章 25: Castle of Jadis
Aki and Yugito struggled under Aisu's relentless assault. The area had transformed into a frozen wasteland, where the ice drained their chakra mercilessly with every touch.
Yugito, in her Matatabi form, battled against the oppressive cold by melting nearby ice, but her efforts were in vain. The melted ice was quickly replaced by new formations, the relentless draining effect of Aisu's advanced ice techniques exacting a heavy toll.
Her frustration grew as she roared, her fiery attempts to counteract the ice proving futile. The freezing cold seemed to mock her, with each attempt to warm the battlefield only resulting in more ice forming in its place.
Aki, using his Flash Step to remain airborne, managed to mitigate some of the draining effects with his partial chakra armor. Yet, Aisu's gaze was as cold as the ice she wielded, her smile widening as she observed their struggle with sadistic pleasure.
"Like mice trapped in a jar," Aisu mused, her voice dripping with disdain. "How amusingly pathetic."
Despite the constant strain on her own chakra reserves, Aisu's mastery of her secret technique allowed her to sustain her assault.
Aisu had integrated a secret chakra drain technique into her Ice Release Kekkei Genkai, making it unique even among her clan.
Frustrated and desperate, Yugito reverted to her human form. Taking a deep breath, she unleashed hundreds of flaming mice, each one scorching the ice as it made contact.
Aisu responded with cold efficiency, leaping in to engage Yugito in close combat. Their taijutsu clash prevented Yugito from making any significant progress in melting the ice.
Aisu's movements were precise, her every strike and dodge calculated to keep Yugito from gaining an advantage.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Bomb Jutsu!"
Seizing a brief moment when Aisu was occupied with Yugito, Aki decided to strike. With a shout, he launched a series of lightning bombs and summoned clones to create chaos and confusion.
Aki even sent in clones bearing Rasengan as a suicide squad to no apparent effect.
Aisu, ever vigilant and unbothered, deflected Aki's attacks with ice spears, rendering his lightning bombs ineffective. Each failed attempt only served to heighten Aki's frustration. Realizing that his tactics were falling short, he resolved to confront Aisu directly.
Infusing his fists with lightning, Aki charged at her, but Aisu effortlessly sidestepped his blows, her movements fluid and precise. She weaved through their attacks with a cruel grace.
"Fire Release: Flaming Mice Storm!" Yugito unleashed her mice once more. This Jutsu, effective after her Matatabi transformation, began to melt the ice surrounding them.
The ice field visibly decreased, but Aisu's demeanor remained a mix of mocking and malevolent.
After delivering a powerful kick to Yugito's stomach, sending her sprawling, Aisu caught Aki's incoming kick with a smirk. "Is that all you've got?" she taunted coldly, tossing Aki aside with disdain.
'Damn, this is so embarrassing' Aki thought as he landed using his partial lightning chakra mode.
Yugito, seething with anger, transformed back into Matatabi form and unleashed a barrage of fireballs at Aisu, followed by a massive Tailed Beast Bomb.
Aki, recovering, joined in with more lightning bombs and sent his clones on a suicide mission with Rasengan attacks.
Aisu dodged the onslaught effortlessly, "I've told you before," she said with chilling detachment, evading the Tailed Beast Bomb while also outmaneuvering the fireballs and Rasengan clones. "No matter how powerful your jutsu, if it can't hit, it's useless."
"We'll keep trying until we hit," Aki replied stubbornly, refusing to admit defeat even against such an overwhelming opponent.
Undeterred, Yugito fired another wave of flaming mice, which Aisu once again effortlessly avoided.
Aisu's eyes glinted with cruel amusement. "Oh," she said, glancing at Aki with a hint of sadistic curiosity. "But you've already lost your chance."
Aki and Yugito felt a wave of dread at her words and desperately tried to close the distance Aisu had gained.
'Not another Ice Age, please,' Aki thought. This was a fight that had pushed him to his limits, a harsh lesson against an opponent far superior.
Unlike a certain white-haired character from an anime who, after becoming the strongest, had grown lazy and arrogant.
Aki knew he would learn from this experience if he survived and integrate in his life to always strive forward.
