Chapter 143 – Ice Release Fusion and Almost Losing His Humanity
Taichi's private training ground.
A spring breeze skimmed across the pond, ripples spreading in gentle rings.
Taichi slowed his breathing, suppressing stray thoughts and adjusting himself into peak condition.
He raised his right hand.
A swirl of wind formed in his palm—
But that wasn't what he wanted.
As he continued feeding chakra into it, the visible wind gradually dissipated. What remained hovering above his palm was no breeze, no blade—
Only a compact sphere of pale cyan Wind-attribute chakra.
He nodded in satisfaction.
Under normal circumstances, this would have been impossible.
When elemental chakra left the body, it instinctively manifested into its natural form:
Wind became gusts, gales, slicing blades.
Fire became flame.
Water became flowing streams.
Earth became soil and stone.
Lightning became crackling arcs.
Maintaining pure attribute chakra externally—without allowing it to transform—was only possible after his Chakra Control reached Lv11.
And it was precisely this ability that gave him confidence to attempt Bloodline Limit fusion.
Turning his attention back to the wind chakra, Taichi extended his left hand.
Water-attribute chakra gathered.
A sphere of tranquil, water-blue chakra floated above his palm.
Both hands raised before him.
Two spheres.
Wind and water.
He focused completely.
From each sphere, a thin filament of chakra slowly extended outward.
Gradually—
The two threads approached.
Then touched.
At first, the moment wind and water chakra made contact, they slipped from his control. Instantly destabilizing, they burst into real wind and droplets.
Fortunately, the quantity was tiny. No destructive backlash—just scattered mist drifting in the breeze, cooling the air around him.
Taichi steadied himself.
Carefully adjusting balance.
Allowing the two chakra threads to probe one another.
Testing.
Refining.
Searching for equilibrium.
From time to time, a puff of vapor burst between his hands. Under the golden glow of the setting sun, it refracted into faint rainbow hues.
An hour passed.
Sweat beaded across his forehead.
The mental strain was enormous. Combined with the fatigue already lingering in his body, he had long since reached his limits.
Yet Taichi didn't notice.
Immersed in the experiment, he continued obsessively, as if possessed.
The outside world ceased to exist.
Then—
Boom.
Boom.
Two sharp explosions shattered the silence.
---
Mentally exhausted, Taichi lost control of both chakra spheres.
Wind chakra erupted into violent gales, razor-sharp blades slicing outward.
Water chakra transformed into surging torrents, spiraling whirlpools crashing forward.
In an instant—
The dual assault engulfed him.
He was slashed and battered simultaneously.
Clothes tore. Skin split. Blood sprayed.
Within a heartbeat, he was covered in wounds.
It wasn't that Taichi hadn't tried to defend himself.
The moment he was injured, his Fire Transformation Technique activated automatically, flames surging to repair his body.
But when his flame-formed body was swept up by Water Release—
The violent elemental clash caused severe chakra cancellation.
His chakra reserves plummeted at terrifying speed.
Seeing his reserves nearly emptied, Taichi immediately shut down Fire Transformation.
Only now did he realize—
Large-scale Water Release severely countered his flame body.
He lay sprawled in the mud, soaked and battered.
Breathing heavily.
That had been too dangerous.
Not dying to enemies—
But nearly dying to his own experiment.
What was I thinking?
Knowing he was already fatigued, yet attempting Bloodline fusion anyway.
Serves him right.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Taichi forced himself upright. Every movement tugged at torn flesh and trembling muscles.
Flames flickered.
Steam hissed.
He evaporated the water clinging to his body and reactivated Fire Transformation—this time under control.
Flames surged through each wound.
Gradually—
His body returned to perfect condition.
Aside from his tattered "beggar's outfit," there wasn't a scratch left.
This time, he didn't overestimate himself.
He returned indoors, tore off the ruined clothes, washed quickly, and collapsed onto the bed.
Within seconds—
Soft snores filled the room.
Peace at last.
But exhausted Taichi failed to notice—
His reckless attempt had not been fruitless.
