Shigure raised his hands, watching as cold mist slowly drifted from his palms.
Ice Release...
It wasn't just about shaping ice—it was about temperature.
Yes, temperature—that was the true terror of Ice Release.
"Great Sage, aside from chakra incompatibility, is there any other reason why elemental releases can't be converted into Ice Release?"
[Great Sage: Unstable flow, lacking fixed form. Can be transformed into Ice Release. Solid elements cannot convert back into liquid states.]
So... it's about form compatibility. Some chakra natures weren't suitable for freezing.
"Then what about Earth Release?"
[Great Sage: Different elemental chakra types follow different operational principles.]
One is about inner change, the other external manipulation.
Shigure nodded. That aligned with his own theories.
Though Ice Release seemed like a fusion of Water and Wind Release, the core power... was Wind Release.
He smiled.
Cold.
That was the essence of Ice Release.
A thought formed.
"Great Sage, calculate this—what if I use Ice Release to freeze certain points, condense them into snow or frost, and unleash that cold to launch an attack?"
"Would it still qualify as a proper transformation technique?"
[Great Sage: Analyzing...]
…
Analysis? Not a straight-up calculation?
So even theoretical ninjutsu could be analyzed now, not just completed techniques.
Excellent.
That meant he could evolve his jutsu from the ground up.
[Analysis complete]
[Great Sage: Transformation viable.]
As expected.
A solid block of ice was too rigid for dynamic ninjutsu attacks.
In the end, it could only be thrown, smashed, or impaled.
Even Haku had focused on forming a thousand ice senbon and launching them—nothing too creative.
So the truth was: solid ice had limited utility.
But cold? Cold was power.
Now that the core direction was clear, it was time to develop the ultimate technique—one that combined offense and defense, while remaining adaptable.
He couldn't afford to spend hours creating just one jutsu.
Just this Ice Release alone would consume way too much time.
Offense and defense in one...
That thought immediately reminded Shigure of someone.
"Gaara."
The sand Gaara controlled was brilliant—it could strike and shield with equal efficiency.
Its attacks crushed or pierced enemies.
Magnet Release manipulated magnetic fields, causing sand grains to cluster. The stronger the magnetic force, the tighter the squeeze.
And by increasing density, the sand became sharper, turning into deadly hidden weapons.
But what if you swapped the sand... for ice and snow?
Ice could be just as sharp. Ice arrows, ice knives, even ice shuriken—completely viable.
Sand suffocated. Ice chilled.
The moment you touched Shigure's ice and snow, you'd be invaded by an intense cold that gnawed into your tissues.
Frozen cells could decay just as fast as those scorched by fire.
And with chakra reinforcement, the temperature could drop even lower.
Negative 30 or 40 degrees was dangerous already.
But what about minus 100? Minus 200?
The destructive potential would skyrocket.
After all, absolute zero was only −273°C.
"Great Sage, based on my ideas, can you derive a new jutsu?"
[Great Sage: Analyzing...]
[Analysis Progress]
10%
20%
...
[Analysis complete]
[Great Sage: Calculation possible.]
"Then begin. I want full control over the power of frost and snow."
[Calculating...]
[Estimated Time: 12 hours]
Twelve hours?
That wasn't too long—but Shigure could speed it up.
He had seven passive skill slots.
Slots 1 through 3 were dedicated to chakra refinement, advanced taijutsu, and basic genjutsu.
Slots 4 and 5? Both tied to his breathing techniques.
The final two—slots 6 and 7—were now assigned to:
Ice Release – Freezing Moment!
[Skill Running]
He waited patiently.
What surprised him was the duration—just running Ice Release – Freezing Moment once took a full three minutes.
That meant only 20 runs per hour.
Too slow.
But with two passive slots active?
That doubled it to 40 runs per hour.
Each activation gradually strengthened his mastery of Ice Release and Freezing Moment.
The cold would grow sharper.
His control more refined.
The battlefield... his frozen domain.
Enhancing Ice Release directly reduced the Great Sage's calculation time.
Not to mention the Freezing Moment technique—it would only continue to grow stronger with refinement.
The only concern now was chakra consumption, which naturally increased with each enhancement.
Still, even that wasn't a serious obstacle. At worst, Shigure could simply assign two skill slots to Ice Release techniques. Doing so would minimize the cost of chakra per use—essentially making activation near-effortless.
Even if chakra expenditure became significant, there was no need to panic.
While the Great Sage handled calculations, Shigure kept himself busy—updating the skill status of Freezing Moment, polishing and reinforcing it.
As he activated Ice Release – Freezing Moment, the area within ten meters around him began to chill and freeze over.
With time, snowflakes started drifting through the air like silent witnesses to his growth.
As the skill continued to run in his passive slots, the freezing radius steadily expanded.
Shigure's Ice Release didn't consume any chakra during this process—it continued deep into the night.
In just five hours, he had successfully updated the skill state seven times. With each iteration, his control and mastery sharpened, and the upper limits of the technique expanded.
At the same time, the Great Sage's estimated calculation time dropped from twelve hours to just seven.
With only two hours remaining, Shigure decided not to push further.
It was already late, and the Genin team assignments would be announced tomorrow morning. He'd need to be up early.
Still, in those five hours, the freezing radius had grown to a full thirty-six meters.
That was more than three times the original range.
Even more impressive—the freezing speed had been halved. What once took ten seconds now took only five or six to fully encase the environment within his radius.
Moreover, Shigure's growing chakra control let him focus the freezing effect selectively—instantly targeting a specific object within range.
Localized freezing could now be triggered in just three seconds, depending on the size of the target.
However, such rapid freezing only affected the surface. If Shigure wanted the cold to truly penetrate inward—freezing flesh, bone, and chakra pathways alike—it still required about ten full seconds of exposure.
...
TN:
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