Uchiha Ice

He was moving too fast. The three of them had no time to use a jutsu. Naruto placed a hand on Hinata's shoulder and activated Flying Thunder God.

The two of them vanished in an instant.

The fire dragon flashed past, leaving a straight path through the Forest of Death.

Anko, watching from outside, narrowed her eyes.

"What's going on? No Genin could possibly use such a terrifying jutsu."

With that, she immediately rushed toward the battlefield.

As for Sasuke, after dodging the attack, cold sweat ran down his forehead.

"He's strong."

Though this wasn't the first time he'd faced an opponent like this, Sasuke still felt helpless.

Naruto's expression turned cold. Whoever the enemy was, they'd come right to him, so he'd make sure they didn't leave.

"Protect yourself."

Naruto spoke, then disappeared.

"Damn Uchiha! Damn Itachi Uchiha! Feel the same pain I did! I'll kill every last one of your family!"

"I'll start with your dearest little brother."

Uchiha Ice's expression was cold, his face twisted with madness as he muttered to himself.

Once Sasuke realized that he was the target, he gave up on escaping and charged forward.

He drew the short sword at his waist.

"You piece of trash. You think you can use a blade?"

Watching Sasuke Uchiha's sword technique, Uchiha Ice sneered.

With a kunai in hand, he easily blocked Sasuke's attack.

He kept taunting him, too.

Toying with his prey gave him immense satisfaction, especially when that prey was his enemy.

He knocked the short sword from Sasuke's hand, then looked at him with mocking eyes.

[Sharingan]

Sasuke was furious, but he still had his wits about him. He activated his Sharingan at once, and a One-Tomoe Sharingan spun in his eye.

[Genjutsu]

Sasuke cast a genjutsu, but his eyes met a pair of Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

The genjutsu rebounded.

Sasuke saw himself being killed, his family being killed, and Konoha destroyed.

His mind suffered a severe blow, and he collapsed, unconscious.

"So this is the Uchiha Clan. This is the peace you traded everything for? Pathetic and useless."

Uchiha Ice's gaze grew even colder. Thinking that the Uchiha Clan was now full of people like this filled him with an urge to destroy everything.

Uchiha like this didn't deserve to live.

His murderous intent surged, and he pointed the kunai in his hand at Sasuke on the ground.

"You've been running your mouth from the start. I hate loudmouth clowns like you."

A cold voice came from behind him.

Uchiha Ice started, and his hand instinctively twisted around to stab behind him.

Naruto caught the kunai with one hand while reaching for his opponent's eyes with the other.

Naruto wasn't one to waste words in a fight. He went straight for the vital points.

Bang!!!

His body vanished, and a chunk of wood shattered.

"Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."

The words came slowly from a distance.

The Three-Tomoe Sharingan stared fixedly at Naruto.

Naruto met his gaze without fear.

Though he didn't know where the kid got his nerve, how could he pass up such a perfect opportunity?

[Genjutsu]

Naruto sensed it at once, and his gaze turned cold.

With all the techniques bolstering him, the genjutsu of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan was ineffective against him.

"Why isn't it working?"

The smile that had just appeared on Uchiha Ice's face froze. He'd known the Nine-Tails kid was strong, but he hadn't expected genjutsu from the Three-Tomoe Sharingan to have no effect.

"Heh. I never expected the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to be this powerful."

Uchiha Ice had awakened his Sharingan later on, so he knew nothing about Naruto being a Perfect Jinchuriki. Those who did know were either dead or had their memories sealed.

Even Itachi Uchiha and the others had had those memories sealed.

That was why Uchiha Ice dared to run his mouth like this.

Naruto's gaze was cold.

He pressed his hands together.

[Adamantine Sealing Chains]

Ten chains appeared, blocking every route his opponent could use to escape.

"Heh. A cheap trick. Since the Three-Tomoe Sharingan won't work, I'll show you the Uchiha Clan's greatest power."

Uchiha Ice paid no attention to the chains rushing at him.

The Three-Tomoe in his eyes spun rapidly, then joined together to form a cross-shaped pattern.

Mangekyō Sharingan.

Naruto grew wary at once. The Mangekyō Sharingan's abilities were mysterious, and until he knew what they were, even Naruto wouldn't dare let down his guard.

[Shadow Clone Technique]

More than a dozen Narutos appeared instantly, surrounding and protecting the real one.

"Are you trying to confuse me with shadow clones?" Uchiha Ice scoffed.

He widened his left eye and fixed it on Naruto.

"Here it comes."

All the shadow clones grew wary at once.

They moved to shield the real Naruto.

The space seemed to dim as a wave of intense cold swept through.

Crack, crack, crack!!!

Black ice froze everything where Naruto stood.

The shadow clones and the real Naruto were all frozen inside the black ice.

"Ha ha ha!"

Laughter rang out as Uchiha Ice smugly admired his handiwork.

"I only meant to kill that kid, but I didn't expect such a prize to fall into my lap. Since we've crossed paths, I guess it's your bad luck."

"The leader will be delighted when I hand you over."

As he spoke, he slowly approached Naruto Uzumaki.

Inside the ice, Naruto felt the chakra in his body freezing.

"What's wrong, brat?"

The Nine-Tails' voice sounded in Naruto's mind.

"I'm fine."

Naruto replied. An ordinary ninja would likely have frozen to death by now.

But Naruto was already in the state of Triple Inversion, and all the chakra in his body was in his Dantian.

With his opponent's current level of ocular power, completely freezing Naruto's chakra was all but impossible.

Even so, Naruto didn't break free right away, because he saw the fool slowly approaching him.

"Once my Hell Ice freezes you, your body, soul, and chakra will all slowly perish."

As he explained, the frozen clones suddenly shattered and vanished.

Only Naruto's real body remained trapped in the ice.

Uchiha Ice slowly approached Naruto's real body, still thinking about how to get him out of Konoha.

But suddenly, Naruto vanished from inside the ice.

"What happened?"

"Not good!"

Uchiha Ice quickly realized what was going on.

[Susanoo.]

A golden fist swung in from behind and punched the black skeletal frame.

Crack, crack, crack!!!

The skeleton shattered instantly.

Uchiha Ice's pupils contracted, and disbelief filled his eyes.

He instinctively retreated, releasing the power of his eyes.

He activated the second stage of Susanoo.

It barely managed to withstand Naruto's terrifying punch.

Watching everything from afar with her Byakugan, Hinata let out a long breath of relief.

She'd almost rushed in to help just now. The only thing that stopped her was seeing through her Byakugan that Naruto's chakra was still surging with life.

"This kid is strange."

Only now did Uchiha Ice realize that something was wrong with Naruto. Even for a Jinchūriki, wasn't this kid a little too strong?