At night, the Land of Water was shrouded in night mist.
Inside the forest, Masahiko leaned to the side, taking a brief rest.
He scanned the panel, waiting for the time to pass while organizing his various gains.
[Camouflage Hiding Technique: Perfect]
[Lightning Release Chakra Mode: Perfect]
These were his greatest gains over the past month, aside from his Chakra and Taijutsu training.
To him, the Gentle Fist was secondary.
Body development and enhancement were the real keys.
After more than a month of training, several more Chakra points in his body had become usable, allowing him to refine and release more Chakra in one go.
Thanks to this, his Lightning Release Chakra Mode was able to reach the Perfect level.
Beyond that—
He had already confirmed with Iron Palm that the Panda Clan possessed the Reverse Summoning Jutsu, which would save him the time of traveling to their habitat.
Although he had been out for two months, nothing seemed to have happened within Konoha, so a new episode was only just completed now.
At this moment, eight o'clock arrived.
Masahiko glanced at Kakashi and the others, then summoned the light screen to look at the display.
The opening was the voice transmission of Inoichi Yamanaka.
Accompanied by the voice, various characters flashed by one by one, such as—
Asuma Sarutobi, Masahiko, Mitarashi Anko, and Kakashi Hatake.
However.
Kakashi Hatake's scene was clearly also closer to Naruto's position.
The next moment—
"!"
With an urgent palm strike from a distance, highly concentrated Chakra fired a powerful shockwave from the palm.
Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!
Hiashi's strike was incredibly fast, and his target was ruthless—the enemy and Hyūga Takashi in his hands.
However.
In the next second, at that spot, the lightning suddenly dissipated, turning into a blur of afterimages.
In the direction leading out of the village, three Branch House Ninjas blocked the way, with massive amounts of Chakra gushing out from every point on their bodies.
Boom!
The "Kumogakure Anbu" rushed in front of them and stomped his foot; the ground instantly cracked as if hit by an earthquake or a landslide.
Amidst the chaos—
The three still refused to give up, rushing forward again to use the Eight Trigrams Palms and Gentle Fist.
However.
Hiashi's eyes widened, revealing a hint of shock and disbelief.
He saw—
The Chakra inside the opponent was undergoing further changes, and a diagram of the Chakra flow rate within his body appeared on the screen.
"So this is what the Chakra looks like when utilizing the Shikotsumyaku's limit-break state?"
Masahiko thought pensively.
In the footage, the suddenly increased Chakra flow surged from the Chakra pathways toward the bones.
Afterward—
Boom!
A loud explosion.
The three were sent flying together, and the person in the footage departed abruptly.
A large wave of bullet chat immediately drifted across the light screen.
"What kind of jutsu is this??"
"The Chakra color is denser in the bones, it's clearly Shikotsumyaku."
"Did Hiashi recognize it based on that expression?"
"The Old Thief really wants to get the Byakugan, and Hiashi was shocked to see the Shikotsumyaku. Does that mean—the two families are related?"
Everyone speculated one after another.
Masahiko was not surprised by Hiashi's expression.
The Hyuga Clan and the Kaguya Clan share a common ancestor; how could he not recognize the state of Shikotsumyaku being activated?
Facing Hiashi, if he didn't use Shikotsumyaku, this Shadow Clone would be in grave danger if the fight dragged on. He had no choice.
Furthermore, he didn't intend to hide the Shikotsumyaku.
In Konoha, Masahiko himself had never used Shikotsumyaku, and that power was basically in a dormant state.
He wasn't too surprised by the subsequent plot.
In the footage, there had been a blue Chakra effect in his palm the whole time.
At first, no one paid it much mind.
But—
"Has the Old Thief been absorbing his Chakra this whole time?"
"The consumption must be huge. Given the Old Thief's style, this is definitely a Shadow Clone. If he doesn't absorb some, he might end up working for nothing if an accident happens."
"He won't suck him dry, will he?"
"Absorbing Chakra at close range... the Old Thief definitely can't let him live, otherwise what if he gets recognized later?"
Line after line of bullet chat flashed by.
