NOVEL WEB Chapter 67: CHAPTER 67
"There's an ambush?"
Inside the frozen dome of ice, even the ship was encased, the ocean surface transformed into a solid sheet.
"Big Brother, was this your jutsu?"
Magnetic Fang's voice echoed from outside, confused.
"No, not me. That ice… wait—!"
A sudden whoosh, and a squad of chakra-armored shinobi emerged from the white mist.
"Snow Ninja?"
Kimimaro's expression didn't change, but his eyes narrowed. He recognized the chakra armor immediately—technology from the Land of Snow designed to enhance physical abilities and neutralize chakra-based attacks.
"How did they catch up?" Karin muttered.
Kimimaro had his suspicions, but kept his face blank. "We'll deal with them later. Right now, go assist Kikusuke and Yurinosuke. Jugo, break open the ice wall."
"Understood!" Jugo activated his Cursed Seal, transforming as he charged the icy barrier.
Suigetsu and Guren followed closely.
"Damn it! You ruined my perfect mission record!" Suigetsu's voice rang out moments later.
Kimimaro's gaze sharpened. Amid the commotion, he spotted Kikusuke and Yurinosuke—bloodied, their bodies covered in bite marks. Raiga's summoning: the electrically-charged piranha from the Hidden Mist's techniques.
"Kimimaro-sensei… please… protect… her…"
Their voices faltered. With one final look, both collapsed.
"Damn you!" Kimimaro's composure cracked. His fury turned toward the Snow Ninja. If not for this sudden interference, they might've been saved.
"Jugo, guard the princess. Karin, don't let Shinko get hurt. These enemies… they're mine."
He glanced back at Princess Haruna—still kneeling beside the fallen guards, tears streaming down her face.
Kimimaro's tone hardened. "Haruna, get behind Jugo. Now."
But she didn't move. Her voice trembled: "My father… he's gone…"
"I know. But you're the heir now. Once we eliminate them and return, you will be the new daimyo."
"There are too many enemies… We can't escape. We're surrounded..."
"How do you know that unless you try?" Kimimaro's voice cut sharp. "Don't look down on us. You have no right to give up. Not after what they sacrificed for you."
"Kikusuke… Yurinosuke… they died for me?" Haruna finally looked up and saw their lifeless bodies. Her voice fell flat. "Then let them die. They were my retainers… servants sworn to protect me. That's their duty, isn't it? It changes nothing."
Slap!
Kimimaro's palm struck her cheek.
"You dare hit me?! Kimimaro, you're just a mercenary I hired—"
Slap!
A second blow silenced her.
"I hit you because you need to wake up," Kimimaro growled. "Yes, they were your retainers. But they were also people. Their lives are no less valuable than yours. If you can't understand that, then once I've fulfilled my task, don't expect me to stand by you again."
He leapt up onto a raised platform of frozen wood and metal, glaring down at the armored enemies.
He wasn't bluffing. If Haruna continued to see people as pawns, then maybe it was better to stir rebellion among the villagers than help her reclaim her throne.
"Snow Ninja. What's your objective?"
From the crowd, a more finely-dressed man stepped forward. His chakra armor was advanced—sleek, reinforced with Snow Technology.
Kimimaro recognized him immediately. "Yukikawa Himi?"
"So Koyuki did spill secrets after all." Himi smiled thinly.
"Koyuki? You mean Lady Kazahana?" Kimimaro's tone mocked him. "You dare speak her name so casually?"
"Don't play dumb," Himi sneered. "When intelligence reached me that you were drinking with her, I knew you'd seduced her with lies. She should've been mine—both her and the Land of Snow. You, this unstable outsider, are nothing but a nuisance."
"You're not even hiding your ambition anymore." Kimimaro's gaze turned icy. "That makes things easier. I'll remove you now—for Sister Koyuki's sake."
"Sister Koyuki?!" Himi's face twisted with rage. "You don't have the right to call her that! Soldiers—kill him!"
