novelhk Chapter 247: Haku and Zabuza
Chapter 247: Haku and Zabuza
The ice fields of the Water Kingdom are covered with heavy snow all year round, and the cold wind is like an ice-hardened knife, scraping painfully on the face.
Tiny ice crystals condensed on Bai's fingertips, and every breath turned into white mist in the air. His chakra perception network was like fine ice silk, covering the snowfield within a radius of five miles - there hid the pursuing troops of the Hidden Mist Village, the remnants of the "Blood Mist Village" that had forced him and Zabuza into a desperate situation.
"What are you waiting for?" Zabuza's voice echoed from behind him, his beheading blade lodged in the snow, the dark red blood stains of the previous battle still lingering on the blade's grooves. Bandages obscured half his face, revealing only a single cold eye. The fierceness of yesteryear had faded, but a new depth of concentration had emerged. Ever since Master Yinzhu used the system to repair his dying body and refine his water escape seal a year ago, this former "Kigakure" had become even more obsessed with survival.
Bai didn't look back. Ice crystals condensed into tiny cones in his palms. "There are twenty of them, three of whom are jonin. They are also equipped with 'Kigakure Special Tracking Bullets' that can lock onto chakra traces." His voice was soft, but it was filled with unquestionable determination. "We need to wait until the wind and snow are at their strongest before we can act. My ice escape technique can mask chakra fluctuations."
Zabuza silently drew his beheading sword, its blade slicing through the snow, leaving a deep groove. "You're still so cautious." His gaze fell on Shiro's thin shoulders. The young man who always followed him was even more powerful than before. A year ago, on the bridge in Wave Country, Shiro had defended him from Kakashi's Raikiri. When he was on the verge of death, it was Master Ototake's "Chakra Reconstruction Technique" that saved Shiro's life and awakened a purer Ice Release Kekkei Genkai for him. Now, Shiro could, in temperatures of -50 degrees Celsius, form an Ice Release armor harder than steel.
The wind and snow suddenly intensified, the heavy snow nearly obscuring vision. Bai's pupils suddenly contracted, and ice crystals swirled around him like a shield. "Here it comes."
Twenty dark shadows darted out of the snowstorm, their kunai laced with blue chakra, piercing the two like poisoned ice needles. Shiro's ice escape technique erupted instantly, sending dozens of icicles rising from the snow to block the kunai attacks. At the same time, icicles rained down like a torrential rain, accurately striking the throats of the three chunins.
"I'm in the way." Zabuza's figure sprang out like a ghost, his beheading sword whistling with the sound of wind as he severed a jonin's arm at the shoulder. A water style seal lit up on his arm, and pale blue chakra spread along the blade. The blade's aura carried a piercing chill. "Shiro, I'll leave the jonin on the left to you. His water style is good against me."
Bai nodded, his figure gliding across the ice, leaving a white afterimage. His Ice Style collided with the Kirigakure jonin's Water Style, stirring up a cloud of icy mist. The jonin's Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet coalesced in mid-air, but upon contact with Bai's Ice Style, it was instantly frozen into an ice sculpture—this was the "Ice Style: Absolute Zero" technique, modified for Bai by Ototake-sama, which could directly transform a Water Style jutsu into an Ice Style weapon.
"Impossible!" The Kirigakure ninja screamed and stepped back, only to find that his feet had been entangled by ice threads. Those ice threads were as thin as hair, but extremely tough. They were spreading upwards along his ankles, trying to freeze his meridians.
Bai's ice cone was already against the throat of the senior ninja: "When you were hunting down the rebel ninjas from the 'Blood Mist Village', did you ever think that this day would come?" His eyes were calm, but with a barely perceptible coldness - these Kirigakure ninjas had also participated in the hunt for his mother and were the creators of his childhood nightmares.
At this moment, a blue tracking bullet suddenly shot out from the wind and snow, aiming directly at Bai's back. Zabuza's beheading sword suddenly crossed behind Bai, blocking the tracking bullet, but was corroded by the water seal in the shrapnel, leaving a black mark. "Be careful!"
Bai's ice escape instantly exploded, freezing the Kirigakure jonin into an ice sculpture. At the same time, he turned and looked at Zabuza: "Your hand..." He could see that Zabuza's arm was eroded by the curse seal of the tracking bullet, and his skin had begun to turn black. It was the Kirigakure's special "Water Poison Curse Seal", which could quickly paralyze the meridians.
"Don't worry about me." Zabuza waved away Bai's hand, and the beheading sword slashed out again, splitting the two Chunin who tried to launch a sneak attack in half, "There are still two Jonin, let's deal with them first."
Haku didn't obey. Ice Release chakra flowed from his palm, covering Zabuza's arm. Light blue ice crystals enveloped the black curse seal, temporarily freezing the poison. "Master Ototake said, we are the 'Oto-nin Twins,' and neither of us can survive without one another." His ice release, laced with gentle chakra, like fine threads of ice, gradually stripped away the poison—this was the "Ice Release Detoxification Technique" he had practiced specifically for Zabuza, utilizing the cold temperature of ice to inhibit the spread of the curse seal.
Zabuza's body stiffened for a moment, but he didn't push away Shiro again. He stared at the boy's focused profile. Snowflakes fell on Shiro's hair like a thin layer of frost, but it couldn't mask the determination in those clear eyes. This boy, who had once risked his life for him, now had an added obsession to "protect" him—and this obsession also gave him, a "demon" long accustomed to loneliness, the feeling of having a "companion" for the first time.
