Snowflakes began to fall.
At first, just a few—then more and more, until the clear arena sky seemed to conjure a sudden blizzard.
Gaara's eyes narrowed sharply, a bead of cold sweat slipping down his temple.
Crack—!
The sand he had unleashed toward Shigure came to a halt. What stopped it wasn't an ice wall this time—
—it was snow.
Snowflakes, countless and unrelenting, surged together from every direction. Gathering like a tide, they pressed back against Gaara's sand, white against yellow, snow against sand.
The collision rattled the arena.
Even Sarutobi Hiruzen was taken aback, his pipe lowering slightly as his sharp eyes flickered with surprise.
Ice Release… can it really be used like this?
In the center of the field, Shigure stood calm and steady, the storm swirling around him. Snowflakes didn't fall naturally from the heavens; they were condensing directly from the air itself, forming at his command. They gathered like sentinels, circling him protectively.
Gaara's sand slowly withdrew, but so too did Shigure's snow, scattering and then drifting back to his side.
Gaara's face twisted in disbelief.
"How… how could he control snowflakes like that—using them to block my sand?"
The audience sat frozen in silence.
Kankurō broke it first, his voice cracking.
"What the hell…? Did he really block Gaara's sand with snow?!"
Temari's brow furrowed, her fan lowering at her side.
"You're missing the point. He's not just blocking. He's controlling the snow itself like Gaara controls sand."
In the arena, Shigure raised his arms. Snowflakes spun around him like living things, clustering at his fingertips. With a flash of chakra, the flakes condensed into sharp icicles, each glinting dangerously in the sunlight.
Shigure smiled faintly—then flicked his fingers forward.
The icicles shot out in an instant, streaking through the air toward Gaara.
Gaara reacted immediately, pulling sand up into a wall. The frozen spears shattered against it with sharp cracks, fragments scattering across the ice.
But Shigure wasn't finished.
From the storm around him, snow gathered again, this time forming two enormous fists. White and crystalline, they floated in the air like titans of ice. With a simple gesture, Shigure sent them crashing toward Gaara from both sides.
Boom—boom—!
The fists collided with Gaara's sand defenses, the dull impacts echoing across the stadium.
Gaara's eyes widened. Shigure's technique… it was almost identical to his own.
Snow…? It should be fragile, fleeting. But his snow has weight—hardness. He's reinforcing every flake with chakra, just as I do with sand.
What looked like fragile snowflakes were in truth countless tiny ice crystals, condensed and bound with chakra until they became weapons as durable as stone.
Gaara's mind raced. But how? This technique… it shouldn't exist outside of the Sand Village!
While Gaara faltered in disbelief, Shigure's movements grew faster, his hands weaving through the air like a conductor leading a storm. The snow around him surged, multiplying wildly. White waves rose behind him, a wall of blizzard so vast it dwarfed even Gaara's sand.
The audience could see it clearly: the sheer quantity of snow Shigure commanded now outstripped Gaara's sand.
Gaara panicked, drawing his sand back, trying to condense it for a stronger defense.
But Shigure was already ahead of him.
With a sudden sweep of his arm, a torrent of snow erupted from beneath Gaara's feet, surging upward like a tidal wave. In a blink, it closed the distance—appearing directly before Gaara.
The sand gathered before Gaara was blown apart in an instant.
It didn't defeat him, of course—it only slowed the pace at which he could accumulate more sand.
Shigure closed his eyes briefly, his mind working faster and sharper than ever.
The true strength of controlling snow in this way wasn't raw power—it was precision.
Gaara's sand overwhelmed battlefields with sheer volume, covering wide areas. That was his strength, but it was also his limitation. His control was vast, but not absolute.
Shigure was different. His mastery over chakra had reached a level of terrifying refinement.
When his eyes snapped open, the snowflakes around him scattered into countless fragments—hundreds of white shards twisting through the air. They writhed and slithered forward like serpents, a storm of fangs snapping toward Gaara.
Gaara's breath caught.
"What… terrifying control… This guy—!"
Without hesitation, he drew his sand back, sealing himself within a dense sphere of protection.
Boom—boom—boom!
The serpentine streams of snow and ice slammed against the sand ball in a relentless barrage. The arena shook with the ceaseless impacts, a roar of colliding elements filling the stands.
All around, shinobi rose to their feet in disbelief.
Mei Terumi leaned forward, her eyes gleaming in shock.
"His control… it's incredible!"
At first, she had thought Shigure's methods were just a clever imitation of Sunagakure's secret techniques. But now she saw it clearly—her thinking had been too narrow.
Sand can be reinforced with chakra. So can ice. Snow is just finely fractured ice crystals. And unlike sand, ice can be created anywhere, anytime, as long as there is moisture in the air.
Her lips curved faintly. This boy… he's rewriting the limits of Ice Release.
Meanwhile, in the lounge, Naruto and Sasuke stared at the fight on the crystal screen. They had seen Shigure use Ice Release before—yet the sheer ferocity of his techniques now was on an entirely different level.
"…He wasn't this strong before, right?" Naruto muttered, wide-eyed.
Sasuke didn't answer. He just clenched his fists, his dark gaze fixed on the battlefield.
In the arena, Shigure eyed Gaara's sand sphere.
"This defense…" He smirked. "It's useless."
Before him, snow compressed into jagged ice crystals. They aligned with unnatural precision, forming a massive spear of glimmering frost.
Frigid vapor spiraled around it, tiny shards spinning like razors.
"Pierce."
With a thrust of his hand, the spear fired forward.
Crack—!
It slammed into the sand ball, driving through the defense and bursting inside.
Gaara's eyes went wide as he turned his head—an ice spear had pierced straight into his domain.
"Such power…" he whispered, his voice trembling.
Bang!
The spear detonated, its body exploding into countless shards. Razor-sharp ice fragments slashed Gaara's face at point-blank range. A line of blood traced down his cheek.
The arena fell into stunned silence.
Gaara… was injured.
For the first time, his "absolute defense" had been broken.
Inside, Gaara's mind spun in chaos. I… I'm bleeding…?
Shigure was already forming seals, relentless.
The cracked sand sphere groaned as it began to crumble. At the same time, the remnants of the spear shattered further, its explosion echoing through the arena.
But Shigure wasn't done.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
A torrent of steam burst upward, spiraling into the shape of a massive dragon. But before the water could fall, the vapor froze.
Scales of frost formed across the beast's body, its coils hardening into crystalline ice.
With a roar that echoed like cracking glaciers, the Ice Dragon surged forward, fangs bared, charging at Gaara as his sand prison split apart—
—the strike aimed directly at Gaara's exposed form.
...
TN:
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