A ghostly blue chill permeated the depths a hundred meters underground, while frozen frost reflected an eerie light off the rock walls.
Hyuga Xiao sat cross-legged at the edge of the Extreme Cold Formation, his eyes shut as he maintained both the formation and his soul link with Kurenai Yuhi. Every second consumed an enormous amount of chakra. The void forcefully carved out deep within his soul was like a tiny black hole, constantly reminding him of the price of this gamble.
He could clearly "see" Kurenai Yuhi lying in the recess at the formation's core, her body forcibly locked in the gravitational field of absolute zero, her vital signs as weak as a candle flickering in the wind.
Time was closing in on its limit, second by second.
Suddenly.
Pop.
A faint sound, like a bubble bursting, rang out abruptly in the deathly silent underground space.
Hyuga Xiao's eyes snapped open, and his azure starry gaze instantly locked onto a point beyond the formation's perimeter.
A cloud of white smoke burst into existence. Then, a tiny snake, deathly pale and covered in dried cracks across its scales, tumbled out of the smoke in a miserable heap.
It looked weak to the extreme, its body even beginning to turn translucent, as though it would completely vanish into the air at any moment. Yet it clamped a crystal test tube tightly between its jaws, wrapped in chains of black runes.
Summoning Jutsu.
A "delivery" from the ruins of Ryuchi Cave.
The little snake struggled over to Hyuga Xiao's feet. Using the last of its strength, it opened its mouth and spat the test tube onto the icy ground. Then its entire body turned into a wisp of green smoke and vanished completely.
Hyuga Xiao's attention was instantly drawn to the test