146. Forest of Death (6)

"Huh? Something was summoned."

Kidomaru, with his good eyesight, clearly saw the puff of summoning smoke that appeared next to Hinata, but the short-tempered Tayuya beside him furiously snapped: "That pretentious Byakugan woman! Crush her for me!"

At Tayuya's command, the Three Doki leaped up, charging towards the area where Hinata had been. If nothing changed, undoubtedly, under the Doki's immense brute force, both trees and rocks would be instantly shattered!!

However...

Crack~

Accompanied by a sound like grinding ice, three sharp and massive ice cones, as if appearing from thin air, erupted from the smoke, piercing straight through the Doki's colossal bodies! The immense and terrifying damage left the Doki no time to struggle, and they instantly dissolved into smoke and vanished on the spot!!

"You truly surprise me. It seems no matter how much I train my body, the time for me is still too short, and there are still many flaws and shortcomings."

Hinata's voice had regained its calm and indifferent tone. Now that she had regained control of the situation, emotions like provocation or anger, used to deceive others, no longer needed to be displayed.

"What... that... person?"

Tayuya watched in shock as the figure appeared beside Hinata. It wasn't some terrifyingly huge summoned beast, but a girl in a black gothic dress. Her right hand had just casually lowered, and the three ice cones in the air rapidly disintegrated and vanished as if losing control, turning into an invisible chill that disappeared into the air.

"Watch out! Tayuya!! The chakra reaction is terrifying!"

Kidomaru could no longer maintain his composure. After this strange girl appeared, the massive, cold chakra in the air roared like a tangible force, pressing down on the surrounding space. Even from dozens of meters away, one could feel an illusion of being frozen stiff!!

"I know!! State Two!"

Tayuya, sweating coldly, gritted her teeth. As both of them entered their cursed seal's second state, their bodies rapidly became hideous and bizarre, like mythical demons!

"So~ this is an angel versus demon battle, right? It seems I'm the protagonist here."

With a nonchalant smile, Hinata raised her hands, and Suigintou's body beside her made the same movements like a marionette—it was the hand seals for Ice Release!

"Having said that, I haven't had time to develop a big technique for this yet. Perfect, I'll use you two as test subjects today."

Synchronizing her mind with Suigintou's body, Hinata's lips curved into a cruel smile. Although she wasn't proficient in using Suigintou's body, this Ice Release body with hashirama cells could perform Ice Release techniques in an instant. With the support of that terrifyingly brute chakra, even the casual ice feather attack from before could severely injure ordinary Konoha Anbu.

However, since they were two elite monsters, she might as well try some techniques from the original story.

And a suitable ice technique, she had one...

"First, gather the condensed ice mist into the air, compressing it into a high-concentration Ice Release chakra orb..."

As Hinata spoke nonchalantly, Suigintou's ice wings on her back slightly unfurled. The temperature throughout the forest rapidly dropped. Visibly white ice mist, as if pulled by an invisible hand, quickly and steadily gathered in the air directly above the three of them. The white chakra orb, barely the size of a child's fist, glowed with a white magma-like luminescence within. Undoubtedly, this was a sphere formed when high-concentration Ice Release chakra was compressed together!

"No way..."

"Damn it..."

Kidomaru and Tayuya's pupils dilated. Without a doubt, they had sensed what Hinata intended to do from her actions, and without hesitation, they turned and fled, as if pouring all their strength into escaping, frantically trying to get away from Hinata.

"It is well known that when water vapor condenses into ice, its mass remains unchanged, but its volume rapidly increases due to expansion. So~ what happens if this liquid nitrogen-like Ice Release chakra orb explodes? The result is simple. Due to rapid expansion, it will instantly freeze all water-containing objects in the surrounding space into ice. Moreover, the water that freezes first will extend outwards without a discernible trajectory, like ice needles shot from a high-pressure water gun. In other words..."

Looking up, Hinata spoke softly, her face expressionless.

"Take this..."

"Ice Coffin: Boundary Method!!!"

In an instant, the sunlight above the entire forest was completely blocked. A woodland bird flying through the trees stopped in mid-air with a single flap of its wings, and several falling dead leaves were, in that instant, locked by something brutal less than an inch from the ground.

Countless indiscernible ice shards chaotically spread and branched in the air, covering an area of a hundred meters in front of Hinata like an enormous ice porcupine. Whether it was the flying woodland bird or the falling dead leaves, they were pierced by the indiscernible ice shards and instantly turned into ice sculptures, frozen completely from the inside by the absolute low temperature.

