Chapter 180: Adamantine Staff

Chapter 180: Chapter 180: Adamantine Staff

In the stillness of the night, a long curtain of light swept over the forest, casting the entire night sky in a hazy, dreamlike glow, as though everything had suddenly become a little less real.

Looking closer, one would discover that the curtain of light racing across the night sky was actually made up of countless crystal-clear ice mirrors, each radiating an icy chill.

The cool, pristine moonlight shone upon the translucent ice mirrors, reflecting a hazy, ethereal glow. Layer upon layer of shimmering light overlapped and intertwined, ultimately forming this fantastical curtain stretching across the night sky.

Without a doubt, this dreamlike spectacle was none other than Hyuga Kagami’s Ice Release ninjutsu—Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.

After several months of practice, Kagami had successfully mastered the fusion of Water-nature and Wind-nature chakra transformations, truly acquiring the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai.

Of course, the reason he had been able to learn Ice Release so quickly was largely thanks to the Tenseigan’s Soul Descent Technique.

It was precisely because of the Tenseigan’s Soul Descent Technique that he had been able to possess Haku’s body and personally experience the entire process of using Ice Release—from soul to flesh.

That single possession-based learning experience was not something to be underestimated.

Experiencing the technique firsthand even once was worth ten—perhaps even a hundred—verbal demonstrations and explanations from a teacher.

And once Kagami had mastered Ice Release, he immediately began researching how best to apply Ice Release ninjutsu in actual combat.

The lesson Kagami had learned from losing the Type-A clone last time had made one thing painfully clear to him.

It didn’t matter if he couldn’t beat an opponent.

But if he couldn’t escape from them either, then it was all over.

Why had the Fourth Hokage been able to rise above the rest, eventually surpassing even the Three Sannin in prestige and ultimately claiming the position of Hokage?

The reason was simple.

With the Flying Thunder God Technique at his disposal, he firmly held the initiative on the battlefield.

Where to fight, when to fight, and whom to fight—on the battlefield, all of those decisions were his to make.

Whenever Konoha held the advantage, the Fourth could expand that advantage almost without limit.

And whenever the enemy held the upper hand, the Fourth could minimize Konoha’s disadvantage to the greatest possible extent, preventing the enemy from spreading out their forces and capitalizing on their advantage.

The Fourth Hokage alone had demonstrated the importance of mobility to absolute perfection!

That was why, after mastering Ice Release, the first thing Kagami researched wasn’t some overwhelmingly destructive offensive Ice Release ninjutsu.

Instead, he focused on Ice Style techniques that could improve his own mobility.

During his battle against Sasori, Sasori’s Ice Release Human Puppet had once used an Ice Release ninjutsu that created tracks of ice, allowing it to glide rapidly across their smooth surface.

That kind of Ice Release ninjutsu could indeed greatly improve a shinobi’s mobility.

However, because the ice tracks hugged the ground too closely, their extension was heavily influenced and restricted by the surrounding terrain. The moment the user encountered complicated terrain, the mobility boost provided by the technique would become extremely limited.

And among the enemies Kagami would have to face, Obito possessed space-time ninjutsu, Zetsu could use his bizarre underground movement techniques, Konan could fly using her Paper Release, and Kakuzu’s mask monsters also possessed a certain degree of aerial mobility.

Even Deidara, who might join Akatsuki in the future, possessed the ability to fly.

Therefore, a mere ice-track technique was nowhere near enough to satisfy Kagami’s mobility requirements.

And so, Kagami developed an entirely new application of Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, expanding it from a battlefield-control Ice Release ninjutsu into a mobility-type Ice Release ninjutsu.

And the results far exceeded Kagami’s expectations.

In terms of mobility, Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals could actually achieve speeds comparable to a bird of prey. And because the ice mirrors could remain suspended in midair, they weren’t restricted by terrain at all, allowing Kagami to move almost as though he were flying at low altitude.

Furthermore, Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals provided an extraordinary degree of protection to the Ice Style shinobi using the technique.

While the technique was active, Kagami was practically immune to the vast majority of physical attacks and ninjutsu.

Unless someone could destroy the entire long chain of ice mirrors in a single attack, it would be extremely difficult to threaten Kagami while he remained hidden within them.

The technique’s only real drawback was its enormous chakra consumption. Maintaining Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals for an extended period placed an immense burden on the user.

But the Type-B clone, which had been fused with Haku’s cellular tissue, had inherited Haku’s unparalleled affinity for Ice Release chakra.

Coupled with the support of the Dragon Vein chakra stored within the gourd artifact, the chakra consumption of Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals really wasn’t much of a problem for Kagami.

On the ground—

The Third Hokage raced through the forest, his expression dark and his gaze grave.

As Hokage, there were far more things he needed to consider than an ordinary Konoha shinobi.

If tonight’s sudden incident was mishandled even slightly, the consequences could become impossible to predict.

Therefore, from this moment onward, every single move he made had to be taken with the utmost caution.

"How did he infiltrate the village?"

"Is his objective really nothing more than the bounty?"

"And where exactly did he ambush and kill Gloya?"

Staring at the long chain of ice mirrors suspended in midair, shimmering with pale light and radiating waves of freezing air, countless questions surfaced in the Third Hokage’s mind.

There had been no signs of battle at the Kumo delegation’s residence.

That meant Gloya hadn’t been attacked there.

At the same time, it also meant that Gloya—who should have remained inside the delegation’s residence—had slipped away for some unknown purpose, somehow evading the Konoha ANBU assigned to protect him.

Such suspicious behavior undoubtedly indicated that Kumogakure had some other scheme they couldn’t afford to let anyone discover.

"I just hope this has nothing to do with the Uchiha Clan."

The Third wasn’t particularly worried about anything else.

What he feared most was Kumogakure secretly colluding with the Uchiha, attacking Konoha from both within and without.

If the situation truly deteriorated to that point, then even if Konoha ultimately managed to survive, the losses the village suffered would likely be unprecedented.

Just then, the Third glanced back at the group behind him.

Maintaining such high-speed movement for an extended period was an enormous burden for ordinary shinobi. By now, only the elite among the ANBU were still keeping closely behind the Third.

Even some of the newer ANBU recruits had already been left far behind.

As for the Kumo delegation, because the vast majority of its members were chunin and genin, most had already fallen behind as well.

Only the Kumo jonin remained, barely keeping pace at the very rear of the group.

The Third frowned.

A trace of helplessness appeared on his aging face, already marked with liver spots.

The lack of capable shinobi in the generation immediately beneath him was currently the most serious problem facing Konoha’s Hokage faction.

The Fourth’s death had simply dealt too devastating a blow to them.

But in the very next instant, the helplessness vanished from the Third’s face, replaced by unwavering resolve.

As the man who bore the title of Hokage, he had to lead by example.

He absolutely could not reveal even the slightest weakness and allow his subordinates to become uncertain or shaken.

"I can’t let this drag on any longer!"

With that thought, the Third bit his finger and rapidly formed a series of hand seals.

"Summoning Technique!"

Poof!

Amidst a burst of white smoke, an agile ninja monkey leapt out.

After only a few leaps, the agile ninja monkey caught up with the Third Hokage, who hadn’t slowed down in the slightest after performing the Summoning Technique.

The ninja monkey asked, "Sarutobi, who’s the enemy?"

The Third pointed toward the ice mirrors racing through the air above them.

"The enemy is hiding inside those ice mirrors. Enma, I’m counting on you—transform into the Adamantine Staff!"