Mangetsus was some kind of clone created by a nature transformation technique. In her view, the most likely possibility was a Water Clone Technique.
Among the Clone Techniques known in the Shinobi World, all tangible clones created by nature transformations would crumble if struck even lightly. Only genjutsu clones lacked physical form. There was no way a clone could survive an ice tornado and remain intact.
But now that the ice tornado had been dispelled, both Hozuki Mangetsus were lying there, alive and well. It was completely beyond Rin's understanding.
Unable to suppress her curiosity, Rin stepped forward and poked each Hozuki Mangetsu in the cheek. Their springy feel confirmed that both were real.
Ignoring the two Hozuki Mangetsus' angry glares, Rin habitually turned to Uesugi Shinji and asked, perplexed, "Shinji, do you know what's going on?"
As the team captain and its brains, Uesugi Shinji was the one Kisame and Rin turned to whenever they ran into something they couldn't understand, whether on a mission or in their daily lives. Most of the time, he could give them the right answer.
Over time, asking Uesugi Shinji whenever they had a question had become a habit for both Kisame and Rin.
Uesugi Shinji nodded and answered slowly, "I do."
Though Uesugi Shinji was answering Rin, his gaze remained fixed on Hozuki Mangetsu, as if he were thinking about something.
At first, he had also thought that one of the two Hozuki Mangetsus was a clone.
But while dispelling the ice tornado just now, he had let his Ice Release chakra touch the other man's body. Using the Light Brain, he had instantly scanned it through the extension of his Ice Release chakra—and unexpectedly discovered the truth about Hozuki Mangetsu.
Why had Hozuki Mangetsu sought him out? Why had he shown such eagerness to learn Ice Release jutsu? Why did he have two bodies?
Uesugi Shinji now had the answers to all of it!
Hearing his answer, Rin's eyes lit up. She stared at Uesugi Shinji expectantly, waiting for him to explain what had puzzled her.
Terumi Mei, standing nearby, also looked intrigued and gazed at Uesugi Shinji with curiosity. In truth, she knew Hozuki Mangetsu's secret inside and out. She simply couldn't believe Uesugi Shinji had figured it out from a single exchange.
Ten seconds passed.
Under the watchful eyes of Rin and Terumi Mei, Uesugi Shinji still said nothing more. He continued staring intently at Hozuki Mangetsu, even raising a hand to rub his chin as he pondered. He seemed extremely interested in Hozuki Mangetsu.
"Hey, Shinji, I'm talking to you!" Rin shouted, growing irritated.
Terumi Mei frowned slightly. Could Uesugi Shinji be the kind of person who made things up as he went along? Maybe he didn't actually know Hozuki Mangetsu's secret and had just been talking off the cuff.
Uesugi Shinji merely said, "Didn't I already answer you?"
Rin stomped her foot in frustration. She'd forgotten again that her captain was a man of few words! No matter what you asked, even if he knew the answer, he would respond only to the exact scope of your question, without saying a single word more.
Terumi Mei was taken aback at first, but her quick mind soon caught on. She couldn't help finding it both exasperating and amusing.
Terumi Mei shook her head helplessly and asked Uesugi Shinji, "Then would you please clear up this mystery for us?"
Before you continue