The mist that lingered after the battle smelled of river fog… and blood.
Kakashi Hatake staggered through the haze, then collapsed backward with a thud.
Team 7 was granted a temporary reprieve in the Land of Waves.
A full week of rest.
At Tazuna's house, Naruto and Sasuke trained like madmen, repeating the chakra control exercise of tree climbing until they dropped from exhaustion, only to start again once recovered. Neither wanted to fall behind.
Meanwhile, Crane's identity as a "background character" once again proved its unparalleled value.
He was, quite naturally, given the easiest task, one that perfectly matched his reputation as a "harmless weakling."
Watch duty.
The big tree at the edge of the village became his designated post.
Every day, he leaned against the trunk, gazing off into the distance, yawning occasionally, an idle figure embodying "uselessness."
No one disturbed him.
And this quiet riverside grove… became the perfect covert training ground.
He raised his palm.
A sphere of water swirled into existence, calmly rotating above his hand like a tame kitten.
Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu.
In just a few days, Crane had fully mastered the technique he copied from Zabuza.
It was all thanks to his downgraded version of the Uzumaki Clan Physique, and his single-tomoe Sharingan.
The former gave him chakra reserves and recovery far beyond his peers.
The latter allowed him to see every detail of his chakra's flow and fine-tune it with mechanical precision.
His learning efficiency outpaced Naruto and Sasuke by dozens of times.
He was a "dead last" on the surface, but secretly a prodigy evolving at breakneck speed.
And he found it satisfying. Quietly… smugly satisfying.
The final battle was drawing near.
That night, moonlight filtered through the window, casting shadows across his face. Deep in his pupils was a faint glint of madness.
He studied the system panel again. The requirements for copying Ice Release were clear:
Condition 1: Host must master advanced water-based chakra nature transformation.
Crane looked down at the fluid orb in his hand, morphing it with ease.
After mastering two Water Style jutsu in just days, he had no doubt, this requirement was fulfilled.
Condition 2: Must withstand the backlash of extreme cold chakra during contact with the target.
This… was the true test.
And Crane had prepared a plan, bold, borderline insane.
At the moment of contact with Haku, he would pour most of his chakra into his right hand.
Not to cast a jutsu.
But to create a temporary, high-density chakra barrier, a one-shot shield meant to resist the freezing backlash.
He would bet everything on a window less than a second wide.
The next day.
On the bridge. The mist returned, thick and suffocating.
Zabuza's cold laughter echoed through the fog. Haku's presence, silent and spectral, crept in like death.
The fight ignited in an instant.
"Secret Art: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"
With that cold voice, dozens of mirrors erupted from the ground, surrounding Sasuke in a circle of icy death.
Naruto screamed and leapt in to help.
Two protagonists, trapped in despair.
Crane's figure blended into the mist like a phantom.
His experience with the Silent Killing Technique had evolved, he was now a master of suppressing his presence.
He moved without sound. Without breath. A true ghost, inching toward the killing field surrounded by ice.
He was waiting.
Waiting for a moment.
A single instant when everyone's attention would be elsewhere.
And it came.
To shield Naruto, Sasuke's body was pierced by dozens of icy senbon.
He looked like a human pincushion.
His newly awakened Sharingan faded as his eyes shut in unwilling defeat.
His body crumpled.
Time… seemed to stop.
Naruto let out a soul-rending scream.
Kakashi froze mid-motion.
Zabuza smiled.
And Haku, maintaining the jutsu, faltered, his focus broken.
Half a second. A golden gap.
Crane moved.
He dashed from Haku's blind spot, panic and desperation painted perfectly across his face, like a comrade rushing to help a dying friend.
His foot slipped, "accidentally", right at the key moment.
He stumbled toward one of the mirrors.
His right hand, already flooded with dense chakra, slammed against the surface in the perfect cover of collision.
More accurately, he touched the arm behind the mirror.
The arm that belonged to Haku, still maintaining the jutsu, caught mid-shock.
Ding!
Contact successful. Beginning replication of Kekkei Genkai: Ice Release…
WARNING: Extreme chakra backlash detected!
Host body freezing rapidly! Estimated time to cardiac arrest: 3 seconds!
An overwhelming chill, enough to freeze his soul, rushed up his arm like a blizzard.
His entire right limb turned icy blue in an instant, glazed in a crystalline frost.
And in that same moment,
Haku's cold indifference shattered.
His eyes widened, utterly stunned.
Then narrowed into razors.
For the first time… his killing intent locked fully onto Crane.
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200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter