Chapter 179: Hyuga Kagami’s Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals

Chapter 179: Chapter 179: Hyuga Kagami’s Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals

Looking at the eight ninken clamped tightly onto him with their jaws, Hyuga Kagami was utterly speechless.

For some reason, he was strangely calm about being bitten by dogs, almost as though he wasn’t surprised by it at all. But objectively speaking, he really hadn’t expected things to turn out like this.

"Could it be because I ran into Kakashi, so subconsciously, I was already prepared to get bitten by dogs?"

Shaking his head, Hyuga Kagami tossed the ridiculous thought out of his mind.

Just then, Guy’s figure came hurtling toward him with tremendous momentum.

"Leaf Whirlwind!"

At the very instant Guy was about to strike Hyuga Kagami, Kakashi’s eight ninken nimbly leapt aside, dodging Guy’s Leaf Whirlwind.

With no time to evade, Hyuga Kagami could only raise both arms to protect his vitals and take Guy’s Leaf Whirlwind head-on!

BOOM—!

Amid a thunderous crash, Hyuga Kagami was sent flying backward and slammed violently into a large tree, snapping the trunk from the force of the impact.

"Cough, cough..."

After coughing lightly twice, Hyuga Kagami pushed himself back to his feet and wiped away the small trace of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

Kakashi, Guy, and the eight ninken surrounded Hyuga Kagami from all sides, preparing for their next wave of attacks.

Hyuga Kagami thought to himself, "These ninken already have my scent. Looks like ordinary methods won’t be enough to shake off Kakashi and Guy’s pursuit!"

Just then, his expression suddenly turned grave.

Within the field of vision of his Byakugan, a large group of shinobi was rapidly approaching from nearby—and among them were several exceptionally powerful chakra signatures!

"They’re all experts!"

In an instant, Hyuga Kagami reached his conclusion.

Because he was currently using his Water Release clone, its ocular power was far inferior to the Tenseigan of his Yin Release original body. As a result, by the time Hyuga Kagami detected them, the large group of shinobi was already nearly upon him.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Amid a flurry of rushing wind, figure after figure appeared using the Body Flicker Technique, landing all around Hyuga Kagami and completely encircling him.

The man at the forefront was none other than the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, dressed in full battle gear!

The Third briefly surveyed the battlefield before nodding approvingly toward Kakashi and Guy.

"You two did well!"

Kakashi leapt to the Third’s side and reported, "He’s a Water Style shinobi. He’s very strong!"

Giving a slight nod, the Third fixed Hyuga Kagami with a sharp, hawk-like gaze and demanded in a deep voice, "Talk. Who ordered you to attack the Kumogakure delegation?"

Off to the side, the jonin from the Kumogakure delegation also stared intently at Hyuga Kagami, waiting for his answer.

Hyuga Kagami shrugged and chuckled. "The one who ordered me? Why, naturally, it was that fifty-million-ryō bounty on the black market. I imagine Lord Hokage should be satisfied with that answer, no?"

In front of the Kumogakure shinobi, Hyuga Kagami naturally had to firmly establish his identity as a bounty hunter, directing the blame for Gloya’s assassination toward the black market—and toward Iwagakure, who had posted the enormous bounty in the first place.

The Third said coldly, "Don’t put up any pointless resistance. Surrender peacefully."

The surrounding ANBU were already itching to make their move, eager to capture Hyuga Kagami alive.

Without a doubt, everyone present believed there was no possible way for him to escape.

The Kumogakure jonin, however, furrowed his brow.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t quite right, but for the moment, he couldn’t put his finger on exactly what it was.

Hyuga Kagami rested one hand on his hip and laughed. "I really didn’t expect a little job like this to actually draw out the Hokage himself. I’m truly overwhelmed with fear and trepidation."

The Third’s gaze turned icy. "I don’t see even the slightest hint of fear in you!"

Hyuga Kagami slowly raised both hands and began forming hand seals.

"That’s because..."

His seals came to an end.

"...none of you can keep me here!"

Hyuga Kagami shouted,

"Ice Style: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"

Shhh—!

Amid a sudden wave of freezing air, one crystalline ice mirror after another materialized out of thin air before everyone’s eyes.

"Ice Release Kekkei Genkai!?"

Even the Third Hokage was among those who stared in shock at the crystalline ice mirrors now floating in midair.

Logically speaking, with the Yuki Clan having been wiped out by Kirigakure, Ice Release should have vanished from the shinobi world altogether.

Yet unexpectedly, the mysterious man before them—clad in a black cloak and wearing a mask—was actually a surviving remnant of the Yuki Clan!

Upon seeing this, the Kumogakure jonin finally became convinced that tonight’s incident truly had nothing to do with Konoha.

While resenting Iwagakure for posting the black-market bounty that had gotten Gloya killed, he also couldn’t help feeling deeply regretful.

Gloya had sacrificed his own life to carry out their plan, yet at the very last step, the entire scheme had fallen apart because of the interference of a single bounty hunter.

If Haku had been here, however, he would have immediately noticed that Hyuga Kagami’s Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals was completely different from the normal technique.

Under normal circumstances, the ice mirrors created by Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals would arrange themselves into a semicircle, forming an enormous hemispherical dome of ice that enclosed an entire area and trapped the enemy within.

But Hyuga Kagami’s Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals was completely different.

His ice mirrors were arranged in a long, perfectly orderly line through the air, stretching far off into the distance.

Taking advantage of everyone’s momentary surprise, Hyuga Kagami lightly leapt forward and merged his body into one of the ice mirrors.

"Everyone, until we meet again!"

The instant his words fell, the frost-covered ice mirrors suspended in midair suddenly began to move.

The long line of ice mirrors advanced at tremendous speed—the mirror at the very rear would disappear, only to reform again at the very front of the formation.

Over and over, the process repeated itself as the entire formation rapidly surged into the distance.

Seen from afar, it looked as though the long chain of ice mirrors was flickering through the sky!

Hidden within the ice mirrors, Hyuga Kagami used his own Ice Release ninjutsu to effortlessly shuttle from one mirror to another.

The continuously cycling and advancing mirrors were like a moving railway track, while Hyuga Kagami himself was the train racing along it at full speed.

"This...!?"

No one had expected the bounty hunter before them to possess a method like this. For a moment, everyone could only stare dumbfounded.

The Third reacted the fastest. He immediately used the Body Flicker Technique and gave chase.

The Third’s pursuit was like a signal.

A large number of Konoha ANBU immediately followed after him, with Kakashi and Guy being no exceptions.

Gloya’s corpse was still in the mysterious man’s possession, so the Kumogakure jonin had no choice but to lead the rest of the Kumogakure delegation after them as well.

As they raced along, Guy turned to Kakashi and asked, "Why haven’t Kagami and Shisui shown up yet? It’s already been so long."

Kakashi was puzzled by this as well.

Normally, whenever something unexpected happened during a mission, Hyuga Kagami and Shisui were often among the first to react. Yet for some reason tonight, neither of them had appeared even now.

Guy asked again, "That guy is obviously an Ice Release Kekkei Genkai shinobi. So why didn’t he use any Ice Release ninjutsu against us earlier?"

Kakashi replied, "I don’t know why, but one thing’s certain—when he fought us earlier, he definitely wasn’t using his full strength. So stay alert. He’s probably even stronger than we thought!"

Guy glanced toward the Third Hokage at the very front of the pursuing group and declared, his fighting spirit surging,

"There’s nothing to worry about! Lord Hokage is here!"