[Training…]
[Wind and Water fusion detected. Ice Nature Transformation Lv0 (1/10)]
---
The Next Morning
After sleeping through the night, Taichi finally woke groggily.
7 a.m.
For once, even his ironclad biological clock had failed him.
After washing up, he sat at the table with a piece of bread, finally having time to review yesterday's gains.
He froze.
Then stared harder.
His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
And then—
Wild laughter erupted from the house.
Birds pecking in the courtyard froze mid-motion, looking around in alarm at the lunatic making such deranged noises.
After a long moment, Taichi finally calmed himself.
The skill had formed.
That meant it was real.
Now it was just a matter of repetition and refinement.
No need to rush.
But the fact remained—
He had taken his first step toward Ice Release.
And this time—
The path forward was real.
As usual, he followed his daily routine:
Taijutsu.
Meditation.
Sword practice.
By the time he finished the full set, the sun was already high. He created a Shadow Clone to continue ninjutsu training while his main body packed up and headed toward Konoha Hospital.
He still had his part-time job there—
And Sister Nonō to check in on.
---
Konoha Hospital
With border tensions escalating, more medical staff had been dispatched to the frontlines, leaving the hospital even busier than before.
After lunch, Taichi had barely exchanged a few words with Nonō before a surge of patients forced them to begin the afternoon shift early.
He had just treated a patient with a dislocated leg and was writing up the medical report when—
Someone plopped heavily into the chair beside him.
"Ah! Rin! Guy! Look—it's Taichi!"
A loud exclamation echoed through the ward.
Every nearby patient and nurse turned to glare at the reckless offender.
A small pale hand instantly covered the loud mouth, apologizing hurriedly to everyone around.
Taichi had recognized the voice the moment it rang out.
He just hadn't expected that guy to still be this reckless—
Especially in a hospital.
He finished writing the last character and looked up.
Obito was sitting there, his mouth firmly covered by Rin's hand. Yet instead of annoyance, his face wore an expression of shameless adoration.
Beside him, Guy stood with his own hand covering his mouth, clearly having almost shouted as well but beaten to it.
"What happened?" Taichi asked, amused.
Obito was cradling his left arm. It looked like a fracture.
Before answering, Obito sighed dramatically and shot Guy a resentful glare.
Rin explained instead.
"Taichi, it's like this. They agreed to spar in taijutsu."
She paused, searching for the right wording.
"Guy's taijutsu has improved a lot recently. His strength control is still… in the 'exploration phase.' So during the spar, he didn't quite hold back. Just… a little too much force."
She shot Guy a meaningful look.
Guy's face turned bright red.
"Ahahaha! Sorry, Obito! Really, really wasn't intentional!"
He scratched the back of his head and then suddenly bowed ninety degrees.
"I got too fired up! My blood was boiling! You were dodging so fast I wanted to test my limits! I didn't expect your bones to be… uh… slightly more delicate than I thought! Anyway, I'm really sorry!"
That apology only made things worse.
The word "delicate" reignited Obito's outrage.
He loudly insisted it was just a moment of carelessness.
After a short bout of bickering, they reconciled as naturally as always. They were friends, after all. Injuries during sparring were common.
---
Taichi took Obito's arm.
Green medical chakra glowed in his palm as he examined the damage. The others fell silent to avoid distracting him.
"Good news. No full fracture. Just a minor crack and dislocation. After resetting it, a few days of rest will do."
Obito's eyes lit up instantly.
"See? I said it's nothing! And with Taichi here, it'll be fixed in no time!"
He leaned closer eagerly.
"So~ how long until I'm fully healed? I still have shuriken training this afternoon!"
Taichi couldn't help laughing.
"Dream on. Even with medical ninjutsu, bones need time to heal." He steadied Obito's arm. "Hold still. I'm resetting it."
Crack.
The joint snapped back into place before Obito could protest.
His scream got stuck in his throat and was swallowed heroically.
Taichi then activated Mystical Palm, accelerating bone cell regeneration.
"Why are you training so hard lately? You're already the second Academy student I've treated today."
