On the isolated island in the southern seas of the Land of Fire.
Seimei dismissed his final shadow clone with a satisfied nod. The flood of memories confirmed it: after luring Yukikaze out of that port city like a fish on a hook, binding his soul with the unbreakable Heart-Sealing Soul-Locking Contract, and forcing the Yuki jōnin to demonstrate Wind-and-Water fusion at glacial speed under the Byakugan's unblinking gaze, he had done it.
His proficiency panel lit up like a festival lantern:
Ice Release Kekkei Genkai: (1/1000) [Beginner]
"Perfect," Seimei muttered, stretching. "No need for months of (1/100) grinding like with Lava. Having a living reference makes everything so much cleaner. Now, just one little test before I head back to Food Street for my post-mission feast. The Nine-Tails won't know what hit it."
Yukikaze sat a few meters away, still restrained, eyes dull with exhaustion.
Seimei raised both hands. "Ice Release: Absolute Dominion Fortress!"
Chakra surged. A breathtaking palace of crystalline spires erupted from the ground—towering walls, defensive battlements, even a throne room. It was majestic. Impregnable.
For exactly twenty-three seconds.
Because, as Seimei himself had admitted countless times during Lava training, once the fusion was mastered, shape transformation and structural integrity were "minor details he couldn't be bothered with."
The fortress groaned.
It cracked.
Then it collapsed in a roaring avalanche of razor-sharp icicles and freezing torrents.
Seimei, standing proudly at the exact center like a victorious emperor, didn't even have time to Body Flicker. A thirty-meter icicle the width of his torso speared straight through his chest, pinning him to the stone platform like a bug on a collector's board. His Lava-tempered cells tried to fight back, melting the ice into superheated steam—which only triggered secondary explosions of obsidian shrapnel and boiling blood.
He looked down at the frozen spike protruding from his ribcage, blood bubbling from his lips.
His last coherent thought, as his vision tunneled: …Wait. This wasn't… in the plan…
The proficiency panel flickered one final time in his fading mind:
Ice Release: (1/1000) → Fatal Error: Host Deceased
All Bloodline Progress Lost. Nice try, genius.
Yukikaze felt the soul contract's grip dissolve the instant Seimei's heart stopped. He stood slowly, brushed ice shards (and a few chunks of Uchiha lung) off his shoulder, and stared at the bloody, half-frozen corpse half-buried under the ruins of its creator's "perfect" fortress.
Then he started laughing. Hard. Doubled over, tears freezing on his cheeks.
"You spent weeks luring me out here, set up flawless seals, calculated every chakra deficit, planned for the Nine-Tails like a god… and you die because you built a shitty sandcastle out of ice you couldn't be bothered to shape properly? The great Seimei Uchiha, reduced to this."
He wiped his eyes, still chuckling darkly.
"Guess the ultimate lure… was on yourself."
Yukikaze turned and walked toward the ocean, stretching like a man finally free after a long, stupid vacation.
Somewhere far away, a random Mist ANBU would later file a report: "Yukikaze returned. Claims he was 'training alone.' Smells faintly of seaweed and schadenfreude."