Even with all his speed, Aki couldn't stop Aisu from invoking her next jutsu.
Aisu raised her hands, and her chakra swirled with dark, frigid energy. The air grew colder, and a powerful aura of ice began to envelop the battlefield.
"Ice Release: Ice Age – Castle of Jadis!"
As she invoked the technique, the entire battlefield was engulfed in a blizzard. The ground froze over instantly, and the ice field expanded, covering every inch of the terrain.
From the center of this icy domain, a towering, imposing castle of ice materialized, its jagged spires piercing the sky.
The castle seemed to pulse with an eerie, malevolent energy, and the landscape was transformed into an endless, chilling expanse of ice and frost.
The draining effect on Aki and Yugito intensified dramatically, their chakra being drained at an alarming rate. The castle stood as the origin of this Ice Age.
With the castle as the central point, Ice spread outwards freezing the surroundings along with any living beings into sculptures as if finely crafted with ice.
For a fleeting moment, Aisu appeared to be drained of all her chakra, the cost of her forbidden technique. But it was only a moment before her chakra surged back, heightened to a level that felt almost infinite.
Aki and Yugito cursed their luck for the missed opportunity.
The battlefield had become a frozen fortress of overwhelming power, and the magnitude of Aisu's technique seemed insurmountable. Sitting on her throne of ice, Aisu looked down upon the world with chilling satisfaction.
"You have lost your chance at victory," Aisu declared, her voice carrying the weight of a cruel and final judgment.
Aki struggled just to avoid being frozen, while Yugito had already transformed back into Matatabi form. The battle had shifted from a nightmare to a hellish ordeal.
"Matatabi will be mine," Aisu continued with a sadistic glee. "It was the only reason I accepted this mission."
She smirked as she added, "As you can see, I cannot use this technique against non-jinchuriki, this jutsu requires expending more chakra than my own."
I have to drain chakra and have more available to me even if in the form of ice. So, becoming a Jinchuriki is my only choice. Thank you for coming to me."
Aki and Yugito realized too late that Aisu had never been after Princess Kanna, who would have never required a Kage-level fighter.
From Kumogakure, only Ay, the 4th Raikage, and Killer B possessed such strength and therefore qualified to fight Aisu.
Yugito was the third closest ninja from Kumogakure, but have seen her level in this fight. Darui might also reach that level in the future as he is to be the next Raikage.
Aisu needed more chakra than her body could contain for this jutsu, likely the reason she incorporated chakra-draining properties into her ice.
"And you," Aisu said, grinning with a predatory edge as she looked at Aki, "You seem to have almost infinite chakra as well."
Her eyes glinted with twisted amusement. "But how could you possess so much chakra when there are a total of nine tailed-beasts?"
She brought her hands to her face, smiling with playful cruelty. "But it doesn't matter. I will dissect you to find out later."
"We won't let you!" Yugito roared, her rage causing her transformation to blur the line between human and beast. Aki, regaining his resolve, charged forward with renewed determination.
Yugito had transformed into the battle maiden she was when faced with the future Akatsuki, Kakuzu, and Hidan at this moment.
"You seem not to have realized," Aisu said with unmistakable pride, "I am the god in this castle."
"Now freeze!" she commanded.
Pillars of ice came out toward both ninjas, Aki was frozen into a sculpture as the pillar left him, rendering his partial chakra mode useless.
While Yugito was fairing just a little better, breaking and melting columns of ice, she tried her best to reach her target but that was a distance she just could never cross.
Aisu sat at her throne like a queen, spamming her Ice release techniques over and over again. She was like a child with a new toy.
Tossing in new jutsu whenever Yugito managed to break the first one, and another.
"Fun time's over" Aisu declared as she sent an ice dragon, raging ice lotus, and ice mirrors at Yugito, who barely managed to melt them only to be caught in a cage of Ice pillars and drained of chakra she lost consciousness.
Aisu got up from her seat to extract the beast from Yugito's body so she could transform herself into a jinchuriki. There was no risk involved inside her castle she was the god with no equal.
But it was at this moment the castle began to shake.
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