A twisted, sickly laugh gurgled from Kaguya Takehiro's throat as the injuries on his body visibly healed themselves back together. The protruding bones retracted under his command, smoothing back into his flesh.
Then, with a maniacal grin, he slammed his palms onto the earth.
Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Willow!
Razor-sharp bone spikes erupted from his skin in an instant, as if every bone in his limbs was being weaponized. They shot towards Yuta with terrifying speed.
Even in his Fifth Gate, the velocity of these bone projectiles was absurdly fast.
'If the speed of the Fifth Gate can't keep up... then,'
"The Sixth Gate, Gate of Joy: Open!"
In that instant, a vibrant green aura of chakra erupted from Yuta's body. He felt the long-forgotten, sharp sting of strain—a consequence of his youth and still-developing physique.
While the first five gates posed no burden, opening the Sixth Gate, the Gate of Joy came with a cost. Maintaining it, however, was manageable.
His eyes narrowed in focus. In a flash, he vanished, reappearing directly to Takehiro's side.
This time, the Kaguya clansman seemed prepared. He instantly crossed his arms, the bones within swelling and fusing to form a thick, domed shield of bone.
Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Clematis: Flower Form!
Yuta's whip-like kick connected with the bone shield.
A dull, powerful thud echoed, and the impact sent Takehiro skidding backward. Yet, the shield held firm, stubbornly protecting its master.
Yuta's eyes widened in disbelief. 'Are you kidding me? A turtle? How is this shell so thick it can block a strike from the Sixth Gates?'
'With a defense this hard, has the Kaguya Clan ever considered going into the weapon business?' he wondered, a stray thought cutting through the combat focus.
'They could make offensive or defensive ninja tools from their bones. There's got to be a market. After all, a Shikotsumyaku user can constantly control their osteoblasts and osteoclasts. They could mass-produce weapons without losing a thing.'
As Takehiro created distance from the impact, Yuta deactivated the Sixth Gate.
The green aura faded, and the familiar power of Sage Mode washed over him once more.
'Trying to defeat a Shikotsumyaku user with pure taijutsu is naive. Ninjutsu is the better tool for this job.'
"He deactivated the Eight Gates and returned to that strange state from the beginning?" Takehiro muttered, his mad grin returning. "No matter! Whatever you use, the victor will be me!"
A flicker of pain crossed Takehiro's face, quickly subsumed by frenzy. "Come! Witness the true terror of the Shikotsumyaku!"
He unleashed his chakra in a torrent. In the next moment, there was not a single patch of unbroken skin on his body.
Countless pure white bone spikes pierced outwards, enveloping him.
From Yuta's perspective, Takehiro was being swallowed by his own bones, transformed into a grotesque thicket of white spikes.
Then, the entire thicket erupted!
Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Seedling Fern!
This was one of the ultimate dances of the Shikotsumyaku—a technique of both offense and defense.
Yuta's eyes narrowed to slits. Wind-nature chakra spiraled into a high-speed vortex in his palm, emitting a piercing, destructive hum.
Sage Art: Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!
The ever-expanding ball of chakra light in Yuta's hand made Takehiro's twisted expression freeze solid.
His manic laughter died in his throat, replaced by disbelief and a dawning panic.
Under Takehiro's horrified gaze, Yuta hurled the Rasenshuriken.
The dazzling sphere of light descended, its humming scream promising the annihilation of all it touched. The terrifying wind pressure alone instantly gouged several deep ravines into the ground.
Takehiro's pupils contracted to pinpricks. On instinct, he commanded his forest of bone spikes to surge upward, trying to form a defensive barrier.
The moment the two forces made contact, his face turned ashen. He realized, with horrifying clarity, that he had been terribly wrong.
The vast expanse of bone could not block this ninjutsu.
A tearing, grinding agony assaulted his senses. He frantically pushed more chakra out, trying to force his bones to regenerate faster. But it was too late. A second later, a sensation of being shredded at a fundamental level swept through his entire being.
Yuta was not surprised by this outcome.
The Wind Release: Rasenshuriken was, if not the only ninjutsu capable of this, perhaps the single most effective technique in the world against the Kaguya clan's Shikotsumyaku.
The Shikotsumyaku worked by manipulating osteoblasts and osteoclasts to control one's bones. The Rasenshuriken's essence was to destroy its target at a microscopic, cellular level, inflicting continuous damage akin to a potent toxin.
Kaguya Takehiro was utterly and completely dead.
The only pity was that there wouldn't be a complete corpse left to study.
'He's been torn apart by the Rasenshuriken... so... I probably can't give him to Orochimaru for experiments anymore, right?'
'Wait, that's not right.'
Besides Takehiro, there should be many other Kaguya clansmen here. With a bit of luck, a few of them might have also awakened the Shikotsumyaku.
Yuta turned his head, his gaze cool and assessing, settling upon Kaguya Takehiro's horrified subordinates.
"Lord Takehiro!"
"Damn you! Kill him! Avenge Lord Takehiro!"
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