Naruto: My Progress in Konoha.

The fire dragon brushed past the ice dragon's body but failed to graze Yukikaze in the slightest.

Uchiha Haruki didn't seem frustrated by this. After all, his intention when using that technique wasn't to injure Yukikaze—it was to force the ice dragon to change direction, avoiding any risk of hitting the passenger ship below.

With that objective met, Haruki leapt off the ship in a flash and darted across the sea surface, moving swiftly toward an open stretch of water.

This area had no ships and no other ninja, neither from the Mist nor the Leaf. It was perfect for a one-on-one battle.

Yukikaze saw this and immediately understood. Without hesitation, he guided the ice dragon in pursuit.

As the massive creature barreled toward him, Haruki sidestepped at the last second.

CRASH!

The ice dragon's claws smashed into the water, sending towering waves into the air.

Haruki staggered slightly under the pressure.

Yukikaze's eyes gleamed. He immediately had the ice dragon attack again.

Haruki dodged.

Again and again, Yukikaze launched strikes, keeping Haruki on the move with relentless pressure.

Finally, after forcing Haruki to shift positions once more, Yukikaze changed his hand seals—the ice dragon opened its mouth and breathed out an even more terrifying blast of cold mist than before.

A white, freezing vapor—like a mythical dragon's breath—rushed toward Haruki.

It was clear: if hit, Haruki would be frozen solid, unable to move—his very life in danger.

But rather than panic, Haruki smiled.

Why?

Because he'd noticed something earlier—when the ice dragon used its frost breath, the caster's body momentarily locked in place.

He had observed this during the earlier exchange against Haruki's Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique.

Now, it was confirmed.

Yukikaze's body was frozen in place as the dragon exhaled.

This… was Haruki's chance.

Shing!

His blade flashed from its sheath.

A streak of green light—Shunkenjutsu (Flash Blade Technique).

Haruki vanished in an instant, slipping just out of the frost breath's deadly range.

Then—his left hand flew through hand seals, and he unleashed:

Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!

A massive torrent of flame shot from his mouth, forming a fireball even larger than the one used earlier against the ice dragon.

It hurtled directly at the crystalline beast.

Seeing the incoming fireball and feeling its devastating heat, Yukikaze's face twisted in panic. He tried to move the dragon aside—but Haruki's timing, bolstered by the Sharingan, was perfect.

The dragon had no time to evade.

At the critical moment, Yukikaze gritted his teeth and abandoned the dragon.

He flashed behind its massive body, using it as a shield to block the oncoming fireball.

BOOM!

The fireball struck the dragon's head and exploded violently.

Crackle... Hisssss...

Steam hissed as the ice crystals melted into vapor.

The air turned thick and white—fog enveloping everything.

"Wait a second—"

Haruki frowned. Something was wrong.

This fog was too thick.

Mist Concealment Technique?

The thought hit him immediately.

Just as he prepared to use Wind Release to blow it away, he felt a chill rising from beneath his feet.

Haruki looked down. The surface beneath him was rapidly freezing into solid ice.

A sharp ice spike shot up toward his abdomen like a trap.

Haruki reacted instantly—dodging in a flash.

But it was just the beginning.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, another spike erupted. Then a second. A third.

In mere moments, the area was littered with icy spears, forcing Haruki to retreat step by step.

Just as he was about to reach the edge of the ice field—

Boom!

A towering ice wall surged upward, then climbed higher and higher, becoming a vertical glacier.

Haruki turned to flee another way—only to find walls rising on all sides.

As they grew and curved inward, they met overhead—forming a crystal-clear prison.

"Ice Style: Ice Prison Technique!"

Outside the cage, Yukikaze placed both hands on the walls and muttered under his breath.

Chakra surged into the structure, thickening the ice, reinforcing its strength.

At the same time, the temperature inside began to plummet rapidly.

Inside the prison, Haruki remained calm.

Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique!

He formed hand seals and unleashed a pillar of fire at the wall.

BOOM!

Shards of ice scattered in all directions.

Yet the prison didn't break—the melted section was quickly replaced by freshly grown ice.

Haruki narrowed his eyes.

He tried again:

Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!

This time, the fireball was even larger than the one used against the ice dragon earlier.

It crashed into the wall, blasting a gaping hole.

But again—new ice grew to seal it off in moments.

Unwilling to give up, Haruki then tried:

Wind Style: Blade of Wind

Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet

Both failed to breach the prison.

Outside, Yukikaze finally relaxed and laughed coldly.

"Give it up. Once I use my Ice Style: Ice Prison Technique, no one has ever escaped."

He let out a long, hearty laugh, as if shaking off the earlier fear he'd felt before battle.

"Hahaha~"

Then he taunted further:

"Kid, it's just your bad luck running into me. Soon, you'll be nothing more than a frozen statue."

"Tsk tsk…" Yukikaze clicked his tongue and stared into Haruki's eyes.

"The Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan… it'll make a fine trophy. I'm taking those eyes for myself!"

"Oh? Is that so?"

For the first time, Haruki stopped attacking.

He stepped up to the wall of ice, held out his palm, and began forming a dense, light blue chakra sphere.

The Rasengan.

"You really think this ice can stop me?"

Yukikaze's smile faltered.

He began pouring even more chakra into the walls, reinforcing the thickness—nervously observing the chakra ball forming in Haruki's hand.

Within seconds, he judged:

That ball isn't enough to break through my ice prison.

"The brat is bluffing!"

He sneered, about to launch a mocking reply—

When suddenly—

RRRRRIIIPPP!!

The sound of air being torn apart pierced the air.

Haruki's chakra sphere had transformed into a massive, spinning wind-style shuriken—

a Wind Style: Rasenshuriken.

The roar of its rotation shredded the air itself.

"That's…"

Yukikaze's face went pale.

He'd read intelligence reports about this jutsu—a technique never before seen in the shinobi world.

A terrifying Wind Release jutsu used by Haruki.

He had assumed the intel was exaggerated.

Now… he knew he had underestimated it.

Panicking, Yukikaze funneled all the chakra he could into the prison walls.

But it was too late.

Haruki pressed the Rasenshuriken against the wall, and—

The ice melted like paper.

The entire structure crumbled, scattering into tiny shards.

There was nothing it could do.

The chakra micro-needles of the Rasenshuriken could attack at the cellular level. A mere wall of ice was meaningless.

With almost no effort—

Haruki stepped out of the frozen cage.