Voices shouted nearby, “Hey, what’s going on in there?” One asked. “FIRE!” Another cried, and the voices ran off to where the cries of panic where coming from.

“Looks like the distraction worked… Miyuki, are you ready for the mental images?” She tensed, frantically shaking her head. Katsu gave her an unimpressed look, “Well, I’m sending it anyway.” She deadpanned, being flooded with information on her task. “I was wrong. I can’t do this.” She stressed. “Come on, already. We don’t have much time before the mist I created evaporates.” Ryuu insisted. His new Fire Pillar Technique had descended onto the underground lake, creating a temporary fog. It gave the air enough moisture for their final Jutsu, luring everyone to it. “It’s a Jutsu from a Clan our parents killed! I shouldn’t use this kind of power.” She insisted. “If we don’t end this, hundreds of people will die.” Katsu told her. She bit down the urge to protest. “Miyuki… We have to do this. We’re all a part of the Yuki Clan. Just like mum was before the Mizukage had them destroyed.” Ryuu added. “But it’s Forbidden, even for them!” She stressed. Ryuu let out a sharp sigh, “Think about Akio and our family. All the people we lost because of those kind of civil wars… We can’t let them start another, or the cycle will never end. We need to break the cycle now.”

She let out a sigh of defeat, “Okay. Send me everyone's locations... It’s time.” Her brothers nodded, “I’ll be giving you a live feed, so keep your eyes closed, until it’s over. Okay?” Katsu gently inquired. “Yeah… Let’s end this, once and for all.” With that, the two lowered their heads, and closed their eyes. “Can you see everyone?” Katsu asked through closed eyes. “Yeah. I can use the mist to help me finish this quicker.” She replied. “Alright. It’s all up to you. Ryuu, grab her shoulder. We’ll need all the chakra we can get to keep things going.” Ryuu nodded, “Right!” And gently placed his hand on her shoulder, closing his eyes too. An aura of blue came off him, and began encasing not only Miyuki, but his brother as well.

She began the technique, “…” The lightning under her eyelids intensified. The drips of water beneath them began to rise, as if suddenly unaffected by gravity, “…” The water around them spiked, and then splashed apart. Whales of agony and pain abruptly echoed throughout the cave. She had gained control of the water inside each and every droplet, no matter it’s phase, within the cave. The water near them even slashed at their skins, causing them to exclaim in pain. “I won’t be able to control it! It’s too powerful!” She cried through her shut eyes. The water droplets suddenly attached to them. Violently, it began attaching to each and every one in the caves, drowning them in a thin layer of water.

“We’ll die!” She panicked. The droplets attached from their feet and climbed upwards. “Keep going!” Katsu insisted. “I’ll protect us, just do it!” Ryuu added through the pain. He increased his chakra aura to protect them underneath the layer of water, trying to slow the process. She hated herself in that moment, and sucked in a breath, “… !” The water around their feet froze, instantly! The air grew cold throughout the caves, and she exhaled a cloud of white mist. She then took in a deep breath and focused on the targets, visualizing the dense air and causing it to freeze over. Where the droplets once gathered, frost appeared. It crept up everyone’s skin, causing further screams of panic and mayhem. Instead of creating large projectiles of ice from the air, she was turning the people’s bodies against them, forcing the water on the surface of their skin to freeze over, with the help of the icy air.

She stayed still, forcing herself to concentrate on freezing the victims as if they were only enemies, and not the people she devoted her life to protecting. Ninety-two people screamed in horror, terrified as they watched themselves freeze and turn to ice. Some shattered off their body parts, panicked! But the ice just kept creeping up them like an infection, until it covered them completely. Some even had the inside of their mouths frozen over. Many fell and shattered, while others stood as statues, plastered in their final moments of terror. Ryuu got chills, seeing it happen in his mind’s eye. He then realised he's trembling from the cold creeping up his body. “It’s so cold.” Katsu began to shiver out clouds of mist too, “It’s done.” Silence enveloped the caves. A howling wind and the stilling of water were the only sounds heard for miles. Miyuki slowly opened her burdened eyes. The ice was already at her waist. It didn’t surprise her though. Nothing could now. She had just killed her comrades, and now? She was paying the price.

“I can’t stop it.” She chattered. “It’s okay. It’s for the best this way.” Ryuu gently assured, still holding her shoulder and feeding them chakra in an effort to slow it down. “I’m sorry it had to be this way.” Katsu quietly said from her other side. “Yeah… Everyone’s gone… Even dad.” Ryuu’s voice croaked. “Hey, you did good, Little Brother. He’d be proud.” Katsu comfortingly replied. “I know. I just… I just wish we could feel the sun on our faces one last time.” He sniffled. The ice crept up their arms to their shoulders, and everyone winced from the cold. “You, uhr... You think Akio and the others are waiting for us up there?” Miyuki asked, trying to distract herself from being engulfed in her own Jutsu. Ryuu smirked a smile, “Hn. I know they are.” He replied, raising his head to look up at the frost covered ceiling. Katsu raised his head to rest on his brother's, “Yeah. Mom and Kaiyo-Sensei are going to have a fit seeing us up there so soon.” He half-joked. They both giggled, and she lifted her head to join them as they looked up, “Oh goodness. Little Harumi is going to be so excited.” She grinned.