Masahiko's killing of Hyūga Takashi was partly due to the factors they mentioned, and partly to reduce the chance of his "Masahiko" identity being exposed.
As for the Byakugan—
It was mainly to enhance his constitution and see if he could harmonize it with the Shikotsumyaku to avoid the onset of kekkei sickness.
Additionally, there was the possibility of increasing his chances of mastering Sage Transformation.
Masahiko fast-forwarded the progress.
He knew the details of the process between Konoha and the Hidden Cloud Village better than the video did, so he had no desire to pay much attention to it.
He was more focused on information he couldn't see.
Before long, in a familiar forest, Kisame Hoshigaki, carrying Samehada and wearing Hidden Mist Anbu attire, bowed slightly to the short figure in front of him.
"Mizukage-sama!"
"Have you investigated thoroughly?"
"Yes. It seems the Hidden Cloud Village and Konoha have reached some kind of cooperation and intend to move against us."
Kisame said, "Also, Zabuza—"
"Let him be."
Yagura Karatachi looked into the distance. "Compared to the threat of Konoha and the Hidden Cloud, his bit of power is not worth mentioning. The kubikiribocho can be left with him for the time being."
"What has Ao been doing lately?"
"In the north, guarding against Hidden Cloud Anbu coming ashore. He has already killed three Anbu squads recently."
"Have him return to the village. His eye is very important."
"Yes!"
Return to the village?
Masahiko's gaze fixed on the screen.
According to the news he received, the last batch of Hidden Cloud Anbu set out yesterday. Counting the travel time and the time to sneak ashore—
This segment should be before he encountered Kakashi.
If that were the case, they would have to adjust their strategy.
Masahiko scanned his surroundings, then thought about his subsequent counter-strategies while watching the bullet chat before him.
Soon, after a brief shot, another scene appeared before his eyes.
Zabuza evaded his pursuers, and after healing his wounds, he used a sealing scroll to preserve the remaining part of the kubikiribocho.
He walked along a mountain village path, avoiding detection by the enemy.
In the northern part of the Land of Water in early spring, a fine snow was still falling, leaving a pure white, thin layer of ice and snow on the bridge.
On the bridge in the fine snow, the figure of a child caught his attention.
Zabuza stopped, staring at the youth amidst the vast expanse of white.
He walked over slowly until he was in front of the other person.
The boy was hugging his knees, curled into a ball, looking pitiful, helpless, and lonely.
Zabuza stood before him, pausing for a few seconds, and said: "Kid, do you want to be needed by someone? Can you give everything for me?"
The boy stared at him, then slowly nodded.
Zabuza: "From today on, you are mine. Come with me."
The snowy weather swallowed the silhouettes of the two lonely figures.
This scene even made Masahiko feel quite moved.
And the bullet chat—
"Zabuza, Haku!"
"Two people who need each other, what a beautiful encounter, right everyone—"
"Damn it, I'm remembering that plot point again!"
"F*ck, stop talking about it!"
Comment after comment drifted by.
Zabuza and Haku were undoubtedly a pair of villains that naruto shaped extremely well.
At this moment, when Zabuza met Haku, he must have been just as desperate and helpless as Haku, not knowing where to go in this world.
Looking at them, Masahiko couldn't help but sigh softly.
As the silhouettes of the two disappeared into the snow, this episode's plot also came to an end.
The moment the ending theme began to play, many viewers were still savoring the scene for a long time.
"Zabuza is also a very gentle person, and then there's Haku—"
"If he were in Konoha, he would definitely have been a very good Ninja."
"Madara: Zabuza, Haku, it wasn't I who harmed you, it was this chaotic world that harmed you!"
"Hard to hold it in, but—everyone, see you next episode!"
Although there wasn't an excessive amount of exposition, the story of Zabuza before the Land of Waves had been presented quite completely.
Everyone could understand the feeling of that final scene.
And because of that—
They liked these two even more.
In Masahiko's mind, he recalled the scenes from the anime in his previous life, but he quickly suppressed the memory.
For now, the reward was more important!