Before leaving, Harry kindly helped Kakashi and the others by sealing Haku and Zabuza in ice, completely robbing them of the ability to fight.
Then he gave the prickly fox inside Naruto a brutal beating and forced it back into its original state.
Barring any surprises, that fox probably would not try to break the seal again anytime soon.
After Harry left, the frigid air hanging over the battlefield began to quietly fade.
Fine cracks spread across the previously unbreakable ice like a spiderweb. The crystalline surface gave off faint snapping noises in the silence, then melted into droplets that slid to the ground, announcing the collapse of that frozen world.
The first change appeared in the layer of ice encasing Kakashi.
The ice covering his body suddenly shook violently. A sharp crack rang out, and he shattered the last of the frost clinging to him, breaking free.
The moment chakra began flowing through his pathways again, the piercing cold made his pupils contract. Only then did he realize just how drastically everything around him had changed. And there, not far away, their enemy Zabuza and a young person beside him were both trapped inside thick blocks of ice.
A second later, something occurred to him. He immediately turned toward Sakura, his expression shifting, and asked with cautious uncertainty, "Is... is that really you, Sakura? What exactly happened just now?"
Sakura had just opened her mouth to answer when Naruto finally woke up. The instant he came to, he sprang to Kakashi's side and pointed angrily at her face.
"Kakashi-sensei, don't believe her! She's not Sakura!
"She told me herself that the one traveling with us this whole time was never Sakura at all, but an ancestor of hers named Harry in disguise!
"And that ancestor isn't a good guy either! He froze all of you solid, and he even wanted to eat us!"
Hearing Naruto say that only made Sakura feel more wronged, and now fury burst across her face. Veins bulged on her forehead as her body, strengthened by Harry, exploded forward. In an instant she was at Naruto's side, driving a heavy punch straight into his head.
"Idiot Naruto! That awful jerk already left! Kakashi-sensei, you're not like idiot Naruto. You believe me, right?"
But to her shock, Kakashi did not comfort her or say he trusted her. Instead, he pulled Naruto and Sasuke back and retreated a short distance, watching her warily.
"Sorry, Sakura. Your ancestor's disguise was far too perfect. Even I couldn't tell the difference. So please bear with this for now. Once we return to Konoha, the Hokage will determine your real identity."
Naruto bared his teeth as he rubbed the swelling on his head, now puffed up like a steamed bun, bits of snow still stuck in his blond hair from the hit.
His face was red as he hopped madly in place, veins standing out along his neck like a furious little fox. "You rotten freak! When we get back to Konoha, gramps Hokage is definitely going to teach you a lesson!"
Kakashi's throat bobbed, and beneath his mask the corners of his mouth sank on their own.
His Sharingan rapidly analyzed Sakura's chakra fluctuations and the path her body had cut through the air just now. Her physical abilities had clearly reached the threshold of Kage level.
Without drawing attention to it, he pulled Naruto and Sasuke another half step behind him. His fingers tightened around his kunai, producing a faint metallic scrape.
This was bad. Even if they managed to calm Sakura down and bring her back to Konoha, she would still be a massive problem.
When the time came, it was hard to say who would be teaching whom a lesson.
Compared to the others' vigilance, Sakura felt absolutely miserable. She abruptly pulled up the chat group page Harry had left behind and roared in her mind, "Harry, I'm going to kill you!"
Harry: (~￣▽￣)~
...
Somewhere in the multiverse, on Earth, Harry opened his eyes inside the training room of the floating city.
Watching Sakura's stream of exploding message bubbles in the group chat, Harry grinned.
What an energetic newcomer. It would have been a shame if she had not blamed him for it.
Since Sakura Haruno had dared show dissatisfaction toward the group owner, Harry mercifully gifted her a deluxe twenty-four-hour mute.
For the next stretch of time, Harry remained in the multiverse and kept himself busy.
The first priority was finishing the floating city. After a long period of continuous construction, it was now finally complete and ready for actual combat use.
The succubus system built around the Mind Stone once again demonstrated tremendous value, supplying all of the floating city's energy needs without limitation.
In an emergency, Harry could even force chaos magic into the succubi's bodies, heightening their emotions so they produced even more energy and further boosting every power system throughout the floating city.
On top of that, using the massive amount of data he had gathered from the Naruto world, Harry developed a number of interesting spells.
The most basic of them was an enhanced form of freezing magic. In the past, although Harry had mastered ice magic, it had always lagged somewhat behind his other spells and could not really be used against opponents on the same level as him.
