Naruto Uzumaki had tapped into the Nine-Tails' chakra. A tailed beast chakra cloak enveloped his body, causing all the senbon needles embedded in his skin to fall away as his wounds healed instantly.
The immense power of this chakra began to crack even the solid ice beneath Naruto's feet.
Haku looked on in shock at the chakra radiating from Naruto. "What kind of chakra is this? It's actually become tangible! And it's absolutely incredible."
Sasuke Uchiha was completely frozen in place.
The Naruto before him now felt exactly like a raging beast running wild.
Just sensing this chakra made his entire body tremble.
Sasuke stared blankly at Naruto Uzumaki's back.
Who the hell is this guy?
He clearly possessed such an overwhelming physical strength and power—so why had he been so low-key back at the Ninja Academy? Why did everyone hate him?
Sasuke felt like Naruto was a complete stranger now.
Meanwhile, Kakashi and Zabuza—who were engaged in a long-range battle—paused their fight simultaneously and turned their attention toward Naruto.
Kakashi wore a serious expression.
He didn't know the exact relationship between the Nine-Tails and Naruto, but he suspected that the seal might have loosened just now.
No, not completely broken—just weakened enough for some tailed beast chakra to leak out.
If the seal had truly been undone, this wouldn't be the only consequence.
The Nine-Tails within Naruto growled, *"You can only take this much for now. If you push further, you'll lose control."*
"Enough!"
Naruto clenched his right fist. It hurt, but the overwhelming power made him feel unstoppable.
Naruto fixed a sharp glare at Haku inside the ice mirror. "Then… the second half starts now!"
With a powerful stomp, Naruto shot forward across the ice toward one of the mirrors.
[Wind Breathing's Third Form: Seki Storm Wind!]
Because of the tailed beast chakra, Naruto's wind blades had turned red.
From his position, three crimson slashes burst outward.
These devastating wind blades shattered the once-untouchable ice mirrors.
Naruto continued attacking mirror after mirror, shattering them one by one.
Inside one of the ice mirrors, Haku watched solemnly as Naruto tore through his technique.
There was no way to trap Naruto with this method anymore—it was time to change tactics.
Within the mirror, Haku formed several hand seals.
Two copies of Haku emerged from separate ice mirrors.
These were Ice Release Shadow Clones.
Both clones rushed at Naruto from opposite directions.
At the same time, countless senbon needles shot from the remaining mirrors.
Naruto spun around sharply.
[Wind Breathing: First Sword Type – Dust Cyclone Slash!]
Moving at high speed, Naruto circled the battlefield, leaving behind a spiraling vortex of red wind that swept through all remaining ice mirrors in a single motion.
Haku's real body was forced to reveal itself.
However, the two Ice Release Shadow Clones had just leaped to evade Naruto Uzumaki's Spiraling Wind Blade and were now diving down toward him from midair.
[Wind Breathing, Fourth Stage – Ascending Dust Storm!]
Naruto slashed upward with five crimson wind blades emerging from his palm.
The red wind blades directly severed both of White's Ice Release Shadow Clones into icy fragments.
Naruto's eyes locked onto White.
Yet for some reason, White's lips curved slightly upward.
[Ice Release Secret Technique: Ultimate Glacial Binding!]
The icy particles from those shattered Ice Shadow Clones drifted downward, landing on Naruto's body. Almost instantly, Naruto was completely frozen solid in a block of ice.
White clearly understood the drawbacks of Ultimate Glacial Binding.
The warmer the air, the slower the freezing effect worked.
Although the environment here was already extremely cold, Naruto had borrowed Tailed Beast Chakra. Even after using Ultimate Glacial Binding, there remained a considerable chance that Naruto might still escape it.
That's why White created two Ice Release Shadow Clones to attack Naruto.
Of course White knew these clones would be destroyed by Naruto immediately—but that was precisely what he wanted.
These two clones were merely decoys.
Once the broken shards fell onto Naruto's body, White activated Ultimate Glacial Binding, causing Naruto to become encased in ice almost instantaneously, without any noticeable delay.
Seeing Naruto trapped in an ice statue, Sasuke Uchiha struggled to his feet.
[Fire Release! Grand Fireball Technique!]
Sasuke struggled to stay on his feet but still spat out a fireball aimed at Naruto, hoping to melt the ice encasing him.
But the fireball sputtered and died out as soon as it hit the ice.
White raised his right hand, fingers splayed, and pointed them at Naruto: "It's over."
[Ice Release Secret Technique: Exploding Ice Crystals!]
The previously frozen ice exploded apart into chunks.
Shards exploded outward as icy mist swallowed Naruto whole.
When the frosty vapor cleared, Sasuke's pupils constricted to mere pinpricks—before him lay Naruto collapsed on the ground, unconscious and unmoving.
White exhaled softly; finally, it was over.
Indeed, he was someone who had received training from Chinya—he truly was difficult to deal with.
White judged that after such a severe attack, Naruto would certainly remain unconscious for at least one or two days.
Now all that remained was to wait for Zabuza and Kakashi's battle to finish.
Just as White turned to leave, suddenly a faint vibration resonated through the icy floor beneath him.
"Hm?"
Looking down, White noticed a figure moving beneath the ice surface.
At that moment, a popping sound occurred.
In disbelief, White glanced back toward where Naruto had been.
Naruto had already vanished in a puff of smoke.
[A Shadow Clone?!]
Before White could react further, it was already too late.
The Naruto beneath the ice had already emerged, shattering through the ice layer.
[Wind Breathing, Sixth Stage – Black Smoke Tornado!]
Naruto slashed upward with dark-red wind blades.
White instinctively raised both hands gripping senbon needles, crossing them to block Naruto's strike.
Yet because of the wind blade's force, numerous cuts appeared across both of White's arms.
Even though Haku tried to form ice on his body surface to block the damage from the wind blades, it was useless.
The newly-formed ice was instantly sliced to pieces by the wind blades.
The spreading wind blades sent Haku flying backward.
Haku slammed hard into the ground, tumbling several times with blood pouring from countless wounds—many of them deep gashes exposing bone.
Haku had suffered critical injuries and could no longer fight.
Naruto used the icy mist as cover to create a Shadow Clone, sealing off the shattered ice opening.
Then his original body slipped through the broken ice into the freezing cold water, carefully approaching until he successfully launched a surprise attack.
But Naruto wasn't in any condition to celebrate either.
If not for using Tailed Beast Chakra, Naruto would have lost his fighting ability long ago due to Haku's Ice Release techniques.
Still, even with Tailed Beast Chakra, Naruto had taken serious damage.
Shivering from the cold, Naruto looked at Haku sprawled in the distance and let out a breath of relief. He'd made it.
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