Ice Release and Haki-I Want Them Both

At first light the next day, the group set off toward the docks.

Morning mist swept into their faces on the salty sea breeze. The closer they came to the docks, the fewer people they saw. Even the occasional early-rising fisherman hurried past with his head down, not daring to glance toward the warehouses, as though man-eating monsters lurked there.

"Up ahead is Gato's private warehouse." Tazuna stopped behind a distant reef, keeping his voice low. "He has thugs guarding it during the day, and at night, nobody even dares go near it. A thief slipped inside a while back. The next day, he was floating in the sea, his whole body as dried out as if he'd been left in the sun for half a month. It was a horrifying sight."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and quietly activated his Sharingan, scanning the rows of tinplate warehouses ahead. A simple Guard Barrier surrounded the warehouses, with four sword-wielding guards stationed around the perimeter. None of their presences were weak. Deeper inside lurked two slightly stronger presences, faintly radiating a powerful physical force.

"Something's off," Kakashi said quietly. "These guards are far stronger than those of an ordinary smuggling caravan. There's probably more going on inside."

He had originally intended to slip in quietly and investigate, but now it seemed forcing their way in might be unavoidable.

Sasuke touched the Kunai at his waist, eager to try his hand; Naruto clenched his fists, looking ready to charge at any moment; Sakura pressed her lips together nervously and instinctively moved closer to the middle of the group.

Only Lin Chen remained calm, his gaze passing over the wall and settling directly on the deepest part of the warehouse.

He had already spread out his senses, laying everything inside bare. Crates of Seastone fragments sat piled in a corner, emitting a faint suppressive force; over a dozen Wooden Plaques carved with strange patterns were neatly stacked, black mist swirling around them and nourishing three or four Low-Level Cursed Spirits; in a secret chamber at the very back of the warehouse hid two warriors with steady presences. Faint Armament Haki flowed within them. They were the trump-card experts Gato had hired at great expense.

Traces of One Piece and jujutsu intertwined within this little warehouse, forming a hodgepodge.

To anyone else, it was a deadly danger zone. To Lin Chen, it was a treasury with its doors thrown open.

"Sasuke, Naruto, keep the guards occupied from the front. Sakura, watch the flank and be ready to support them. I'll sneak in from the side." Kakashi quickly laid out their tactics, then looked toward Lin Chen with some hesitation in his voice. "Lin Chen, you..."

"I'll go in through the front," Lin Chen said flatly, already walking toward the warehouse entrance.

Everyone froze at his words. Force his way straight in? That was far too direct.

The guards soon spotted him and immediately shouted, "Who goes there?! This warehouse is off-limits! Leave at once!"

Two guards charged at him with swords in hand, their blades flashing coldly and cutting through the air with vicious force.

Without breaking stride, Lin Chen raised a hand and casually struck out with two palm blows.

Thump! Thump!

Two dull impacts sounded almost simultaneously. Both guards flew backward, swords and all, and hit the ground unconscious.

Throughout it all, even his chakra fluctuations were barely perceptible. Pure physical strength had overwhelmed the ordinary thugs.

"Let's go." Lin Chen looked back, his tone as casual as if he had merely pushed open two doors.

The corner of Kakashi's mouth twitched. His entire infiltration plan had been rendered useless, leaving him no choice but to lead the others after Lin Chen. With combat power of this level on their side, a sneak attack seemed superfluous instead.

The moment they rushed through the warehouse entrance, a cold, sinister air mixed with the smell of rust struck them.

The light abruptly dimmed. Crates of goods rose in small mountains, and fine black dust barely visible to the naked eye floated in the air. Breathing it in made their bodies feel heavy, even slowing their chakra circulation a fraction.

"What powerful suppression." Kakashi's expression shifted slightly, and he immediately shielded Naruto and the other two behind him. "Be careful, everyone. The Black Iron dust here can interfere with chakra."

He picked up a pitch-black fragment from the floor and felt a sluggish resistance the moment his fingertips touched it. It was stronger than what he had sensed from the Kubikiribōchō yesterday. The quantity of Black Iron fragments in this warehouse far exceeded his expectations.

"This material definitely isn't native to the Shinobi World." Kakashi's brow furrowed, the doubts in his heart growing ever deeper.

Just then, two low, cold chuckles came from the depths of the warehouse.

