Chapter 157: Shikotsumyaku VS Sharingan
Bang, bang, bang!
The army of snakes summoned by Orochimaru easily submerged Danzo. Then, the sound of three small shadow clones being destroyed came from within the snake swarm.
"They were shadow clones..." Kabuto said faintly, pushing up his glasses. The reflection on his lenses made his expression unreadable.
"That's right. The problem is, you can't deal with us using just shadow clones," Orochimaru's orange-yellow eyes narrowed slightly. He stared coldly at the spot where Danzo's clones had disappeared, feeling an inexplicable confusion. "What on earth is that old fool Danzo planning?"
Kabuto sneered, "He wouldn't have come all this way just to tell us that he helped you a lot in the Sasuke matter, and that you owe him a favor, would he?"
"I worked under Danzo for a long time, so I know he's not that kind of person. Danzo must be plotting some kind of conspiracy somewhere..." Orochimaru frowned.
"No matter what trick he's plotting, he can't do anything to us with just his Root!" Kabuto said calmly.
"No, Kabuto, that's precisely what I'm worried about..."
Orochimaru looked at the stone pillar where Danzo had been standing when he first appeared. The boundless sea of snakes had already dispersed. The stone pillar, after being attacked by the snakes, had crumbled into a small pile of rubble.
Danzo's chakra had already disappeared, but his conspiracy seemed to linger like a persistent ghost.
Orochimaru frowned tightly.
That old undying fool Danzo... what exactly is he planning?
And on the battlefield that Orochimaru and Kabuto were most concerned about.
A brutal slaughter between Sasuke and Kimimaro was underway!
Clang! Screech!
A sharp kunai and a ghastly white bone spike clashed continuously in their hands, emitting an ear-piercing scraping sound.
The two figures, one in a white kimono and the other in a green vest, intertwined, weaving and turning. Their speed was extremely fast, leaving behind afterimages, making it impossible for the eye to keep up!
Sasuke, wearing his Chunin uniform vest, had lightning-natured chakra circulating wildly within his body, raising his physical speed and strength to an extremely swift and fierce level. He was incredibly fast. His every move, every punch, and every kick was as swift and fierce as lightning, seeming to carry an afterimage. This fast-in, fast-out fighting style was precisely the high-speed, close-quarters combat form that Sasuke excelled at.
But the youth in the kimono opposing him was not slow either. His taijutsu level was even a cut above!
In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged dozens of blows at lightning speed. It was an evenly matched scene.
Kimimaro's taijutsu movements were very unique.
*His body was extremely flexible, and his evasive movements were very agile.
His fist and foot movements had a bit of a Gentle Fist feel to them, but they were sharper and more powerful than the Gentle Fist, like a fierce wind, sometimes light and agile, sometimes swift and fierce. Among the people Sasuke had sparred or fought with, it was precisely Hinata's style that was quite similar to his. Both were types that balanced hardness and softness and were full of changes.
However, compared to the Hyuga clan's Rotation, Kimimaro's method of defense was even more bizarre and deadly: Kimimaro, who possessed the Shikotsumyaku, could sprout ghastly white, sharp bones from the surface of his body at any time. Whether as a defense or an offense, their unpredictable appearance was extremely troublesome.
Even when Sasuke occasionally found an opening to attack, Kimimaro could force him back with these sharp bone protrusions. The integration of offense and defense in the Shikotsumyaku's taijutsu was evident.
Dance of the Willow!
Kimimaro brandished the sharp and tough bone spike in his hand, which was a few cuts sharper and keener than the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist tenketsu strikes.
What gave Sasuke an even bigger headache was that the sharp and tough bone spike, after clashing with his kunai a few times, was already showing signs of overwhelming the kunai, which had been strengthened with lightning chakra. And if the weapon broke, for it to suddenly snap in the middle of a fierce confrontation was an extremely dangerous thing!
However, it is often the thing you least want to happen that is guaranteed to happen.
