The Avalanche They Couldn't Escape

The Snow Wolf King let out a deafening roar, shaking the snow loose on the mountain. A bone-chilling aura radiated from its body, extinguishing every flame burning in its fur.

"Roar!"

It opened its bloody maw again, frost magic gathering before his mouth. Then a streak of icy blue light shot straight toward Mira and the others.

"Beast! You think you can go after the boss's girl while we're here?!"

The Shadow Clone was even more agitated than Chiba. Then three more Shadow Clones made Hand Seals together.

"Water Release, Water Formation Wall!"

The three Shadow Clones used a single Ninjutsu together. In fact, the Shadow Clones had used more Chakra fighting the pack of wolves than the original had. That was why it took all three of them to use the Water Formation Wall together.

Water surged up, forming a massive wall. The Water Formation Wall was, after all, a B-Class Ninjutsu mastered only by Jonin. Powerful as the Snow Wolf King's roar was, it could not break through the Water Formation Wall created by the three Shadow Clones together.

But after using the Water Formation Wall, the three Shadow Clones vanished, their Chakra exhausted.

By then, Chiba's original body had also appeared behind the Snow Wolf King.

The latter spun around and spat out a ball of ice.

Chiba raised his blade and gritted his teeth as he blocked the ice ball.

Then he began making Hand Seals at high speed.

At the very same time, two Shadow Clones appeared at his sides.

"Fire Style, Great Fireball Technique!"

"Wind Release, Gale Palm!"

A blazing fireball burst forth, propelled faster by the gale. With a boom, it slammed straight into the Snow Wolf King, engulfing it in roaring flames.

"Thud!"

Chiba thought he heard the Snow Wolf King fall.

But just as he thought the Snow Wolf King had been defeated, the figure in the flames suddenly let out a furious roar that shook the mountain forest.

Chiba, however, had already dropped to one knee. His Chakra was depleted.

Did I fail...

Watching the Snow Wolf King roar amid the flames, Chiba couldn't help but give a bitter smile.

Only when all the Shadow Clones vanished did some Chakra flow back to Chiba.

"Chiba!"

Mira, Lisanna and the others ran over and helped Chiba to his feet.

"Get out of here, quickly..."

Chiba said with difficulty.

Strangely, the snow wolves backed away one after another, not daring to approach.

The flames on the Snow Wolf King's body went out, revealing its charred form. Its bloodthirsty eyes were fixed on Chiba and the others, but it said nothing.

It knew it was going to die. This was only its final burst of strength.

But it was unwilling to die just like that.

Then it charged into the mountainside and unleashed its breath at it one last time.

"Rumble..."

The whole mountain shook. The tremors continued for ten seconds before subsiding.

The Snow Wolf King died where it had crashed into the mountainside. Then an even greater tremor began!

Chiba froze.

Then, if he hadn't been exhausted to death, he would have cursed out loud. Are you Gonggong, crashing into Mount Buzhou because you lost?! Is your head really that hard?

"Rumble..."

The tremors grew more frequent. Then Chiba and the others saw it clearly: a terrifying mass of snow was collapsing at the summit and sliding down the mountainside!

An avalanche!

We're in serious trouble now!

"Run!" Chiba shouted.

If his Chakra had been at full strength, he might have been able to maintain the Water Formation Wall until the avalanche ended. But now... all he could do was run.

But if they ran, where could they run to?

Even if he had half his Chakra left, he could have used Shadow Clones to cast Gale Palm repeatedly and propel the group to the opposite peak. But the reality was that he simply didn't have that much Chakra now.

Snow tumbled from the summit, sweeping down the mountainside and destroying the vegetation and rocks in its path with unstoppable force. Having lost their king, the snow wolves had long since fled down the mountain.

Chiba and the others also ran downhill. They had originally planned to catch a wolf to ride, but the snow wolves ran far too fast for them to catch up.

They ran with all their might, but there was no outrunning the avalanche. Soon, the snow buried them with a roar.

The avalanche lasted more than ten minutes before coming to a stop, leaving nearly everything at the foot of the mountain buried in snow.

And at the edge of a cliff somewhere, several people hung precariously.

Chiba held Winter Water in one hand, its blade plunged into the rock, while his other hand held Lisanna.

Elfman and Mira were in separate spots not far away. Both gripped Kunai tightly in their hands, the blades likewise embedded in the rock.

"Is everyone all right?" Chiba asked.

"We're all right..." Elfman and Lisanna looked down at the bottomless abyss and swallowed.

"What bad luck..."

Chiba looked up. A few meters above them was an open area untouched by the avalanche, yet they had been swept right to this spot.

But it could also be considered good luck. Fortunately, they had been swept here, where there was somewhere to stand if they climbed up.

Forget it. Let's get up there first.

So he said to Lisanna, "Lisanna, can you climb up my arm onto my backpack?"

The little girl seemed terrified, her face deathly pale, but she nodded anyway.

She slowly climbed up Chiba's arm and onto his back, clinging to him like an octopus, afraid to let go.

With his right hand free, Chiba immediately pulled a Kunai from the pouch at his waist. Using both hands together, he arched his body and pressed both feet against the wall.

But the large pack and the little girl on his back were rather heavy. Chiba nearly lost his footing and fell off the cliff.

"Gulp!"

Chiba looked down at the bottomless abyss and swallowed.

If I fall, I'll really be dead.

Forget it. This is a little scary. I'd better use my hands too.

He climbed up the rock face for several minutes before finally reaching the foothold.

He set down the backpack and the little girl, then climbed back down.

He "climbed" over to Elfman, who was clearly badly frightened too. Chiba picked him up with one hand and slowly climbed back up.

Everything went smoothly.

Chiba told them to be careful, then climbed toward Mira.

"Whoosh!"

But suddenly, a strong gust swept in. Several strange-looking, snow-white birds flew over from afar and hovered in the air between Chiba and Mira.

Their mouths hung open, saliva dripping from the corners.

"Damn it!"

A chill ran through Chiba's heart. Even a ghost knew what these strange birds wanted.

First the wolf pack, then the avalanche, and finally this strange bird.

Could my luck get any worse?

Just then, a strange bird let out a shriek and charged straight at Mira.

It was smart and knew what kind of target to choose for its attack.

"Big sister!"

"Sister Mira!"

Lisanna and Elfman, who were staying above, cried out at the same time.

But just as the strange bird was about to attack Mira, several Shuriken flew toward it.

"Clink, clink, clink!"

The Shuriken flew quickly, but the strange bird was clearly on guard against Chiba and knocked his attack aside with its claws.