Obito grinned.
"Taichi, you don't know? We're graduating soon! Yamada-sensei already announced it. We've got to train harder, get good scores, and get assigned to strong teams!"
Taichi froze for a split second.
They were supposed to graduate next year.
So the village was accelerating graduation.
The war hadn't even officially begun, and they were already pushing children onto the battlefield.
Sarutobi Hiruzen… you really deserve to burn for this.
The Will of Fire has become nothing but a slogan in your hands.
He suppressed the turmoil inside and continued the treatment, calmly sharing practical advice about life as a ninja—lessons drawn from his own experience.
Rin listened with sparkling eyes.
Obito looked thrilled.
Guy burned with passion.
Ten minutes later, treatment was complete. Taichi secured Obito's arm carefully.
"With my Mystical Palm and your physical condition, the bone will set in two to three days. Full recovery in a week."
He added firmly:
"No taijutsu training during this period. Practice ninjutsu instead."
"Ahh? No taijutsu?" Obito deflated instantly.
Under Rin's stare, he reluctantly nodded.
"Fine… thanks, Taichi."
He turned toward Guy.
"When my arm heals, you're training extra with me!"
"No problem!" Guy thumped his chest, grinning sincerely.
---
Taichi tidied up swiftly and patted Obito's shoulder.
"Keep it immobilized. Change dressings on time. Off you go—I've got more patients waiting."
"Roger!" the three answered in unison.
Guy carefully supported Obito, Rin following close behind. They rushed out just as energetically as they had entered.
Taichi watched their backs, shaking his head with a helpless smile before turning back to his next patient.
---
That evening, after work, Taichi accompanied Nonō back to the orphanage.
They ate dinner with the children, played for a while—
Then Taichi returned home.
There were more children now.
A new face today.
Another broken family.
In this world, peace was always the slogan.
But from ancient times to the Warring States era to the Five Great Nations—
War had never ceased.
As the saying goes: the more something is lacking, the more it is desired.
The last true peace had come when Hashirama and Madara suppressed the entire world through sheer strength.
But why hadn't they unified it completely?
Why divide it into Five Great Nations?
Why not live longer?
The moment they died, peace collapsed.
And now—
Konoha was only forty-six years old.
Yet the Third Great Ninja War loomed.
Taichi looked at the sky in exasperation.
Seems peace will have to rely on this so-called "chosen one."
---
Back home, he dismissed his training clone and absorbed its memories.
Then he returned to Bloodline Limit development.
He created four new clones, each with minimal chakra.
His main body condensed only tiny amounts of elemental chakra.
After yesterday's near disaster, he would rather expend immense mental energy controlling small amounts than risk overproducing chakra and triggering another catastrophic backlash.
That scene—
He didn't even want to imagine.
Gradually, occasionally—
He succeeded in fusing minute traces of Wind and Water chakra.
Each success increased experience slightly.
That was enough.
Success was within sight.
All he lacked was persistence.
Of course, fusion was never entirely smooth.
If combining different elemental chakras were easy, why were there so few self-developed Bloodline Limits in the ninja world?
Even Hiruzen, the so-called Professor of Ninjutsu, who mastered all five basic elements—
Had never created one.
Not unwilling.
Just incapable.
Within a short time, all four of Taichi's clones had exploded from failed fusion attempts.
And that was external fusion.
Attempting it internally?
He'd blow himself apart.
And it wasn't as simple as saying others could attempt external fusion too.
Only at this level did one realize how difficult it was to release pure attribute chakra externally without manifestation.
At least Hiruzen couldn't do it.
Perhaps only Tsunade possessed that degree of chakra control.
When mental exhaustion finally set in, Taichi stopped for the night and glanced at his panel.
[Ice Nature Transformation Lv0 (7/100)]
Six experience gained in one evening.
At this rate—
Seventeen days to complete Ice Release fusion.
He grinned foolishly, almost drooling.
Then wiped imaginary saliva away.
Reality wouldn't be that simple.
The true challenge—
Would not be external fusion.
But internal fusion.