Counterattack

Chiba stared in confusion at the Shadow Clones and their utterly hopeless expressions.

Then the clones began discussing things among themselves.

"Hurry up! We're going to use Gale Palm to send you, your girl, and her little brother and sister flying. There are so many snow wolves that even a few more brothers wouldn't be enough," one of the Shadow Clones said impatiently once they had finished.

"Exactly. You can't die. If you die, we're all done for, and we won't even get a chance to experience life in the future."

The Shadow Clones all urged Chiba to go. He knew how serious the situation was, so he put away his sword, ran over to Mira and the others, and said, "Everyone, hold on tight to each other!"

"Okay!"

"Good. Here you go!"

"Katon!"

"Katon, my ass! Use full power!"

"OJBK!"

"Wind Release..."

"Wait, give me all your Kunai first!" The original was the one speaking this time.

"...What a pain. Catch!"

"..." The original was nearly impaled to death.

"Here we go! Wind Release, Gale Palm!"

The nine Shadow Clones used Gale Palm at the same time, sending nine gusts of force blowing in one direction. The group was swept up by the fierce, snow-filled wind and sent hurtling down the mountain.

Gale Palm stopped after several seconds, and the Shadow Clones vanished at the same moment, leaving a pack of bewildered snow wolves staring at one another.

"Wind Release! Gale Palm!"

He clapped his hands together, then pointed his palms downward. A powerful gust of wind slowed their descent. Even so, he still landed face-first in the snow.

Mira pulled hard at his body, which was buried in the deep snow. Her little face turned bright red with effort, but she finally managed to drag him out.

"Damn, I nearly suffocated..."

Mud still clung to Chiba's mouth. He spat it out, then grabbed some snow and rubbed it over his face.

Seeing Chiba in such a sorry state, Mira burst out laughing. It was only her second smile in all these days.

"Stop laughing and let's get away. If we're surrounded again, we won't have as much time to prepare as we just did," Chiba said hurriedly.

Snow wolves were clever animals. Having been tricked once, how could they fall for it a second time?

Then the group ran and ran... until... the howls of wolves rang out behind them again.

There were nearly a hundred snow wolves below them, and dozens more had appeared above them.

Hey, hey, hey! Did we wander into a wolf den?

An exceptionally large snow wolf emerged from the pack. It stood a full two meters tall, its enormous size almost enough to leave one dumbstruck. It walked slowly toward them and spoke in a human voice.

"Human, give up resisting and die honorably as our food. It's been a long time since I last ate a human mage."

Its ferocious beastly eyes turned toward Mira and the other two behind Chiba as it spoke.

"A talking wolf..." Chiba frowned deeply.

Would its meat taste better?

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

Nine clones appeared once more.

"Guys, there's no getting away this time. Let's do this!" Chiba handed each of them a Kunai and grinned.

"Do this, my ass! Damn it, we finally got you out, and now we still have to fight!" One of the Shadow Clones looked furious.

Chiba didn't dare speak.

I got cursed out by my own Shadow Clone...

I'm so pathetic...

Cursing was one thing, fighting another. When the original and all nine Shadow Clones used Phoenix Flower Fire together, the scene looked just like a fireworks display.

Rat-Tiger-Dog-Ox-Rabbit-Tiger!

"Fire Style! Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

There was no need to use Ninjutsu with great single-target killing power against these ordinary snow wolves. The area damage of Phoenix Flower Jutsu was just right.

Countless balls of fire shaped like the fruit of the garden balsam sprayed out. With the aid of the Sharingan, they struck every snow wolf with remarkable accuracy. And it generally took only four or five Phoenix Flower fireballs to kill one. So... a single round of Phoenix Flower Fire had wiped out roughly a third of the snow wolves.

He stared blankly. If he'd known he was this badass, why the hell had he run just now?

The main thing was that this was his first time using Phoenix Flower Fire in actual combat. He simply hadn't expected it to be so effective.

"Fuck this shit! If I'd known one set of skills could wipe out this bunch of trash, I wouldn't have run." A Shadow Clone jumped in frustration. He clearly hadn't expected the fireworks display to be so powerful either.

"Then why didn't you use Ninjutsu just now?!" the original demanded.

"We... we were scared by how many there were, so we were trying to figure out if we could escape."

"..." The Shadow Clones were even more afraid of death than the original.

"Brat, you've thoroughly enraged me!" Seeing how grievously his subjects had suffered, the snow wolf king threw back his head and roared, then charged toward them.

The ground shook as he ran. Seeing this, Chiba swiftly formed Hand Seals.

"Fire Style! Great Fireball Technique!"

A scorching fireball shot from his mouth, flying straight toward the snow wolf king.

But the wolf king was clearly no pushover. He opened his enormous jaws, and an ice-blue magic circle formed before his mouth. A bone-chilling aura gathered there, then became a ball of ice twice as large as the Great Fireball and hurtled straight toward Chiba!

"Boom!"

The ball of ice collided with the Great Fireball with a deafening roar. Flames exploded across the ice. The intense heat melted it, but the Great Fireball soon dissipated, while the ball of ice remained half its original size.

Magical creatures were indeed difficult to deal with. The wolf before him might even be more than a weaker B-Class mage could handle.

As the ball of ice came crashing toward him, Chiba rapidly formed Hand Seals.

Tiger-Snake-Tiger-Snake-Tiger-Snake!

"Water Release, Water Formation Wall!"

"Cough, cough... ptoo!"

Chiba opened his mouth, prepared for a moment, then spat out a torrent of water. It surged upward, forming a huge wall of water that blocked the ball of ice.

Then, after the Water Formation Wall vanished, Chiba suddenly disappeared.

In the next instant, he descended from above the wolf king, the blade of his ninja sword Winter Water gleaming coldly in his hand.

You mangy bastard, have you ever seen a sword technique that drops from the sky?

"Bang!"

But the wolf king's reactions were exceptional. He immediately raised a paw, colliding with Winter Water, then used his tremendous strength to knock Chiba away.

"Fuck, he's that strong?"

Chiba's feet touched the ground, and his body tensed once more. He burst forward at incredible speed and drove his sword into the wolf king's back.

"Awoo!"

The snow wolf king let out a cry of pain, the anger in his beastly eyes growing even fiercer. Then his magic power erupted, releasing a bone-chilling aura.

Chiba's pupils contracted sharply. The freezing aura was spreading far too quickly. If he didn't get away now, he might very well fall here.

Chiba yanked Winter Water free and slid it into the sheath at his side. Then he retreated at top speed. As he fell back, he pulled an equal number of Shuriken from the pouch at his side and threw them at the snow wolf king.

"Fire Style, Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

He formed Hand Seals, and fireballs shaped like garden balsam flowers sprayed out. They merged with the Shuriken, which cut into the snow wolf king's body one after another.

"Damn brat! I'll tear you to pieces!!!"

Feeling the flames burn and the Shuriken pierce his body, the snow wolf king finally flew into an extreme rage.