Doto was sent flying backward by Kisame's slash, which contained terrifying monstrous strength. His armguard shattered, and excruciating pain and numbness shot through his entire right arm.
He plowed a deep furrow in the snow before barely stabilizing himself. The expression beneath his helmet became extremely grim.
"Bastard!" Doto was both shocked and furious. His proud Chakra Armor and Ice Release had actually suffered a major setback against the opponent's purely brute force and that strange great sword!
He could tell that the opponent's previous slash used almost no sophisticated technique… it was pure strength and Chakra Suppression!
"Who are you?!" Doto shouted sharply, quickly forming hand seals with his left hand in front of his chest while simultaneously pushing his Chakra Armor to its limits.
The damaged right armguard and the armor on his body glowed with an even more dazzling ice-blue light, emitting stronger cold air, attempting to repair the damage and enhance defense.
The surrounding snow and ice seemed drawn towards him.
Kisame rested Samehada on his shoulder. Samehada's spikes trembled happily, as if still savoring the Ice Attribute Chakra it had just absorbed.
He grinned, revealing shark-like sharp teeth, his smile terrifying and full of oppressive force: "Hoshigaki Kisame! Remember it! It's the name that will send you to meet the Shinigami!"
Kisame couldn't be bothered with more talk. He planted Samehada in the ground, slammed his hands together, and vast Chakra surged from his body like a volcanic eruption!
The amount of Chakra was enormous, far exceeding that of an ordinary Ninja!
"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Collision Wave!"
Kisame opened his mouth and spat out not a trickle, but a deluge like a breached river!
A towering wave appeared out of thin air, carrying a deafening roar, and surged towards Doto and the Yukigakure's Ninjas behind him with an overwhelming force!
This was no ordinary Water Release Ninjutsu. Its scale and power were like a Tailed Beast stirring up trouble!
The raging water instantly altered the battlefield's terrain, turning the cold plain into a rolling ocean!
"What?!!" Doto's pupils constricted sharply.
For the first time, a look of terror appeared on his face!
'A Water Release of this scale?!'
'The Chakra required is simply...!'
'What kind of monster is this shark-faced guy?!'
"Ice Release: Ice Dome Wall!" Doto roared, pushing the power of his Chakra Armor to the extreme, pressing both hands fiercely onto the surging water's surface!
Frigid air poured out madly!
Crackle! Crackle!
Amidst the tremendous roar, an immensely thick, glacier-like curved ice wall instantly erupted from the ground, forcibly blocking the onslaught of the colossal flood!
The floodwaters violently impacted the ice wall, emitting an ear-splitting roar. The ice wall trembled violently, cracking with countless fissures, but it ultimately didn't collapse immediately.
Several Yukigakure's Ninjas behind Doto also hurriedly formed hand seals, assisting in reinforcing the ice wall, barely withstanding this first wave of impact.
"Heh... interesting! Let's see how much you can freeze!" Kisame let out a ferocious laugh. His vast Chakra seemed endless as he formed hand seals again.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
"Water Release: Water Pillar Technique!"
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
Water dragons, far larger than conventional ones, roared as they crashed into the ice wall… massive water pillars fell like sledgehammers… an even larger waterfall descended from the sky, continuously pounding!
Kisame was like a human-shaped Tailed Beast, wanting only expending a despair-inducing amount of Chakra, using Water Release Ninjutsu for the most violent bombardment!
Doto gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, squeezing every last drop of performance from his Chakra Armor, frantically releasing Ice Release to defend.
"Ice Release: Twin Dragon Blizzard!"
"Ice Release: Ice Rock Dome!"
"Ice Release: Dragon-Shattering Fierce Tiger!"
Two ice dragons rushed to meet the water dragons, ice spikes continuously shot out from the ground attempting to block the water flow, a giant ice tiger pounced towards the waterfall. The roaring never ceased. Water and ice collided madly, evaporating and condensing. The battlefield was filled with dense mist and ice crystals.
Doto's Ice Release, enhanced by his armor, was indeed powerful. Each time, it could freeze large areas of water. But Kisame's Chakra seemed truly infinite. The freshly frozen ice layers were instantly overwhelmed and swallowed by subsequent, even more ferocious Water Release Ninjutsu!
The water grew larger and more violent!
Doto felt like a small boat in a storm. Every defense drained his energy. The Chakra Armor's energy was depleting rapidly, even beginning to emit an overloaded whine and overheated whit steam!
His proud Ice Release actually seemed so powerless against the opponent's purely quantity-overwhelming, disaster-like massive Water Release!
"Impossible! Your Chakra... how could it possibly be more than my armor's..." Doto panted heavily, his eyes filled with disbelief and fear.
The range of his ice walls grew smaller, the freezing speed couldn't keep up with the flood's impact.
"Is that all your Ice Release is capable of?" Kisame seized a moment when his opponent was exhausted, a murderous light flashing in his eyes!
"Water Release: A Thousand Feeding Sharks!"
He slapped his hands on the water's surface, injecting vast Chakra into it.
Instantly, the entire churning body of water seemed to come alive!
Countless ferocious, vicious sharks emerged from the water, densely packed, hundreds, thousands of them!
They bared their sharp, watery teeth like a pack of starving wolves, frantically pouncing and biting at the exhausted Doto from all directions, above and below, every angle!
At this moment, Doto seemed trapped in an ocean hell made of sharks!
