While Raiga Kurosuki was trapped by Ice Block: Time Capsule, Chiba advanced without hesitation, the ice blade flashing as it cut straight toward the vital point at his throat. An ordinary man would have died instantly, but Raiga Kurosuki was no ordinary shinobi. As one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, an elite jōnin forged through countless battles, his instincts and will resisted even in the face of certain death. Even with half his body sealed by ice, he roared and struck out with his free arm.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Strike!"
From the tip of the Thunder Blade, intense lightning erupted at point-blank range. Violent Lightning Release chakra exploded with destructive force, power sufficient to shatter massive boulders in an instant. The distance between them was too short for any visible evasion.
The attack pierced straight through Chiba's body.
"Chiba!" Yuki Yuki cried, her voice breaking.
Shock rippled through the Yuki Clan. The hope that had just begun to form seemed to collapse in the same moment. Just when a hidden power had revealed itself, it appeared to have been struck down. For a brief instant, doubt returned,was the Yuki Clan truly destined for extinction?
Raiga Kurosuki stared at the body he had pierced and allowed a cold smile to form.
"Hmph. You've got some skill, brat… but you're still inexperienced."
"Hiding your strength and playing the hero only makes you die faster."
He forced his chakra outward, attempting to shatter the ice imprisoning half his body, but the prison did not yield even slightly.
"…What?"
"What kind of Ice Release is this?"
His voice grew hoarse as he called for help. He needed the Executioner's Blade to break the ice, but Jūzō Biwa was locked in combat with Yuki Yoru, who proved far from an easy opponent. Frustration twisted Raiga's expression as he clenched his teeth and turned his gaze forward once more.
Hatred burned in his eyes as he raised the Thunder Blade again and staggered toward Chiba, ready to pierce him a second time.
That was when he noticed it.
The body that should have been motionless… was smiling.
The expression was subtle, almost imperceptible, yet it was enough to make Raiga's blood run cold. He froze, fear finally flashing across his face.
Chiba did not waste the opening.
The ice blade moved in a direct, precise thrust, piercing straight through Raiga Kurosuki's throat. He clutched at his neck, but blood spilled through his fingers as he staggered backward, staring at Chiba in disbelief.
"H–How…?"
Chiba remained calm. The body that had been pierced by lightning had already transformed into ice before the impact. Through elementalization, the attack had passed through harmlessly, leaving only a faint numbness,used deliberately as bait.
"If you want an answer," Chiba said quietly, "ask the Shinigami."
He stepped forward and drove the ice blade into Raiga Kurosuki's heart. There was no resistance. The body collapsed heavily to the floor.
One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist,the wielder of the Thunder Blade, elite jōnin Raiga Kurosuki,was dead.
Raiga Kurosuki fell dead at Chiba's feet.
The council hall sank into absolute silence. Whether it was Kirigakure's remaining envoys,Biwa Jūzō among them,or the members of the Yuki Clan, all stared at Chiba in utter disbelief. This nameless, overlooked boy had just slain an elite jōnin, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Yuki Yuki covered her mouth, shock flashing across her face. Yet more than astonishment, what filled her chest was relief,pure, overwhelming relief.
"Chiba… thank goodness. Thank goodness…"
Chiba did not pause. He bent down and seized the Lightning Fang, Kiba (Kiba: Fang), from Raiga Kurosuki's lifeless hand. Ice blade in one hand, Lightning Fang in the other, he surged back into the battlefield without hesitation.
The Yuki Clan reacted instantly. Their morale erupted, and they launched a furious counterattack. By contrast, Jūzō Biwa and the remaining Kirigakure shinobi fell into disarray, their fighting spirit collapsing as the tide turned decisively against them. The Kirigakure forces were pushed back on all fronts.
Chiba moved through the chaos like a storm, ice and lightning flashing as he cut down ordinary shinobi without mercy.
Jūzō Biwa realized immediately that the battle had turned against him.
If this continued, he would die here.
With a furious swing of the Kubikiribōchō (Kubikiribōchō: Decapitating Cleaver / Executioner's Blade), he forced Yuki Yoru to retreat, then immediately formed hand seals.
"Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu (Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique)!"
Dense fog erupted, swallowing the entire hall. Using the mist as cover, Jūzō abandoned his subordinates without hesitation and fled.
But the moment he burst out of the council chamber, he froze.
Chiba stood ahead of him.
Silent. Waiting.
Like death itself.
His escape had been anticipated from the very beginning.
"Where do you think you're going, Jūzō Biwa?"
Cold sweat poured down Jūzō's back. The boy before him looked no more than fourteen or fifteen,handsome, composed, almost gentle.
And yet… he felt like a demon.
Still, Jūzō knew there was no other path left.
Fight,or die.
With a roar, he swung the Executioner's Blade with all his strength.
BOOM!
The sheer force split the air.
Chiba merely turned his palm.
"Ice Ball."
The power of ice erupted outward. From his fingers shot five massive streams of freezing energy, surging forward in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, Jūzō's body was sealed inside solid ice,a gigantic frozen sphere. Only the Executioner's Blade remained exposed.
He could not move. Not even an inch.
"T-this… what is this…?"
Chiba stepped forward calmly, grasped the Executioner's Blade embedded in the ice, and raised it high.
"Shatter together with the ice."
BOOM!!!
The blade came down.
The frozen sphere detonated, exploding into a storm of ice shards and flesh. Jūzō Biwa's body was torn apart along with the ice, reduced to shattered limbs and blood-smeared fragments that scattered across the stone floor.