It was obvious now.
By summoning every member of the Yuki Clan here, the two members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had never intended to negotiate.
They had come to slaughter everyone in one place.
After all, very few among the Yuki Clan had actually awakened the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai.
Most were ordinary shinobi—skilled in taijutsu and Water Release, but nothing more.
Yet those who had awakened it were their kin.
Family.
Companions.
Friends.
How could they possibly stand by and let them be murdered?
In that moment—
Jūzō Biwa and Raiga Kurosuki erupted into motion.
The Executioner's Blade and Thunder Blade shot forward, slashing straight toward Yuki Yoru.
As clan head, Yuki Yoru was no ordinary man.
He instantly drew a kunai, barely managing to block Jūzō's massive blade.
But Raiga Kurosuki's attack was far more ferocious.
Yuki Yoru had no way to defend against both.
The Thunder Blade descended—
A strike meant to sever his head in a single blow.
Suddenly—
CLANG!!!
A sharp, piercing clash of metal rang through the hall.
A figure appeared in an instant between Raiga Kurosuki and Yuki Yoru.
With a blade of pure ice—
He blocked the Thunder Blade.
"…What?!"
Raiga Kurosuki's eyes widened in shock.
Someone had stopped his strike?
And with nothing more than a weapon forged from Ice Release?!
His gaze snapped to the figure who had appeared so suddenly.
A boy.
No more than fourteen or fifteen years old.
The one who had intervened—
Was Chiba.
He would never allow them to butcher the Yuki Clan before his eyes.
Raiga Kurosuki sneered coldly.
"Who are you?"
Chiba's expression was equally cold.
"My name is Chiba Yuki."
"Remember it well—"
"And repent in the Pure Land."
He swung his ice blade violently.
The Thunder Blade was knocked aside—
And in the same motion, Chiba slashed downward.
CRACK!!!
The blade tore straight into Raiga Kurosuki's arm.
Blood sprayed into the air.
The pain struck deep, searing through flesh and bone.
For a moment—
The entire council hall of the Yuki Clan fell into stunned silence.
Yuki Yuki covered her mouth.
"Chiba… you—"
Clan head Yuki Yoru, along with every other member present, stared at the boy in disbelief.
In their eyes, Chiba had never even awakened the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai.
Yet now—
Not only had he awakened it, but the power he displayed far surpassed anyone in the clan.
Shock and relief surged through the crowd at once.
Relief—because Chiba had been hiding his strength all along.
Shock—because even so, it might still not be enough to stop these two envoys of Kirigakure.
They were shinobi who answered directly to the Mizukage.
Members of the legendary Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
Elite jōnin from the most feared force in Kirigakure.
Yuki Yoru forced back the Executioner's Blade and immediately engaged Jūzō Biwa in fierce combat.
Meanwhile, Chiba faced Raiga Kurosuki head-on.
Several members of the Yuki Clan tried to intervene—
But the rest of the escort had already stormed into the hall.
In an instant—
The council chamber became a battlefield.
Chiba understood one simple truth:
To save everyone, the leader must fall first.
Raiga Kurosuki had been careless—and paid the price, his arm cut by a boy he had underestimated.
To him, it was unbearable humiliation.
With a furious roar, Raiga's chakra erupted violently.
"Lightning Release—Thunder Fang!"
He swung both blades at once.
Crackling lightning surged, violent and deafening.
The twin blades collided—
And a torrent of lightning roared straight toward Chiba.
Chiba merely smiled.
With a flash of movement, he vanished.
The lightning tore through empty space.
Chiba reappeared, arms spreading outward.
"Ice Block—Twin Halberds!"
In an instant, the air on either side of his body froze solid.
Ice formed and shaped itself—
Two long spears, cold, dense, razor-sharp, launched forward in a brutal counterattack.
"W–What is this…?"
Raiga Kurosuki's expression finally changed.
Chiba hadn't formed a single hand seal—
Yet he had unleashed an Ice Release technique of terrifying force.
Raiga crossed his Thunder Blades in front of him.
BOOM!!!
The impact blasted him backward, his body hurled through the air.
"What kind of power is this?!"
Raiga's eyes widened in genuine shock.
Then—
"Ice Block—Time Capsule!"
BOOM!!!
RUMBLE—RUMBLE—RUMBLE!!!
A massive surge of freezing energy erupted outward.
Where it passed, everything froze.
From above, the attack descended like a glacial wave.
The stone floor iced over.
Tables, pillars, and walls were instantly sealed in frost.
Even among the Ice-Ice Fruit's abilities, this was a devastating technique.
Raiga Kurosuki's face drained of color.
He tried to dodge—
But the freezing aura caught him all the same.
Crack—crack!!!
Raiga Kurosuki's already injured arm was completely sealed by the freezing cold.
Ice crawled over his flesh in a heartbeat.
Half of his body turned rigid—an icebound statue.
At that moment, retaliation was impossible.
Even movement itself became a struggle.
Chiba would never miss such an opening.
With a sharp swing of his ice blade, he vanished in a burst of speed—
Reappearing in front of Raiga Kurosuki, striking straight for his throat.