By now, the truth was unmistakable.
The moment every member of the Yuki Clan had been summoned to this hall, negotiation had never been an option. Jūzō Biwa and Raiga Kurosuki had not come as envoys, nor as messengers of Kirigakure's will.
They had come to end the Yuki Clan in a single stroke.
After all, only a handful among the clan had truly awakened the Hyōton Kekkei Genkai,Ice Release (Hyōton). The majority were capable shinobi, trained in taijutsu and Water Release, loyal and disciplined, but utterly helpless before monsters of this caliber.
And yet, those few who possessed Ice Release were not strangers.
They were blood.
Family.
Comrades who had grown up together.
No one here could simply watch them die.
The answer came without warning.
Jūzō Biwa and Raiga Kurosuki moved at the same instant, killing intent erupting like a blade drawn from its sheath. The Kubikiribōchō,Executioner's Blade,howled through the air as it swept toward Yuki Yoru, while Raiga's Kiba,Thunder Blades,crackled violently, lightning screaming as it followed from the opposite side.
As clan head, Yuki Yoru was no weakling. His kunai flashed up just in time, barely deflecting Jūzō's overwhelming strike. The impact numbed his arm, his body forced several steps backward as the floor cracked beneath his heels.
But Raiga Kurosuki's attack was faster,and far more vicious.
There was no angle, no opening left to defend against both.
Lightning surged.
The Thunder Blade descended, aimed cleanly at Yuki Yoru's neck, a strike meant to end his life in a single blow.
CLANG!!!
The sound echoed through the council hall like a bell of war.
Between Raiga Kurosuki and Yuki Yoru, a figure appeared in a blur of motion. An ice-forged blade intercepted the Thunder Blade head-on, stopping it with a violent spray of sparks and frost.
"…What?!"
Raiga's pupils shrank.
His strike,blocked?
And not by steel, but by a weapon created entirely through Ice Release (Hyōton)?
His gaze snapped to the one standing before him.
A boy.
No older than fourteen or fifteen.
Chiba.
He stood there calmly, ice blade in hand, his presence firm and unyielding. He would never allow the Yuki Clan to be slaughtered while he still breathed.
Raiga Kurosuki sneered, lightning snapping around his blades.
"Who the hell are you?"
Chiba's eyes were cold, sharper than the ice he wielded.
"My name is Chiba Yuki."
He raised his blade slightly.
"Carve it into your soul," he said quietly.
"And repent in the Pure Land."
He struck.
With a violent swing, Chiba knocked the Thunder Blade aside and followed through in the same motion.
CRACK!!!
The ice blade tore straight into Raiga Kurosuki's arm. Blood burst into the air, pain ripping through muscle and bone alike.
Silence fell over the council hall.
Yuki Yuki covered her mouth, her breath caught in her throat.
"Chiba…?"
Yuki Yoru and the assembled clan members stared in disbelief. To them, Chiba had never shown the slightest sign of awakening Ice Release.
Yet now, not only had he awakened it,his control and power were on an entirely different level.
Relief surged through the crowd, quickly followed by dread.
Because their enemies were not ordinary shinobi.
They were direct subordinates of the Mizukage,members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, elite jōnin forged in blood and war.
Yuki Yoru roared and forced back the Kubikiribōchō, engaging Jūzō Biwa in brutal close combat. Steel clashed again and again as the two collided.
At the same time, Chiba faced Raiga Kurosuki alone.
Other members of the Yuki Clan attempted to intervene, but the remaining Kirigakure shinobi had already flooded the hall. In moments, the council chamber became a battlefield of blades, chakra, and screams.
Chiba understood something with perfect clarity.
If the leader fell, the rest would crumble.
Raiga Kurosuki's rage exploded. Being wounded by a boy,by someone he had dismissed as insignificant,was humiliation he could not endure.
Lightning chakra surged violently around him.
"Raiton: Ikazuchi no Kiba!"
(Lightning Release: Thunder Fang)
He swung both blades simultaneously. Lightning erupted between them, forming a roaring torrent that tore through the air toward Chiba, deafening and feral.
Chiba smiled faintly.
In the next instant, he vanished.
The lightning shredded empty space.
Chiba reappeared several meters away, arms spreading outward as his chakra surged.
"Hyōton: Sōryō Yari."
(Ice Release: Twin Halberd Spears)
The air on both sides of his body froze solid. Ice condensed instantly, forming two massive spears,dense, razor-sharp, and terrifyingly cold,before launching forward like executioner's lances.
Raiga's expression finally cracked.
"W–What is this…?!"
No hand seals.
Yet a fully formed Ice Release technique of overwhelming power.
Raiga crossed his Thunder Blades instinctively.
BOOM!!!
The impact sent him flying, his body smashing across the floor.
"What kind of monster are you?!" he shouted, disbelief flooding his voice.
Chiba did not answer.
Instead, his chakra flared once more.
"Hyōton: Taimu Kapuseru."
(Ice Release: Time Capsule)
BOOM!!!
RUMBLE,RUMBLE,RUMBLE!!!
A colossal wave of freezing energy erupted outward. Wherever it passed, the world turned white. The stone floor iced over instantly, pillars and walls sealed beneath layers of frost as if time itself had been frozen.
Raiga Kurosuki's face drained of color.
He tried to retreat,but the cold swallowed him whole.
Crack,crack!!!
His injured arm froze solid, ice crawling over his body in a heartbeat. Muscles locked, joints stiffened, and half his body became an icebound prison.
Movement became agony.
Resistance became impossible.
Chiba did not hesitate.
In a burst of speed, he vanished once more,reappearing directly in front of Raiga Kurosuki, ice blade already descending, aimed cleanly at his throat.