The shadow clone of Seimei, covered in countless lightning arcs, rocketed toward the white wolf like a rotating comet made of pure lightning falling straight from the starry sky.
Seeing this, the wolf chose the simplest and easiest approach to counter him.
Just block him.
The Innate Domain Skill: Winterland was already active. It could manipulate ice to create any kind of ice construct it wanted with ease.
Confronting an imminent attack with high penetration and destructive power, the best solution was to use the already-active domain to block it.
Simple. Easy. Effective.
There was no need to use flashy techniques or launch an offensive innate skill.
So, with just a thought, the wolf used its most basic yet effective defensive skill, just on a larger scale than usual.
Innate Skill: Multiple Ice Walls
Multiple thick ice walls, each as high as twenty meters, rose from the ground one after another and stood firmly between the wolf and the incoming attack.
The ice walls were ten meters wide and five meters thick. The ice that formed the walls was like normal, low-temperature ice that was only slightly harder than reinforced earthen walls made from the Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall Jutsu.
Instead, the ice on these walls was as tough as diamond.
And that wasn't all.
Bone-chilling cold air lingered around the walls, cold enough to freeze most things or entities that dared to touch the walls.
Even one of these walls was enough to make normal Elite Jonin-level ninjas feel despair.
Not to mention, the shameless wolf stacked at least ten of them in front of it.
Of course, the wolf didn't do it for its amusement.
It genuinely felt that all these defensive constructs were necessary.
The destructive and the penetrative power of Seimei's shadow clone's modified Chidori, along with the rotational force, was just that formidable.
The wolf, having lived more than just a few centuries, could clearly sense it.
And its senses turned out to be true.
Because…
Boooooom!!
Seimei's shadow clone came down like a meteor, and his amplified Chidori smashed right through the first ice wall.
The destructive power of the concentrated lightning, along with its rotational force, pierced right through the thick, sturdy, and chilling ice wall before the lingering lightning arcs completely obliterated it.
The thick wall and the chakra expenditure did shave off a bit of the modified Chidori's power. But it didn't stop Seimei's shadow clone from tearing through the second ice wall just as easily.
Boooooom!!
The shadow clone broke through the second ice wall and reached the third one. But that ice wall also suffered from the same fate.
Completely shattered. Destroyed into pieces.
Boooooom!!
Seimei's shadow clone was like a force of nature, tearing apart one obstacle after another.
Boooooom!! Boooooom!! Boooooom!! Boooooom!!
Soon, he also shattered the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh walls before arriving in front of the eighth wall.
His palm, containing deadly, concentrated lightning, hit the eighth ice wall and shattered it, too.
Boooooom!!
However, the process hadn't been as smooth as tearing through the first few walls.
As he tore through each ice wall, the momentum he gained from diving down from a high place with the makeshift propulsion, thanks to his temporary shadow clones, began to wane drastically.
To reduce the decrease in momentum, he needed to pour an enormous amount of chakra into his amplified Chidori.
But even that had its limits.
If his momentum waned completely, he would have no choice but to land on the ground while keeping the Chidori active, and then build the momentum to rush forward again.
But before he could build that momentum, the damn wolf would surely interfere, forcing him to end his Chidori and use something else for self-defense.
However, in that case, his three technique agreement would be breached.
Of course, if the one standing in front of him was an enemy, he could be shameless as hell with a highly flexible moral bottom line.
But that's not the case here.
So, to compensate for the waning momentum, he could only grit his teeth and channel even more chakra into his improvised Chidori now.
Crackle~ Crackle~
Boooom!
Seimei's shadow clone pressed forward, smashed the ninth ice wall, and reached the tenth one, the final obstacle between him and the white wolf, who was watching him with keen, curious eyes.
"Just one more!!!"
Even though he was a shadow clone, after channeling so much lightning chakra through his chakra pathways for an extended time, he could feel his tenketsu and chakra pathways groaning in intense pressure, making him feel agonizing pain in his right hand.
After all, he was just a shadow clone.
He couldn't take full advantage of the Otsutsuki physique.