He swung his still-functional left arm in terror, condensing ice blades to slash desperately.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Sharks were constantly cut apart but instantly reformed, endless!
They tore at his Chakra Armor, emitting a teeth-grating screech.
The armor's energy depleted rapidly. Cracks multiplied, and it even began to disintegrate!
The cold river water mixed with the sharks' bites kept Doto desperately busy. He screamed, soon covered in countless wounds, his blood dyeing the surrounding waters red.
"It's over!" Kisame roared, controlling the final swarm of sharks to launch the last attack!
Thousands of sharks opened their massive mouths, ready to completely devour Doto, to tear him to shreds!
A look of utter despair finally appeared in Doto's eyes!
At this critical moment!
A red figure suddenly appeared in front of Doto.
It was Hikari!
She had left the earthen wall at some point. Those scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan calmly watched the onslaught of the Thousand Feeding Sharks.
Hikari formed hand seals, her right hand stopped before her lips.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
A surge of Chakra gathered in her throat before she expelled a vast expanse of flame, like a sea of fire, towards the front. Its range was immense!
It was like a tsunami composed of flames!
Boom-!!!
The thousands of sharks crashed violently into the wave of fire!
The Thousand Feeding Sharks, capable of destroying an army, were instantly shattered upon impact with the fiery wave!
On Kisame's face, his shark-like eyes widened dramatically: "What?!!"
This B-Rank Fire Release Ninjutsu, Great Fire Annihilation, wasn't some rare technique… even many Ninjas in Kirigakure could use it.
But even during the Third Great Ninja War, when over twenty Kirigakure's Ninjas joined forces to perform Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation, it didn't have such immense power!
Kisame was also filled with shock at the strength of this girl who looked only fifteen or sixteen years old.
Hikari slowly lowered her hand. The sea of flames dissipated accordingly.
She glanced at the figure behind her, who is covered in wounds, his life hanging on by a thread.
Doto's eyes were dull and filled with the terror of a narrow escape.
Then, she turned to the stunned Kisame, her cool voice still calm:
"Hoshigaki Kisame, your strength… I acknowledge it. As expected of someone valued by Shura-sama."
She paused, gesturing with her head towards the limp Doto in the water: "However, this guy's life still has other uses for Shura-sama."
Previously, Menma had instructed his subordinates to be careful when encountering powerful Jonin from other countries, to capture them alive if possible.
Kisame also remembered Menma's instructions. He took a deep breath and slowly relaxed his tense posture. Looking at Hikari's petite figure and those unfathomable Sharingan, he put away all his contempt and resentment for the first time.
'This woman was absurdly strong!'
'No wonder Shura-sama had her stationed here.'
"I understand, Hikari-sama," Kisame responded gruffly, saying no more.
But this term of respect already indicated Kisame's acknowledgment of her strength.
And with Hikari's intervention, this battle should come to an end.
…
On the other end of the battlefield, the Yukigakure's Ninjas who had been putting up a desperate resistance witnessed their supposedly invincible Daimyo being beaten without any ability to fight back by Kisame, and finally being grabbed like a chick by the red-eyed woman who suddenly appeared. Their last bit of fighting spirit completely collapsed.
"The Daimyo has been captured!"
"Hi-His Highness has been defeated!"
"Run for it!"
Someone shouted, and the remaining Yukigakure's Ninjas immediately scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing in panic in all directions.
"Trying to run?!" Kimimaro, Haku, and the other Star Ninjas, who had been waiting for this moment, immediately gave chase.
Kimimaro's Byakugan locked on. His figure moved like a ghost, instantly catching up to one of the fleeing Yukigakure's Jonin, Fuyukuma Mizore.
"Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets!" Cold bone bullets accurately shattered the Chakra Armor's energy device while piercing through Mizore's knees and shoulders, making him scream and fall to the ground, unable to move.
On the other side, Kakuyoku Fubuki tried to use a blizzard to create chaos and escape but was firmly entangled by Haku.
"Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!" Countless ice mirrors instantly sealed off Fubuki's escape routes. Senbon shot out like a torrential rain, accurately knocking the kunai from her hands and pinning her limbs to the ice mirrors, rendering her immobile.
The remaining Yukigakure's Ninjas were also intercepted, defeated, or captured by Hotarubi, Gotta, Yukimi, and the other Star Ninjas.
A battle that initially seemed evenly matched ended with the absolute victory of the Land of Stars following Doto's capture and the intervention of Kisame and Hikari.
On the cold plain, the floodwaters gradually receded, leaving behind a scene of devastation and icy corpses.
The Star Ninjas began cleaning the battlefield, collecting spoils, and guarding the prisoners.
Hikari tossed the unconscious Doto to an Anbu for custody, then instructed everyone: "Gotta, Hotarubi, you two responsible for the subsequent suppression in the Land of Darkness. Kisame, you take Anbu's Team 1 deep into the Land of Snow, strike straight at the heart."
The Land of Snow's elites had all been lost here by Doto. Only scattered Ninjas remained in the rear, not worth worrying about.
Kisame only needed to bring a small number of ninjas to suppress a nation's resistance.
"Yes, Hikari-sama." Kisame, carrying Samehada on his shoulder, stood in the muddy snow water.
Watching Hikari's retreating figure, a look of gravity and a trace of respect appeared on his shark-like face.
Soon, an Anbu Team of twelve Chunin was assembled. Under Kisame's leadership, they charged towards the capital of the Land of Snow.