Chapter 36

Seeing the frost-covered blade closing in on him, Zixu tightened his grip on the knife and fought back. He had no real swordsmanship training, so he figured he'd just use it in whatever way felt most natural.

Clang! Clang! Clang! The blade clashed against the ice crystals, the friction-generated heat melting the shattered ice into tiny water droplets that splashed onto the ground. Zixu swung the sword with sheer brute force, yet it would be unfair to say he was entirely unskilled.

"Infusing energy into a weapon? If Haki can be applied, then why not a Devil Fruit ability?" Zixu channeled the Silence Fruit's power through his body, attempting to coat his blade with it.

When their blades collided again, there was no sound this time. The instant their weapons met, Haku's perception of Zixu flickered—he vanished, not physically, but his presence became imperceptible.

Noticing Haku's reaction, Zixu smirked. It worked.

"Hmm… Can Kaido even use a sword? Never seen him wield one. Whatever, if I'm coating my weapon with my power, then I need a fitting name for it. How about calling it 'Bagua'..."

Haku absorbed the force of Zixu's strike but was sent skidding backward, his feet carving deep furrows into the grass. He flexed his numbed fingers and inspected his sword, now showing visible cracks, before sheathing it.

"That weapon doesn't suit your style," Haku remarked, gesturing to the shattered remains of Zixu's katana, now reduced to a hilt. "A short blade like that can't fully bring out your strength."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll make do for now. I'll find something better later," Zixu replied, rolling his shoulders. "But man, your swordplay is on another level. I didn't expect ninjas to be this skilled with a blade."

"I appreciate the compliment, but I still have a long way to go," Haku responded humbly.

"You said before that the samurai act is just a disguise. Does that mean you won't use a sword in the future?" Zixu cut him off, curious. It felt like Haku was born to wield a sword—it'd be a shame if he abandoned it.

Haku was silent for a moment. Then, he pulled his mask down halfway, revealing clear, dark blue eyes that shimmered under the moonlight. After a brief hesitation, he nodded.

"I will continue wielding my sword… until my blade dulls, until my chakra is completely drained, until my final breath. I will protect that person… until the very end."

A soft smile appeared on his face before he pulled his mask back on.

[The host has altered the course of the world.]

[Mission complete: Wandering Warrior - Haku.]

[Reward: 5000 points.]

"Huh?" Zixu raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected to complete a mission just like that—let alone earn a solid amount of reward points.

"Something wrong?" Haku asked, noticing his reaction.

"Ah? No, it's nothing." Zixu quickly shook it off. "I was just thinking… about coating chakra and other energies onto weapons."

Though he hadn't trained in Sage Mode that night, he didn't feel like he had wasted his time. The techniques Haku demonstrated had given him a major breakthrough. If he could master this application, it would lay the foundation for his future mastery of advanced Haki techniques.

—

"Ha~!" Aburame Hatsuizumi stretched lazily as she woke up, letting out a satisfied yawn. She hadn't slept well the night before—those damn ronin locked in the cages kept making a ruckus. But at some point during the night, a sharp crack of ice shattered through the noise, and after that, everything went silent.

"Huh? Why is Zixu fighting that guy in white? Hey, Chinano! Get out here!"

The moment Hatsuizumi stepped outside, she saw Zixu and Haku locked in battle, both wielding katanas. Haku's blade pulsed with cold, blue chakra, while Zixu's sword emitted a faint, black-and-red energy.

Hyuga Chinano groggily rubbed her eyes. Unlike Hatsuizumi, she had slept great—no main family summons at dawn meant she finally got to sleep in.

"What's going on…?" she mumbled, half-asleep, as she lazily pushed a tiny panda plush aside.

"Zixu and the white-cloaked swordsman are fighting!"

"What?"

Her drowsiness disappeared instantly as she locked eyes on the battlefield. Zixu and Haku moved like blurs, dodging and weaving through flashes of steel.

Their fighting styles were vastly different—Haku's movements were light, fluid, and strategic, seamlessly integrating his Ice Release (Hyōton) to counter Zixu's attacks. In contrast, Zixu's strikes were wild, overwhelming, and forceful. He wielded his katana like a war club, each swing cutting the air with a violent whoosh!

"Bagua…" Chinano muttered. The Eight Trigrams formation flickered beneath her feet as she prepared to intervene.

"Relax, they're just sparring," a voice interjected.

A masked figure, Tenzo, materialized out of nowhere and placed a calm hand on her shoulder. Instantly, the formation beneath her dispersed.

From the sidelines, another masked warrior observed the battle with a nod of appreciation.

"He's learning to coat his chakra onto weapons… but his technique is too crude," the figure muttered, disapproving. "At this point, he'd be better off fighting with a wooden staff than a sword."

Tenzo silently analyzed Zixu's chakra fluctuations. "Fire chakra, definitely. There's also a sharpness to it—probably wind chakra. And is that lightning? Hmph, I expected it to take them longer to grasp elemental affinity… I might as well start their chakra nature training early."

Clang! Clang! The two combatants clashed again, but this time, Haku manipulated the water droplets on their swords, instantly freezing them together with Ice Release.

As Zixu struggled, Haku discarded his own blade, flickered behind him, and sent a chakra-infused kick toward his lower back.

But Zixu saw it coming. The moment Haku disappeared, he didn't hesitate—he let go of his own sword, planted a hand on the ground, and flipped upside down, coiling his legs like a spring.

"Eat this! Supreme Big Slippers!"

His feet—still clad in thick, wooden sandals—collided head-on with Haku's ice-covered strike, creating a burst of steam.

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