On a grassy plain two kilometers away from the initial dense forest, Li Chuan finally stopped White, who was carrying Zabuza.
White's speed wasn't slow, but he was carrying a person, so he definitely couldn't be as fast as Li Chuan, who was a master of taijutsu.
Li Chuan simply wanted to be further away from Kakashi and the others, so he waited until they had left the forest before catching up to and stopping White.
"Kakashi didn't pursue us, so it seems he isn't as relaxed as he appears. White, kill this little monk, then return to kill Kakashi and Tazuna."
At this moment, Zabuza had already pulled out the senbon from his neck and woken up.
After learning the situation from White, he immediately concluded that Kakashi must have also sustained serious injuries.
Otherwise, with Kakashi's strength, when his feigned death was exposed, he should have been able to stop White from escaping, and even if he didn't, he wouldn't have let this little monk pursue them alone.
"If you leave now and don't interfere with me completing my mission, I can spare your life."
White gently set Zabuza down, then removed his mask, revealing a face as delicate as a woman's, and advised Li Chuan.
Being kind-hearted, he didn't want to harm anyone, but he couldn't disobey Zabuza's orders, because if Zabuza hadn't taken him in and acknowledged him, he would have long lost the meaning of his life.
"There's no need to constantly talk about killing. This monk didn't come to kill you two; I just want to make a deal with you two."
Li Chuan put the long sword in his hand back into his mission space, assuming a harmless appearance.
"White, quickly deal with him, then go back and kill Kakashi."
Zabuza didn't want to listen to the little monk's nonsense. If they delayed any longer and Kakashi recovered, this rare opportunity would be missed.
"I'm sorry, since you're unwilling to leave, I can only kill you!"
White apologized to Li Chuan, then formed hand seals:
"Ice Release Secret Art: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"
Instantly, ice mirrors appeared around Li Chuan, surrounding him.
"I know your taijutsu is strong, but in my secret art, no matter how strong your taijutsu is, it's useless."
After the ice mirrors appeared, White's body touched one of the ice mirrors and instantly merged with it, then a White appeared in each ice mirror, surrounding Li Chuan.
"It seems I can only defeat you first before we can discuss anything further."
Looking at White, who had unleashed his Ice Release Secret Art, Li Chuan took a deep breath and began to assume a strange posture.
White, a descendant of the Yuki clan, possesses the inherited Bloodline Limit, Ice Release, and Jonin-level strength. He is a rare genius Ninja who can perform one-handed hand seals, and his self-developed Ice Release Ninjutsu is also very powerful.
Knowing this information, Li Chuan still dared to pursue him alone, naturally with a certain degree of confidence.
"Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder!"
With a loud roar, the Sage Art Chakra within him glowed with golden light, and then a three to four-meter-tall golden Thousand-Armed Guanyin statue emerged from his body, enveloping him.
The Fire Temple's strongest secret Ninjutsu had been taught to him by Chiriku before he began his journey.
Although he couldn't yet achieve the same power as Chiriku when he used it, he was confident he could break through White's ice mirrors.
White's Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals Secret Art allowed him to freely move through all the ice mirrors at extremely high speed, so fast that even a Jonin surrounded by them couldn't keep up with his speed.
Moreover, the ice mirrors stood in all directions, attacking without any blind spots, making defense impossible.
Under normal circumstances, Li Chuan truly wouldn't have had many good options, unless he took out a full body armor from his mission space and put it on, but even then, defeat would have been a matter of time.
However, the coincidence was that White's secret art was precisely countered by the Fire Temple's Ninjutsu.
Because the Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder Ninjutsu could provide three-hundred-and-sixty-degree defense without blind spots, and also allowed for active offense and defensive tracking counterattacks.
"It's useless. In the face of extreme speed, any resistance is futile."
White flew out from an ice mirror at a speed difficult to see with the naked eye, swiftly thrusting ice needles at Li Chuan.
"That's only if you can hit this monk."
Li Chuan smiled slightly. As White's ice needles just touched the golden Thousand-Armed Guanyin statue covering his surface, a golden palm immediately extended, precisely striking White back into the ice mirror.
"How could this be?!"
Inside the ice mirror, White covered his stomach, looking at the Thousand-Armed Guanyin statue covering Li Chuan's body, a look of surprise on his face.
This was the first time anyone had been able to intercept his attack within the ice mirrors and even repel him.
"Your speed is indeed fast, but I have three thousand hands to attack. Can you be faster than my three thousand hands?"
Li Chuan, maintaining the Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder posture, said calmly.
Combat is not just about strength; intelligence and psychological warfare are also very important, as greatly demonstrated in the previous battle between Kakashi and Zabuza.
Zabuza lost because he didn't fully understand the power of Kakashi's Sharingan and was psychologically outmaneuvered.
And the same was true for Li Chuan now; he was completely clear about all of White's information, while White only knew that Li Chuan's taijutsu was very strong so far.
Now, Li Chuan's words were meant to psychologically pressure White, making White reveal greater flaws so he could be defeated in one fell swoop.
One must know that the weakness of Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder was its extreme Chakra consumption during activation and the inability to move the body. If the battle dragged on and the weakness was discovered, he would only be able to flee.
"Then let's try!"
White flew out of the ice mirror again, then continuously moved through various ice mirrors, attacking Li Chuan from different angles—up, down, left, and right—but each time he was repelled by the Thousand-Armed Guanyin's palms.
"Water Release Secret Art: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death!"
Realizing he couldn't get close, White formed hand seals again within the ice mirror. Countless water droplets in the air transformed into ice needles, launching a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree attack at Li Chuan without any blind spots.
However, all the ice needles were blocked by the Thousand-Armed Guanyin, and Li Chuan was unharmed.
"Now!"
Seeing White stunned by the ineffectiveness of his secret art, Li Chuan knew it was time to counterattack.
"Wrathful Vajra!"
The second stage of Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder, Wrathful Vajra, activated.
The golden Thousand-Armed Guanyin statue instantly transformed into a red Wrathful Vajra statue. Red Chakra fists flew out, smashing all the surrounding ice mirrors, and White, caught off guard by his stunned, was struck out of the ice mirror before he could defend in time.
Putting away the Wrathful Vajra statue and spreading his remaining Chakra throughout his body, Li Chuan powerfully pushed off with his legs, charging towards White, who was sent flying into the air.
"Ice Release: Ice Rock Dome of Magnificent Nothingness!"
In mid-air, White, who had recovered, quickly formed hand seals, and a semi-circular ice wall enveloped him.
"Xingyi — Crushing Fist!"
Facing the erected ice wall, Li Chuan didn't hesitate, unleashing his most proficient and powerful Crushing Fist.
With his waist and horse united, gathering the strength of all his muscles into one punch, combined with the Sage Art Chakra's enhancement to his physical body, his punch was as mighty as a mountain collapsing and the earth splitting, directly piercing through the ice wall and finally stopping right before White's eyes.
"This monk truly has no ill intentions. Can we talk now?"
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