Chapter 323 – The Third Mizukage, the True Power of a Kage!
The bright yellow light dot in the center of Uchiha Ci's vision suddenly expanded—growing larger, larger, and larger still!
The fan-shaped energy blast instantly morphed into a massive beam five meters in diameter and thundered forward!
The blood-colored giant shark that had devoured the Blood Dragon collided head-on with it.
In the very next moment, the previously overbearing Great Shark Bullet Technique (Super Shark Bomb) that could devour chakra lost its ability to do so, reduced to nothing more than a slightly concentrated mass of water.
Before the energy cannon, the blood-colored giant shark might as well have been made of paper—it was instantly blasted clean through, a massive hole torn through its body from head to tail!
Without losing any momentum, the beam surged straight toward Kisame, who was suspended mid-air!
"Shit!"
Clutching tightly onto Samehada but stuck helplessly in mid-air like a target, Kisame felt a chill run through his heart.
"This isn't chakra... What the hell is this?!"
He had never seen a technique that could completely ignore the Great Shark Bullet Technique. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead. His shark-like face turned deathly pale, and his small, round shark eyes bulged wide with fear.
In that critical moment, he could only swing Samehada around and hold it like a shield in front of him, desperately trying to block the energy cannon's impact.
"It's useless!"
Uchiha Ci's eyes flashed coldly. His Multi-Lotus Chainless Cannon was composed purely of Sage Art chakra.
In a situation where evasion was impossible, neither Kisame's Great Shark Bullet Technique nor Samehada could absorb it.
The only way to counter it would be with a chakra transformation jutsu that possessed its own inherent mass—something with form.
But clearly, although Kisame had the fire, wind, earth, and water chakra natures, he hadn't mastered corresponding elemental jutsu. Most of his non-water jutsu were auxiliary techniques like Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole. His real strength lay solely in water-style jutsu.
BOOM!!
In an instant, the beam engulfed Kisame. A cloud of white mist exploded across the sky.
But at that very moment, Uchiha Ci frowned. He raised his palm and caught something that fell from the mist—something that resembled a fragment of shattered ice.
"Ice...?"
Looking up, he saw—
Beyond the Lightning Boat, from the sea surface up into the air, a column of water shot upward, rapidly freezing into a pillar of ice.
High above, standing atop that ice pillar, was a man with long ash-white hair, blue bead-like ornaments in his hair, and his eyes habitually closed. His right hand was raised, and before his palm hovered a broken but extremely cold Shield of Absolute Ice.
That thin-looking icy shield—was what had blocked Uchiha Ci's massive Sage Art cannon!
Now, standing atop the ice pillar, the man held Samehada in one hand.
Looking down from above—
His perpetually closed eyes opened slightly, revealing a pair of piercing ice-blue pupils. He gazed indifferently at Uchiha Ci, who stood atop the shattered Lightning Boat.
"..."
Without a single wasted word,
The Third Mizukage, Bailan—who had already resolved to kill everyone present except Kisame—calmly uttered just two words:
"Come forth."
With that cold, emotionless command—
Uchiha Ci was stunned to find that the ocean surrounding the Lightning Boat had, at some point, frozen solid.
Then—
ROAR!!
Four giant dragons, formed entirely of pure ice, burst forth from beneath the ice sheet. Twisting and coiling, they soared into the air, their claws ripping through the deck of the Lightning Boat as they launched their massive bodies upward. All four dragon heads charged straight toward Uchiha Ci!
No hand seals. Not even a gesture.
It was as if his words directly manifested the jutsu—so fast it was suffocating.
Uchiha Ci's eyes sharpened. His instincts screamed danger. Just as the four ice dragons collided toward him, he twisted sideways, flipping through the air and launching a shuriken tied with Earth Grudge Threads. It hooked onto the ship's railing, swinging him off to the side.
However—
"Ice Style: Absolute Ice Prison!"
It was as if Bailan had predicted exactly how Uchiha Ci would evade.
His icy blue eyes opened again, locking straight onto Uchiha Ci's location!
In the blink of an eye,
The ice around the Lightning Boat surged upward, forming a massive icy prison that completely swallowed Uchiha Ci whole!
"What the hell?! This bastard doesn't even need hand seals for his jutsu!?"
Uchiha Ci's heart trembled as he stared at the rapidly closing ice walls, which completely obscured his vision.
Instinctively, he realized something catastrophic would happen the moment he touched the walls.
Just like the Earth Release: Earth Dome Prison technique used by Jirōbō of the future Sound Four, which could absorb chakra,
This ice prison—
From midair, Uchiha Ci flung two more shuriken tied with threads, using them to arc around in the air and halt his momentum before he collided with the wall. He landed on the now-frozen sea surface.
The two shuriken embedded in the ice wall quickly became coated in a layer of frost.
Then—
CRACK!
The shuriken, originally crafted from high-grade materials stolen from Orochimaru's lab, snapped in half—the broken halves falling to the ground, one piece still embedded in the wall, seemingly fused with it. The break was jagged and rough.
"This is..."
"Kehehe... kid~"
Suddenly, a mocking voice echoed nearby.
Also trapped inside the ice prison, standing on the frozen surface, Kisame—who looked like he was about to freeze his balls off—sneered despite his shivering:
"This is the true power... of a Kage!"
"Lord Third's Ice Style can produce what's called Absolute Zero Ice!"
"Anything that touches it will have its kinetic energy frozen at the molecular level, leaving only potential energy... and then be turned into an ice corpse."
"And more importantly, Lord Third doesn't need to use hand seals!"
"The moment his eyes open... is the moment your judgment is passed!"
Hearing this, Uchiha Ci frowned.
Great.
Another goddamn intel black hole.
The Third Mizukage—who never even made a move in the original series—was now standing right in front of him... and his powers were absurd.
No hand seals, jutsu activation speed was insane, and the Ice Style he wielded could apparently reach absolute zero.
Honestly, even the Ice Style used by Haku—who awakened it on his own without anyone to teach him—was already incredibly overpowered in terms of mechanics.
And now—
This man, who had lived since the Warring States Era and once stood alongside Uchiha Madara and Hashirama Senju, a veteran master of inherited bloodline abilities...
How terrifying must his Ice Style be?
Crack!
A circular opening, three meters in diameter, silently opened in the ceiling of the ice prison.
Through that skylight, the night sky outside was visible—
And outside the ice prison stood the man with closed eyes atop the head of a massive ice dragon. As if he could see even with his eyes shut—
"Don't let your guard down, Kisame. Together—"
"Kill him."
The calm command left his lips as Bailan casually tossed Samehada down. It landed upright in the ice at Kisame's feet.
"Hehe~ As you command, Lord Mizukage!"
Kisame's shark-like face split into a cruel grin as he yanked Samehada from the ice and pointed it at Uchiha Ci.
"Little Uchiha punk—forgot to tell you something."
"The longer this drags on... the weaker you'll get."
"And me—"
"I'll only get stronger!"
Then, under Uchiha Ci's watchful eyes, Kisame didn't hesitate. With a savage grin, he gripped Samehada's barbs tightly, letting them pierce through his palm and spill his blood onto the blade.
Silently, he activated—
Fusion with Samehada!