Avalice laughed loudly, thinking he had already beaten Naruto.
[Headhunter Jutsu!] A hand shot out of the ground, wrapping around Avalice's legs and dragging him underground.
Moments later, Avalice was hurled off a cliff with explosive tags plastered on his forehead and back.
Damn you, brat! My armor is invincible! You can't kill me!" He roared furiously as he fell.
Naruto formed a single hand seal and stared down at Avalice's plummeting body:
Invincible, eh? How about a three-hundred-meter drop? —Boom!
The moment he shouted, the explosive tags ignited, and the fireball consumed Avalice's body.
Without hesitation, Naruto dashed off in pursuit of Koyuki and Nadare.
******
##Sai's Side##
Sai darted through the snowy forest, dodging a barrage of ice pillars.
[Super Beast Imitating Drawing!]
Sai painted a flock of birds flying toward his enemy.
Oh please, give me a break.
Fubuki Kakuyoku batted Sai's ink birds away with her chakra shield.
The ink birds exploded into a cloud of ink mist around Fubuki, who walked out unharmed, searching for Sai.
Come out!
Fubuki turned around just in time to see Sakura leap from the ink fog and land a heavy punch straight to her face.
She flew backward, slamming into a tree.
Sakura exhaled in relief, wiping her forehead:
That woman was seriously pissing me off!
******
##Tenten's Side##
Tenten stood still, watching her opponent Winter Bear swiftly gliding between nearby trees on his snowboard.
He flung his extendable arm toward her.
Tenten easily dodged and pulled out a scroll:
[Blazing Dragon Strike]—try tasting this!
A huge flame dragon erupted from Tenten's open scroll, rushing straight at Winter Bear, melting the snow beneath.
But the flames simply bounced off his chakra shield.
Ha! You call that an attack?
He zipped across the rugged terrain before catching his board on something.
What the hell? He muttered angrily, standing up and rubbing his bruised body.
Tenten grinned.
Winter Bear looked down and realized she had buried spiked metal balls under the snow. His snowboard had broken when he stumbled.
Let's see you block this.
Tenten took a large scroll from her back and tossed it into the air:
[Heavenly Steel Disaster!]
Winter Bear's snowboard got caught in Tenten's trap, leaving him unable to dodge, so he relied solely on his chakra armor to withstand the attack.
However, the shield merely crackled and vanished. He looked down and saw key parts of his armor had been damaged.
No!
From above, Tenten's floating scroll rained down a barrage of weapons—kunai, shuriken of all sizes, Fuma shuriken, great swords, and spiked iron balls.
Winter Bear was pierced in multiple places.
******
##Nadare's Side##
Nadare frantically searched around. He used the hex crystal, but nothing happened.
No secret passage appeared.
Where is it? Where's the treasure? The fortune of early snow?
Suddenly, a hissing sound echoed, and the ice beneath began to crack and melt.
"It's warm..." Yuki murmured to herself.
[Lightning Release: Electrified Kunai!]
A kunai came flying down from directly above and struck Nadare, coursing bolts of lightning through his body.
[Ice Release: Black Dragon Blizzard!]
He shaped a dragon from the surrounding ice and unleashed it toward Naruto, who stood nearby. The dragon struck him, hurling him into the air before vanishing in a cloud of mist.
"What?"
He turned around and saw that Yuki was no longer there—she was now in Naruto's arms at a distance.
Naruto gently set her down.
Turning toward Nadare, he cracked his neck.
"Who're you, kid?" Nadare asked.
"Naruto Uzumaki... a Jonin of Konoha, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and future Hokage... Pleased to meet ya."
Yuki looked at Naruto:
"Naruto... don't die."
Naruto gave her a slight smile before turning back toward Nadare and stepping forward onto the snowy field.
[Ice Release: Twin Dragons Blizzard!]
This time, Nadare released two黑龙 made of black ice toward Naruto. They swiftly merged into a single, massive black tornado.
"Now die!"
Naruto's eyes flashed red as he rapidly formed a series of hand seals. As the black tornado surged forward, he took a deep breath, puffing out his chest:
[Wind Release: Area-Wide Typhoon!]
With all his strength, Naruto exhaled, releasing a powerful gust of wind straight toward the black tornado, shattering the ice layer on the ground.
The high-speed gale tore through the tornado, shredding it into black snow. As the tornado engulfed Nadare, he activated his Chakra Shield.
The ground cracked beneath them.
The tornado lifted Nadare off the ground and hurled him against a distant icy wall.
The impact should've killed him, but his armor protected him. Still, he suffered internal injuries and spat blood, yet remained alive.
He stood up, weakened but still ready to fight.
Naruto charged toward him with a glowing blue Rasengan in hand.
Nadare sneered:
"Fool, I have a Chakra Armor!"
He firmly believed his Chakra Shield would protect him, unaware that it hadn't actually activated.
His eyes widened in terror as he watched the Rasengan in Naruto's hand shift into brilliant, swirling hues.
Yuki gasped, eyes wide: "Is that rainbow chakra?"
Naruto pushed forward:
"Die, bastard! [Seven-Coloured Rasengan]!"
The spiral tore through the armor like a chainsaw-like blade, piercing deep into Nadare's body.
Naruto kept pushing forward, driving Nadare straight into the thick ice wall behind him.
The wall cracked and collapsed, revealing part of a giant projector hidden inside.
As the ice rapidly melted, silence blanketed the battlefield—until the director's voice boomed out:
"We've got this footage! Wow, we need to make this movie in 3D!"
"Believe in the future—the springtime will come."
Everyone turned to see a massive projection of young Princess Yuki.
The voice asked:
"When spring comes, what will you do, Yuki?"
Yuki beamed:
"I wanna be a princess!"
"What kind of princess?"
"Hmm..." Yuki mused. "A strong and kind princess—who fights for justice no matter what!"
The man smiled.
"That's quite the dream you had back then."
As Koyuki watched the images projected before her, tears welled up in her eyes.
"Did I really... say that?"
"As long as you believe in your dream and never give up, one day you'll become that princess." A man appeared in front of the projection. He gently placed the necklace back around Koyuki's neck.
Finally, tears streamed down Koyuki's face as she heard her younger self speak again:
"But…there's something else I want to become."
"What is it?" her father asked.
"An actress!" she exclaimed joyfully.
Present-day Koyuki chuckled, tears now streaming down her face—this time, tears of joy, not sorrow.
Beside the projector, Naruto shook off the melting ice clinging to his body and stood up.
"...Time for a hot shower."
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