Seeing this, the two remaining Kirigakure jonin immediately formed hand seals. Two massive water walls rose before them, while dozens of water-based scimitars were fired at them. The accumulated water on the snow was stirred by the water, instantly transforming into a surging wave that attempted to drown the two.
"Shiro, use 'Ice Style: Ice Prison'!" Zabuza suddenly shouted, and the Water Style seal exploded around him. Light blue chakra intertwined with Shiro's Ice Style, "I'll use 'Water Style: Great Waterfall' to amplify your power!"
Shiro's Ice Release instantly erupted, and the snowflakes condensed into a vast ice prison, trapping both Langtao and Mizusame. At the same time, Zabuza's Great Waterfall Jutsu descended, not attacking but pouring water into the ice prison. Shiro's Ice Release instantly froze the waterfall, forming a massive ice prison, trapping the two jonin within.
"It's over." Bai's ice cone condensed in his palm, and the ice chakra carried the chill of absolute zero and shot towards the senior ninja in the ice prison.
But at that moment, the ice prison suddenly exploded. A jonin's body mysteriously swelled, and his chakra surge instantly tripled—that was Kirigakure's "Self-Destruction Curse Seal," intending to destroy them all.
"Haku, get out of the way!" Zabuza pushed Haku away, only to be blown away by the blast. His beheading sword flew out of his hand and lodged in the snow. His bandages ripped open, revealing a hideous scar on his chest. It was an old wound inflicted by Kakashi, now ripped apart by the shockwave, and blood stained the snow red.
Bai's eyes instantly turned red, and ice escape erupted around him, forming a huge ice shield to block Zabuza. At the same time, his chakra perception network was fully deployed, locking onto the self-destructing jonin, and ice cones shot out like a rainstorm, completely piercing the opponent's heart.
After the aftermath of the explosion dissipated, Bai immediately rushed to Zabuza and carefully covered his wound with ice chakra: "Mr. Zabuza! Hold on!" His voice was trembling, and his chakra was a little disordered due to panic - this was the first time he saw Zabuza in such a mess. The "demon man" who always stood in front of him was now lying weakly in the snow, dying.
Zabuza looked at Bai's red eyes and suddenly smiled, even though the pain from the wound made him grimace in pain: "Why are you crying? I'm not dead yet..." He stretched out his hand and wiped the tears from Bai's cheek with his rough fingers, "You are... my tool, how can I let you cry?"
Bai paused, then shook his head vigorously: "I'm not a tool!" His ice chakra became more gentle, carefully repairing Zabuza's wounds, "I am your companion, a member of the Sound Ninja Twins, and I am the one who will live with you!"
Zabuza's body froze, and as he looked at Bai's determined eyes, he suddenly fell silent. He remembered what Master Ototake had said to him a year ago in Oto Village: "Zabuza, you are not a ghost, you are just afraid of being abandoned. Bai is not a tool for you, but the reason for your survival."
He hadn't believed it then, but now, watching Bai's anxious expression and feeling the warmth of his Ice Release chakra, he suddenly understood—this young man had already become an indispensable part of his life. He'd taken Bai in back then because he was looking for a "useful tool"; but now, for Bai, he was willing to block a fatal attack, willing to give up his "demon's" arrogance and learn to be a "comrade," fighting side by side.
"Okay." Zabuza's voice was a little hoarse, but with a hint of tenderness he had never had before, "Let's live together."
Bai's eyes lit up, his ice chakra became more active, and Zabuza's wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. The wind and snow in the distance gradually subsided, and the sun shone through the clouds, shining on the two people, stretching their shadows very long.
Zabuza struggled to his feet, and Shiro immediately supported his arm. The two of them supported each other as they walked towards the beheading sword stuck in the snow. Zabuza grasped the hilt and hefted it over his shoulder, while Shiro stood beside him, using Ice Release to clear the snow from his body.
"After we return, we must ask Master Yinzhu to nourish us well." Zabuza's voice was lighthearted. "Your ice escape consumes too much energy. You need to eat more food to replenish your chakra."
Bai nodded, a smile on his face: "Okay, I will also make you your favorite grilled fish, and use my ice escape technique to keep the fish fresh so it won't get cold."
The figures of the two gradually disappeared at the end of the snowfield, leaving behind two sets of footprints leaning against each other on the snow. Beside the footprints, there would occasionally be the glimmer of ice crystals, or traces of beheading swords crossing the snow - those were the Sound Ninja Twins, the marks of their bond carved on the icefield of the ninja world.
In the distant sky, a Sound-nin messenger hawk flew by, a note from Master Ototake tied to its talons. Shiro caught the pigeon and unfolded the note, revealing a single line: "Mission accomplished, returning to the team." At the end was a small ice escape symbol, and next to it was a simple drawing of a beheading sword—Master Ototake's recognition of them, a blessing for the bond between "Snow Blade and Mist Shadow."
Bai handed the note to Zabuza, and looking at the rare gentleness in his eyes, he suddenly felt that no matter how many storms there would be in the future, as long as he could be with Mr. Zabuza, there would be no difficulties that he could not overcome.
Because they are companions, they rely on each other, and they are the most tacit people under the command of Sound Village.