"With the warm-up over, it's time... to taste the main course."
The cruel smile curling at Shengu Xuan's lips made everyone present shudder involuntarily.
The faint chill the sea breeze had brought to the air seemed to plunge to freezing point.
"Kakashi-sensei, let's go!"
"Inari's in danger!"
Naruto was frantic, his blue eyes filled with anxiety.
Though usually carefree, he valued his companions and friends above all else.
The moment he heard that the kid who always said "heroes die" had been captured, anger surged inside him.
Kakashi quickly issued his orders.
"Naruto, go to Mr. Tazuna's house first, check the situation, and rescue Inari and Tsunami."
"Sasuke, Sakura, Shengu Xuan, we'll escort Mr. Tazuna straight to the bridge!"
He knew full well that Gato's goal was to stop construction. The bridge was the real battlefield.
"Understood!"
Naruto answered, immediately created several shadow clones, and raced toward the village.
With both hands in his pockets, Shengu Xuan leisurely followed behind the group.
He wasn't in the slightest hurry.
Since the prey had willingly entered the trap, there was no need to run himself breathless.
He even had the leisure to admire the thick fog that lingered year-round in the Land of Waves.
The damp sea breeze, laden with dense fog, struck his face with a clammy touch.
The closer they came to the unfinished bridge across the sea, the more pungent the smell of blood became.
Sasuke's brows knitted tightly as his two-tomoe Sharingan slowly spun, scanning their surroundings warily.
"This smell..."
After these past few days of training, he still hadn't attained the godlike realm of "controlling every cell" he had imagined, but his chakra control had indeed made a qualitative leap.
He couldn't wait to find a powerful opponent to test his results.
The group hurried onto the bridge.
The sight before them made Sakura cover her mouth and let out a terrified scream.
More than a dozen bridge workers lay scattered across the broad bridge deck.
Their bodies were covered in blade wounds, their blood staining the pale gray concrete a shocking dark red.
Dense fog swirled above the corpses, as though even the air were mourning the horrific scene.
At the sight of his fellow villagers lying in pools of blood, Tazuna's eyes instantly reddened, and he trembled as he started to rush forward.
"Bastards!"
"How could they do something so vicious to ordinary people!"
Kakashi grabbed him, his single eye fixed on the impenetrable white fog ahead.
"Don't go over there!"
"Mr. Tazuna!"
"Step... step... step..."
Heavy, rhythmic footsteps sounded from deep within the fog.
With them came a murderous aura colder and more violent than the surrounding air!
"Now that you're here, don't be in such a hurry to leave, Konoha ninja."
A hoarse voice, brimming with boundless venom, echoed across the empty bridge.
The dense fog gradually parted, and two figures slowly emerged.
Standing in front was none other than the Demon of the Hidden Mist, Zabuza Momochi, whom Shengu Xuan had trampled underfoot like a dog a few days earlier!
His body was now wrapped in bandages, and he carried his signature Kubikiribōchō on his back.
Though he still looked somewhat weak, his eyes, filled with a lust for slaughter, shone brighter and more crazed than before!
Beside him stood the slender figure wearing a Kirigakure Pursuit Squad mask-Haku.
Kakashi immediately pushed up his forehead protector, revealing his scarlet Sharingan.
"Zabuza!"
"So you really didn't die."
Zabuza slammed the Kubikiribōchō onto the bridge deck with a deafening thud.
"Hmph. Thanks to you, I took a trip to death's door."
"But this time, you'll be the ones to die!"
Zabuza's gaze passed over Kakashi and locked onto Shengu Xuan's indifferent face.
The corner of his eye twitched violently, as though he had recalled the terror of being dominated by absolute power a few days earlier.
But soon, a pathological arrogance replaced that fear.
Zabuza pointed his blade at Shengu Xuan and laughed unrestrainedly.
"Brat!"
"Did you think that fire release of yours that doesn't need hand seals was invincible?"
Shengu Xuan stopped and tilted his head slightly.
He looked at Zabuza as though watching a ridiculous clown trying hard to perform.
Shengu Xuan's voice was utterly flat, yet carried a lofty contempt.
"Oh?"
"Looks like soaking in muddy water for a few days waterlogged your brain."
Zabuza roared, his violent movements making blood seep through the bandages on his face.
"Quit putting on that mysterious act!"
"I've seen through your tricks!"
"That technique of yours is powerful, sure, but before you activate it, the surrounding air temperature shoots up!"
"As long as I anticipate it and use high-density Water Release to defend and counterattack, you won't have a chance to strike!"
Zabuza sneered, as though he already held the key to victory.
During the days he spent recovering, he and Haku had reviewed that battle countless times.
They stubbornly believed that, strange as Shengu Xuan's power was, it couldn't possibly lack a weakness.
As long as it was ninjutsu, there had to be a way to counter it!
Zabuza glanced at Haku beside him.
"And that shadow-summoning technique of yours may be troublesome, but in the face of absolute cold, even shadows will freeze!"
Haku stepped forward slightly, his hands rapidly forming hand seals.
The surrounding temperature plunged, and moisture on the bridge deck instantly condensed into frost with a series of cracking sounds.
