"Damn it! How can Fubuki Kakuyoku be so unreliable!"
Nadare Rōga parried Kakashi's tricky thrust with his weapon, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of his companion on the deck, who was wrapped tightly in white paper strips and unable to move. His heart sank.
His original plan was to use Fubuki Kakuyoku's aerial advantage and Ice Release's agility to create chaos, allowing him and Fuyukuma to quickly take down the main target. He hadn't expected the enemy to be so difficult to deal with.
Seeing that Fubuki Kakuyoku had been captured, the ship's defensive formation was solid, and Kakashi's attacks were like a persistent ailment, Nadare Rōga knew that they would not be able to succeed in the short term.
He made a quick decision and slammed his hand onto the ice!
Ice Release: Ice Rock Hall Without End!
Boom! Several thick ice walls instantly rose from the ground, blocking his view and attacks from Kakashi.
Nadare Rōga used the recoil to retreat rapidly, while simultaneously growling at Fuyukuma Mizore, who was struggling against Shūji's combined wind and fire Ninjutsu and Ishikawa's long-range throws. " Fuyukuma! Retreat! Regroup first!"
Upon hearing this, Fuyukuma withstood a fireball from Shūji. Although the Chakra Armor blocked most of the power, he was still forced to take a few steps back. He immediately stopped pursuing him.
With a few leaps, the massive yet agile body merged with the retreating Nadare Rōga, and the two stood side by side on the ice, warily watching the ship.
Kakashi did not pursue. The instant the ice wall rose, his Sharingan, which had been in the Tomoe state, spun rapidly, copying down the details of the Nadare Rōga Hand Seals, the trajectory of the Chakra flow, and the moment the ice wall formed.
At the same time, his doubts deepened.
" Ice Release, it's Ice Release again..."
Kakashi's brows were furrowed beneath his mask. Ice Release is Kekkei Genkai combining Water Release and Wind Release, extremely rare in the Shinobi World, with only a handful of known users.
These three Snow Ninja before us—from Nadare Rōga to the female ninja, and now this burly man—are all proficient in using Ice Release, and with considerable power at that. This is definitely not normal.
His gaze swept across the surroundings. The wind was biting, tiny ice floes floated on the sea, and in the distance stood majestic icebergs. An extremely cold environment...
Could it be that...?
A hypothesis surfaced in Kakashi's mind. Perhaps the ninjas of the Land of Snow weren't born with Ice Release bloodline limits, but rather utilized some method—such as their unique Chakra Armor —combined with the Land of Snow's perpetually frigid climate, to simulate or even greatly enhance the effects of Water Release, giving it characteristics similar to Ice Release?
If that's the case, then this technology is terrifying; it's equivalent to mass-producing "pseudo-bloodline ninjas" under specific conditions!
Just as his mind was racing, the Nadare Rōga on the opposite side seemed unwilling to let them leave easily.
Seeing that Kakashi did not pursue but stood there lost in thought, Nadare Rōga's eyes flashed with a fierce light. He suddenly clasped his hands together, his Chakra fluctuating violently, even stirring up the cold air on the surrounding sea, and countless tiny ice crystals began to condense in the air.
" Kakashi, don't get cocky just because you blocked a few attacks! Let me show you the true Ice Release of the Land of Snow! Ice Release: One-Horned White Whale!"
With the roar of the Nadare Rōga, the seawater in front of him surged and bulged wildly. Accompanied by a deafening roar, a giant narwhal, made entirely of solid ice and as large as a small boat, broke through the surface of the sea and appeared in awe!
The giant whale was incredibly lifelike, its cold horn and massive body exuding a suffocating sense of oppression. It opened its enormous mouth, which was made of ice spikes, and charged towards Kakashi and the " Northern Merchant "Kakashi ship not far behind him with overwhelming force, carrying a tidal wave of cold air and ice shards.
The power of this attack far surpasses that of the previous ice dragon!
" Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto and the others on the ship cried out in alarm upon seeing the terrifying ice whale. Even Shira's eyes narrowed; the scale of this attack had exceeded the normal range of an ordinary Jonin's attack.
"So that's how it is. The key to injecting massive amounts of Chakra into water, instantly shaping it using extreme cold, and giving it kinetic energy and a certain degree of 'life' is the control over water-style Chakra, right?"
Faced with such a terrifying attack, Kakashi remained unusually calm. His Sharingan spun at high speed, instantly analyzing, copying, and reconstructing every detail of Nadare Rōga, from the Hand Seals to the formation of the giant whale!
The title of "Copy Ninja" is well-deserved!
Just as the giant ice whale was about to crash into them, Kakashi moved. His Hand Seals were faster and smoother than Nadare Rōga, as if he had practiced them a thousand times.
" Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!" He first created a water flow of the same scale using a powerful Water Release.
" Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!" Immediately afterwards, Earth Release Chakra was injected into the water, not for defense, but to change the water's quality, increasing its density and plasticity.
With Sharingan, he mimicked the special Chakra application techniques he had copied from Nadare Rōga, focusing on "coldness" and "shaping."