Two tall figures slowly emerged from behind the piled goods. Both wore fitted coarse-cloth outfits and carried short swords at their waists. A faint metallic sheen covered their fists, and their eyes were as vicious as wolves'.

"You brats have some nerve, barging into Lord Gato's warehouse." The warrior on the left spoke in a rumbling voice, clenching his fists with a series of cracks. "Touch anything here, and we'll break your bones and throw you to the fish."

"Foreign warriors?" Kakashi's gaze sharpened. Their chakra was not particularly strong, but their physical vitality was unusually vigorous. Their fists also possessed an eerily hard quality. They were certainly no ordinary Taijutsu ninja.

"Let me!"

Sasuke charged first, sending Shuriken flying straight at their faces.

Clang! Clang!

The warrior neither dodged nor ducked, simply raising his fists to meet them head-on. Sparks flew as the sharp Shuriken were knocked away without leaving so much as a pale mark.

"What?!" Sasuke's pupils contracted sharply.

"That's all the strength you've got?" The warrior sneered, stepped forward, and drove a fist toward Sasuke. The punch carried fierce force and a heavy sense of pressure.

Sasuke hurriedly dodged sideways, but even the force brushing past his arm made his blood surge, driving him back several steps.

"A secret Taijutsu hardening art?" Kakashi murmured. His Sharingan spun rapidly, yet he could not discern the opponent's chakra circulation. This hardening did not rely on chakra at all. It was purely the body's own power, matching none of the known Taijutsu in the Shinobi World.

Seeing this, Naruto charged in as well, unleashing his Shadow Clones together. But punching the warrior felt like striking an iron plate, and the recoil only hurt his own hands.

The two warriors roared with laughter, their attacks growing increasingly brazen.

"That's enough."

Lin Chen walked forward, placing himself in front of Naruto and Sasuke.

"Boy, you want a taste too?" The warrior on the left grinned viciously and drove a powerful fist straight at Lin Chen's face. The metallic sheen on his fist intensified-his Armament Haki was clearly pushed to its utmost.

To Kakashi and the others, the heavy, powerful punch looked capable of shattering stone and breaking iron.

But Lin Chen merely raised his hand and caught the fist precisely in his palm.

[Ding! Target locked: wandering warrior (beginner Armament Haki)!]

[Available to plunder: advanced Armament Haki insights, physical enhancement talent, close-quarters combat instincts!]

[Critical multiplier: fivefold! Initiating Plunder!]

An invisible devouring force spread from his palm, frantically drawing out the warrior's Haki Origin and physical reserves.

The vicious grin instantly froze on the warrior's face.

He felt the hardness of his fist rapidly receding, his abundant vitality pouring out like floodwater through an opened gate. In just two seconds, his fist, once as hard as tempered steel, weakened until it had less force than an ordinary burly man's.

"What's happening?! My Iron Bone Fist!"

The warrior cried out in shock and terror.

Lin Chen applied a little pressure with his fingertips.

Crack-

The crisp sound of breaking bone rang out.

The warrior screamed as he was flung away, slamming heavily into a crate and losing consciousness on the spot.

The other warrior's expression changed drastically at the sight. He stared at Lin Chen in disbelief. "You crippled his secret art?!"

"Your turn."

Lin Chen turned his head, his gaze calm.

Terrified out of his wits, the man turned to flee. But he had barely taken two steps when he felt the back of his neck tighten, and all his strength was instantly drained away.

Another devouring force descended.

Two seconds later, the second warrior also collapsed limply to the ground, completely unable to fight.

In no more than ten seconds, Lin Chen had easily dealt with two mysterious warriors whom even Kakashi would have had to approach cautiously.

Silence filled the warehouse.

Naruto's mouth hung open, refusing to close for a long while; Sasuke clenched his fists tightly, his sense of defeat growing ever stronger; Sakura's eyes were filled with shock, and she almost forgot to breathe.

Kakashi took a deep breath, suppressing the turbulent shock within him. He walked over to the unconscious warrior and felt his fist. Sure enough, that strange hardness had completely vanished, leaving it no different from an ordinary person's.

"You didn't just defeat them. You crippled their secret arts too?" Kakashi looked up at Lin Chen, his voice complicated.

"I just disrupted his method of circulating his blood and vital energy," Lin Chen said casually. "Unorthodox Taijutsu like this has unstable foundations. One good disruption, and it falls apart."

With one nonchalant remark, he had passed off plundering Armament Haki as unraveling a sinister secret technique.

