The ice pillar slammed into the chakra barrier, sending violent tremors through the entire space. Purple flames coiled around the ice, instantly steaming up a thick fog that obscured all vision.
"That bastard should be nothing but ice by now!" Mizukage darkly thought, accelerating toward Mizuki's location.
He'd grown up in Mist—these conditions were nothing to him.
Yet as he charged into a corner of the barrier, he slowly sensed something was off.
If that ninja named Mizuki had truly died, the barrier should have already collapsed!
Just as suspicion filled his mind, suddenly arms shot out from the mist and tightly gripped him.
The supposedly frozen Mizuki shouted, "Seiki, now!"
Mizukage's heart jolted. He spat out several ice senbon toward Mizuki's face.
Shockingly, Mizuki opened his mouth and swallowed every single needle.
"No way! That's impossible?" Mizukage couldn't believe his eyes—the ice senbon could pierce through stone, yet this man had gulped them down without flinching?
But there was no time to dwell on it.
Seiki immediately teleported beside him. His raised right leg lashed out like a whip, slamming Mizukage hard against the chakra barrier.
"Spit!" Mizukage spat blood again, sliding down from the barrier.
"Damn it, I can't keep this up!" Knowing this was his most dangerous moment yet, he activated [Demonic Mirroring Thin Ice], ignoring any side effects, and shifted position instantly before attempting to use [Kinjutsu].
[Ice Release]: Deep Freeze...
Yet as he began channeling the jutsu, his years of experience triggered an instinctive warning—he dodged sideways without thinking.
In the next instant, a twisted void force struck his shoulder, completely devouring his right arm!
"Ahhh!" Mizukage cried out in pain, glancing back in disbelief—"What kind of spatial ability is this? Who's behind it?"
Kakashi stood there, his left eye tightly shut, a streak of blood rolling down his cheek, laughing maniacally, appearing extremely sinister.
"Obito, Rin, I will take revenge for both of you!"
"It's him?" While enduring the pain, Mizukage heard Seiki whisper near his ear, "Lord Mizukage, have you forgotten something?"
Instantly reappearing, Seiki's fist flew like cannon fire straight into Mizukage's abdomen, sending him flying once more.
The sudden twist left the onlookers outside in shock—the battle had spiraled out of control in an instant.
"Trouble! Lord Mizukage won't last much longer!"
"Damn it, haven't Lord Nagare and the others returned yet?"
Right then, a roar of cheers came from far away.
"Great news! Lord Fuguki and Lord Ruiga have returned!"
"The two remaining members of the Seven Ninja Blades... cough, they surely can rescue Lord Mizukage!"
Even the battered Mizukage managed a grim smile. "You're finished. Fuguki and Ruiga are back. Soon reinforcements will return too!"
Seiki didn't even blink. "So what?"
Outside.
Seeing everyone so worked up, the two newcomers couldn't figure out what was going on. Instinctively, they turned their gazes toward the most prominent chakra barrier in the camp.
One glance at the chakra barrier was all it took to nearly stop their hearts.
Their Mizukage had lost an arm, blood drenched his body, and Seiki Shimaseki was mercilessly beating him—stripping him of every ounce of dignity.
As if sensing their arrival, Seiki tilted his head slightly. His cold gaze pierced into their very souls like arrows.
In that instant, the two felt as though their souls had frozen—just like a year ago, when terror from that monster returned to consume them.
"Stop—don't think I'm afraid of you! Today is the day we erase our shame!" Fuguki Suikazan roared defiantly to steel himself. "Raiga, get ready!"
But there was no answer.
"Raiga... Raiga..." Fuguki turned his head, only then realizing that Raiga had actually abandoned him and fled.
"Raiga, what are you doing?"
"We can't win. There's no way we can match a monster like that. Rather than staying here to die with Mist, I'd rather become a Rogue Ninja now."
Witnessing this scene, everyone could barely believe their eyes.
Especially the Mist shinobi—who had just begun to hope again, only to fall right back into despair!
"This has to be a joke, right? Lord Raiga actually defected?"
"He ran away after just one look? Was the Mizukage really fighting someone at this level?"
Inside the chakra barrier,
Seiki cast a smirk at his opponent. "This is the Mist you wanted to show me?"
The Mizukage felt his fury boiling over. At this moment, his hatred for Raiga even surpassed that for Seiki himself. "That bastard! How dare he betray Mist?"
"He simply made the *smart* move!" Seiki sneered, snapping his fingers. "Staying aboard this sinking ship called Mist will only drown you with it!"
"Has it truly come to this end?" The Mizukage sighed softly.
No matter how unwilling he was to accept it, he clearly saw one truth—he would probably die today, and under such ridiculous circumstances.
He had survived the Warring States era, endured The Great Ninja World War three times over, and overcome countless trials and tribulations. Yet unexpectedly, in the end, he fell because of a mere low-ranking Chunin.
"But even if I die..." The Mizukage's expression suddenly changed. "I'll still eliminate the threat to Mist!"
"You want me to join you in death?" Seiki chuckled calmly. "Do you really think that matters now?"
"Wait until you can dodge this technique first!" The Mizukage's entire body began transforming into ice, exuding an aura that seemed capable of freezing even time itself. [Absolute Zero]…
"Fool! You've fallen for it!" Just then, Seiki laughed while holding his forehead. "Take a good look—who's really doomed here!"
"Fell for it? Wait—could this be his genjutsu?" Suddenly recalling his opponent hadn't used his incredibly powerful illusion techniques throughout the battle, the Mizukage panicked and quickly tried to dispel the genjutsu, scanning his surroundings.
Then he saw Nagare and Yagura wearing expressions of despair, other Mist shinobi cursing and wailing in agony—but strangely, all the Konoha ninjas had already disappeared.
"No, stop this right now!" Mizukage gritted his teeth, forcibly ending the kinjutsu. "Phew, that was close..."
Suddenly, a searing pain jolted through him, making his vision blur once more.
Looking down at the arm impaling his chest, Mizukage muttered, "What in the world..."
"You can't even tell if a genjutsu is real or fake. You're definitely getting old!" Seiki whispered into his ear while his right arm pierced through Mizukage's chest. "Since that's the case, I'll send you off to rest a little earlier than planned!"
Mizukage's eyes gradually lost focus. In his haze, the faces of the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha kept flashing across the young man's features like ghosts haunting his vision. "What an abomination..."
Gathering what little strength remained, he gasped out, "Don't avenge me! Surrender now — go back to the Land of Water when this war is over!"
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