Ice Release: One-Horned White Whale!
Kakashi's deep voice rang out.
The next moment, on the sea between the " Northern Merchant " and the Nadare Rōga, another giant ice unicorn whale, no less impressive in size and even sharper in profile and more restrained in its chill due to more precise Chakra control, suddenly took shape!
"What?! Are you kidding me?! (*꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ)!"
Nadare Rōga instantly stopped laughing. He could see clearly that the opponent was indeed using the " One-Horned White Whale "!
He wasn't angry that his Ninjutsu had been learned by the other party, after all, the other party had the Sharingan. What he couldn't accept was the solidity of that giant whale and the cold, sharp aura it exuded, which seemed to be even better than his own!
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Two colossal beasts, entirely composed of ice, collided head-on on the frigid sea surface without any frills! In that instant, it was as if an iceberg had collapsed, or as if thunder had exploded!
Amidst a deafening roar, countless ice fragments of varying sizes shot out in all directions like cannonballs, crashing into the sea and creating countless waves. White, frigid mist mixed with water vapor rose into the sky, instantly enveloping the entire sea area and blurring the view.
"Whoosh--!" Nadare Rōga groaned, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, his body swaying. His " One-Horned White Whale " was clearly at a disadvantage in the collision, collapsing first, the recoil causing his blood and qi to churn.
Although Kakashi's Ice Whale was also mostly shattered, the remaining head and part of the torso still slammed down towards him and the Fuyukuma with residual force!
"Go!" Nadare Rōga Avalanche gritted his teeth, grabbed the still somewhat dazed Fuyukuma, and the two of them unleashed Chakra beneath their feet, stepping on the constantly cracking ice surface, and rapidly retreated towards the distant ice mountain, instantly disappearing into the pervasive cold mist.
Kakashi did not pursue. After unleashing a copy of " One-Horned White Whale," he immediately used the massive shockwave and air blast generated by the collision to float backward like a weightless leaf. With a few leaps, he lightly landed back on the deck of the " Northern Merchant."
" Kakashi-sensei! Are you alright?"
" Kakashi Jonin!"
The crowd immediately gathered around.
"I'm fine." Kakashi waved his hand, his breathing slightly rapid, clearly indicating that copying and using Ice Release Ninjutsu of that scale had taken a toll on him.
He glanced at Fubuki Kakuyoku, who was sealed by the Maki and lying motionless on the ground, then looked in the direction where Nadare Rōga and Fuyukuma Mizore had disappeared, and said in a deep voice, "This place is not safe to stay any longer. Set sail immediately and head to the nearest dock at full speed!"
"Yes, sir!" The captain, who had been terrified, immediately shouted at the top of his lungs to the sailors.
With the sails hoisted high and the rudder spun sharply, the " Northern Merchant," bearing the slight scratches from being scraped by ice shards, changed direction and sped toward the faint outline of a port on the coastline of the Land of Snow.
On the deck, the crew members, still shaken, sat slumped on the floor. Sandayu supported Kazahana Koyuki, whose face was still pale but whose eyes seemed to hold a different kind of emotion, and whispered words of comfort.
The people from Konoha and Sunagakure remained on guard. Maki maintained the seal on Fubuki Kakuyoku, Shūji and Ishikawa monitored the sea, and Shira and Kakashi stood side by side at the stern, gazing at the direction of the iceberg that was gradually being swallowed by the cold mist and distance.
" Kakashi, that Jonin just now..." Although Shira knew the principle behind it, she still asked the question knowing the answer already.
"Ah, copied from somewhere." Kakashi rubbed his slightly sore right eye, his tone returning to its usual lazy tone, "But those guys' Ice Release is interesting; it doesn't seem like a natural bloodline limit..."
Just then--
"Absolutely amazing! Absolutely incredible!!"
A voice, trembling with excitement, interrupted their conversation. The director, who had somehow gotten up, now had no trace of the fear of surviving a close call; instead, his face was glowing with a feverish fervor.
He pointed to the still-dissipating vortex of ice mist left by the collision of two ice whales on the distant sea, along with floating iceberg fragments, gesturing wildly and shouting at the shivering photographer and lighting technician beside him:
"Did you capture it on camera?! That scene just now! An iceberg collapsing! An ice dragon soaring! And those two monstrous ice whales colliding! My God!"
"These special effects! This realism! This sense of oppression! No amount of money could replicate this! Quick! Point the camera there! Zoom in! Yes! And the ice floes on the sea, the mist! These are the most realistic textures! This will be one of the most stunning shots in film history! Hahaha!"
He was completely absorbed in the euphoria of having "captured unparalleled footage," as if the life-or-death battle that had just taken everyone's lives was nothing more than a grand fireworks display that would enhance his film.
Naruto's lips twitched. "This old man's got a really thick skin..."
Sakura sighed and rubbed her forehead in exasperation.
Sasuke snorted coldly and turned his face away.
Shira and Kakashi exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of speechlessness in each other's eyes.
The ship cut through the ice floes on the sea and headed towards the port of the Land of Snow.