Just then, the ice crept up their necks, “Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.” Katsu winced in pain. Although the blue chakra aura still cloaked them head to toe, they felt every inch of the ice encasing them.

“So, I… Guess this it.” She grunted out, unable to move her neck. “Yeah… Hey, here’s to taking one step closer to world peace.” Ryuu said, metaphorically cheering a glass. “Hah!” Katsu chuckled out in a sudden smile. “He-heh.” Ryuu weakly chuckled, a goofy side grin on his face. She smiled with relaxed closed eyes, “To a dream worth dying for…” She softly added. “Cheers.” Katsu faintly smiled out. A single tear fell freely, sliding down Miyuki’s face. The three stared up at the ceiling, their eyes still glowing as they accepted what’s to come. “I love you guys…” Ryuu quietly cried out. And just then, it crept up the side of their cheeks, and the trio inhaled their last breaths, becoming completely covered in ice.

Just like that… They were frozen.

Frozen. Everyone inside the underground caves of the Mountain of Thunder were frozen alive, dead or both. Frozen by their own air, or the water around them. It was all part of the Haurutsuki Trio’s plan. The Haurutsuki Clan had to die, in order to prevent the loss of more lives in the world. Miyuki Haurutsuki, Katsu Haurutsuki, and Ryuu Haurutsuki froze themselves alive. Smiling at the bitter end of their short and fruitless lives as ninja often needed to.

The caves where silent. A single drop of water falling onto the trio’s frozen, smiling faces. The ice was too heavily imbued with Miyuki’s strengthened chakra to melt over time. Bodies of frozen corpses laid scattered and shattered near the underwater lake like petrified and tortured souls. Suddenly, a gust of wind began to swirl above the lake waters, almost as if taking shape. A moment later, the swirling mix of wind and water released a black figure from its centre. A black robed figure wearing an orange mask revealed. It was Obito Uchiha!

He strode over the water, walking passed the corpses and down the rocky passageway. He strolled on, his footsteps creating small cloud of dust beneath him. He turned down into a cave on the right, and entered the dark space. He walked on, until the three gleaming statues of Ryuu and Katsu holding Miyuki’s shoulders came into view. They stood gracefully, in the center of their tomb. “At last… I found you all.” He said, narrowing his Sharingan. He then walked up to them, and stared down into their smiling faces, “What’s this? You've managed to unlock the Keihatsugan, haven’t you?” He asked, referring to the strange patterns in each’s open eyes.

“Not only that, but you actually still have chakra flowing through you. That means you’re all still alive.” He told himself. His Sharingan revealed the chakra emanating from each of them, albeit faint, like a tiny heartbeat. “Now then, what to do with the last remaining heirs of the Haurutsuki Clan? I could get rid of you. But if I’m able to undo this Jutsu, you might be useful in helping me launch Project Tsukuyomi. Why don’t I get you somewhere nice and cold, in the meantime?” He evilly smirked beneath his mask. With that, he swirled the ice statues, along with himself, to another dimension. Obito then teleported them all to the Land of Iron. It was neutral territory, meaning there was little chance of them being detected by Shinobi. It was covered by ice and snow, making it the perfect spot to preserve them while he took the next steps to getting them freed.

With Orochimaru now part of the Akatsuki, he had Pein instruct Orochimaru to take care of a little project for him. Obito knew Orochimaru couldn’t be trusted. However, he was the only one with the knowledge to reverse engineer such a Jutsu. All Obito needed was a non-frozen tissue sample of each, and he could reanimate them during the war. But until then, the three Haurutsuki’s would remain frozen. The Legendary Sanin was very intrigued by his new test subjects, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t undo the Jutsu without damaging his precious specimens. Let alone get a tissue sample that wasn’t a shaving of solid ice.

Years passed, and many things had occurred. Orochimaru tried to steal Itachi Uchiha’s eyes, thinking having him as a new vessel will aid him in his research towards obtaining the Keihatsugan. He knew a lot more about the Haurutsuki Clan then he led on, and wanted their powers for himself. However, Itachi easily outwitted him, and Orochimaru ended up abandoning the Akatsuki, as well as the research that would lead to their freedom. He left them in his Desert Hideout, which later got blown up by Diedara and Sasori in their pursuit of him. Obito abandoned his ideas for using them in the coming war, and assumed they died in the explosion when Pein informed him.

Little did they know, Orochimaru’s research was all still intact, buried beneath the ruins of his former research facility. Where the three Haurutsuki’s would lay dormant, frozen in time.

To be continued…