Encouraged by Anya, Kurenai finally agreed to have a drink with them—with the clear understanding that this would never happen again.
After several rounds of drinks, Anya accepted Red's enthusiastic invitation to stay overnight—in his own separate room. Although Red had already acknowledged the relationship between Anya and Kurenai, sharing a room was definitely out of the question.
Anya wasn't just some reckless punk. Besides, Kurenai was still quite young. Some affectionate hugging and kissing was acceptable, but anything further would be going too far.
Just as dawn began to break, Anya returned home. Haku seemed to have expected his arrival, showing no surprise whatsoever, already wearing Anbu attire.
"Did you get injured during this Konoha Defense War?"
Ever since Haku nearly died on the battlefield before, whenever there was a major battle, Anya always insisted she hide away and avoid fighting if possible—he didn't want her sticking her neck out unnecessarily.
Haku shook her head. "No, I just helped Yugao discreetly."
"Good. Keep it that way, especially when I'm not around." Anya praised. Although Haku possessed extraordinary talent and formidable power, she lacked an instinct for combat, meaning she couldn't fully unleash her abilities—and that always left Anya somewhat uneasy.
"Go to the training field and call Yugao. During this period, I'll personally give you both some intensive training."
"Okay."
Within the Anbu training ground, Anya was sparring with Yugao in sword techniques. Since completing the Intelligence Report Escort Mission under tremendous pressure last time, Yugao had grown visibly stronger. She'd practiced the Dance of the Blade and Hidden Blade Technique rather well, and now only needed experience from actual combat to find inspiration.
"That was a good strike." Watching as Yugao's blade shimmered through the air with chilling intent, finally converging into one decisive straight thrust toward Anya.
Anya praised her, then struck back with a single slash—his blade landing precisely on Yugao's wrist and sending her Ninja Blade clattering to the ground.
"You've improved greatly in swordsmanship. What remains is consistent practice. Once you achieve breakthroughs on the battlefield, I'll teach you new sword techniques." Anya was very satisfied with Yugao's progress. She truly had a natural gift for swords. In the future, he could even develop entirely new sword styles based on her unique style—one completely different from his own. Anya couldn't wait for that day to come.
"Thank you, Captain," Yugao said, her voice filled with gratitude.
After enduring three years of brainwashing-style closed training under Root, she rarely showed genuine emotion anymore. But during this time spent following Anya, with help from the rest of the team, Yugao had gradually rediscovered her feelings—which she quietly remembered. The only thing weighing heavily on her heart now remained her hatred toward Orochimaru.
After finishing with Yugao, Anya walked over to Haku. Regarding Haku's training, Anya had developed a new idea—something he'd thought about during their previous mission where the squad cooperated against Killer Bee.
Up until now, Anya had been operating under a misunderstanding—that maximizing the offensive power of Haku's Ice Release was best. Actually, quite the opposite: Ice Release was more effective used in a support role, much like how he previously studied how to apply Poison effectively.
When it came to direct combat, he and Yugao were already sufficient. Haku should remain at the rear using Ice Release to slow enemies down and wear them out. Particularly effective among the Ice Release techniques was its freezing ability, which surpassed even Lightning Release's paralysis effects—without being easily countered.
With a new plan in place, Anya started training Haku intensively, discarding the original combat framework and rebuilding it from scratch.
Focusing more on refining her control over Ice Release, it wasn't long before Haku, under Anya's guidance, successfully completed a newly-developed secret technique.
[Ice Release: Absolute Zero]
A wave of freezing energy surged from Haku's mouth. Unprepared for this, Anya instantly froze solid and became a statue of ice.
Haku stared at this shocking scene in amazement—perhaps even she hadn't expected her newly-finished technique to have such power. But now, how could she reverse it? Did she accidentally freeze Anya to death?
"Puff…"
Flames surged from within Anya's frozen body. The force of the flames shattered the ice covering her entire body, which then evaporated into steam due to the high temperature.
Anya, freed from the ice, let out a shiver and muttered, "That was so cold."
Seeing this, Haku hurriedly walked over and tightly hugged Anya, clearly trying to warm her up with her own body heat.
Yugao's face flushed red as she quickly looked away.
Anya patted Haku's back and said, "Alright, let go now."
Haku obeyed and loosened her arms, but kept gazing at Anya with wide, unblinking eyes full of concern.
An excited Anya laughed and said, "We definitely took the wrong approach before. Ice Release should be developed in this direction instead—it suits you much better. If you had poured more chakra into that technique just now, it could've held its own even against a Kage-level opponent."
Although she had managed to break free, Anya could clearly feel that her chakra flow had slowed compared to normal, and the freezing cold had also reduced blood circulation in her limbs. This put her at a serious disadvantage in battle, especially in close-range duels where everything happens in an instant.
Ice Release truly has great potential. If Haku focuses entirely on combat, her current strength could easily defeat most ninjas.
Anya remembered from her previous life how scientists once proposed that absolute freezing could even freeze a person's thoughts, preserve their corpse, slow cellular movement, and reduce the speed of death.
If that's the case, I think I've finally figured out how to take down the Third Raikage.
The one who can actually stop him has been right here this whole time—Haku. Using my Spirit Transformation Technique to amplify her Ice Release to its fullest potential, I can freeze him solid and completely halt his cellular activity. At that point, with my sword art, there's a high chance I could land a decisive one-hit kill.
At the thought, Anya's eyes lit up with excitement as she stared at Haku.
Puzzled by Anya's intense stare, Haku tilted her head, unsure what she was thinking.
Anya gripped Haku's shoulders firmly, speaking seriously, "You're stronger than I imagined. Keep working hard; don't waste your talent. I believe someday you'll offer me immeasurable support."
Haku took a deep breath and nodded firmly, "Okay."
With Anya's guidance, both immersed themselves deeply in training at the training field. Especially Haku—once she found this new path, Ice Release was no longer simply an offensive Ninjutsu for her. She even simulated a similar defensive form to the Raikage's Lightning Armor, creating an Ice Armor of her own that possessed astonishing defensive capabilities.
After a day's training, Anya carried the exhausted Haku on her back and softly asked, "Are all your clan members gone?"
Haku replied gloomily, "Yes."
"When I have time, take me to visit your clan someday."
"Why the sudden thought?" Haku asked curiously.
Anya quickly said, "I think the Ice Release bloodline has a lot of potential. Maybe we can find a way for you to get stronger faster there."
"Hmph." Haku muttered coldly—it was rare for him to sound so harsh.
"What's wrong? Don't want to go back?" she asked, frowning slightly.
"Let's talk about it later," Haku sighed inwardly. He couldn't understand women at all, thinking that...
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