Poll
Thanks for your votes, guys; please keep voting
Where should Yukina go after the Fourth Ninja War?
Bleach 74
Cultivation world 84
This poll will be open until I finish writing the 3rd ninja war saga
I hope you enjoy the chapter.
_______
Next day
King's Palace
Yukina was awakened early in the morning by the palace guards.
After washing up, changing into fresh clothes, and enjoying a hearty breakfast, Yukina stepped out of the palace alongside the Dire Wolves king and the elders.
After thirty minutes, they arrived before an icy-looking cave. The Dire Wolves' king turned to Yukina and said,
"Before you stands the Icy Heart Cave. Cross its threshold, and your second trial will commence."
With a puzzled expression, Yukina turned to the Dire Wolves king. "Why is it called the Icy Heart Cave?"
The Dire Wolves king smirked at her question, his eyes glinting coldly. "Because once you step into this cave, your very heart will be put to the test. Fail… and you will be frozen into an ice statue, condemned to a miserable death."
Yukina's eyes widened as a thought crossed her mind. She recalled the ice statues she had seen in the palace and asked, "Wait… are those statues your kin who failed this trial?
The Dire Wolves king smiled and nodded. 'You are sharp. To rise from a mere soldier to a lieutenant in the Dire Wolf clan, one must first pass through the Blood Crimson Waterfall and the Icy Heart Cave.'
"I should also warn you—the chance of passing this trial is only 7%. Good luck, girl; you'll need it."
Yukina nodded in understanding, and without a hint of hesitation, she stepped into the Icy Heart Cave.
_______
Inside the Icy Heart Cave
As Yukina stepped into the cave, her eyes widened in shock as the world around her twisted and shifted at an impossible speed.
"SWISH."
When the world around here finally stopped shifting, she found herself alone on a vast battlefield strewn with the corpses of Kirigakure shinobi.
Yukina's eyes narrowed at the sight of the corpses, and a surge of anger and hatred ignited within her as she realized that among the fallen were her closest friends: Koko, Zabuza, Yagura, Mangetsu, Ameyuri, Mei, Kisame, and Rangetsu.
"CLANK, CLANK, CLANK, CLANK."
Suddenly, she snapped her head around at the clatter of weapons, only to see Fuguki hemmed in by shinobi from every direction.
Yukina noticed that the shinobi surrounding Fuguki wore headbands belonging to the other great hidden villages.
Yukina scoffed at the sight of their headbands. She bent down, seized the katana beside Zabuza's corpse, and, using her Phantom Step jutsu to aid Fuguki,
"SQUASH, SQUASH, SQUASH, SQUASH."
With incredible grace, Yukina swung the katana, beheading and slicing the Shinobi surrounding Fuguki in half without a moment's hesitation.
Seeing this, Fuguki yelled at Yukina, 'What the hell do you think you're doing, Yukina? Retreat immediately! Do you want to get yourself killed?
When Yukina heard these words, a fleeting memory of her death in a past life flashed before her eyes. Then, a crazed smirk spread across her face as she said, "I'm not leaving you to die here alone, Sensei—besides, it would be far too unfair for you to have all the fun yourself."
Fuguki was about to yell at Yukina again, but she executed her phantom step jutsu once more—this time creating five afterimages, each darting off in a different direction.
"SQUASH, SQUASH, SQUASH, SQUASH."
Yukina unleashed her phantom step jutsu at full power, slicing through her foes with lethal precision, yet no matter how many she cut down, more shinobi surged forward to take their place.
Suddenly, multiple jutsu streaked toward her with blinding speed and devastating force.
"WESH, WESH, WESH, WESH."
Fire, lightning, water, wind, and earth ninjutsu rained down on Yukina from every direction, each strike faster and deadlier than the last.
Yukina shut her eyes as the ninjutsu hurtled toward her from every direction, fully unleashing her hidden sense to anticipate every strike.
Before the ninjutsu could strike, she leaped into the air, twisting her body at an impossible angle to dodge the jutsus with flawless precision.
"BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM."
When the ninjutsu collided, a massive explosion erupted; the force behind the explosion sent Yukina hurtling through the air.
"SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, SWISH."
Multiple kunai and shuriken, each wrapped with explosive tags, hurtled toward Yukina as she soared through the air.
Using her hidden sense, Yukina clearly detected the directions of the incoming kunai and shurikens.
"CLANK, CLANK, CLANK, CLANK."
She swung her katana with swift grace, effortlessly knocking them aside.
"BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM."
However, the explosive tags detonated immediately, erupting right beside Yukina.
____
With the Wolves king
Outside the cave, the Dire Wolves King sat with his elders, his gaze fixed on Yukina as her slender legs and part of her arms slowly crystallized into ice, like the first strokes of a frozen sculpture.
