"I beg you to help me kill Kazahana Dōtō and take back the Land of Snow!"
Xin looked at Koyuki kneeling on the ground and said nothing.
Koyuki gritted her teeth and continued.
"As long as you're willing to help me, I'm willing to pay any price!"
Koyuki's eyes reddened.
"Whether it's all the wealth of the Land of Snow or the country itself."
"Even... myself. I can give it all to you!"
Xin bent down slightly, reached out, and pinched Koyuki's delicate chin, forcing her to look up.
He looked at her tear-streaked yet stubborn face with interest.
Koyuki clenched her teeth and met Xin's gaze without flinching.
Xin suddenly laughed and let go.
"All right. I'll accept this deal."
Chapter 29: Kirin descends! Paying any price
The daimyo's residence, Land of Snow.
Inside this magnificent fortress built from solid ice and massive stones, the temperature had dropped to freezing.
Kazahana Dōtō sat upright on his throne, his expression frighteningly dark.
He had just received intelligence about the three trusted subordinates he had sent to intercept and kill Kazahana Koyuki.
Nadare Rōga, Fubuki Kakuyoku, and Mizore Fuyukuma had all lost contact.
Only a massive lake and melted snow remained at the scene.
"A bunch of useless trash!"
Kazahana Dōtō shattered the throne's armrest with a slap, his furious roar echoing through the empty hall.
"Even wearing the Chakra Armor I bestowed on them, they couldn't bring back a little girl!"
Kazahana Dōtō's face was full of resentment.
He knew his subordinates' strength very well.
Those three were already elites of the Land of Snow. Equipped with Chakra Armor, their strength rivaled jonin, and Nadare Rōga could even reach the level of an elite jonin.
Who could possibly have disposed of them without a sound?
Just as Kazahana Dōtō raged helplessly.
A soft chuckle suddenly rang out in the center of the hall.
"Your subordinates really were pretty useless. They couldn't even withstand one move from me."
Kazahana Dōtō's expression changed in alarm, and he shot to his feet.
The space at the center of the hall twisted strangely.
Uchiha Xin and Kazahana Koyuki appeared out of thin air inside the hall.
Kazahana Dōtō's eyes widened as he stared fixedly at Kazahana Koyuki.
"Koyuki? You actually dared to come before me and throw your life away?"
Kazahana Dōtō burst out laughing.
He then turned his gaze toward Uchiha Xin beside her and sized him up.
When he saw Xin's youthful face and frail frame.
The wariness in Kazahana Dōtō's eyes instantly vanished, replaced by deep disdain.
"Koyuki, is this what you're counting on?"
Kazahana Dōtō's face was full of mockery.
"You found a wet-behind-the-ears brat like this to deal with me?"
"Did ten years of wandering out there freeze your brain?"
Kazahana Dōtō sat back down on his throne, assuming a lofty posture.
"Konoha brat, get lost while I'm still in a good mood."
Kazahana Dōtō snorted coldly.
"I'm only killing Kazahana Koyuki today. I'll spare your worthless life."
With both hands in his trouser pockets, Xin looked at Kazahana Dōtō on the throne.
"You're just like those three subordinates of yours. Other than talking big, you're completely useless."
Xin's tone was full of mockery.
Hearing this, Kazahana Dōtō suddenly realized.
He stared at Xin with wide eyes.
"You killed Nadare Rōga and the others?"
Kazahana Dōtō laughed in fury.
"Good! Very good! Since you're asking to die, I'll grant your wish!"
Kazahana Dōtō rapidly formed hand seals, and the vast chakra within him erupted in an instant.
"Ice Release: Ice Prison Technique!"
The solid ice covering the hall's floor instantly surged upward, turning into countless thick pillars of ice.
With lightning speed, they tightly surrounded Xin and Koyuki in the center.
The ice pillars quickly closed together, forming a massive, indestructible ice prison.
Looking at the two trapped inside the ice prison, Kazahana Dōtō laughed triumphantly.
"With the enhancement from my Chakra Armor, even an elite jonin can't easily break out of this ice prison."
"Just stay in there and freeze into ice sculptures!"
Crack!
Kazahana Dōtō's laughter abruptly stopped.
A crisp cracking sound rang out, especially piercing in the empty hall.
A crack suddenly appeared on the surface of the massive ice prison.
Then the cracks rapidly spread across the entire ice prison like a spiderweb.
Boom!
The indestructible ice prison shattered with a crash, turning into a flurry of ice fragments.
Xin stood unharmed in the same spot, his clothes not even disheveled.
Kazahana Dōtō fell from his throne in shock.
"This... how is this possible!"
Kazahana Dōtō sucked in a cold breath.
Xin's gaze turned utterly cold.
What he hated most was people calling him "brat" over and over.
"I was going to give you a quick death."
Dazzling blue arcs of electricity began flashing over Xin's body.
"Since you like calling me a brat so much, I'll show you what true despair is."
Xin raised one hand high.
The hundred-meter Great Fireball he had unleashed on the snowfield earlier had evaporated an enormous amount of snow.
That water vapor had risen high into the sky and had long since condensed into thick thunderclouds above the Land of Snow.
Now, through the Lightning Release chakra within his body, Xin directly drew upon the natural lightning in the sky.
"Lightning Release: Kirin!"
Xin barked coldly.
Boom!
A thick bolt of lightning instantly blasted a massive hole through the dome of the daimyo's residence.
Shattered stones rained down.
A gigantic kirin formed entirely from raging lightning poked its head out of the thunderclouds.
Bearing an oppressive might that could destroy heaven and earth, the lightning kirin let out a deafening roar.
It swept down toward Kazahana Dōtō below.
Kazahana Dōtō looked at that gigantic lightning beast.
Feeling that utterly irresistible might of heaven and earth, he completely broke down.
He screamed in terror, desperately squeezing out the chakra within his body as he unleashed his strongest ultimate technique.
"Ice Release: Twin Dragon Blizzard!"
Two enormous black dragons rose from the ground to meet the lightning kirin in the sky.
But before the kirin, those two black dragons were as fragile as paper.
The lightning kirin tore through the black dragons with overwhelming force and engulfed Kazahana Dōtō without any resistance.
"Aaaaah!"
Kazahana Dōtō let out a shrill scream.
The lightning faded.
The throne had been completely blasted into dust.
Kazahana Dōtō had not even left an intact corpse behind, reduced directly to ashes in the raging lightning.
The entire hall was deathly silent.
Kazahana Koyuki stood utterly frozen in place.
She stared blankly at the vanished throne, her mind completely empty.
Kazahana Dōtō, whom she had dreamed of killing, the demon who had ruled the Land of Snow for ten years and whom she had regarded as invincible.
Had actually been killed instantly with a single move by the young man before her.
Koyuki turned her head and looked at Xin's profile.
Her understanding of Xin's strength was once again completely rewritten.
Xin dusted off his hands and turned to look at Koyuki.
With a wickedly alluring smile, he walked up to Koyuki step by step.
"Kazahana Dōtō is dead."
Xin lowered his head slightly and leaned close to Koyuki's ear.
"I've fulfilled my promise."
There was a hint of teasing in Xin's eyes.