Journey to the Land of Water

After Ino took over Haku's body, she made a hand gesture, and the Shadow Clone immediately dispelled the Water Prison Technique.

The Mind Body Switch Technique had this drawback—damage was shared. If Haku were to suffocate and die now, Ino's body would die along with it.

Relying on her own spiritual energy to teeter between life and death, she was neither fully alive nor completely dead. This was a power of the Sage of Six Paths level, with typical examples being the Sage of Six Paths who bestowed power upon Naruto and Sasuke, and Obito who remotely gifted Kakashi with an eye.

Ino was far from reaching that level. Once her body died, her spiritual energy couldn't survive for long.

After taking control of Haku's body, she took a deep breath.

The physical condition of this young man was even worse than Ino's, with almost no signs of practicing Body Techniques. Strength? Ino clenched her fist to test it—Haku's strength wasn't high either, basically the minimum level for a 15-year-old male ninja.

"Hey, hurry up, Kakashi-sensei is about to finish the battle," the Shadow Clone urged her.

"Alright, alright! I'm coming."

Ino attempted to extract Chakra from Haku's body.

Kekkei Genkai abilities were tied to the body. Orochimaru coveted Sasuke's Sharingan precisely because of this body. Kekkei Genkai was physical energy, a manifestation of ancestors frequently using a certain ability, solidifying it into their bloodline. It didn't require the individual's spiritual energy; whoever controlled the body could wield it.

With a single thought, Wind-attribute Chakra and Water-attribute Chakra began to fuse within the body. She raised her left hand, waited for four or five seconds, and a faint chill appeared in her palm.

"A fusion ratio of Wind 4, Water 6?"

"No, it needs to be more precise. Hmm... Wind 3.5, and Water doesn't seem to be 6.5 either?"

Haku didn't need to master advanced Water Release or Wind Release. Relying on genetic memory, he could naturally fuse Ice-attribute Chakra.

If Ino wanted to develop her own Ice attribute, she would have to start from scratch. She would need to elevate both Water and Wind Release Techniques to a high level and then fuse them in the exact ratio to create Ice-attribute Chakra.

In the spiritual world, Haku showed no anger or fear about having his body taken over. He knelt in a particularly feminine manner in the corner of the spiritual world, his tone quite calm.

"This is an impressive Secret Technique. Are you planning to replace me?" he asked bluntly.

Ino, now highly skilled in the Mind Body Switch Technique, sensed the Chakra fusion ratio while casually chatting with him.

"Of course not. I'll knock you out in a moment, and then I'll return to my own body. Hmm, I'm just a bit curious about your Chakra. Don't mind me," she said.

Five minutes later, true to her word, Ino knocked Haku out in the spiritual world and then returned to her own body.

"Tsk tsk, even the way this guy faints is so... so peculiar," Ino's Shadow Clone commented on Haku's unconscious posture.

Ino opened her eyes and dispelled her Shadow Clone. She glanced around and noticed that Haku's posture was indeed quite peculiar. This young man had a penchant for wearing women's clothing, and after he fainted, his legs were tightly crossed, with his left shoe fallen off, leaving one foot bare. His long, wet hair clung to his body due to the Water Prison Technique, and his face bore a mix of confusion and helplessness, with faint tear stains visible at the corners of his eyes. To those who didn't know better, it might seem like he had experienced something strange rather than being a defeated enemy ninja.

Ino waved to the two spirited young men in the tree, signaling for them to come over and watch him while she took a rest.

Naruto and Sasuke kept an eye on Haku as Ino went to rest in the tree. She closed her eyes, and the system finally quantified the conditions needed to unlock "Ice Release."

Ninja Skill 10, Stamina 9, Hand Seals 10, Water Release lv5, Wind Release lv4. After meeting these conditions, by blending Chakra in a ratio of Wind 3.45 to Water 6.55, plus 1 Pot Point, she could unlock lv1 Ice Release.

Ino was a bit short in all these areas, and she wasn't particularly eager for Ice Release. She kept these values as a reference and then closed the system panel.

Meanwhile, the battle on the other side ended with Kakashi and Asuma emerging victorious. Two against one, capturing Zabuza alive wasn't too difficult.

"Let my subordinate go. You can take my head and exchange it for a bounty wherever you want. He's just a child and has nothing to do with this!" Zabuza growled fiercely as he saw Haku lying pitifully on the ground, unconscious.

Asuma explained the deal between Konoha and Kirigakure. Upon hearing that the two villages valued Haku more than himself, Zabuza secretly breathed a sigh of relief but also sneered, "You better keep a close eye on me. If I escape or die, Haku won't survive alone."

Kakashi nodded dismissively, "Thanks for the reminder, we'll keep that in mind."

Not long after, Haku woke up. Seeing Zabuza captured, he offered no resistance.

Shortly after, Shikamaru, Choji, and Sakura arrived with Raiga Kurosuki and Ranmaru.

There was no emotional reunion between fellow villagers; they weren't familiar with each other. Now that they were all prisoners to be taken back to Kirigakure, there was even less to say.

Haku and Ranmaru, however, seemed to hit it off immediately. Both came from Kirigakure's Kekkei Genkai families and had similar experiences—one was to be "Zabuza's tool," and the other was to become "Raiga Kurosuki's eyes."

Before long, they were chatting away, with Haku addressing Ranmaru as "sister" and Ranmaru calling Haku "brother."

Half an hour later, they discovered that they were both men, leading to an awkward atmosphere. Sakura looked utterly speechless, while Ino nearly laughed herself to tears.

Kirigakure of the Land of Water is located overseas, and getting there requires crossing the sea.

The sea is dotted with numerous small islands, which were once part of a larger continent. However, during the rebellion of Hagoromo Otsutsuki and Hamura Otsutsuki against their mother Kaguya Otsutsuki, the land was shattered.

The land sank into the sea, leaving only some of the former mountain peaks as scattered islands across the vast ocean.

On the small island, there were some remnants of survivors, and in some places, there were very small Ninja Villages, remnants from the great war of the Ōtsutsuki clan.

After entering the Warring States period, powerful Ninja Clans like the Senju and Uchiha were focused on vying for supremacy, while the Yamanaka Clan chose to hide in a secluded valley. Some Ninja Clans unwilling to be drawn into the war took their families and fled overseas. After Hashirama Senju established the Hidden Leaf Village, these reclusive Ninja Clans joined forces with the locals and founded the Hidden Mist Village.

In recent years, the Hidden Mist Village had been severely troubled by Uchiha Obito. After the death of the Fourth Mizukage, the village adopted a policy of recuperation and isolation: "You outsiders stay away, and we won't venture out either."

The dominance of this sea region was relinquished, and the northern waters were occupied by the Cloud Hidden Village, which had always been known for its formidable military strength.

The group from Konoha wanted to avoid conflict with the Cloud Hidden Village, so they took the southern route to the Land of Water.