Chapter 396: 396 – Ice Release : ICE AGE!!!

She sensed a surge of Yin chakra—eerily close to ocular power.

Yet Kitazawa’s eyes looked perfectly ordinary. With no visible signs, she concluded it was some form of Yin Release technique.

Even if she somehow realized it was the Byakugan, it wouldn’t matter.

Konan had no intention of reporting Kitazawa to Tsunade. She wasn’t a Konoha ninja, after all—and the claim itself sounded absurd. Tsunade would sooner lock her up for slander than believe her.

A sharp whistle sliced through the air.

A figure appeared before them.

Mid-thirties, neatly dressed, glasses perched on his nose—Oyashiro En.

His gaze swept over the fallen guards, and his expression tightened.

They weren’t jōnin, but every one of them had at least chūnin-level strength.

To drop that many in an instant was something even most jōnin couldn’t manage.

“I don’t recall ever meeting either of you,” Oyashiro said coldly. “Nor do we share any grudge. Why attack my guards?”

“Have you heard of the Akatsuki?” Konan replied evenly. “We represent Akatsuki. We’re here to invite you to join.”

“Never heard of it.”

Oyashiro shook his head. “And I have no intention of joining.”

After the annihilation of the Chinoike Clan, he had abandoned the life of a ninja altogether, choosing instead to live in wealth and security.

Akatsuki sounded like another ninja organization.

He already had power, territory, and comfort. Why trade certainty for chaos?

“Then we’ll do this simply,” Konan continued. “We defeat you—you join. You defeat us—we leave.”

Kitazawa smiled faintly.

Anyone recruited this way would normally harbor resentment.

But Nagato—the self-proclaimed god—didn’t care about such things.

In the ninja world, power dictated everything. With enough strength, hatred and grudges were irrelevant.

“Hmph. What a barbaric method your Akatsuki uses,” Oyashiro scoffed. “Fine. Then I’ll defeat you.”

He flung his glasses aside.

The Ketsurugan activated.

Much like the Sharingan, his pupils darkened while the sclera turned blood-red, both eyes glowing crimson.

Invisible ocular pressure spread outward.

Blood seeped from the corners of his eyes.

The Sharingan bled when overused; the Ketsurugan bled whenever its power was unleashed.

Ketsurugan Genjutsu!

Konan froze instantly.

That was the danger of insufficient intelligence.

She hadn’t anticipated an ocular technique on par with the Sharingan—and was caught before she could react.

She struggled to break free.

Kitazawa was faster.

He tapped her shoulder, flooding her with chakra, shattering the illusion in an instant, and stepped in front of her.

“You’re… unaffected?” Oyashiro stared, disbelief flashing across his face.

No one had ever ignored the Ketsurugan’s genjutsu.

“What eyes are those?” Konan asked instinctively.

“Ketsurugan,” Kitazawa answered casually.

“You know it?” Oyashiro’s heart lurched. “Who are you?”

“After the fight,” Kitazawa said with a smile. “Join us, and I’ll tell you.”

“I’ll defeat you—and learn the answer anyway!”

Oyashiro’s expression darkened as he rapidly formed hand seals.

Ketsurugan Blood Dragon Technique!

A metallic stench flooded the air.

Blood manifested from nothing, surging and coalescing into five enormous crimson dragons.

Each stretched over ten meters long.

Their gaping maws opened as they lunged toward Kitazawa and Konan.

Konan raised her hands.

Sheets of paper erupted outward, folding into shuriken and countless ninja tools.

They struck the blood dragons—and stopped.

Every attack was halted in midair.

Konan’s eyes narrowed. This was troublesome.

Paper whirled behind her, forming wings.

She prepared to take to the sky and seize the advantage—

Then she stopped.

Summoning Technique: Triple Rashōmon!

Kitazawa bit his thumb and slammed his palm into the ground.

BOOM!

A massive gate crashed down, pinning one of the blood dragons beneath it.

The dragon roared, thrashing violently, shaking the gate.

BOOM!

A second gate descended, crushing down with terrifying weight.

The dragon’s form warped, slamming into the earth.

Then—

BOOM!

The third gate fell.

All five blood dragons were immobilized, crushed beneath the overwhelming mass.

Triple Rashōmon was normally used as a defensive barrier—

—but its sheer weight made it a brutal offensive weapon.

“Impossible!”

Oyashiro’s eyes widened.

His supposedly unstoppable Blood Dragon Technique… suppressed so easily?

Kitazawa understood.

Oyashiro was elite jōnin level—but he’d never faced a true monster.

He’d mistaken the peak of his experience for the peak of the ninja world.

In truth, it wasn’t even close.

“Anything else?” Kitazawa asked calmly.

“Damn it!”

Humiliated, Oyashiro flared with rage.

