"Holy Spear of Gungnir."
Hayashi looked at the gleaming spear hurled toward him through the air and couldn't help marveling a little.
But the situation left him no time to think.
He thrust both arms forward, shoving Tagitsuhime away, then used the force of their clash to slide backward across the motes of light.
A moment later, the spear, filled with pure natural energy in the form of flowing water, was already upon him.
"Sage Art: Ice Release: One-Horned White Whale!"
Hayashi poured vast quantities of senjutsu chakra into the whale taking shape before him, and the surrounding terrain immediately began to change.
It was just like how Ichikishimahime could briefly alter the canyon's terrain when she manipulated Sage Energy, filling it with water.
Now, as Hayashi's Ninjutsu took shape, the canyon held nothing but frost, wind, and snow.
Snow blanketed everything.
It covered the rocks and the mountaintops.
Cold winds swirled through the canyon, carrying flurries of snow. The rough, exposed cliffs were painted white in an instant, and even the churning water beneath Ichikishimahime developed a thick crust of ice around its edges.
Light filtered down from the top of the canyon, only to be scattered into fragments by the swirling snow.
Now, only one color remained between heaven and earth.
A proud, piercing white!
The White Snake Sage said nothing from the viewing stands. The gold ring on her tail merely tapped the stone, and the snow before her obediently parted to either side, leaving her a clear line of sight.
The whale before Hayashi grew increasingly lifelike and enormous, the Sage Energy within its body surging ever more fiercely.
"Go on, ram it!"
The next instant, the fearless white whale charged headlong at the spear that never missed.
Across the clearing, there was nothing but the