Metal Root System Breaks the Demonic Mirror Deadlock

Every Haku in the mirrors flung out senbon at once, the fine needles crisscrossing from above and behind to seal off every space Chiba could move into.

The silver-white spear lay across his chest, its shaft spinning to knock aside the senbon coming from the front. Before the shield-shaped wood grain could spread open, sharp pain had already shot through his right shoulder and left leg.

The fourth senbon pierced through his sleeve and embedded itself in Chiba's forearm, thin ice creeping from the wound toward his elbow.

"Your Wood Release can block ice, but it can't block every direction."

Haku left the mirror on the left, only to appear overhead the next instant, fine needles once more pinched between his fingers.

"You can still be faster."

Chiba pulled the senbon from his arm. The wound tightened, and the blood that had only just touched the silver-white wood grain stopped flowing.

His Sage Body was repairing his injuries, but the stamina drained along with them did not return. The wood grain at his shoulder grew noticeably slower.

"Your recovery ability can't save you."

"Hit a vital spot first, then talk."

Chiba stepped forward, driving the spearhead straight into an ice mirror. Silver-white wood grain held back the cold, and cracks immediately spread across the mirror's surface.

Haku raised a palm from an adjacent mirror. Chakra circulated through the mirror array, and the cracks that had just been torn open sealed themselves shut.

"Useless."

"Again."

The spear's butt struck another ice mirror. Fine roots burrowed inside through the crack, but cold from within the mirror closed in from both sides, freezing the roots in the middle.

Chiba clenched his five fingers, and the roots forced their way through the ice, making the entire mirror bulge outward.

Haku's senbon had already arrived.