Kidomaru and Tayuya were currently slumped at the base of large tree trunks. Their bodies were also pierced by unavoidable ice shards, but from Hinata's Byakugan observation, neither of them was dead. However, their internal chakra was almost completely exhausted from resisting the cold, and their Cursed Seal Level 2 had been dispelled. They were barely clinging to life, struggling for breath.

So that's how it is... although it mimicked the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand Drizzle, it still couldn't compare to the genuine article.

Even if the principle of activation was almost identical, the mass of ice itself was far inferior to iron sand, and the spread of cold would also drastically reduce the lethality of the ice shards. If the same amount of chakra was used, the physical lethality of the Ice Coffin Boundary Method might not even reach a third of the Iron Sand Drizzle.

However, there were also advantages. While the Ice Coffin Boundary Method was much weaker in direct damage, it came with the added ability to freeze, and its scatter range was much wider. In essence, it gained a larger AOE range and control. All in all, it had its pros and cons. It was a top choice for dealing with low-level clustered enemies, and because the spread of cold was unblockable, there was no way for those who merely relied on physical agility to survive the Ice Coffin Boundary Method.

Hinata's brow relaxed slightly. She raised her hands again, and as the Ice Release Bloodline Limit within Suigintou's body circulated, the giant ice shards rapidly dissolved and vanished. After all, if left unchecked, these chakra-infused ice formations would certainly last for a considerable amount of time, and it wouldn't be good if Konoha Anbu discovered anything suspicious. It hadn't been long since she had taken down several Konoha Anbu with a single move.

As the ice shards piercing their bodies were dispelled, the half-dead Kidomaru and Tayuya painfully fell from the air, then struggled to breathe and recover their stamina. Undoubtedly, no matter how perfectly synchronized their cooperation was, or how suitable their methods were for kiting, in the eyes of a powerful individual like Suigintou, whose AOE range covered hundreds of meters, they were merely two slightly larger insects.

"Hmph... seeing as you two still have some use, I'll let you live a little longer."

(!?)

Dispelling Suigintou's summoning, Hinata sneered contemptuously, then turned and rushed back towards the camp. She had a premonition that Orochimaru should be finished by now.

Boom~!!

The explosion of the explosive tags was as muffled as ever, and Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Shino all leaped from the tree trunks simultaneously, uncontrollably gasping for breath. A mere moment of confrontation had put as much pressure on them as a life-or-death battle.

"What a terrifying guy... Guys, it seems we've hit a dead end..."

Accompanying the sinister voice of approval, the eerie female Grass ninja appeared within the smoke. Her eyes clearly weren't in a hurry to end the battle; instead, she intended to play for a while.

"Sasuke-kun! What's wrong?"

At this moment, Sakura and Ino, who were preparing dinner at the campsite, nervously ran over. Choji, who was chopping wood, also abandoned his task and quickly came to the front, ready to set up his defenses.

"This guy is nothing like Zabuza; she's probably of a much higher caliber!"

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke even tasted a metallic tang of blood on his lips. After fighting formidable opponents like Zabuza, he had developed great confidence in his strength, but this sudden appearance of the Grass ninja made him feel utterly absurd: was he truly making progress?

"Don't be scared by her!! This level of strength is definitely not something a genin should have! Who exactly are you? What are you doing infiltrating the Chunin Exams?"

However, Shikamaru's loud shout made Sasuke instinctively snap back to reality: That's right! If someone with this strength were still a genin, it would be too absurd! I shouldn't be so vulnerable!

"Hehehehe~~ You truly have good comrades, Sasuke-kun, but are you going to keep hiding behind your comrades like that?? Summoning Jutsu~!"

Uttering a series of mocking laughs, the eerie female Grass ninja slightly raised her hand. With a rapid succession of hand seals, a huge summoning smoke burst forth again, and an enormous python appeared before everyone!

"Let me see! Just how much potential do you have!"

"Itachi's little brother! Uchiha Sasuke!"

(PS1: Hmm~ The way Suigintou is used is basically like this: enormous chakra reserves from a Sage Body, extremely strong control from a Sage Body, so~ she can be willful~~ Plus, it's Ice Release, so there's no need for fixed techniques~ It's just condensing chakra and then shaping ice into attacks~~ Iron Sand Drizzle, Dance of the Crescent Moon, Sand Shigure, etc., basically any physical technique can be replaced and performed with Ice Release~)

(PS2: That's right, I recall in Naruto, there was indeed a mention of modifying wild beasts for summoning. So~~ we'll capture some talented beasts, train and cultivate them, and turn them into combat-specialized puppets~~ So, which type should I choose? Tanuki (Transformation Jutsu), Cat (Genjutsu), Falcon (Flight), Dog (Scent Tracking)...)