Water Release: Rain Hail!

Massive droplets formed overhead.

With a sweeping gesture, they shot forward like artillery.

Konan leapt into the air.

Kitazawa vanished in a flicker.

The raindrops smashed into the ground, instantly soaking the earth beneath them.

“This—this is the true Blood Dragon Technique!”

Oyashiro roared as he forced his Ketsurugan to its limit.

Blood surged into the drenched soil, mixing with rainwater and swelling violently. In the blink of an eye, five even larger crimson dragons erupted from the ground, their bodies pulsing with power.

Crash!

The estate could no longer endure the strain and collapsed inward.

Oyashiro paid it no mind.

With a furious gesture, he sent the blood dragons charging straight at Kitazawa.

Konan swept both arms outward.

Countless sheets of paper cascaded down like snow. The instant they touched the dragons, they detonated.

Explosions rippled through the air.

Flames roared, spreading in waves.

Paper manipulation alone might not have been overwhelming—but when paired with explosive tags, Konan’s combat power rose to elite jōnin level.

In the original timeline, she had once used a billion explosive tags and nearly killed Uchiha Obito.

Oyashiro’s pupils trembled.

He had assumed Kitazawa was the primary threat—but Konan was no less terrifying.

Under the relentless barrage, half of one dragon’s body was blown apart.

“Tch!”

Grinding his teeth, Oyashiro poured every last drop of ocular power into the remaining dragons.

One of them twisted violently, accelerating as it lunged straight toward Kitazawa.

Kitazawa did not move.

Instead, he calmly considered which jutsu to use.

Then he made his choice—an Ice Release technique he had envisioned long ago.

The dragon, still wreathed in fire, reached him.

Scorching heat surged outward, the temperature spiking violently.

High above, Konan’s heart tightened. Acting on instinct, she dove toward Kitazawa.

“Ice Release: Ice Age!”

A wave of frigid chakra exploded outward.

In an instant, everything froze.

The ground, the raging flames, the blood dragons—all were locked in solid ice.

Konan halted midair, releasing a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

She knew Kitazawa was stronger than Oyashiro—but worry had surged regardless.

Oyashiro had been wholly focused on maintaining the Blood Dragon Technique.

When he realized what had happened, it was already too late.

Ice had encased him from the waist down.

Kitazawa had spared him deliberately, freezing only his lower body.

“Last chance,” Kitazawa said calmly. “Join the Akatsuki.”

He raised his hand.

The ice crept upward.

One more second—and Oyashiro would be sealed completely.

“I’ll join!”

Oyashiro shouted, panic breaking through his composure.

Join—or die.

He wasn’t afraid of death.

But he didn’t want to die.

Not when he still had a daughter.

“Welcome to the Akatsuki,” Kitazawa said with a faint smile.

He snapped his fingers, and the ice binding Oyashiro shattered and fell away.

Oyashiro opened his mouth, then closed it again.

…Is this what recruitment looks like?

Fine. He would join for now—and escape later.

Risking his life for Akatsuki? A foolish dream.

Konan descended from the sky.

Glancing at Kitazawa, she couldn’t help thinking he was born for Akatsuki.

Even his recruitment methods mirrored hers perfectly.

Her gaze shifted to the frozen remnants of the Blood Dragon Technique.

When had Kitazawa become this proficient with Ice Release?

Despite being at his side every day, she kept discovering terrifying techniques she’d never seen before.

If this continued…

She shook the thought away.

Impossible.

Nagato possessed the Rinnegan—the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths himself.

No matter how strong Kitazawa became, he could not surpass that.

“This is your ring.”

Konan stepped forward, holding out a ring to Oyashiro. “The character engraved on it is your codename within Akatsuki.”

Kitazawa glanced over.

The ring bore the character “Vermilion.”

In the original timeline, it had belonged to Uchiha Itachi.

“What am I supposed to do?” Oyashiro En asked, taking the ring.

“Your assignments will be explained once we return to Amegakure,” Konan replied.

“Amegakure?”

Oyashiro stiffened. “You work under Hanzō?”

“You’ll understand when we arrive,” Konan said coolly.

Seeing her expression, he chose not to ask further.

“Do you have a daughter named Chino?”

Kitazawa asked the question casually, as if it were an afterthought.

“You—no!”

Oyashiro snapped the denial out instinctively.

“Relax,” Kitazawa said with a faint smile. “Serve Akatsuki well, and she’ll remain safe.”

“Bastard!”

Oyashiro’s composure finally shattered. “If anything happens to her, I’ll kill you!”

“I’ll be waiting.”

Kitazawa’s reply was flat, almost bored.

To ensure Konan’s success, he had deliberately left Chino behind, arranging for her to eventually enter the Genius Class.

A strange unease stirred in Konan’s chest.

