"They're here!"
The Sound Five had barely burst from the forest, not yet reaching the Uchiha compound, when a figure soared toward them in the sky.
"A flying ninja—it's Izayoi, the one who beat Gaara of the Sand Waterfall in the Chunin Exams."
"Be careful. He's got a Storm Release ultimate, long-range, and it hits hard."
Spotting Izayoi, the Sound Four recognized him instantly, shouting warnings.
Kimimaro pulled a photo from his jacket, glanced at it, then at Izayoi, confirming he wasn't Sasuke. Tossing the photo aside, he said, "You go for Sasuke. I'll handle him."
With that, Kimimaro raised a hand toward Izayoi, whispering, "Shikotsumyaku: Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets!"
Swish, swish, swish…
Tiny holes opened at his fingertips, firing bone shards like bullets.
The bones kept launching, regenerating endlessly, forming a barrage like a swarm of bees, blitzing toward Izayoi.
The Sound Four didn't dawdle. As Kimimaro struck, they split into four afterimages, veering left and right to bypass Izayoi, aiming for Sasuke's chakra signature behind.
Izayoi didn't stop them, his gaze piercing the bullet storm to lock onto Kimimaro below, focused intently.
Instantly, bubbles appeared around Kimimaro: two purple, three blue.
[Kekkei Genkai: Shikotsumyaku (Purple)]
[Kage-Level Potential (Purple)]
[Chakra Control (Blue)]
[Taijutsu Genius (Blue)]
[Otsutsuki Bloodline (Blue)]
Eyeing the Kage-Level Potential (Purple) bubble, Izayoi's expression tinged with regret.
Thanks to the Curse Seal of Earth—or rather, natural energy—Kimimaro had clearly defied fate.
At just fifteen, he was entering a explosive growth phase.
Without his bloodline disease, by Shippuden's time, he might've been a titan in the shinobi world.
Anyone tied to the Otsutsuki, and a genius to boot, was no small fry.
Sadly, Kimimaro was on his last legs, a fleeting flare unable to fulfill that potential.
Even if left alone, he'd die before reaching the Sound Village—or on the way.
But now, he might just benefit Izayoi.
Gambler's moment!
Izayoi clapped his hands. "Gale Palm!"
A roaring wind twisted, a massive airflow hand swatting the bone barrage aside.
Then, Izayoi descended.
Kimimaro blinked, surprised Izayoi abandoned his aerial edge instead of kiting from above. With little time left, he didn't dwell, charging at Izayoi.
Black curse marks spread across Kimimaro's body, inking out like liquid, covering him, glowing red.
When the light faded, his bloodless white skin turned dark brown, black patterns on his face, his back humped with giant white bone spikes and a tail—a humanoid lizard.
Curse Seal Stage Two!
Sensing Izayoi's formidable aura, Kimimaro, with time dwindling, went all out.
Drawing his spine, he wielded the hard bone as a soft whip, lashing at Izayoi.
As the bone whip swung, Izayoi, just landing, grinned. "Yours isn't big enough. Let me show you bigger."
He raised a hand, shouting, "Wood Release: Bursting Spear Tree!"
His arm writhed, wooden vines erupting from the ground like snakes, deflecting the whip, coiling, and swelling into a massive tree, aiming to engulf a wide-eyed, shocked Kimimaro.
But lizard-form Kimimaro was lightning-fast, dodging the tree's grasp with a flicker.
Using the tree as cover, he flashed to Izayoi's left, his spine extending like a spear-arrow, aiming for Izayoi's head.
Izayoi didn't turn. A sturdy root shot up, knocking the bone aside, blocking Kimimaro's view.
Wood Release: Diamond Summoning Wood!
"…Too weak."
Izayoi's voice came from behind, startling Kimimaro. He willed his bones into sharp spikes, bursting from his back, turning himself into a porcupine.
Boom—
As the spikes emerged, a deafening crash exploded.
Izayoi, flickering behind Kimimaro, smashed a fist into the sprouting bones.
The spikes couldn't pierce his fist, blocked by a blue chakra flare.
The flare twisted into a shockwave, snapping the steel-hard Shikotsumyaku bones.
The wave slammed Kimimaro, hurling him back.
"So… so strong!"
Blood streamed from Kimimaro's mouth, his organs churning. Even a bone membrane couldn't shield him.
Landing, he gazed at Izayoi's overwhelming might, despair in his eyes.
This guy was on another level.
If Curse Seal Stage Two couldn't match him, the Sound Four stood no chance.
Realizing this, Kimimaro's eyes hardened, decision made.
He just needed to buy time. Per Kabuto's intel, Sasuke had only awakened Two-Tomoe Sharingan—too weak for the Sound Four.
All he had to do was stall!
"Raaargh…"
Kimimaro let out a beastly roar, his body glowing red again. Channeling chakra—mostly spent fighting his disease with drugs—into the ground, he snarled, "Shikotsumyaku… Dance of the Clematis!"
The earth quaked.
"What's happening?"
"That's… Naka River?!"
"Is Sasuke training ninjutsu?"
"That evil chakra—it's not Yin Release. I've sensed it before… damn it! Alert everyone—Orochimaru's men infiltrated Konoha. They're fighting Sasuke!"
Unhindered by barriers, the sudden, terrifying chakra surge alerted the sensory team.
Even ninja at the city's edge, skilled in sensing, turned sharply toward the startled birds fleeing the forest.
Soon, ninja receiving radio orders blurred into near-invisible afterimages, racing toward the Uchiha compound.
Back at the battlefield, Kimimaro's roar echoed.
Rows of massive bone spikes burst from the ground, white waves surging to engulf Izayoi.
So fast and close, even Izayoi's flight couldn't escape their range instantly.
Yet he didn't dodge.
Facing the vast, swift white waves—a certain kill for grounded ninja—he clapped his hands, grinning. "Great move. Such a swan song deserves my reply."
Blue chakra flared around him.
With a shout, he named the technique that tamed the Warring States.
"Wood Release… Advent of a World of Trees!"
Rumble…
A fiercer quake not only engulfed the battlefield but rippled to the Uchiha compound and forest.
Sasuke and Karin, dominating the Sound Four, and Konoha ninja racing toward the compound, felt it.
An unbelievable sight unfolded.
Ancient trees, like slumbering pythons, awoke, bursting from the earth, their river-like trunks rising.
The forest's trees, thick as several men, were already huge.
But before these towering giants, they were children to adults.
The Konoha ninja's eyes trembled, watching trees surpassing the forest's, writhing, spreading, rivaling the Forest of Death.
One ninja stammered, "W-Wood… Wood Release!"
Before others could echo, another shouted, "The technique's too big—turn back!"
Trees multiplied, giants claiming space, pushing latecomers to tilt, forming green waves that turned clearings into forests, swallowing the surrounding woods and Uchiha compound, toppling buildings.
Sasuke, Karin, and the Sound Four were swept up in the green tide.
Luckily, the technique surged toward Naka River, not the compound, or the entire estate would've vanished.
Even so, a tenth of the compound was wrecked.
In the forest, smaller trees fell, beasts fled, yet couldn't escape being consumed.
When calm returned, a stunning scene emerged.
From the Konoha ninja's view, a Forest of Death-level grove stood ahead.
The adjacent forest was like chives beside rice fields—an absurd gap.
Even ninja and villagers at the city's edge could see the exaggerated mini-forest.
"Look, what's that?"
Before the ninja recovered, one pointed skyward.
Following his finger, under a sky painted with gorgeous sunset clouds, a figure—tiny as an ant compared to the trees—floated above the forest.
"Is it a bird? No… a person!"
"A flying ninja—the genius who developed Storm Release."
"I think he's Kurenai-sensei's student, Sasuke's classmate, close friend."
"They say his chakra's huge, likely a latent bloodline genius."
"Wait…"
Those recognizing him shared what they knew.
Suddenly, they froze, realization dawning.
Their faces turned gobsmacked at visible speed.
"Could it…"
One ninja's jaw dropped, staring at the figure above, now forming a blue-white energy ball.
His unspoken words were clear to all.
In that moment, their gazes on Izayoi burned with fervor, like lechers eyeing a goddess.
Izayoi, oblivious to their reactions, infused his Super Hurricane Chain Sphere with Water, Lightning, and Fire natures, turning the blue-white orb into a cyan ball with flowing flames.
"Roaring Light Cannon!"
Granting Kimimaro the grandest funeral, and testing his luck, Izayoi embraced the gambler's moment.
The cyan ball morphed into a beam, blasting down.
Unlike Storm Release: Verdict's diffuse energy, this massive beam wasn't mere electro-thermal attack but carried destructive flame-flowing power.
With one extra nature, its might dwarfed Verdict.
The beam struck the forest, pinpointing Kimimaro, bound by branches, dangling from a treetop—a fixed target.
BOOM—
A cataclysmic explosion roared.
Even Central Street heard the thunderous blast.
City outskirts saw a massive mushroom cloud rise from the forest.
Engulfed, Izayoi peered through the dust with his Tenseigan, hidden by cosmetic lenses, to Kimimaro's former spot.
Kimimaro and a swath of trees were now ash, perhaps part of the dust.
To gamble, Izayoi sacrificed Kimimaro as a prime puppet.
Losing meant wasted chakra and a powerful asset.
Winning meant a new trait, one tied to Otsutsuki Bloodline. If upgraded to an unknown tier, it could lead to Bloodline Encompassing, a core piece for it.
His heart raced, like betting all-in on a dice roll.
Seconds later, his lips curved.
Jackpot!
In the thick dust, two lights only he saw emerged—one purple, one blue.
They flew to him, merging into his body.
Izayoi clenched his fist, awaiting the mood-defining moment.
Ding! You gained trait [Otsutsuki Bloodline (Blue)]. It overlaps with your trait. Fuse or decompose?
Ding! You gained trait [Kekkei Genkai: Shikotsumyaku (Purple)]. Fuse or decompose?
"Fuse—everything!" Izayoi declared, forgoing a blue trait's points.
He pumped his fist.
He won!
A fifty-fifty shot—jackpot or nothing.
Since graduating, only Lee yielded two blue traits. Now, his real body got lucky.
Izayoi's mood soared.
Meanwhile, Sasuke and Karin's fight wrapped up.
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