"No! The enemy's ninjutsu is unclear—stay alert!"
"Don't act rashly. Prioritize defense. Do not attack blindly!"
These were techniques used by members of the Akatsuki, an organization known for its terrifying skill.
Even Terumi Mei could not afford to underestimate them.
Rumble!
Suddenly, flames burst from Obito's mouth.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
Using Fire Release against Ice Release users was usually effective—
but Obito seemed to forget one thing.
The Mizukage was also present.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Crackle—Bang—Buzz!
Flames smashed against the rising torrent.
The collision shook the underground chamber, heat rippling through the fog-choked air.
Visibility vanished.
The entire cavern was swallowed by blinding steam.
Terumi Mei's expression tightened.
Not good!
A heartbeat later, a dark silhouette burst out of the mist.
Bang! Bang!
Twin figures rushed in from both sides, intercepting the attacker.
Blows exchanged in a blur, fists and kicks striking with crisp impacts.
Terumi shouted sharply:
"Keep your distance! Don't get entangled with them!"
She turned and shouted toward the Seven-Tails' jinchūriki, Riyo:
"Blow this mist away!"
Riyo nodded and immediately shifted into the Chōmei-empowered form.
Her wings beat rapidly, generating wind that tore apart a portion of the fog—
but not enough.
A second later, Konan swooped from above, diving straight toward Riyo.
The Six-Tails' jinchūriki, Yuuko, sensed danger.
"Watch out!"
Saiken's chakra manifested, wrapping around Riyo to yank her away—
—but Konan exploded before they could react.
Rumble!
The blast was immense.
The destructive force hurled Riyo across the chamber.
Her tailed beast cloak prevented serious injury,
but the shock left her momentarily dazed.
The Yuki Clan never specialized in frontal combat.
As Riyo steadied herself, a figure silently appeared in front of her.
"Nanabi?"
Obito's voice was calm, mocking.
"You may control your tailed beast well… but you are still far too weak."
He reached toward Riyo—
—but in the next instant, her body flickered and vanished.
Her back suddenly went cold.
Kamui—activated.
Swish!
A blade swept through her intangible form.
Riyo froze.
The sword passed through me?
What—?
Poof!
A kunai materialized from behind, stabbing into her back.
Her face paled instantly.
"Damn it—get away from her!"
Akayama sprang through the air, Four-Tails chakra burning across his body.
His hands turned molten with Lava Release as he smashed down toward Obito.
But Obito turned intangible again—
Akayama's attack passed straight through him.
Obito countered with a swift backhand, driving a kunai into Akayama's side.
Both Riyo and Akayama were injured.
Then—
"Move!"
Terumi Mei's voice cut like a blade.
The two jinchūriki leapt aside just in time as Terumi inhaled deeply.
"Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique!"
Sizzle—!!!
A thick cloud of highly acidic vapor erupted outward, engulfing Obito.
For the first time, Obito hesitated.
Kamui's intangibility could not be used recklessly—
transitioning from tangible to intangible inside this corrosive mist could burn him instantly.
But in that single moment—
BOOM!
A new force crashed into the battlefield.
Two sharp explosions erupted from the rear.
Terumi Mei snapped around immediately.
Two kunoichi of the Yuki Clan lay on the ground—one missing her left arm, the other her right leg—pale and trembling from the point-blank blast of exploding tags.
Just moments earlier, they had been fighting Yahiko, whose Edo Tensei body could regenerate from such damage.
But the two kunoichi were alive. Their injuries were real—and severe.
The situation was deteriorating quickly.
"Sister!"
The kunoichi missing her arm threw herself toward her sister.
Her sister reached out her remaining hand.
Their fingers interlocked.
Terumi's eyes widened.
She spun toward Akayama Hiroshi, the Four-Tails' jinchūriki.
"Hiroshi! Move!"
The two Yuki sisters locked gazes.
An intense blue light ignited in their eyes.
"Ice Release: Ice Age!"
A catastrophic wave of cold erupted from their bodies, sweeping across the entire underground cavern.
The temperature plummeted instantly.
Frost exploded outward—
walls, floor, air, everything froze in the blink of an eye.
Their chakras burned out at once… and their lives with them.
In the span of a breath, the cavern was sealed in a massive glacier.
Konan.
Zetsu.
Yahiko.
Even the Edo bodies—
all were encased in transparent ice, turned into statues.
As the frozen storm subsided, Hiroshi slowly lifted the mass of lava he had formed as a shield.
But even the molten rock had been frozen into black, glassy stone.
He exhaled sharply.
For kunoichi without tailed-beast chakra, their final jutsu had been terrifyingly powerful.
If the Four-Tails' chakra hadn't surged in time, he too would have been frozen solid.
Behind him, Terumi and the others coughed warm breath into their hands, struggling to adapt to the sudden, brutal chill.
Only Hiroshi's corner of the chamber—protected by lava—remained unfrozen.
The rest had become a domain of ice.
"What monstrous power," someone whispered.
Another voice followed.
Terumi's expression darkened.
The sisters' final technique had been a dying outburst—yet the Akatsuki members stood unharmed.
Did they happen to possess a perfect counter to Ice Release?
Her gaze locked on Obito, standing casually amid the frozen carnage.
Of course.
Him again.
Obito glanced around the chamber.
Konan and Yahiko were encased in ice—but White Zetsu was frozen only halfway.
Black Zetsu slipped free from the cracked ice, oozed out, and merged with another emerging White Zetsu on the ground.
Obito nodded at the seamless recovery.
"A shame about those two children. Their power was exceptional."
His voice grew colder.
"But they failed to kill us."
He reached into the ice, pulled Konan free.
She shivered violently.
"S-so cold!"
"You're lucky," Obito replied. "Any longer and you'd be completely frozen."
Across the chamber, Yahiko's Edo body reformed.
He stared at the icy devastation with lingering shock.
"What a frightening technique…But their sacrifice changes nothing."
The moment Yahiko spoke—
The ground trembled.
The ice cracked.
The air thickened.
And from the dim, frost-lit shadows…
A terrifying aura began to surge.