Lava Release, Lava Armor

"Boss, can you open this thing?" Chiba asked urgently as he reached the edge of the Magic-Sealing Space.

"How am I supposed to attack when you're carrying me on your shoulder, idiot?!" Ultear said.

Chiba realized his mistake and hurriedly put Ultear down.

The girl's pretty face flushed slightly. She shot Chiba a fierce glare, then directed her Free Ball to strike the barrier of the Magic-Sealing Space.

"Bang!"

The impact rang out, but the Magic-Sealing Space did not budge.

It wasn't strong enough.

Ultear's expression darkened.

"Everyone, attack the Magic-Sealing Space!" she ordered loudly.

All the Grimoire Heart mages began attacking the barrier.

But when their magical attacks struck it, the barrier absorbed them outright.

Magic was useless!

In the blink of an eye, Puroke and the Shadow Skull members had surrounded the people from Grimoire Heart. With Puroke at their head, they all charged in to attack.

"Boss, how about I handle this? Go hold them off for a while," Chiba said.

"All right." Ultear nodded.

Chiba took a deep breath, brought his hands together, and spat a massive, blazing fireball from his mouth. The fireball struck the barrier and spread across it.

The Great Fireball wasn't absorbed.

That proved Ninjutsu could still damage the Magic-Sealing Space.

Chiba then attacked the Magic-Sealing Space with Great Fireball and Gale Palm like a madman, over and over.

"Whoosh!"

A magic arrow suddenly came flying at him, narrowly missing his forehead before sinking into the barrier and being absorbed.

"Scared the hell out of me." Still shaken, Chiba turned to look.

He then realized that barely anyone from Grimoire Heart was left—only about seven or eight people. Shadow Skull, however, still had over a hundred, and under the combined assault of Puroke and that A-Class mage, Ultear was being driven back again and again, nearly forced into a desperate situation several times.

Chiba gritted his teeth, temporarily abandoned his attack on the Magic-Sealing Space, and charged into Ultear's battle.

"Why are you here instead of hurrying to break the Magic-Sealing Space?" Ultear asked, dodging a blast of sword energy coming straight at her.

"You looked like you couldn't beat them, so I came to kill a couple of them first," Chiba explained quickly, pulling out a Kunai.

"Cut the chatter. Attack!" She clenched one hand into a fist and held the other palm open, then brought them together. A bone-chilling aura burst forth.

"Ding!"

A crisp sound rang out as an icy blue magic circle formed over Ultear's small hands.

"Ice Condensation, Rose Garden!"

With her cry, thorn-covered briars and roses sprang into being in an instant. In the blink of an eye, they enveloped Puroke and his companion in a world of ice.

"This is... ice magic..." Puroke stopped amid the surrounding briars and roses, surprise showing in his eyes.

The document had only said that Ultear knew the Lost Magic Arc of Time. It had never mentioned that she could also use ice magic.

"Ice-Make Magic..." Chiba murmured softly.

"Break this ice!" Puroke raised his longsword, sending out slash after slash of sword energy to cut through it.

The Shadow Skull members all began using magic to attack the ice briars and roses, but Ultear kept creating more ice with her magic power. Countless briars pierced the mages' chests.

Ultear struggled to hold on, her face deathly pale.

"Ultear, let's see how long you can keep this up!" Puroke cut through the ice with one swing after another, laughing wildly like a madman.

Ultear clenched her teeth, continually overtaxing her magic power.

"I have no choice..."

"Shadow Clone! Release!"

Chiba abruptly pressed his palms together and gave a low shout. Inside a tent some distance away, two Shadow Clones vanished into thin air.

Chakra flowed back into Chiba's body, and he immediately felt a wave of relief. At the same time, he gained a wealth of extraordinary experience.

For one, he had mastered the nature transformation that converted Chakra into earth-natured Chakra.

And at that moment, he felt his body changing.

Its nature was changing.

He couldn't say why, but it was as though he had gained control over some kind of power.

For instance, the water and earth natures had fused on their own to form Wood Release, altering his genes.

Likewise, the fire and earth natures had fused on their own to form Lava Release, also altering his genes.

Two Kekkei Genkai!

Counting his Sharingan, that gave him three Kekkei Genkai!

Five Chakra natures, three Kekkei Genkai.

Even he thought he was a monster.

Yet this Ninjutsu Chamber had actually been able to grant him Wood Release and Lava Release!

Truly terrifying!

Truly a cheat!

He truly loved it!

And as soon as he learned those two Kekkei Genkai, he also gained two Ninjutsu.

"Lava Release, Lava Armor!"

At his low shout, Chakra surged out from all over him and enveloped his entire body. Then the Chakra slowly heated up, gradually forming lava across the surface of his body.

Lava Armor was similar to the Chakra mode developed by Roshi, the Four-Tails Jinchūriki. It covered the body in a layer of lava, providing tremendous defense and intense heat. Combined with Taijutsu, it could take an opponent down with a single punch.

Finally, his arms, legs, and body were covered in a layer of lava like a suit of armor. The heat was unbearable to everyone around him, and even Ultear's ice Rose Garden nearby began to melt.

"Bang!"

He stepped forward, and the intense heat began melting even the ground. In the blink of an eye, Chiba charged into the Rose Garden. Under Ultear's control, the Rose Garden was still expanding, and its power was immense. But beneath the heat of the Lava Release armor, the ice evaporated into steam before it could even get close to Chiba's body.

"What... what kind of monster is that?"

Watching Chiba charge toward him, the A-Class mage's eyes trembled, and even his voice shook.

Enveloped in Lava Armor, Chiba looked like an invincible god of war wreathed in flame. He charged straight through everything in his path to reach the A-Class mage, then thrust out his right hand. With a sizzle, his armor-covered arm pierced the mage's chest without the slightest resistance.

Chiba pulled out his lava-streaming arm, and the blood evaporated in the lava's heat. Magma seared the inside of the mage's body, sending up scalding steam.

A single punch had killed an A-Class mage outright!

Moreover, with the current power of Chiba's Lava Armor, even a true A-Class mage who took a punch from him head-on would be killed or injured.

As he was now, if he had a vast amount of Chakra, he would be a walking volcano.

He turned toward Puroke.

Puroke tightened his grip on his sword, excitement in his eyes.

The blade in his hand gleamed with an eerie red light, as did his eyes. The two echoed each other, creating an uncanny sight.

"Come!"

With that single word from Puroke, their gazes met, and fierce fighting intent erupted between them!

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

The two stepped forward at the same time, their bodies shooting toward each other like streaks of light.

"Boom!"

The blood-red longsword collided with the crimson lava, producing a deafening crash. The intense heat melted the surrounding frost and snow, evaporating them into steam that obscured everyone's vision.