"This is... that child's power? To have such mastery at such a young age..."
Kongci casually reached out and grabbed a thick clump of snow.
As the white storm swept in, he and the two enemy jōnin had already split apart in perfect unison. After all, in conditions like these, one wrong move could mean death. No one wanted to end up dead just because they'd gotten unlucky.
Everywhere he looked, the scene was like a howling blizzard. The ground was covered in a slick layer of ice—not very thick, but certainly not thin, either. He imagined his enemies had to gather chakra beneath their feet just like he did, or risk slipping at any moment...
"This isn't the traditional Yuki way of fighting..."
Kongci clicked his tongue, sounding impressed.
"That child really is a natural at bloodline techniques. The Yuki Clan might actually be revived because of him..."
The blizzard wasn't a problem for him. The Sharingan couldn't match the Byakugan's perception, but even in these conditions, maintaining a clear line of sight was no trouble. After all, his opponent's perception could only be worse than his.
What surprised him was the range of fighting styles and skills Qi had displayed. They were nothing like the records of the Yuki Clan in the family's intelligence. The only explanation was that Qi had already embarked on a path entirely different from that of the other Yuki.
"Zzzap!"
A flash of lightning suddenly burst from the blizzard and struck beside his feet, cutting short his musings...
"Damn it! I missed!"
A distinctly unfriendly complaint drifted faintly from the other side...
I'd better deal with these two first...
Kongci smiled faintly and set aside his concerns about Xiu and Qi for the moment. In conditions like these, their enemies would be even worse off. He had no reason to worry.
"You two need to aim properly, or this won't do. As jōnin, you ought to set a good example for the other ninja!"
With a hearty laugh, Kongci leaped lightly and vanished into the blizzard...
Elsewhere, the opponents facing Xiu and Qi were clearly in an even more miserable position than the two jōnin. If the jōnin had merely been hampered, then these two—especially the young man fighting Qi—were suffering far more.
"Could this guy have invented this technique himself...?"
The young man barely dodged a blade that had just slashed at him from behind. He no longer felt completely confident.
Before setting out on the mission, he'd made sure to learn everything he could about Qi. The most striking item in the report was the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.
Using ice crystals to move rapidly through space was undoubtedly a practical and dangerous technique...
The fact that it had killed three of their Chunin in an instant, along with the slash that had just come from behind, had proved as much! Kagetsu Qi's Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals were even more terrifying than he'd imagined!
Even without the blizzard that made it impossible to see, the ice underfoot let Kagetsu Qi appear anywhere around him, leaving him with no choice but to defend himself! If he hadn't reacted fast enough, he'd have lost his head just now...
I need to get out of here first. This place is too unfavorable for me!
Having made up his mind, the young man began to determine his current position and work out the right direction to escape.
Since his eyes were useless, he'd have to rely on his instincts.
"Trying to run?"
A sinister voice came from beneath his feet.
"It won't be that easy."
As the words fell, a bright blade flashed up from beneath the young man, shooting straight toward him. If it hit, it would split him clean in two.
But the young man reacted incredibly quickly. The instant he heard the voice, he pushed off with both legs and leaped sideways.
"Zzzap!"
The blade, wreathed in blue chakra, failed to cut him in two, but its incredible speed still grazed his shoulder. A bloody flower bloomed there, and blood spurted everywhere!
Luckily, he'd dodged in time, and the wound wasn't deep. Otherwise, he would have lost the use of an arm...
Yet he seemed not to feel any pain at all. Instead, seizing the chance to strike now that his attacker had finally shown himself, he swung his own blade!
"Nice reaction!"
The attacker—Qi—had naturally held back. He'd already gotten a good look at the man's reflexes.
He reversed his grip on the hilt and firmly blocked the other man's blade. At the same time, he bent one leg and swept it toward his opponent's lower body with a kick—the legendary kick that ensured no descendants...
Meanwhile, his other hand, also gripping a hilt, pulled back and slashed viciously across the man's chest!
"Despicable!"
At such close range, Qi was surprised to see the other man's face turn bright red...
But anger didn't stop the young man from pushing off and slipping past Qi's side, evading the combination.
He couldn't dodge the third strike, though. Qi spun in place and slashed again, and this time he cut the young man's short blade clean through!
"Despicable? What's gotten into you?"
Qi snorted and sank into the ice right in front of him.
"I'm a ninja, not a samurai!"
It was true that he couldn't use Earth Release. But if the ground was covered in ice or water, he could achieve the same effect—and even do it better.
"Bastard!"
The young man was furious at the sight, but it only strengthened his resolve to escape as quickly as possible. In this environment, he couldn't keep fighting Qi. He didn't even have enough time to use a release technique, since he'd be attacked before he could finish forming the Hand Seals...
This guy's Ice Release was far too bizarre! The description in the intelligence report had been nothing like this!
That way!
At last, he figured out the right direction. He leaped and sped off like a gust of wind.
At the same time, he formed a Hand Seal, and his body blurred into a large number of clones. They used all sorts of different movements to break through and escape.
The Clone Technique couldn't be interrupted that easily...
"Did you really think you could escape like that? You're underestimating me!"
Hidden in the space within the ice, Qi watched the man's actions and sneered. This was a technique he'd developed himself, so it couldn't interfere with him at all. Through the ice, he could observe everything happening in the area in precise detail.
And even while hidden in another space, he could still control Ice Release. Ice Release wasn't so simple; otherwise, how could it have made such a name for itself in the Land of Water?
The moment his opponent began using clones to break through, Qi had already finished forming his Hand Seals.
"Rise!"
As soon as he spoke, the ice beneath the young man and all his clones changed once again under Qi's precise control.
At the same time, the howling blizzard around them gradually died down. In its place, all the moisture in the air began streaming toward the ice on the ground...
Just as Uchiha Kongci had said, from this moment on, Qi's bloodline training had fully embarked on a new path—one entirely different from the traditional Yuki way. The knowledge he'd learned from various powerful people was the perfect tool for refining that path.