Clack! In the continuous close-quarters combat, the kunai in Sasuke's hand, having been through a bitter fight, showed a crack—
Dance of the Willow transforms into the Dance of the Camellia—Kimimaro pressed forward step by step, forcing Sasuke to only be able to swing his blade to meet the attack, unable to escape, and with no room to switch weapons. The bone sword in his hand swung one after another, accurately and sharply striking the crack on the kunai repeatedly.
CRACK! Under the continuous attack, the chakra-enhanced kunai could no longer withstand the pressure. Under Kimimaro's fierce attack, it suddenly snapped in two, unable to stop the sharp bone sword in the youth's hand any longer.
Damn it! Sasuke's pupils suddenly shrank. Caught off guard, this slash actually had the momentum to cut him in two at the waist!
The Sharingan in the black-haired youth's eyes suddenly spun wildly, simulating the enemy's taijutsu posture in his mind step by step. He grit his teeth, his whole body suddenly exerting force. At an impossible moment, he forcefully squeezed out a sliver of space, dodging the vital point of the attack!
Slash! The bone sword cut a bloody gash more than ten centimeters long on his right arm. He had avoided the vital point, but there was no way to dodge the rest.
"Ugh!" Sasuke let out a muffled grunt. Taking advantage of the moment Kimimaro's blow landed, his old force spent and new force not yet risen, he leaped backward and disengaged from the battlefield.
He clutched his right arm. Blood was already streaming from the wound.
"Fortunately, the wound is very shallow. It didn't cut into the muscle!"
This was the most fortunate part. Although the wound had bled a lot, it had not gone deep into the muscle, nor had it cut any major blood vessels. Sasuke condensed chakra in his left hand and used a crude healing medical ninjutsu, gradually stopping the bleeding from the wound.
This bit of medical ninjutsu was thanks to the small tricks that Sakura had always recommended and taught them. Although it was crude and shallow, its advantage was its simplicity and practicality.
Sasuke smiled wryly.
He really had to thank her for that.
It was just that this little trick was probably not enough to turn the tide of the disadvantage in taijutsu.
Sasuke, who had already embarked on the path of a lightning ninja, had taijutsu attainments that were definitely second to none among Konoha's Chunin. And with the bonus of the Sharingan, even among the constellation of Konoha's Jonin, his taijutsu level was one that was not inferior!
Fast speed, fast reactions, extremely strong kinetic vision—it was no exaggeration to call Sasuke a speed-type ninja.
But that guy named Kimimaro could also keep up with Sasuke's movements without any effort—his speed might be a line slower than Sasuke's, but his taijutsu attainments were clearly a notch higher. His movements were lighter and more agile, and thus they could fight to a draw.
With his strange bloodline power and high-level taijutsu combat strength, in the perilous close-quarters combat, the two were originally evenly matched. After Sasuke was injured, Kimimaro had already vaguely gained the upper hand.
The Sharingan originally had extremely high kinetic vision and could even deduce the opponent's next move from their current movements. But the unreasonable bone spikes of the Shikotsumyaku were something the Sharingan could not predict. In close combat, this kind of sharp bone blade that could suddenly stab out from the body without warning had given Sasuke a lot of trouble.
Even after activating the Sharingan, he was unable to defeat Kimimaro in close combat. Sasuke was awestruck.
He had always been proud of his Sharingan.
Even that girl who had always been ahead of him might not be his opponent in terms of taijutsu—Sasuke still didn't know that Sakura Rush was already about to complete Phase Two.
But at this moment, the Shikotsumyaku had completely suppressed the Sharingan! And from the looks of the white-haired youth, he had not yet fully brought out the strength of the Shikotsumyaku, while Sasuke had already pushed his three-tomoe Sharingan to its limit.
This was the first time that Sasuke had found himself defeated by someone else in a battle of cheats... ahem, Kekkei Genkai.
He seemed to have been touched: the Sharingan has its limits. Blindly pursuing the power of the doujutsu and its techniques was indeed putting the cart before the horse.
This thought only flashed for a moment, but this feeling would remain in Sasuke's heart for a long time.
Right now, Sasuke was thinking more about how to defeat Kimimaro.
Since taijutsu was a disadvantage, then...
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