Dozens of Snow Ninjas drew weapons and lunged forward.
Kimimaro's bones shifted beneath his skin as he prepared to strike.
Kimimaro was unusually excited—his system had just issued a prompt: [Scan complete. Yukikawa Himi possesses the Ice Release kekkei genkai. Genetic purity: moderate.]
Although not as refined as the Yuki clan's Ice Release from the Land of Water, it was still noteworthy. A user like Yukikawa Himi could be valuable for study—or elimination.
"If I can capture him here…" Kimimaro muttered, eyes glinting.
Without hesitation, he activated Shikotsumyaku. A layer of dense, white bone armor rapidly encased his body, and a segmented bone whip grew from his arm. His eyes scanned the terrain.
This environment isn't suitable for Wood Release, Kimimaro quickly concluded. On the sea, wood has no anchor point. Even if I could grow trees, they'd float uselessly—or worse, destabilize the ship.
He briefly imagined Hashirama Senju manipulating the ocean itself with Mokuton, but Kimimaro wasn't on that level—at least not yet.
Besides, the current battlefield was coated in artificial ice—created by the Snow Ninjas using chakra armor tech. These weren't natural glacial formations or even true Ice Release constructs.
Wood Release would shatter this thin ice. It's not like the ancient glaciers of the Land of Iron.
He lashed out. The bone whip cracked through the air, sweeping across the field. Snow Ninja after Snow Ninja fell, their bodies flung aside like ragdolls. They wore chakra armor—same type as Doto Kazahana's men once used—and it enhanced their physical capabilities but didn't truly amplify their ninjutsu.
Kimimaro narrowed his eyes.
"These ice attacks… they're weak. Just ice pillars and shuriken?" he scoffed. "What happened to those giant ice beasts? Wolves, tigers, even whales? You used to show off with those."
Then it clicked.
"Tch. So that's it…" he muttered, low enough that only those close by could hear. "Your Ice Release is just ninjutsu utilizing the snowy environment, not a true bloodline technique. Outside the Land of Snow, you can't draw from ambient moisture—you need to create your own ice with chakra armor first. Pathetic."
He stepped forward.
"You're nothing but glorified water-style users in cold climates. Without home-field advantage, you're just weaklings dressed up in armor."
He stopped. His expression turned cold and mechanical.
"Dance of the Clematis: Vine."
Countless pale-white bone vines erupted from his back and shoulders. This time, instead of forming a single massive construct, the bones spread out sparsely, piercing through the artificial ice layer below.
The ground trembled.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the ice sheet as jagged bone spikes punched through. One of the Snow Ninjas screamed and tumbled into the frigid water.
"Let's see how long your borrowed terrain can hold out!" Kimimaro declared. "Once the ice is gone, what power do you have left?"
Just then, a voice echoed over the shifting battlefield.
"Interesting."
A figure walked calmly over the cracking ice, stepping onto the water's surface as if it were solid. It was Yukikawa Himi, now without a mask.
"To disrupt our Snow Corps so quickly… You're clearly not just some Kaguya remnant," he said, eyes narrowing. "You once served under one of the Sannin, didn't you? Orochimaru's hound. No wonder."
"But don't mistake me for one of these armor-addicted fools," he continued, waving dismissively at the faltering Snow Ninjas. "Let me show you the difference between chakra-generated ice and a true Ice Release bloodline."
He raised a single hand.
"Hyōton: Hiryū Gekizetsu no Hane!"
(Ice Release: Ice Dragon Bullet!)
The surface water surged. A massive dragon formed from jagged ice erupted upward, its scales sharp as blades and breath misting the air with supercooled vapor.
Kimimaro narrowed his eyes.
This… This was different.
This is real Ice Release, he thought, tensing. Not armor tricks. This is genetic. Innate. A bloodline ability...
He extended his whip. Bone armor re-formed on his arm, and he prepared for a true fight at last.
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