Six-Clothed Ice Purity Formation
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"Phew, it's finally over."
Tsunade looked visibly worn out. She had been watching the match for nearly an entire day, and the constant bloodshed had been grating on her nerves.
"You didn't have to come, you know. Orochimaru and I were already here," Jiraiya said, his tone casual, but his eyes were watching her closely.
He had long noticed Tsunade's subtle tremors—she had been forcing herself to appear calm. Truthfully, he hadn't wanted her to attend the exam at all.
"As their teacher, how could I not watch my disciple's match?" she replied curtly.
Over the past two weeks, Tsunade had been secretly observing Yuyan's performance. She had seen the girl's determination firsthand—and had come to fully acknowledge her as a true disciple.
As for Orochimaru, he had been keeping an eye on Bai Ye for some time now. It was a miracle he'd held back this long before making a move.
Jiraiya, on the other hand, hadn't made any overt gestures. His opinion of Yue remained unclear. But given his personality, the fact that he agreed to teach her meant he was serious about it.
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"Bai Ye, that bastard... he's been intentionally letting the others exhaust me."
Kakashi, who had been stealthily moving about, silently cursed to himself. He had put a considerable amount of effort into developing the Cang Huo Instant Kill technique.
Given Bai Ye's recovery speed, he should've been able to fight by now. Where the hell was he hiding?
Initially, Kakashi had wanted to formally eliminate Bai Ye from the field, but Kazuhiko's unexpected ambush had derailed that plan—and he hadn't found another opportunity since.
Now, unless Bai Ye stepped in, Kakashi—already drained and playing the decoy—had no effective counterstrategy left. At most, he could pull off a mutual kill.
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"Is Kakashi being pushed too hard?"
As Kakashi suspected, Bai Ye was indeed lying comfortably underground, inside a freshly dug tunnel. He was listening to the muffled sounds above, analyzing the battle's rhythm.
His strategy was simple: win with the least effort. No point in jumping into a brawl when the others could wear each other down for him.
Truthfully, Bai Ye's chakra reserves were still quite sufficient. The Cang Huo Instant Kill mainly damaged the body rather than consuming vast chakra. Combined with his naturally high regeneration rate, his strength had already recovered considerably.
Even in a direct fight, Bai Ye wasn't weaker than Kazuhiko. But striking from the shadows? That was even better.
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"Sit upon the frozen heavens—Hyorinmaru!"
At the perfect moment, Bai Ye shouted the release phrase. The Zanpakutō in his hand transformed, manifesting its Shikai form—Hyorinmaru.
He then stabbed the icy blade into the ground, creating six frozen nodes in a hexagonal pattern beneath Kazuhiko's feet.
"Six-Clothed Ice Purity Formation!"
With a low chant, the formation activated. A pale blue light spread across the hexagon. The ground inside was instantly flash-frozen, ice crawling upward and sealing everything within.
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"...?"
Kazuhiko's expression stiffened. He sensed a sudden loss of signal—his underground kikaichū, deployed to monitor potential sneak attacks, had gone silent for a brief moment.
"Not good!"
The parasites issued an emergency alert. A freezing force had cut them off, and danger was closing in.
Kazuhiko tried to move, but his injured legs, bent in a crouched position, had gone numb. The golden window of escape had slipped away.
A layer of ice rapidly enveloped his lower limbs. In seconds, a crystal pillar rose, encasing him and the kikaichū within. His thoughts dulled as the chill seeped in.
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"Is this Bai Ye's ability...?"
Asuma looked as if he'd swallowed a bitter pill. From time to time, he cast irritated glances at Guy, who was still sitting on the ground.
It was Guy who had insisted that Bai Ye was incapacitated—Asuma had believed him.
"You all knew Bai Ye has high-speed regeneration. Doesn't it seem off that he's been lying around unattended for this long?" Guy muttered, feeling the scrutiny around him tighten. He gave a sheepish grin, suddenly self-conscious.
---
Despite being frozen from the waist down, Kazuhiko's connection with his kikaichū wasn't severed. He commanded them to abandon pursuit of Kakashi and begin devouring the surrounding ice.
Inside the crystal prison, the sealed insects continuously released toxins, staining the ice with a faint purple hue. Corrosive gases began to gnaw at the edges.
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"It's not strong enough. He'll break out soon."
Kakashi, after hours of cat-and-mouse, finally had a breather. Observing Kazuhiko from a distance, he frowned. The freezing effect didn't look nearly as powerful as the massive ice spires from Bai Ye's earlier Ice Dragon's Tail.
"Swish—BOOM!"
Seeing that the situation was deteriorating, Kakashi flung several kunai, each rigged with an explosive tag. They detonated with force, scattering the insects and halting their progress—if only temporarily.
He didn't believe Bai Ye was done yet. These were just stalling tactics, buying time for a follow-up move.
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"Kakashi, that lunatic nearly buried me alive."
Underground, Bai Ye cursed inwardly. He had been making his own preparations, but the explosions above had destabilized the tunnel. The core area was reinforced with ice, but time was ticking.
He had deliberately kept the Six-Clothed Ice Purity Formation small—just enough to restrain Kazuhiko. Now he was expanding it, hoping to lure in the kikaichū and trap them all in one blow.
His technique, unlike traditional fūinjutsu, didn't sever chakra links. It could immobilize ordinary opponents, but against someone like Kazuhiko—who fought by remote-control—it wasn't enough to stop him completely.
Still, it forced him onto the defensive. Prolonged freezing would do real damage.
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"Kakashi must be trying to kill me along with Kazuhiko."
Watching chunks of stone drop from above, Bai Ye quickened his work.
He couldn't help but sigh at Kakashi's extravagance. Detonating tags, used like confetti—was this the wealth of a legendary ninja?
Bai Ye had never bought even one of those overpriced slips.
Kakashi, backed by the Hatake legacy, didn't bat an eye using them. His father's missions had left him with a fortune. He was probably one of the wealthiest shinobi in the entire village.
Ironically, Kakashi didn't even like relying on tools. But with his chakra nearly depleted, the explosive tags were his only viable option left.
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