Now, however, its power had risen to match his gravity magic, making it fully viable in battles against equals.
Beyond that, Harry also refined Absolute Zero, allowing him to freeze space-time even without relying on the Time Stone.
He also used the Sharingan as a template and engraved observational runes into his own eyes, greatly enhancing his vision.
And by imitating the special energy inside Naruto, he developed a spell that could detect whether other people bore him goodwill or malice.
If that friend-or-foe spell were combined with his other magic, he would be able to distinguish allies from enemies with precision and avoid accidental friendly fire.
Completing the floating city and developing those new spells took Harry nearly three months.
After that, he took some time to rest and stay with Gwen, making up for how much he had neglected her lately.
Inside the bedroom of Harry and Gwen's cozy little nest, the warm amber wall lamp dyed the room in a honey-colored glow. Silk curtains trembled in the night breeze, stirring a faint trace of jasmine through the air.
Harry pulled out the game cartridge, breathing a little hard as he and Gwen brought that match to an end.
It had been a fierce contest. Gwen had picked a melee heroine, while Harry had gone with a powerful exorcist mage.
Both of their health bars had been thick, and after hours of fighting they had only barely managed to decide a winner. In the end, Harry had simply been a little better and defeated Gwen.
Afterward, Gwen's face was flushed from the surge of emotion. Leaning happily against Harry's shoulder, she wore a deeply contented expression.
Then, all of a sudden, her expression shifted slightly, and she asked in a soft voice, "Harry, what do you think of Wanda?"
Harry: "???"
At a time like this, why bring up Wanda?
Harry quickly weighed Gwen's state of mind and answered carefully, "Wanda's a really wonderful girl. She's like a sister to me."
Even though Wanda was a year older than Harry, he was the one who usually took care of her more, so there was no contradiction in him saying that.
If this had been in the past, when Gwen still disliked Wanda, Harry never would have praised Wanda in front of her.
But now, thanks to Wanda's efforts, the two girls had become the closest of friends, so Harry felt that was probably the answer Gwen most wanted to hear.
What he had not expected, however, was for Gwen's eyes to light up the moment she heard it.
"Harry, look, I can't beat you at this game by myself. So how about we let Wanda join us? Then it'll be two of us against one of you, and she can help share some of the burden with me..."
Harry: "???"
Had he misheard, or had she misspoken?
He knew Gwen and Wanda were close, but was this not a little too close?
They even wanted to play this kind of game together now? Wasn't something this private supposed to be for just two people?
Thus, the multiverse's supreme powerhouse, the Chaos Controller, Sorcerer Supreme Harry Potter, was forcibly silenced.
His mind raced, but no matter how hard he thought, he still could not figure out whether this was Gwen testing him or whether she was genuinely serious.
Then Gwen snapped her fingers, and a shy-looking Wanda walked into the room.
All right. No more doubts. Gwen was absolutely serious.
And if the girl he loved was sincerely asking him like this, how could he possibly refuse her?
So Harry opened his arms to Wanda and said calmly, "Wanda, you came at just the right time!"
Very soon, the sounds of another fierce gaming session rose once more from the bedroom, except this time Harry had to control his character while facing an assault from two others, and it was becoming more than he could handle.
He had no idea how much time passed before a pop-up window from the Lending System jolted him awake. Feeling somewhat weak, he wrapped a towel around himself, walked into the living room, and drank a cup of coffee before the exhaustion in his body eased enough for his mind to clear.
Then he accepted the call and heard Coulson shout in desperate panic, "Mr. Potter, save—"
"Wait, let me talk!"
A few seconds later, Coulson's voice vanished, replaced by a low, heavy one.
Harry heard Nick Fury say grimly, "Harry, we've got a serious problem. Steve has betrayed us. He's Captain Hydra now!"
Harry: "???"
It took him a long moment to process what Fury meant. Then he said in disbelief, "Wait... what did you just say? Steve? Captain America? Betrayed us? And now he's Captain Hydra?
"Director Fury, that's not funny!"
Captain America was not perfect, but he was absolutely one of the most righteous people Harry had ever met. He was upright, kind, brave, and deeply responsible. He always held fast to justice and to his moral bottom line. How could someone like that possibly betray S.H.I.E.L.D.?
And yet Nick Fury's words forced Harry to believe it.
Fury's tone was grave, with not the slightest hint of a joke. He let out a quiet sigh and said, "I wish it were false, Harry, but all the evidence points to it.
"Steve Rogers, the hero we all believed in, has now taken Hydra's side... and he personally said, 'Hail Hydra.'"
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