Haku's voice came through his mask, cold and resolute.
"This time, you have no chance of winning."
Listening to Zabuza's self-assured analysis, Shengu Xuan nearly laughed aloud.
Seen through my tricks?
Anticipate the temperature rising?
Freeze shadows?
These frogs at the bottom of a well have no idea what they're facing.
Since when did the Dragon Talisman's explosive divine authority need to heat up beforehand?
That's merely a side effect of pure energy spilling out.
As for freezing the Shadowkhan... that's an even bigger joke.
Shadows are a concept without physical substance. How do you freeze a concept?
However, Shengu Xuan didn't expose them immediately.
He liked seeing the smug expressions prey wore when they thought they had everything under control.
Only then would the contrast be delicious enough when despair descended.
Shengu Xuan yawned and casually found a clean bridge pier to lean against.
"Really?"
"Then I'm actually looking forward to it."
"But trash at your level doesn't seem to warrant me stepping in."
He turned toward Sasuke, who had long since grown impatient.
Shengu Xuan raised his chin slightly, his tone carrying a hint of charity.
"Sasuke Uchiha, haven't you been wanting to prove that 'control' theory of yours?"
"The masked one's yours."
Sasuke abruptly turned and stared hard at Shengu Xuan.
Though Shengu Xuan's tone irritated him greatly, he knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
He would use actual combat to test the results of his training.
He would prove to Shengu Xuan that the Uchiha Clan's genius was no burden!
Sasuke snorted, flipped both hands, and brought two kunai into his grip.
"Hmph, spare me the nonsense!"
He pushed off hard with both legs, shooting forward like an arrow loosed from a bow!
Sasuke's voice echoed in the wind.
"Kakashi-sensei, the big one's yours."
"The masked one is my prey!"
Kakashi sighed helplessly.
"This kid's as impulsive as ever."
"But that's fine. Let him get some experience."
He drew a kunai and fixed his gaze on Zabuza.
"Well then, Zabuza, it's time we continued our fight too."
Watching Sasuke charge at Haku, a trace of cruelty flashed through Zabuza's eyes.
"Arrogant brat!"
"Haku, don't kill him. Leave him breathing."
"I'm going to slowly torture his companion to death in front of that black-haired brat!"
Haku nodded slightly.
"Yes, Mr. Zabuza."
Facing the swiftly approaching Sasuke, Haku showed no panic.
He formed hand seals with one hand, and the surrounding air instantly condensed into more than a dozen sharp ice senbon, suspended in midair.
Sasuke's Sharingan keenly caught the change in chakra nature.
"The Yuki Clan's kekkei genkai..."
Instead of slowing down, he concentrated a large amount of chakra in the soles of his feet, and his speed surged again!
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Sasuke swung his kunai, precisely knocking down every ice senbon fired at him.
His movements were smoother than they had been a few days earlier, every exertion of force perfectly measured, without a trace of wasted chakra.
Haku's gaze shifted slightly beneath his mask, but he didn't retreat.
"Oh?"
"You've gotten faster."
Sasuke closed in on Haku and launched a fierce spinning kick straight at his face!
"That's not all!"
Haku raised his arm to block.
A dull thud rang out.
The tremendous force sent Haku sliding back several meters, leaving two deep tracks across the frozen bridge deck.
Sasuke shouted excitedly.
"This is the result of my training!"
He felt that his control over his body had reached an unprecedented level.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Shengu Xuan, as though saying, See that? This is the control I've grasped!
Yet Shengu Xuan merely picked at his ear in boredom, not even sparing him a proper glance.
Irritation flared in Sasuke's heart, and he vented all his anger on Haku.
His hands rapidly formed hand seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A huge orange-red fireball spewed from Sasuke's mouth, hurtling at Haku with scorching heat!
Haku's voice remained calm.
"Too naive."
Instead of dodging, he rapidly formed hand seals with both hands.
An immense surge of icy chakra erupted from his body!
"Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"
At Haku's low cry, the moisture in the air instantly froze!
Enormous ice mirrors, radiating bone-chilling cold, rose from the bridge deck!
The ice mirrors stood in an eerie formation.
In an instant, they enclosed Sasuke, along with the Great Fireball he had spewed!
"Hiss..."
The Great Fireball struck an ice mirror, but actually failed to melt it.
Instead, the extreme cold radiating from the mirror instantly extinguished it, leaving only a cloud of white vapor!
Sasuke paled in shock.
"What?!"
His Great Fireball couldn't even break a single ice mirror?
Haku's figure slowly merged into one of the ice mirrors.
Immediately afterward, Haku's figure appeared in every ice mirror around him!
In every direction, above and below, that masked boy was everywhere!
Countless voices of Haku echoed within the ice crystal formation, like death gods pronouncing judgment from every direction.
"I told you, you have no chance of winning."
Sasuke's Sharingan spun wildly as he tried to locate Haku's real body.
"What... what kind of ninjutsu is this?!"
But to his despair, he discovered that the chakra signature in every mirror was exactly the same!
A truly hopeless predicament had descended!
Before you continue