The cold of Sode no Shirayuki flowed from the tip of the blade. The sword itself was merely a medium, each swing magnified the freezing aura it unleashed. At this moment, Kirito pierced his fingertip on the blade's edge, allowing its icy chill to seep into his body.
In an instant, his internal temperature plummeted to minus eighteen degrees Celsius.
At such a temperature, a living being's biological functions would cease. In theory, the body would be clinically dead. But Sode no Shirayuki emitted special reishi, spiritual particles that temporarily sustained Kirito's life functions in place of ordinary physiology.
Still, this form was highly unstable. He could only maintain it for a short time.
But it was more than enough to finish the battle.
Whoosh!
A flash of white streaked across the battlefield. Kirito's silhouette appeared behind Gaara before anyone could register his movement. The moment his figure reappeared, a deep gash had already been carved into Gaara's arm.
Each slash carried a frostbite effect at minus eighteen degrees, no defense could withstand it. Even Gaara's rock-solid Tailed Beast armor was effortlessly sliced through.
And worse, any wound dealt by Sode no Shirayuki was instantly frozen, sealing the damage. Once frozen, the wounds could no longer regenerate, completely nullifying Gaara's infinite chakra-based recovery.
ROAR!
Gaara spun around, claws swinging wildly toward Kirito in a furious counterattack.
A white arc gleamed. His massive claw was severed in a flash, the wound frozen solid. Even his regenerative Tailed Beast chakra was halted at the source.
Kirito, however, was not without limits. Because his body had entered an extreme state of internal freezing, and he wasn't yet fully attuned to using this power, his agility dropped drastically.
He could no longer move at high speed.
So Kirito advanced, blade in hand, one step at a time.
Seeing this sluggish movement, Gaara instinctively recognized an opening and lunged forward with heavy, earth-shaking strides.
But before he could reach his target…
Thud!
His colossal body collapsed forward.
"Negative fifty degrees."
Kirito's body temperature had fallen further, to negative fifty Celsius.
Wherever he stepped, the ground beneath his feet froze solid, not just a surface frost, but even the moisture deep underground froze instantaneously, triggering a rare seismic phenomenon known as ice quake.
Any enemy in contact with the earth would be shaken by this violent tremor, completely losing balance. The larger the body, the more susceptible to the quake's force.
Now, every one of Kirito's steps caused the earth to shudder. Even those watching from afar were affected.
Hinata's side was relatively safe, thanks to Kirito's precise control, the tremors in her area were dampened. But for Kankurō and Temari, even at a distance, they were still within range.
Clinging to the violently quaking ground, Kankurō looked up with trembling eyes at the white figure cloaked in cold and snow.
"H-He's a monster… a real one…"
Temari grit her teeth. "Gaara… is going to lose?"
Kirito's pace was slow, but steady. He approached Gaara, who was now unable even to stand, the quake having completely broken his balance.
The thick layers of armor coating Gaara's body began to fracture and fall apart.
" -273.15 degrees, absolute zero."
Kirito's skin was now covered in a dense crystalline frost, spreading outward from his body.
At this level, he had only a few seconds of mobility left. If he exceeded that limit, not even Sode no Shirayuki could prevent frostbite from claiming his body.
But sometimes,
to end a battle only takes a single instant.
Just before the frost overtook him, Kirito raised his blade,
and delivered the final, fatal slash.
Shing!
The blade sliced effortlessly through Gaara's armor of Tailed Beast chakra. The monstrous body before him froze solid in the blink of an eye, transformed into a statue of ice.
Not even chakra could escape the grip of absolute zero.
Everyone stared, stunned and breathless.
From the moment Kirito's blade changed shape…
to that first frostbitten strike…
to the ground-shaking march…
to the final sword swing.
It had all happened in a matter of seconds.
That terrifying giant, the unstoppable nightmare in their eyes, was completely sealed in ice.
It was… an overwhelming, one-sided annihilation.
Crack!
The clear ring of shattering ice echoed.
Kirito himself had frozen over as well, encased in frost at absolute zero. But soon, cracks began to spread across the surface.
Crash!
With a crisp burst, Kirito emerged from the broken ice shell.
His hair and eyelashes were dusted in frost, his skin pale.
But almost instantly, color returned. His blood vessels pulsed back to life. The chill faded.
Thanks to his strict control over exposure time, the side effects of using such immense power were minimal.
He flexed his slightly frozen fingers,
and the stiffness melted away.
"So this is the power of Sode no Shirayuki..." Kirito murmured.
"As a weapon for direct confrontation... its destructive force is flawless."
He looked down at the gleaming white blade.
"And this is only its Shikai... its first release..."
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45 Advanced Chapters on p(a)treon
p(a)treon.com/Aaltairr
200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapters