As soon as the five Sound shinobi emerged from the woods—still some distance from the Uchiha district—they spotted a figure flying in midair ahead of them.
"Flying ninja—that's Izayoi, the one who defeated Gaara of the Sand in the Chūnin Exams!"
"Watch out—he has a long-range Hidden Cloud–like storm jutsu, an advanced combination nature. It's incredibly powerful."
At the sight of him in the sky, the Sound Four immediately recognized who it was and hurriedly warned one another. Meanwhile, Kaguya Kimimaro withdrew a photograph from his clothes. He glanced at it, then up at Izayoi in the air, and confirmed this was not the target, Uchiha Sasuke. He tossed the photo aside.
"You four go find Sasuke," he said coolly. "I'll deal with this one."
With that, Kimimaro raised an arm and calmly spoke: "Shikotsumyaku: Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets!"
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh…
Tiny holes opened at his fingertip bones, and segments of finger bone shot forth like bullets. The finger bones fired rapidly, growing back just as quickly; in only a few heartbeats, they formed a barrage of projectiles—a veritable "swarm" of bone bullets surging at Izayoi.
The Sound Four wasted no time. In the same instant Kimimaro attacked, they split into four blurring shadows, darting off to either side to slip around the airborne Izayoi, aiming to capture Sasuke, who remained back behind them.
Izayoi made no move to stop them. His gaze passed right over the bullet barrage, focusing on Kimimaro below with solemn intensity.
In that moment, several "bubbles" floated around Kimimaro—the only one who could see them was Izayoi. Two were purple, three were blue:
[Bloodline Limit: Shikotsumyaku (Purple)], [Kage-level Aptitude (Purple)], [Chakra Control (Blue)], [Taijutsu Genius (Blue)], [Ōtsutsuki Blood (Blue)]
Seeing that Kimimaro had a purple "Kage-level Aptitude" bubble, Izayoi felt a trace of pity.
Because by relying on the Cursed Seal of Earth—that is, the usage of natural energy—Kimimaro had seemingly defied fate.
At only fifteen, newly entering a period of explosive growth, Kimimaro would have become a fearsome presence if not for his hereditary illness. Once the timeskip came, his power might even rival top figures in the shinobi world.
Any wielder of the Kaguya blood, linked to the distant Ōtsutsuki clan, wouldn't be an ordinary foe.
But now, Kimimaro was on borrowed time. Even doing nothing, he might succumb mid-journey to his illness before he ever got back to the Sound Village.
Which meant Izayoi now had a chance.
It was time to roll the dice.
Izayoi raised a palm, letting out a short exhalation: "Vacuum Palm!"
Howling winds formed swirling gusts like a giant hand, smacking aside the oncoming bullet barrage. Then he descended from midair to the ground.
Seeing him abandon the advantage of flight, opting not to harass them from above, Kimimaro blinked in surprise. But with his time almost up, he wasted no more thought and lunged straight at Izayoi.
During his rush, black markings spread across Kimimaro's body like ink, radiating a crimson glow. When the light faded, his previously colorless skin had gone dark brown, patterned by black streaks, his back dramatically hunched with several tall bone spines and a tail—like a humanoid lizard.
Second Stage of the Cursed Seal!
Given his limited time, Kimimaro sensed the threatening aura around Izayoi and attacked at full power.
He tore his own spine out from his back, controlling that hardened bone whip to lash out at Izayoi.
Watching the lash streak in, Izayoi only chuckled.
"Yours is too small. Let me show you something bigger."
He clapped his hands and shouted: "Wood Release: Great Spear Tree!"
With a wriggling motion of his arm, several sturdy wooden vines shot up from beneath the ground like a nest of serpents. They collided with the incoming spine lash, then rapidly thickened and merged into a tall tree trunk in an attempt to swallow Kimimaro where he stood.
But transformed into his lizard-like Curse Mark Two form, Kimimaro's speed was astonishing; a single flicker was enough to escape the tree's clutches.
Capitalizing on the tree's obstructing bulk, Kimimaro circled around to Izayoi's left side, extending that extracted spine like a spear or arrow aimed right at Izayoi's head.
Yet Izayoi never even turned. From below, another rugged tree root shot forth from the ground, batting aside the incoming bone spear and blocking Kimimaro's line of sight.
Wood Release: Adamantine Beckoning Tree!
"…Too weak," came Izayoi's voice from behind. Kimimaro's pupils shrank sharply; he hastily reshaped the bones in his body, sprouting a crown of spikes out his back in a porcupine-like defense.
Boom!
The moment those spikes emerged, a terrifying shockwave thundered out, the collision echoing like an explosion.
When the wave dissipated, one could see Izayoi had flickered behind Kimimaro and simply punched forward. The newly sprouted bone spikes couldn't pierce his fist; an aura of blue chakra flames protected it.
In just an instant, that blue aura turned into twisting blasts of force, shattering the bone spikes said to be harder than steel. The residual impact slammed into Kimimaro, sending him flying.
"So strong…"
Kimimaro landed, spurting blood from his mouth, feeling the shock reverberating through his organs. Even forming a bone membrane inside his body hadn't eased the impact.
Staring at this unbridgeable gap in power, Kimimaro's heart sank.
Not even his Cursed Seal Stage Two could match this man's strength. For the Sound Four, there was even less hope.
He clenched his teeth, forcing himself to remain resolute.
I just need to buy time, he thought. According to Kabuto's intel, Sasuke had only awakened a two-tomoe Sharingan. With that level, he'd surely be no match for the Sound Four.
All Kimimaro needed to do was stall.
"Aaaargh…"
Low growls emerged from Kimimaro's throat as he roused the lion's share of chakra that was currently busy suppressing his illness. His face twisted in fierce determination.
"Shikotsumyaku—Bracken Dance!"
All at once, the earth rumbled.
"What's going on?"
"This is near… the Naka River?!"
"Is Sasuke practicing a jutsu again?"
"This chakra feels so… sinister. It doesn't seem like a normal Yin Release. I feel like I've seen something like this before… Wait, no—this must mean Orochimaru's men have infiltrated the village, and they're fighting Uchiha Sasuke!"
Having felt the sudden eruption of foreboding chakra, Konoha's sensor-nin grew alarmed. Even those on the outskirts who were sensitive to chakra or had heightened perception stared in the direction of the crows and sparrows flying off in panic.
Within moments, squads of shinobi who'd received orders via transmitter vanished in a flurry of afterimages, racing toward the Uchiha district.
Back at the battlefield, with Kimimaro's furious outcry…
Rank upon rank of thick, towering bone spears burst out of the ground like a tidal wave of white, converging on Izayoi's position. The wave's speed was tremendous; even though Izayoi could fly, he wasn't at a large enough distance to avoid getting caught in the expanding zone.
But he made no effort to evade.
Instead, he eyed the swirling bone forest and gave Kimimaro a slight nod of approval.
"A brilliant last stand indeed. You deserve a proper reply from me."
WHOOSH!
Blue chakra flames erupted from Izayoi, and he shouted:
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Rumble—rumble—rumble…
The quake intensified, not just at their battlefield but also spreading to the Uchiha district and the surrounding forest.
Sasuke, Karin, and the Sound Four had been battling, with Sasuke and Karin holding the clear advantage; they too felt the tremors.
They froze in astonishment, seeing the most unbelievable spectacle:
A huge swath of massive green trees shot up from underground as though awakened from an ancient slumber. Each overshadowed the existing forest by a wide margin.
The trees in that forest might be thick enough to need several people to hug around, but these colossal trunks were on another scale, overshadowing them like adults vs. children.
Watching the newly formed grove—on par with the famous "Forest of Death"—the Konoha shinobi approaching the scene were stunned.
One ninja's voice trembled:
"Th-That's… Wood Release!"
Before his comrades could likewise exclaim, another shinobi paled. "This jutsu covers too much area! Fall back!"
They saw the enormous new trees push out in all directions, toppling younger trees in their path. Slower, newly sprouted trunks bent aside to spread lateral growth, forming a "green wave" that soon swallowed empty land, the original forest—and part of the Uchiha district, destroying many buildings.
