"Want to grab something to eat? How about Ichiraku Ramen?" Naruto asked enthusiastically, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
Shigure looked away from the system screen and turned to Naruto.
"Sure."
Just then, Sasuke was about to walk off on his own when Shigure called out to him.
"Sasuke, you coming too?"
Sasuke paused mid-step, a bit surprised. He frowned slightly, hesitating.
"Too late. Let's go together," Shigure added casually, not giving Sasuke a chance to refuse.
Oddly enough, Sasuke didn't mind being roped in. With kids like him, giving them too many options wasn't always productive—sometimes, you just made the choice for them.
—
At Ichiraku Ramen, Shigure spoke up first. "I'll treat. Teuchi-san, three bowls of your best, please!"
Naruto, who had been counting his coins behind Shigure, immediately burst out laughing with relief.
"Seriously!? Then I won't hold back!"
"No need to worry—I brought enough for all of us."
As Shigure spoke, Naruto's eyes gleamed, and for a second, he looked like a ravenous beast awakening. He practically transformed into a chakra-starved dragon.
Sasuke, seated to Shigure's right, glanced sideways and finally voiced his curiosity.
"You're this strong… so why didn't you show it at the Academy?"
Shigure just smiled.
"What's the point of showing off in school?"
The truth was, his transformation had only begun about a month ago—right before the graduation exam. There hadn't been a formal combat test, so there hadn't been any opportunity to demonstrate his progress.
"…So you're deliberately hiding your strength? Avoiding attention?" Sasuke asked, his brows furrowed.
Shigure tilted his head, a little confused. "Why would you assume that?"
"Hmph. You've got this ridiculous level of power, but you act like it's nothing. If you don't show it, no one will notice you."
Sasuke clenched his fist under the counter.
"But now that I've seen it, I won't ignore you. I'm not going to lose. I'll catch up to you—soon."
Shigure nodded, smiling warmly as he gave Sasuke's shoulder a reassuring pat.
"I believe you will."
After all, Sasuke was the reincarnation of Indra—his growth rate would skyrocket once he awakened to his destiny.
"Tch! I'll be the one who catches up to Shigure first!" Naruto jumped in, pounding a fist on the counter.
Sasuke didn't bother replying with words—just a smirk and a calm, "We'll see."
And with that, a silent competition began between the two.
Even as they ate ramen, it turned into a contest of speed—who could eat faster.
Watching the two of them gulping down noodles like wild animals, Shigure began to panic.
He was prepared for Naruto's appetite. But Naruto and Sasuke?
Are these two trying to eat me into bankruptcy!?
—
After leaving Ichiraku Ramen, Shigure looked down at his empty wallet, a hollow expression on his face.
Those bastards… They totally did it on purpose.
He wiped an imaginary tear from his cheek.
This is going to be a rough month.
"Why me…"
Sighing deeply, Shigure turned and left the village.
His destination? The nearby wilderness. It was time to train.
Even though he already had a general grasp of his current strength, there was no reason to get complacent.
The rain was still falling softly.
Based on his battle with Kakashi, Shigure estimated that he could now fight a Jōnin-level opponent without being defeated.
Which meant the only enemies he truly needed to be wary of… were Kage-level shinobi.
But even that wasn't enough.
He needed to become stronger. Much, much stronger.
Eventually, he arrived at a small waterfall deep in the woods. The sound of the cascading water drowned out everything else.
Shigure unsheathed the ninja sword from his waist and stuck it casually into a nearby boulder.
Shigure jumped onto a massive rock at the center of the river. His eyes narrowed.
He raised his hands and began weaving hand seals with precision.
"I've been holding back all day... Let's see what you're really capable of, Ice Release: Frozen Moment!"
Ice Release – Activated!
In the blink of an eye, frost began to spread outward in all directions. Within mere seconds, the landscape within a forty-meter radius was blanketed in a thin but rapidly thickening layer of ice.
The power had clearly grown since his last use. The freezing radius had expanded significantly.
Not bad…
Another solid improvement.
Shigure released the jutsu and let the ice thaw naturally. Then he turned toward his ninja blade—Zangetsu—still embedded in the nearby boulder, about fifteen meters away.
He formed a single-hand seal and fixed his gaze on the sword.
The next instant, frost bloomed across the blade's surface. Ice crystals formed visibly from the hilt to the tip, coating the entire weapon in just three seconds.
Then, starting from the base of the blade, ice spread rapidly across the ground, freezing everything in its path. In less than ten seconds, the entire forty-meter radius was once again sealed in frost.
Shigure ended the technique and nodded in satisfaction.
"At this range, I can instantly coat a target in frost. If someone's reaction speed is even slightly off, they'll be frozen before they realize what hit them."
"But that's just the beginning... Now let's try—Ice Release: Frozen World!"
Closing his eyes, Shigure opened his skill bar mentally and replaced both current Ice Release techniques with Frozen World. The moment the swap was confirmed, a wave of chakra surged through his body.
Now, he could cast Ice Release techniques without any chakra cost.
Shigure entered a semi-frozen state—still, composed, and completely attuned to the frigid air around him.
The temperature plummeted. Ice within forty meters stopped melting. The atmosphere itself froze in place.
Then—
His eyes snapped open.
The Frozen World came alive.
Invisible chakra pulsed outward from him in waves. The ice thickened, hardened, and the air filled with softly descending snowflakes, falling from above as if the sky itself obeyed him.
With a subtle movement, he raised his hand and crooked a single finger toward the drifting snow.
Instantly, the snowflakes surged forward, pulled into a vortex that encircled Shigure.
He spun them faster, faster, until they blurred into a flurry. Then, with a sweep of his hand, he sent the spiraling storm hurtling into the distance.
An ice and snow tempest erupted from his body and roared forward.
The impact was tremendous.
A boulder in its path was shattered instantly—crushed and flayed by the high-speed snow, then sliced to ribbons as the snow's embedded ice crystals tore through the debris like blades.
The fragments scattered across the ground, reduced to powdered stone.
Shigure grinned.
He turned and cast his gaze toward a nearby tree. Already, a third of its trunk was covered in frost. Snowflakes clung to the bark, the roots, and the branches.
Without hesitation, Shigure raised his hand once more.
The snowflakes hovering in the air responded instantly, swirling into a tight tornado and surging toward the tree like a living storm.
The snow engulfed it—then faded.
There was silence.
Then—crack… crack… crack…
The tree groaned under the intense cold.
Its leaves dropped like glass shards, shattering as they hit the ground. Shigure picked up a single shard of ice and lightly flicked it toward the frozen trunk.
Crack!
The tree shattered into fine particles on contact, dissolving into a shimmering dust that scattered with the wind.
"Under extreme cold, even the strongest materials become brittle."
"This—this is the power of freezing chakra."
Not even steel would withstand this. With enough cold, metal itself would snap like dry twigs.
Shigure looked over the icy field, measuring the distance.
His control over ice and snow was becoming refined—fluid and deadly. In effect, it was beginning to resemble Gaara's Sand Manipulation, but with his own unique twist.
Still…
"There's a problem," Shigure muttered, narrowing his eyes.
"Forty meters isn't enough."
The reach was too small for large-scale combat or crowd control.
He opened the skill panel once more.
"Looks like Frozen Moment and Frozen World will be staying in the skill list for quite a while."
...
TN:
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[Goal 💎:100 Power Stones = +1 Bonus Chapter]