Soon, her scarlet flesh began to dance and leap like petals meeting the sun, rising and falling, swelling and contracting in rhythmic clusters.
As the mercury-like energy flowed back into her pupils, the activated flesh slowly settled back into stillness. These living tissues weren't dead; they were merely sleeping, conserving energy until their master's next call.
With a simple thought, Hinami caused a small slit to open on her slender white index finger. A piece of bone-white phalange wriggled out from the red meat and dropped into her palm. She commanded the tiny "mouth" on her skin to close, and microscopic buds of tissue—hidden even from the Byakugan—grew to bridge the gap.
They intertwined, mended, filled, and bonded. The empty, slightly limp knuckle was refilled with newly grown bone, finally uniting flesh and skeleton as one.
Hinami clenched her fist. There was no trace of abnormality, and the chakra consumption had been minimal.
Holding her own finger bone with two fingers, she noted its surface shimmered with a metallic, matte luster. The bones of a Shikotsumyaku awakener are too hard for even a kunai to pierce. Theoretically, Hinami—who only knew the three basic academy jutsu—should have had no way to damage a material harder than steel.
But...
Her eyes sharpened. Under the microscopic observation of the Byakugan, approximately 12 billion muscle fibers across her body contracted simultaneously. An unparalleled burst of explosive power converged from every muscle in her body toward her fingertips. Her hand bones creaked under the immense pressure.
Crackle!
The finger bone shattered instantly, exploding into a cloud of bone dust.
Looking at the debris on the ground, Hinami was ecstatic. She had crushed a bone as hard as a steel bullet with just two fingers. This was pure physical strength! If she added chakra reinforcement, her muscles would become even more terrifying. What kind of power would be born then?
She recalled medical studies from her past life stating that if all 600+ muscles in the human body fired at once, they could generate about 25 tons of force. Of course, this only existed in theory because human muscles can't fire in the same direction at once, and human skeletons and vessels couldn't withstand that pressure.
Yet, here she was, realizing that theory. Or at least part of it.
In the original series, Shikotsumyaku caused internal damage by piercing tendons and skin, explained away by "rapid healing." But that never explained how they could move freely after a bone shredded a tendon. Anyone with basic biological knowledge knows the human body is a unified system.
The musculoskeletal system makes up 60% of body weight. You cannot have bones that transform freely while the rest of the body remains ordinary.
Hinami realized the true horror of the Shikotsumyaku wasn't the indestructible "Bone" (Kotsu), but the manipulatable, living "Corpse" (Shi) body.
Muscles and skin could grow and split alongside the bone's transformation.
Internal organs could move freely within the abdominal cavity to avoid being pierced.
Fascia and vessels could detach from the bone at any time.
Only a "living corpse" body could support a skeleton that reshaped itself at will. The "Corpse" must come before the "Bone."
But something was still off. Neither Kimimaro nor the other Kaguya (Takechi) clan members she knew had such absolute control over their flesh. The traditional secret techniques only allowed for bursts of "monster strength" and adrenaline spikes—not this level of microscopic control.
She immediately thought of the Byakugan.
Her transformation was triggered by the awakening of Shikotsumyaku followed by the frequent use of her eyes, which allowed the Dojutsu power to "infuse" her body.
No—not infuse. Activate.
The Kaguya clan originally had the ability to control their flesh, but it was passive—like a car without a steering wheel. Her Byakugan had completed the "operating system," allowing the hardware to finally function. The strange itching she felt on the street was the system syncing with the hardware.
Her hypothesis wasn't baseless. The final boss of the original story, Kaguya Otsutsuki, had four main powers: the Sage Body (Senju/Uzumaki), the Sage Eyes (Uchiha), the Byakugan (Hyuga), and the All-Killing Ash Bones (Kaguya).
The Byakugan and Shikotsumyaku were originally parts of a single whole. Now, after a thousand years, they were reunited in her.
Whoosh!
She let out a long breath. Sweat soaked her clothes. She had feared a terminal bloodline disease, but this was a blessing. Her pores opened, and sky-blue chakra drifted out, swirling around her like a celestial mist.
If the Byakugan activated the Shikotsumyaku, then the Shikotsumyaku should also provide feedback to the Byakugan.
Chakra spiraled around her like a water spout. A breeze kicked up in the room, dancing with the curtains. Sunlight hit the wall, projecting her shadow like a solemn Buddha statue in a temple.
But instead of a halo of light behind the statue's head, countless fine threads—like spirit snakes—extended wildly, twisting and dancing in the light.
Hinami narrowed her eyes and smiled. Her silver-grey hair, glowing with chakra, swirled behind her like a spiderweb in a thicket, sealing the space around her.
"Heh, so this is what they call Rabbit Hair Needle."