Kakashi was skeptical, but he could find no grounds to argue. He had never seen this secret art before, so naturally, he had no way to disprove it.

With the guards dealt with, the group continued deeper into the warehouse.

The farther they went, the stronger the sinister chill became. Sakura could not help shivering. "Why does it keep getting colder...? It feels like someone's watching me from behind."

Naruto rubbed his arms too. "Yeah, it's all cold and creepy. Pretty scary."

Kakashi narrowed his Sharingan further. He could vaguely see faint black mist floating in the air, along with several blurry dark figures roaming between the crates. But no matter how he channeled his chakra, he could not make out what they were.

"They're spiritual entities," Kakashi said gravely. "Stay close together, everyone. Watch out for surprise attacks."

The moment he finished speaking, a dark figure shot out from behind a crate, lunging straight at Sakura on the outer edge of the group. Black mist formed sharp claws, carrying a bone-piercing chill.

"Watch out!"

Kakashi immediately hurled a Kunai, but it passed through the dark figure as though through air, dealing no damage.

Physical attacks don't work? Kakashi's heart sank.

At the very instant the dark figure was about to touch Sakura.

Lin Chen raised his hand and flicked a fingertip.

A wisp of invisible devouring force struck the dark figure precisely.

The Low-Level Cursed Spirit let out a soundless shriek. Its black mist rapidly dissipated at a visible speed, and in the blink of an eye, it had been devoured completely, leaving not a trace.

Most of the sinister chill instantly receded.

"It's... dealt with?" Naruto blinked blankly. He had not even seen where the enemy was, and it was already over?

Kakashi remained silent.

A strange spiritual entity that his Sharingan could not see through, that Ninjutsu could not reach, and that had left even him helpless-Lin Chen had dealt with it with another simple lift of his hand.

This boy harbored far too many secrets.

Ignoring everyone's gazes, Lin Chen walked straight toward the corner at the very back of the warehouse.

Over a dozen wooden boxes were piled there, containing neatly stacked Wooden Plaques engraved with cursed patterns. They were indeed Cursed Objects. Beside them stood a locked iron chest. After it was forced open, it revealed several yellowed nautical charts, half a broken skull emblem, and an incomplete Voyage Log filled with messy handwriting. The words "East Blue" and "Seagull" were faintly visible on its cover.

[Ding! Complete surviving portion of a Voyage Log from the Pirate Plane detected!]

[Available to plunder: intermediate navigation talent, ocean current identification skills, incomplete Armament Haki cultivation formula!]

[Ding! Batch of Cursed Objects detected!]

[Available to plunder: Cursed Energy refinement method, Low-Level Cursed Spirit control insights, advanced resistance to negative emotions!]

System notifications sounded one after another.

Lin Chen brushed his fingertips over the iron chest, silently plundering every last bit of Origin.

Vast amounts of knowledge flooded his mind. Navigation, Haki, and Cursed Energy-three entirely different systems-merged perfectly with his own chakra foundation through the system's integration.

His physique grew stronger, his perception sharper, and his control over energy rose another level.

"Did you find anything?" Kakashi walked over.

"Some foreign odds and ends." Lin Chen closed the iron chest and said calmly, "They look like the remnants of some overseas trading caravan."

Kakashi picked up a nautical chart and glanced over it. The place names and routes were all utterly unfamiliar, making his brow furrow.

He had a vague premonition that behind these objects lay an immense world far beyond the Shinobi World's understanding.

Just then, the tinplate roof of the warehouse abruptly gave a faint clink.

Kakashi instantly looked up, activating his Sharingan to its fullest.

"Who's up there?!"

His answer was a thick white mist that suddenly spread through the air.

"Hidden Mist Technique? It's Zabuza!" Kakashi immediately went on alert.

From within the mist, a cold voice slowly sounded:

"Boy, I never expected you could even neutralize Cursed Objects and Evil Iron."

"But did you think that meant you'd won?"

Zabuza's figure flickered in and out of view in the mist. Haku stood quietly beside him, hands already set in a seal.

This time, they had not come to assassinate Tazuna.

The foreign Secret Treasures inside the warehouse were their true objective.

If they could master these things that suppressed chakra and controlled spiritual entities, they might yet turn the tables.

Lin Chen raised his eyes toward the depths of the mist, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.

An Ice Release Kekkei Genkai delivered right to my door. No reason to turn it down.