["This chakra..."
"Looks like you brat aren't nearly as simple as you appear. You've got quite a secret hidden inside you too."
Sensing the ominous chakra pouring off Naruto—and meeting those beastlike eyes brimming with killing intent—Doto Fuyumaguma's shock gradually faded, replaced instead by a kind of crazed excitement.
"But that only makes this more interesting! Good—now you can experience for yourself the divine power that the Phantom Demon Emperor bestowed upon us Snow ninja!!"
The moment those words fell, a blinding dark-gold current erupted around Doto Fuyumaguma, while his body began to swell and twist violently.
In no more than a few seconds, he had completely transformed into a half-man, half-bear Phantom Demon monster: his entire body covered in hard dark-gold skeletal armor, his arms swollen into bear-like claws, and his frame several times bulkier than before.
"!!"
This time, it was Naruto's turn to freeze completely, his face full of astonishment.
And in the instant that shock stole his focus, the now fully demonized Doto Fuyumaguma suddenly increased the force of their clash, forcibly driving Naruto backward, step by step, toward where Kazahana Koyuki was.
Realizing what was happening, Naruto had no choice but to shove aside his confusion for the moment. No longer holding back, he let scarlet Nine-Tails chakra burst out around him, preparing to truly test himself against the monster in front of him.
At that moment, both fighters threw the full weight of their strength into the struggle.
The crimson chakra of the Nine-Tails and the dark-gold power of the Phantom Demon entangled violently in midair, colliding again and again before gathering into a massive pillar of light that shot straight into the heavens, dyeing the entire sky in a brilliant weave of red and gold.
Faced with the horrifying spectacle created by the collision of those two powers, the film crew no longer dared stay where they were.
One after another, faces drained pale, they broke into frantic flight, running desperately toward where the ship was docked.
In only a few moments, the once-chaotic area had emptied out, leaving behind only Kazahana Koyuki and her manager, Asama Sandayū.
Sakura, who had remained at their side the entire time, was now sweating bullets. Even as she kept her eyes fixed anxiously on the battlefield, she shouted again and again for Koyuki and the others to hurry back to the ship.
But by now, Kazahana Koyuki had already been dragged back into the nightmares of her past by the savage sounds of the battle.
No matter how Sakura shouted into her ear, no matter how desperately Asama Sandayū knelt beside her and pleaded, it was as if she could hear nothing at all, still trapped inside those memories of terror.
"What are you doing? Run!"
For Naruto as he was now, the power of the Nine-Tails was still beyond the limits of what his body could bear. After only this one clash against the demonized Doto Fuyumaguma, the sheer chakra overload forced him to halt the output of Nine-Tails chakra for the moment.
Even so, gritting his teeth, Naruto continued to brace himself against Fuyumaguma's push, refusing to let him advance even a single step farther. At the same time, he twisted his head with difficulty and shouted hoarsely toward Kazahana Koyuki, who was still collapsed on the ground.
"Princess, please get back to the ship! We really don't have much time left!!"
Beside her, Asama Sandayū was so frantic he could barely stand still, pleading again and again in a voice full of desperation:
"Your Highness, please return to the ship quickly! There really isn't much time left for us!!"
"No!"
"Why not?! If you don't move now, your life really will be in danger!!"
"I don't care if I die here! I'm not going! I will never—never again in this lifetime—set foot in the Land of Snow!!"
The repeated cries and pleas from everyone finally pulled Kazahana Koyuki partly out of her terror.
But even so, she still showed no intention of getting up. It was as though her refusal to go to the Land of Snow had long since become stronger even than her fear of the danger before her.
"Stop being so selfish..."
Seeing her reaction, Naruto could not help shouting at her in anger.
But that moment of distraction cost him. Unable to hold out any longer, he was hurled away by Doto Fuyumaguma, stumbling hard into a nearby pillar of ice.
Then, before anyone could react, Fuyumaguma rapidly gathered the Phantom Demon power around him and condensed it into a savage demonic claw streaked with dark patterns, sending it lunging straight at the collapsed Kazahana Koyuki.
At the sight of that, Sakura had not the slightest thought of retreat. She rushed forward at once and planted herself in front of Koyuki, trying to stop the claw's attack.
But her strength was far too small before the power of the Phantom Demon. The claw seized her body and flung her backward. She smashed heavily into the freezing rock face and, once she hit the ground, made no further sound—completely unconscious.
As for Kazahana Koyuki, before the demonic claw could even touch her, the relentless onslaught of terror, resistance, and shock overwhelmed her. Her vision went black, and she fainted on the spot.
At the same time, on the other side of the battlefield, Kakashi saw his students falling one after another into crisis—and even the client they were supposed to protect had now collapsed unconscious.
How could he possibly stay calm and continue fighting under those conditions?
He immediately tried to break away and rush over to support them.
That sight, however, landed squarely in Nadare Rōga's eyes while he was in the thick of his excitement, and it instantly irritated him. His battle lust turned sharp with anger, and his hands began flashing through seals at once.
"Didn't I tell you already? Your opponent is right here."
"Ice Release: One-Horned White Whale!!"
The moment the words left his mouth, the sea suddenly churned violently.
A gigantic white whale, easily over a hundred feet long and crowned with a single horn, burst from the ocean amid a wave of killing cold and crashed toward Kakashi with overwhelming force.
With the fatal attack bearing down on him, Kakashi twisted aside in a hurry, barely managing to evade the blow.
The giant whale, having missed its target, could not stop its momentum in time and slammed straight into a nearby iceberg instead, unleashing a piercing crash of fracturing ice and sending shards and spray exploding high into the air.]**
"There's no doubt about it. This is absolutely the highest level of Ice Release inheritance."
At that moment, Momochi Zabuza, who was currently in the Land of Waves and had originally planned to remain there for a while, taking missions as a way to survive, watched the scene in silence.
But when he saw the Ice Release techniques being used by Nadare Rōga in the video, a strange emotion suddenly flickered across his usually expressionless face.
Clearly, Momochi Zabuza was tempted.
Though he himself had no Yuki Clan bloodline, and even if he were to obtain the Ice Release inheritance, he would still struggle to draw out its true power—
the boy he had taken in at his side was a different matter altogether.
That child's bloodline talent was perfectly suited to wield Ice Release. He could not only carry that power, but perhaps even use it better than those Snow ninja themselves.
At that thought, Zabuza's gaze shifted, almost instinctively, to the boy standing beside him—the one who never left his side and always wore a gentle smile.
"Zabuza-san... is something the matter?"
"No. Nothing. I was just thinking about where we ought to go next..."
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 119)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter79)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter125)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 73
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 55
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 66
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 63
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 55
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 31
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 31
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 31
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