Mizore Fuyukuma did not even have time to scream before the searing flames reduced him to a heap of charred ash.
The acrid stench of burning filled the air.
Nadare Rōga, who had been so overbearing moments earlier, went rigid.
He stared fixedly at the black ash on the ground, his eyes panicked and his forehead beaded with cold sweat.
The Chakra Armor had not even lasted a second!
It was the pinnacle of the Land of Snow's technology, capable of absorbing Ninjutsu and vastly enhancing defense.
Against this Konoha Genin's Fire Style, the armor was nothing but a joke.
"Fubuki, something's wrong."
Nadare Rōga swallowed, his voice trembling slightly.
"This kid's Fire Style is far too powerful. Don't clash with him head-on. Keep your distance and wear him down with Ice Release!"
Fubuki Kakuyoku, however, looked utterly unconvinced.
Looking at Xin's young face, she felt that Mizore Fuyukuma had only been killed instantly because he had underestimated his opponent.
"He's just a wet-behind-the-ears Konoha brat who landed a sneak attack!"
Fubuki Kakuyoku snorted coldly, her hands rapidly forming hand seals.
"Ice Release: Swallow Snowstorm!"
Dozens of razor-sharp ice spikes instantly formed in midair.
With piercing whistles, they shot toward Xin in a dense barrage.
Xin stood where he was, making no attempt to dodge.
He formed a hand seal with one hand and spat out a searing fireball.
The fireball swelled in the wind, becoming a roiling wall of fire.
The moment those supposedly indestructible ice spikes touched the wall of fire-
They did not last even a second, instantly melting into vapor under the terrifying heat.
Fubuki Kakuyoku's eyes widened in horror.
The Ice Release she took such pride in had been countered so easily.
"Don't just stand there! Dodge!"
Nadare Rōga roared, slamming both hands into the snow.
"Ice Release: One-Horned White Whale!"
The earth shook, and a rumble resounded across the snowfield.
An enormous whale of crystalline ice, more than several dozen meters long, burst out of the snow.
With the force to destroy everything, it opened its enormous maw and crashed down toward Xin and Kazahana Koyuki.
Kazahana Koyuki turned deathly pale at the sight of the enormous ice whale blotting out the sky.
She squeezed her eyes shut, her mind blank as she waited for death.
A warm, strong hand suddenly caught her wrist.
Xin remained calm as the five-pointed star in his right eye slowly rotated.
Kamui's intangibility activated.
Boom!
The enormous ice whale slammed into the spot where they stood, sending snow and shattered ice flying everywhere.
Kazahana Koyuki felt no pain.
She worked up the courage to open her eyes, then saw something she would never forget.
The enormous ice whale had passed straight through their bodies.
The two stood where they were, completely unharmed.
Nadare Rōga and Fubuki Kakuyoku both sucked in a breath.
What kind of bizarre Ninjutsu was this!
Xin gave them no chance to catch their breath, forming hand seals with one hand again.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique."
The fireball he spat out this time was more than twice as large as the previous one.
Searing waves of flame warped the surrounding air.
Nadare Rōga reacted extremely quickly, using the Chakra Armor's acceleration function to roll clumsily to the side and dodge.
Fubuki Kakuyoku, however, was half a beat too slow after her earlier shock.
"No!"
She let out a shrill scream.
The enormous fireball swallowed her instantly.
When the flames dispersed, only a charred corpse remained in the snow.
Watching his companions die horribly one after another, Nadare Rōga finally lost all reason to fear.
He turned and ran, pushing the Chakra Armor to maximum output in an attempt to escape this devil.
Xin sneered as he watched Nadare Rōga flee.
The five-pointed stars in his eyes instantly blazed with an eerie red light.
His Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan fully activated.
His immense ocular power took tangible form, pouring madly into the fire-nature chakra within his body.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique."
Xin drew a deep breath and forcefully exhaled.
A colossal fireball over a hundred meters in diameter roared into the sky.
This was not Ninjutsu at all. It was practically a falling meteor!
The enormous fireball lit the entire snowfield as brightly as day.
Its terrifying heat instantly set the snow within several li boiling.
Feeling the destructive wave of heat behind him, Nadare Rōga looked back in despair.
He bit the tip of his tongue, squeezing out every last bit of chakra in his body to unleash his strongest One-Horned White Whale.
The ice whale, dozens of meters tall, had only just taken shape.
The hundred-meter fireball came crushing down mercilessly.
The ice whale did not last even a second, vaporizing directly into a sky full of white mist.
The fireball struck Nadare Rōga hard before crashing into the earth.
The earth shook and the mountains trembled.
The enormous explosion was deafening.
A deep crater hundreds of meters across was blasted into the snowfield.
The heat melted vast amounts of the surrounding snow, and the meltwater poured into the crater, forming a small lake in just a few minutes.
Not even ash remained of Nadare Rōga.
Kazahana Koyuki stared blankly at the steaming little lake.
Her brain had completely shut down.
Was this really power a human could wield?
Xin deactivated his Sharingan, turned and took Koyuki's arm, then activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and returned directly to their room aboard the passenger ship.
Koyuki spent the entire night curled up beneath the covers, trembling all over.
The enormous meteor-like fireball kept replaying in her mind.
The next morning.
The film crew prepared to head out for location shooting.
Claiming she felt unwell, Koyuki hid in her room and refused to come out.
As her guard, Xin naturally stayed in the room to watch over her.
The room was so quiet that a falling pin could have been heard.
Koyuki sat on the edge of the bed, staring fixedly at Xin as he read a book in a chair.
An hour passed.
Two hours passed.
Koyuki continued staring at him without moving.
Xin finally closed the book in his hands and looked up at Koyuki.
"Have you been staring at me all this time because you think I'm handsome?"
Xin's tone was casual.
Koyuki took a deep breath, stood up, and walked over to Xin.
Her expression was utterly serious.
"Just how strong are you?"
Koyuki's voice trembled slightly.
"Was that power yesterday really yours?"
Xin leaned back in his chair, clasped his hands in front of him, and gave a teasing smile.
"I'm strong. Stronger than you can imagine."
Xin looked into Koyuki's eyes.
"Never mind those three useless snow ninja,"
"Even if a hundred Kazahana Dōtōs stood in front of me, I could easily beat them all into the ground."
Koyuki's heart skipped a beat at those words.
She had always believed Kazahana Dōtō was an invincible devil.
But after witnessing Xin's world-destroying power firsthand yesterday.
The flame deep within her heart, extinguished for ten years, suddenly burned anew.
If this boy was telling the truth.
If he really could defeat Kazahana Dōtō.
Koyuki clutched the hem of her clothes tightly, her nails digging deep into her palms.
She abruptly raised her head and looked straight into Xin's eyes, mustering more courage than she ever had in her life.
"I'm begging you."
Koyuki dropped to her knees with a thud.