And the nature of the chakra flow in a close-combat Jutsu like Chidori, not to mention an amplified Chidori, was extremely violent, exerting a lot of pressure on his chakra pathways.
It simply wasn't a Jutsu meant to be used continuously for a long time.
If this went on for a few more seconds, his chakra pathway might start cracking.
And since he was just a shadow clone, when the first crack appeared on his chakra pathway, he would be dispersed.
But for these few seconds, he would give his all.
And that was exactly what he did.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!"
With a loud shout to encourage himself, he forcibly poured even more chakra into his amplified Chidori and hit the tenth ice wall's surface with all his might.
Crack! Crack!
Crackle~ Crackle~
The tenth wall, far sturdier and thicker than the previous nine ice walls, was showered by intense lightning arcs, causing it to crack, starting from the very point Seimei's shadow clone's Chidori-infused palm touched it.
Before long, the sturdiest tenth wall, the last hurdle standing between Seimei's shadow clone and the white wolf, also gave in.
The smaller cracks spread and became larger before covering the entire ice wall.
The sheer power of the amplified Chidori smashed the last obstacle into pieces, allowing Seimei's shadow clone, who was still in the air, to rocket toward the wolf standing just five meters away.
With the shadow clone's falling speed, he would reach the wolf with a fraction of a second and ram the Chidori right through its shoulder.
"Got you!" exclaimed Seimei's shadow clone as he was closing in.
"In your dreams, human." However, the wolf also let out a smirk. Its expression didn't show even a hint of panic.
The distance between the wolf and the shadow clone closed quickly.
Five meters…
Four meters…
Three meters…
Two meters…
One meter…
Just as Seimei's shadow clone was about to slam the Chidori on the white, giant wolf's left shoulder, the wolf's eyes suddenly glowed with an icy-blue light.
Suddenly, a giant hand of ice erupted from the ground and caught Seimei's shadow clone, halting him on his track.
Meanwhile, the wolf also released a burst of wind chakra, causing the power of his Chidori to slowly fade away due to the suppressive effects of wind release chakra on the lightning release chakra.
After a few seconds, Seimei's shadow clone could only stop supplying more chakra to his Chidori, allowing it to fade away even faster.
He remained trapped in the air, caught by the giant icy hand, looking at the wolf with an exaggerated sigh.
He finally made a peace sign and said, "Well, I guess this little game is over, huh?"
Hearing this, the wolf chuckled and said, "Not bad!"
"Your techniques were powerful enough. Especially the last lightning Jutsu."
"But the power difference between us is too big. My affinity with Wind and Ice Release chakra is better than your mastery over lightning nature transformation. And my chakra quality was higher and denser."
So, your defeat was inevitable."
The shadow clone smiled. "I know. But I will catch up soon."
"I will look forward to that day," said the white wolf while nodding lightly.
The wolf released the grip of the ice hand, allowing Seimei's shadow clone to land on the solid ground.
After landing on the ground, the shadow clone looked up. "Alright. Until next time."
"Don't forget your promise," the wolf reminded.
"I won't!" said Seimei's shadow clone before he disappeared with a puff of smoke.
Seeing the clone disappear, the wolf also canceled its domain skill and walked deeper into the Deepwood Forest.
At the same time, the real Seimei, who had already exited the forest with Touma and Haneda, suddenly paused and looked toward the Deepwood Forest.
He had already gained the memories and the experiences of the shadow clone he left in the forest.
As he organized his thoughts, Seimei suddenly smiled.
Meanwhile, Touma, who noticed his friend suddenly looking toward the forest's direction, asked, "What's wrong?"
Seimei turned toward Touma and shook his head. "Nothing."
"We have been entangled in this mission for a long time."
"Since we have finished our mission, let's return to Konoha as soon as possible."
Hearing this, Touma and Haneda nodded before the trio activated the Body Flicker Technique and vanished from the spot.
It was time to return home.
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A/N: If you like my story and want to read ahead, you can check out my P@treon page and read up to 17 Advanced chapters!
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