Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals

With a low shout from Haku, countless Senbon suddenly condensed from the water in every direction.

These Senbon were clearly formed by freezing water into ice.

Shikamaru stared at the Senbon surrounding him from all sides, his brow furrowing deeply.

Choji, who had just finished unleashing his Human Bullet Tank, finally regained consciousness. At his current level, Choji would fall into a brief stupor after using the technique, primarily because his body could not handle the rapid rotation.

Seeing the situation, Choji immediately shouted a warning:

"Shikamaru, dodge!"

"Swish, swish, swish..."

The next moment, countless Senbon shot rapidly toward Shikamaru. At the critical second, Shikamaru pushed his chakra to the limit, his body erupting with astonishing potential.

He stomped heavily against the ground and leaped high into the air just as the ice needles were about to pierce his body, barely evading the volley.

"Oh? You actually didn't get hit? It seems this boy was still hiding his strength."

Haku was slightly surprised, looking up at Shikamaru in mid-air.

Shikamaru, who had somehow produced three shuriken in his hands, waved his arm and launched them at Haku.

"Child's play!"

Haku gave a cold snort. Having completely read the trajectory of the shuriken, he swung the Senbon in his hands and knocked them down one by one.

At the same time, he delivered a roundhouse kick toward Shikamaru, who had just landed behind him.

The two exchanged dozens of blows, neither gaining the upper hand.

Finally, after a clash, both parties retreated five meters and watched each other with grave expressions.

Haku glanced at Shikamaru and said indifferently:

"It seems you really were hiding quite a bit of strength, but you shouldn't have any trump cards left now."

Haku finished speaking to himself, then emitted an extremely cold aura and formed a strange seal with his hands.

"What a pity, young one. Everything ends here!"

"Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!!!"

Massive ice crystals slowly rose from the bridge, eventually forming large mirrors that surrounded Shikamaru completely.

Then, as if he had shed his physical shell, Haku slowly merged into the mirrors.

Shikamaru glanced around, his brow furrowing as Haku's figure appeared in the mirrors one after another.

"Inside these Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, my speed will be pushed to the limit."

Countless Hakus spoke in unison from within the mirrors, leaving Shikamaru unable to discern where Haku actually was.

"He can only be in one mirror at a time, which means the others are just illusions?"

Shikamaru pulled out a Kunai and threw it at a nearby mirror, producing a crisp "clink."

"Troublesome. This mirror really isn't something I can break in my current state..."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, gripping his Kunai as he scanned his surroundings, secretly searching for a way to break the technique.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"

Suddenly, dozens of Senbon shot in from all directions. Shikamaru's expression changed in alarm as he instinctively dove to the side, waving his Kunai frantically. He only managed to deflect the Senbon coming from the front, and inevitably, several wounds appeared on his back.

"It's impossible for every mirror to be physical, but in that instant, the attack truly came from all directions."

Shikamaru crouched low, running through every detail of their first exchange in his mind.

Senbon made of ice, mirrors made of ice, merging into the mirror...

Lu Yu's eyes brightened slightly as he boldly deduced a conclusion:

"It seems this guy is a ninja who can control ice-style ninjutsu, and his speed increases significantly within this technique, and..."

Shikamaru glanced at his own injuries and narrowed his eyes, theorizing:

The opponent likely only intends to knock him unconscious and has no intention of killing him.

Thinking of this, Shikamaru shouted loudly:

"Choji, launch the Human Bullet Tank from the outside!"

"Huh? Shikamaru, you could have said so sooner..."

A familiar voice came from beside Shikamaru. It turned out that while Shikamaru was deep in thought, Choji, worried about his safety, had already quietly arrived at his side.

"..."

Shikamaru looked at the innocent-looking Choji, covering his face in helpless frustration, wanting to cry but having no tears...

On the other side, Zabuza watched Asuma with a strange expression; even upon hearing Shikamaru's shout, his opponent remained completely unmoved.

"Heh, Asuma, who would have thought? I still have a companion, and your students don't seem to be in a very good situation right now. If you keep dragging this out, they're going to be in danger..."

Asuma smiled nonchalantly. Hearing Zabuza's voice, he immediately sprinted to the side, finding Zabuza's position within a few leaps.

Zabuza looked at Asuma in surprise, and the two instantly engaged in a fierce battle.

"I really have to thank you, Zabuza. You've awakened my dormant fighting spirit. By the way, I should mention that my squad consists of four people, and there's still one who hasn't arrived yet..."

"Heh, even if another one comes, they'll be no match for Haku."

As Zabuza finished speaking, he brought the Executioner's Blade down hard toward Asuma, only for Asuma to catch it firmly with one hand using his Flying Swallow.

Asuma clenched the Flying Swallow in his free right hand and slashed fiercely at Zabuza, but the man tilted his head and narrowly dodged the blow.

"Heh, the legendary Twelve Guardian Shinobi are nothing more than—"

Zabuza stopped mid-sentence, his assault coming to a sudden halt. He felt a sharp, intense pain across his face and instinctively touched it, only to be horrified to find his hand covered in blood.

Asuma looked at Zabuza with a cold sneer:

"Don't be careless, Zabuza. Otherwise, you'll die by my hand."

"Hehehe, interesting..."

Zabuza retreated back into the mist, and his voice suddenly began to drift, sounding erratic. Asuma frowned deeply, a sudden sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

"Damn it, don't underestimate me!"

Choji, somewhat enraged, pulled the senbon from his body and formed hand seals:

"Multi-Size Technique! Human Bullet Tank!"

Seeing this, Shikamaru immediately shouted:

"Stop, Choji..."

However, Choji, consumed by anger, couldn't hear a word. In the blink of an eye, he grew massive, his head and limbs retracting into his body.

"Heh, useless fatty."

Haku sneered.

The next moment, just as the Human Bullet Tank began to move, countless senbon appeared from all directions and shot toward him.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft..."

The massive target didn't even need to be aimed at to be hit completely. If the senbon had struck ordinary parts of his body, Choji might have been able to endure it in this state.

But every one of Haku's attacks was aimed at the body's pressure points. Under the intense pain, Choji deflated like a punctured ball, instantly reverting to his normal form, his eyes rolling back as he fainted.

"Choji!"

Shikamaru rushed to Choji's side and instinctively checked the pulse at his neck, feeling a slight sense of relief.

Sure enough, the senbon had all avoided vital points; he was merely in a state of suspended animation.

Shikamaru glanced around, a sharp glint in his eyes:

"My body has somehow miraculously adapted to his speed. If I keep dragging this out, it will be to my advantage. Maintaining such high-speed movement must be consuming a lot of his chakra."

"It seems your companion is finished. Now, only you remain..."

Haku, inside the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, watched Shikamaru coldly before launching his attack.

Swish, swish, swish—

Shikamaru had been vigilantly watching his surroundings. Seeing the senbon coming from all directions, he channeled chakra into the soles of his feet and leaped high into the air, swinging his kunai rapidly to knock down several senbon before landing steadily on the ground.

"This guy... has he actually managed to keep up with my speed?"

Haku, inside the mirror, watched Shikamaru with surprise, a cold look then flashing in his eyes:

"In that case, I need to finish this quickly. Dragging it out will be disadvantageous for me; after all, maintaining high-speed movement is quite taxing on my chakra."

"Secret Technique: Thousand Kills Water Soar!!"

Following this, all the water on the ground transformed into flying needles. A closer look revealed there were hundreds of them, swarming in from every direction.

Shikamaru looked at the hundreds of senbon surrounding him with a bitter smile, a flash of despair in his eyes:

"It seems this is the end for me, too..."