She hadn’t expected Kitazawa to go this far—openly threatening Oyashiro, playing the role of a villain so convincingly.

Given his position, it was unnecessary.

And because of that, guilt crept in.

She still hadn’t told him the whole truth about Akatsuki.

In reality, Akatsuki didn’t even need Oyashiro’s loyalty.

“You still have time,” Kitazawa continued. “Settle your affairs.”

He paused, his gaze sharpening. “And don’t try to look for Chino. Any consequences will be yours alone.”

Oyashiro’s fists trembled. In the end, he said nothing, turning and walking back into the ruined house with heavy steps.

Since he was leaving for Amegakure, he would need someone he trusted to manage the estate.

Though Kitazawa forbade him from searching for Chino directly, his subordinates could still gather information.

Kitazawa didn’t stop that.

Searching in the Land of Rain would be meaningless anyway.

After all, Chino would be in Konoha.

“Thank you.”

Konan spoke sincerely.

Without Kitazawa’s intervention, she would almost certainly have been injured today.

She had never anticipated the Ketsurugan’s true capabilities.

“It’s nothing.”

Kitazawa reached out and lightly pinched her cheek.

“What exactly is the Ketsurugan?” Konan asked.

“A dōjutsu bloodline similar to the Sharingan,” Kitazawa replied, briefly explaining the historical ties between the Chinoike and Uchiha clans.

“No wonder you knew so much about him.”

Konan assumed Kitazawa’s knowledge came from Uchiha sources.

In any case, the outcome exceeded her expectations.

Oyashiro En was far stronger than anticipated, and Akatsuki had gained a powerful asset.

She had set out to recruit an ordinary elite jōnin—yet returned with a bloodline wielder.

[Current Mission: Defeat Oyashiro En.]

[Reward: Ketsurugan (mergeable with the Sharingan).]

[Mission completed. Issuing reward.]

Standing still, Kitazawa felt a subtle but unmistakable change ripple through his Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

Its ocular power surged—roughly a third stronger than before.

A substantial leap.

For dōjutsu, raw strength mattered above all else.

His Sharingan had now reached a half-step toward the Mangekyō—stronger than any ordinary Three-Tomoe, yet still short of true evolution.

Along with the boost came a new ability: blood manipulation.

But it carried strict conditions.

First, the target must fall under the Ketsurugan’s genjutsu.

Second, they must be wounded by blood-based secret techniques.

Only when Chakra contact was established could their blood be controlled.

This was the Ketsurugan’s true killing move.

Oyashiro hadn’t used it—because Kitazawa had neither fallen into genjutsu nor been injured.

Konan had been caught, but Kitazawa had dispelled it instantly.

Had he hesitated even slightly, her blood would have detonated from within.

Kitazawa’s gaze drifted toward the frozen remnants of the Blood Dragon Technique.

Blood-based constructs… amplified by water.

“Konan, wait a moment.”

He stepped into the house and found Oyashiro.

“You need—”

Before the man could finish, Kitazawa’s Sharingan activated.

Despite possessing the Ketsurugan, Oyashiro’s ocular power was far inferior.

In an instant, Kitazawa extracted the precise method behind the Blood Dragon Technique.

“What did you do to me?!”

Oyashiro staggered back, horror written across his face.

He couldn’t understand how someone without the Ketsurugan—or even a visible dōjutsu—could dominate him so completely.

“Nothing important,” Kitazawa said calmly. “You have thirty minutes. Finish your business.”

He turned and left.

Oyashiro clenched his teeth, humiliated yet helpless.

Kitazawa returned to Konan’s side.

Though he had played the villain, Oyashiro was far worse.

A man who annihilated his own clan and abandoned his daughter.

He claimed to care for Chino—yet she didn’t even know her father existed.

With his objective complete, Kitazawa left the rest to Konan.

It didn’t take long before Oyashiro reappeared.

“Let’s head to the Land of Rain first,” Kitazawa said.

Sending Konan alone with him to Amegakure carried too much risk.

The arena could be handled by his Shadow Clone.

It would be enough to guide Chino toward the Genius Class.

After all, in the original timeline, she escaped on her own.

With a little kindness—from Hinata, from the others—she would likely accept.

“Thank you.”

Konan hesitated, then understood his intent.

Looking at Kitazawa, warmth welled in her chest.

“Let’s go.”

Kitazawa planned to escort her only to the border of the Land of Rain—not into Amegakure itself.

Stepping into the rain would alert Nagato immediately.

But once Konan crossed the border, ambush would be impossible.

Oyashiro would soon understand why Akatsuki recruited the way it did.

With an invincible Nagato and White Zetsu everywhere, joining meant there was no leaving—

Unless you possessed escape abilities on Orochimaru’s level.

——————

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