Whoosh!
Tap, tap, tap...
A short, masked figure fled without stopping, occasionally turning to fling volleys of senbon at his pursuer.
Behind him, Shinji gave relentless chase, strands of blood swirling around his body!
Had he not planned his escape route and laid a few traps beforehand, he might already have been cornered.
This man was terrifying!
"Secret Water Release Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death!"
"Solidify!"
Facing the torrent of senbon, Shinji immediately raised his right palm. A portion of the blood swirling around him split off and formed a wall of red crystal before him, instantly deflecting every needle.
This was another application of Blood Manipulation: condensing blood into a hard solid for offense or defense.
The drawback was that once solidified, it could no longer be turned back into liquid for repeated use.
By now, Shinji had realized something was wrong. His opponent was probably drawing him away on purpose.
Fortunately, he had left Hidan behind as a precaution.
Given Hidan's strength, there was little to worry about.
Though several thoughts flashed through his mind, they did not slow Shinji's hands.
He suddenly pressed his palms together, compressing all the remaining blood around him between them, then opened his hands slightly and aimed at the rapidly fleeing enemy.
"Blood Manipulation: Supernova!"
Boom!!!
The compressed blood burst outward, spraying the target like a shotgun blast!
There was nowhere to dodge!
By the time Haku noticed the attack behind him, he had no chance of escaping its enormous range.
So he immediately stopped and made the best possible decision.
Hand seals, then a technique!
"Ice Release: Ice Rock Dome!"
A thick, bowl-shaped wall of ice immediately rose, enclosing Haku beneath it. Then, a moment later...
Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack... A dense barrage of impacts rang out!
Though the countless Blood Bullets sent ice chips flying, part of the ice wall remained when the noise stopped. It had not been completely shattered.
"Hah... hah..."
Drip, drip!
Haku panted rapidly, blood dripping steadily from the wounds on his arm.
Although he had reacted the instant he sensed danger, he had still been a fraction too slow. Several Blood Bullets had struck him.
His right arm now hung limp, and half his body was stained red. Worse still, he could already feel numbness spreading from his wounds, while his vision had begun to blur and double.
That attack was poisoned!
"Ice Release? Who are you?"
Shinji stopped as well, a flicker of surprise passing through his eyes.
That build and height, that mask, and most importantly, appearing in the Land of Waves with Ice Release...
Barring any surprises, Shinji already knew who the boy before him was.
That raised another question: if Haku was here, where was Zabuza?
Clearly, Zabuza must have gone to kill Mira Peng. By now, he might already be fighting Hidan.
As for who would win...
That was hard to say. It depended on whether Zabuza could use the Silent Killing Technique to cut off Hidan's head first, or whether Hidan could obtain Zabuza's blood and complete the ritual with Death Controlling Possessed Blood before that.
Whoever struck first would win.
But when he had taken out Gato, he had been certain Zabuza had not yet arrived in the Land of Waves with Haku.
So what exactly was going on?
Why had Haku suddenly appeared and tried to assassinate Mira Peng?
Could someone else have issued an assassination mission,
which Haku and Zabuza just happened to accept? Shinji could not figure it out right away, but even if Demon Zabuza had come, he would not give an inch!
Haku said nothing.
But his eyes and demeanor made it clear he had not given up hope.
"It looks like you have a lot of faith in the guy carrying out that decapitation strike. You think you can hold out until he comes to save you. But... I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed."
"Because my partner isn't some useless fool who can be killed so easily!"
"As much as I hate to admit it, that guy is terrifying in ways you can't even imagine!"
"All right, enough chatting. It's time I showed you what I can really do."
As soon as he finished speaking, an eerie X-shaped blood mark appeared on Shinji's forehead, and his entire presence changed!
Blood Manipulation: Flowing Red Scale!
Whoosh!
Shinji vanished from where he stood.
Despite watching his every movement with intense vigilance, Haku still failed to track Shinji's movement.
Thud!
A jolt of excruciating pain in his lower back brought Haku back to reality!
When?!
Haku's face filled with horror. After smashing through a tree, he forcibly adjusted his posture and landed on the ground.
Before he could even lift his head to locate his enemy, a voice came from behind him.
"Do you know how fast an ordinary person's blood normally flows?"
Haku immediately rolled forward without hesitation.
A moment later, a blood-red curved blade swept across the ground, slicing it open as easily as tofu.
Had he hesitated for even an instant, that strike would have split him in two from head to toe!
Holding the Blood Blade, Shinji did not immediately pursue him. Instead, he spoke as though answering his own question. "Under normal conditions, it's roughly between 12.5 and 14 centimeters per second. When someone starts exercising vigorously, their blood flows faster to meet the demands of their organs and the rest of their body."
"So when blood flow accelerates to a certain point, the human body's limits can be broken, even if that special state of exceeding those limits can't last very long and causes severe damage to the body."
"Which brings us to the next question: how long can you last against me in this state?"
Overwhelming pressure bore down on Haku. He felt as though he would suffocate at any moment, but even against such a terrifying enemy, he neither backed down nor begged for mercy, nor did he let his enemy's words break him.
"The timer... starts now."
"Secret Ice Release Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"
Haku bit down hard on the tip of his tongue. Forcing himself back to clarity, he squeezed out every last bit of chakra in his body and staked everything on this technique!
Lord Zabuza, I'm sorry. I... may no longer be able to stay by your side.
Three seconds later, more than a dozen ice mirrors shattered at once, scattering ice crystals through the air.
Haku himself, hidden within the mirrors, collapsed from exhaustion under Shinji's brutally overwhelming attacks.
"It shouldn't be too late to head back now, right?"
"I hope that idiot hasn't been chopped into pieces and left waiting for me to save him."
The blood mark on his forehead vanished. After muttering those two remarks to himself, Shinji casually picked Haku up and headed back the way he had come.
The appetizer was finished, but the main course still awaited him.
Before you continue