Even Sasuke, Karin, and the Sound Four—locked in combat—were engulfed by that green surge, let alone any wildlife in the forest.
Thankfully, the wave's main push was directed toward the Naka River instead of the Uchiha district, or the entire compound would have been obliterated. Even so, about ten percent was wrecked.
When the quake finally subsided, a towering "mini–Forest of Death" spread across the river's edge.
From the vantage of the Konoha shinobi, the new growth stood taller and denser than anything else, dwarfing the adjacent woodlands. Even people stationed on the outskirts or in the central district could see this newly formed swath of colossal trees.
"Hey—look at that!"
"What is it…?"
"Is that a bird? No… it looks like a person!"
Up above, backlit by a dazzling sunset, a tiny figure drifted in midair, dwarfed by the giant trees beneath him.
"A flying ninja—he must be that so-called 'jutsu prodigy' with a Storm Release technique…"
"I heard he's from Yūhi's squad, a classmate of Sasuke's, rumored to have huge chakra, possibly awakened from a distant bloodline."
"Wait… Hang on a second—"
Various witnesses started chattering about the new arrival's identity, then all stopped at once as they realized something.
They stared wide-eyed at the figure in the distance, who was gathering a bluish-white energy sphere in his hand.
Could it be…?
One ninja opened his mouth in disbelief but couldn't finish his words. Everyone present felt the same shock, their expressions turning almost feverish with excitement.
They had no clue how Izayoi saw them from high above. His attention remained fixed on Kaguya Kimimaro.
Holding out his Typhoon Rasengan, he added Water, Lightning, and Fire Release in quick succession, turning the glowing orb into a blazing cyan sphere laced with flickers of flame.
"Maser Light Cannon!"
He unleashed a powerful vortex of cyan light from the sphere, distinct from his usual Storm Release's wide arcs of electricity. This time the orb brimmed with ferocious destructive power.
Although it was only one extra elemental blend compared to "Judgment," the resulting might was in a different league entirely. That cyan laser shot down on the forest below, pinning Kimimaro—already tangled and held aloft in the new forest's branches—like a fixed target.
BOOOOOM!!!
An earsplitting blast thundered across the sky, even reaching central Konoha like distant rolling thunder.
Locals on the outskirts could see a towering mushroom cloud rise from that massive forest.
Within that roiling haze, Izayoi hovered, the faint glow of Tenseigan behind tinted lenses. He stared intently at where Kaguya Kimimaro had been pinned.
In that spot, Kimimaro—along with a huge patch of the forest—was reduced to nothing but dust, scattered by the cataclysm.
By gambling on a better drop rate, Izayoi chose not to turn Kimimaro into a superior "human puppet."
If the gamble failed, he'd have wasted a great deal of chakra and lost a powerful addition to his puppet army.
But if it succeeded, he'd gain a new valuable trait—one that, if compatible with the Ōtsutsuki bloodline, might one day evolve into a true Kekkei Tōta or be an essential stepping stone toward it.
He clenched his fist in suspense… then cracked a slight grin.
It succeeded!
He alone saw two beams of light, one purple and one blue, emerge from the dust and drift into him.
"It dropped," he thought, heart surging with relief.
Moments later, the system-like voice in his head whispered:
[Ding! You have obtained the Ōtsutsuki Blood (Blue) trait. It overlaps with your existing trait. Fuse or Disassemble?]
[Ding! You have obtained the Bloodline Limit: Shikotsumyaku (Purple) trait. Fuse or Disassemble?]
"Fuse—fuse them all!"
He decided in an instant, forgoing the meager points from a blue trait to keep them all.
And so, with a small fist pump, he thought, I actually won the bet!
Having gambled on a 50% chance of a "drop," and remembering how rarely people coughed up traits—once, Rock Lee had dropped two blues—he finally struck gold.
Feeling a heady surge of joy, Izayoi watched as Sasuke and Karin finished their own fight. The Sound Four had already been thoroughly overpowered.
~~~
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