He frowned as he watched her, thinking, "Girl, the real challenge is about to begin. Will you lose yourself in the dream-heart world, or will you conquer your heart completely and be reborn anew?"
Saigo looked up at his king, worry etched across his face. "Your Majesty… is she going to be okay?"
The Dire Wolves' king shook his head. "I won't deny that this human girl has incredible will," he said, "but the Icy Heart Cave tests the heart itself, forcing one to confront their inner demons. The longer she lingered in the dream world, the harder it became for her to overcome this trial."
"All we can do right now is sit back and wait."
Saigo and the other elders nodded, settling into silence as they watched, waiting to see whether Yukina could overcome the trial before her.
_____
With Yukina
After the explosions, burn marks covered much of Yukina's body, yet a faint smile lingered on her lips.
"I see… I understand now. So this is how you cut through fire. Interesting."
She slowly snapped her eyes open, and they gleamed with a brilliant light.
Her eyes suddenly widened in horror as she took in the sight of Fuguki, sprawled on the ground, his body riddled with kunai and shuriken.
A muscular IWA Jounin smirked cruelly over Fuguki's lifeless body and bellowed, "She's the last one—kill her!"
Yukina's eyes widened as countless shinobi let out a fierce roar and lunged at her simultaneously
"WESH, WESH, WESH, WESH."
Multiple ninjutsu hurtled toward Yukina at blinding speed, but she gracefully sliced through the water, lightning, and fire attacks with her katana.
The wind ninjutsu hurled her through the air, but at that instant, an IWA shinobi appeared behind her. His fist, encased in jagged rock, crashed into Yukina's back with bone-shattering force.
"PUFF."
When the IWA shinobi slammed his rock-covered fist into Yukina's back, her body erupted in a cloud of white smoke and was replaced by one of the corpses scattered across the battlefield.
"I need to calm down; my emotions are going berserk. In my past life, I never felt this way when my comrades died in that war."
"It seems I value these people more than I did my army comrades in my past life."
She flared her chakra to its maximum, channeling it into her katana as she swung the blade through the air with precise, crackling force.
"Flying Chakra Slashes."
Multiple chakra flying slashes flew towards her foes at incredible speed.
"SQUASH, SQUASH, SQUASH, SQUASH."
"I will mourn later. For now, I will relish this battle and learn to cut through earth and wind jutsu. If I succeed, I will ascend to the pinnacle of the Heart Sword realm."
After making up her mind, Yukina closed her eyes and focused on her hidden sense; unlike before, she could now perceive the entire battlefield through her mind.
Suddenly, a swarm of shinobi charged at her from all directions, hurling shurikens and kunai with deadly precision.
Yukina danced around the shurikens and kunai with incredible grace; her movements were agile and eye-catching.
"SQUACH, SQUACH, SQUACH, SQUACH."
Yukina then danced around the attacking shinobi, her blade slicing through them with deadly precision—but suddenly, a jagged spike of rock shot up from the ground, aiming straight for her.
However, Yukina predicted the rock spikes thanks to her hidden sense; she flipped backwards a couple of times and successfully dodged the jutsu.
A faint smirk curved her lips as she thought, 'My hidden sense has made a breakthrough—predicting attacks is now much easier and clearer than before.'
"Also, I now can see the entire battlefield in my mind; this is great."
Suddenly, a strong gust of wind struck Yukina—but she only smirked as the jutsu hit her.
Yukina tapped into her hidden sense, plunging herself into the very essence of the jutsu
Then, countless tiny, razor-sharp wind projectiles whistled through the air toward Yukina.
With perfect elegance, Yukina swung her katana, slicing the wind projectiles cleanly in half.
A wide smile spread across her face as she neatly sliced the wind projectiles in half.
When she landed gracefully, the ground suddenly shook violently, catching Yukina off guard and causing her to lose her balance.
"BZBZBZBZ."
"PU, PU, PU, PU, PU."
Before Yukina could react, a storm of shurikens and kunai coated with blue lightning hurtled toward her, piercing her from every direction and electrifying her.
Yukina didn't fall, even as multiple shurikens and kunai pierced her body—she stayed standing, a wild, crazed smile twisting her lips.
A Konoha shinobi stared at Yukina, bewildered, and demanded. "Don't you fear death?" he asked. "You're going to die soon."
Yukina laughed loudly after hearing the question and answered.
"KYAHAHAHAHA! I am a true kunoichi—a warrior of pride and unyielding ambition. To fear death would make me unworthy of pursuing one of my goals: to face the greatest shinobi of the Elemental Nations in a battle to the death."
"CRACK, CRACK."
After speaking those words straight from her heart, the world around her began to crack like fragile glass—and in the very next moment, it completely shattered.
"CRASH."
____'