**———**
*Whoosh!*
White bone splashed through puddled water.
Without warning, *Hikari* lunged at *Bloodhound*.
The masked ninja spun to flee—but she closed the gap in an instant, her bone blade slashing downward toward his spine.
*CLANG!*
The razor-edged strike didn't cleave him in two as she'd expected. Instead, it bounced off his back as if she'd struck a mountain. Her wrist trembled from the recoil.
Seizing the opening, Bloodhound bolted.
*Byakugan—activate.*
Beneath his cloak, his skin was armored with densely packed *Earth Release chakra*.
**"Earth Style: Hardening Technique,"** crooned *Karasu*'s slimy voice from the shadows. **"Little miss, what will you do now?"**
Ignoring the taunt, Hikari assessed her options.
*These Kirigakure ANBU elites live up to their reputation.*
Even with her *taijutsu* and *genjutsu* specialties countered, they were relentless. A full-power burst would leave her drained for six critical seconds—but without it, her six-year-old body lacked the strength for a killing blow.
Karasu's *Water Instantaneous Movement* made him untouchable.
Her only path? Kill Bloodhound first. His right arm was crippled, his weapon lost. To break his hardening, she needed **blunt force**.
*Creeeak—*
Thick bone erupted from her palm, reshaping—tapered at the tip, weighted at the base. Edges sharpened into brutal facets.
A **dense, four-edged bone mace** now filled her grip.
She tested its heft. Perfect balance.
Bloodhound's eyes narrowed at the grotesque weapon.
*Too late.*
*WHOOSH!*
Hikari vanished—reappeared in his face—mace already mid-swing.
Wind pressure screamed as it descended.
His temple throbbed. Locked in hardening's stiffness, he crossed his arms to block.
*BOOM!*
The mace struck.
Impact shattered his earthen armor like glass. The force launched him spinning through the air—*CRASH!*—into a tree trunk.
*"Guh—!"* He vomited blood, arms shaking as he tried to rise.
*SWISH!*
Hikari swung again—aiming for his skull.
His hairs stood on end. A direct hit would crush his head like a melon.
**"Got you!"**
Karasu materialized via *Water Instantaneous*, tendrils of liquid lashing at her ankles.
She sidestepped—
—only for Bloodhound to tackle her, pinning her arms.
*SNAP!* Bone spikes jutted from her body… but his hardening deflected them, sparks flying where they scraped.
Muscles spent from her earlier strikes, she couldn't break free.
*Five seconds.*
Both enemies knew: her next burst wasn't ready.
Karasu's hands plunged into gathering water.
**"Water Style: Water Prison Technique!"**
The ground's moisture spiraled upward, poised to engulf them. Once sealed, no one escaped alive.
*Now.*
Hikari's fingers flexed—aimed at Karasu.
**"Dead Bone Pulse—!"**
Glinting bone bullets loaded at her fingertips.
*Three seconds.*
A whirlpool barrier erupted between them.
**"Water Style: Water Wall!"**
A second Karasu (a *water clone*?) completed the jutsu before dissolving, speeding the prison's formation.
**"Little miss, this is how *Hellfox* died, isn't it?"** His voice oozed through the liquid. He'd anticipated her trick.
*One second.*
The water sealed shut.
Karasu exhaled. **"Game over."**
Just wait for suffocation—then extract Bloodhound. Victory.
*…Hmph. Impressive child—*
*RUMBLE!*
The prison shuddered violently.
**"What?!"**
He poured in more chakra—but his pathways **clogged**. Alien energy choked his flow.
His eyes widened.
Beneath the water, **hair-thin bone needles** had pierced his acupuncture points.
*His veins were paralyzed.*
*SPLASH!*
The prison collapsed, revealing Hikari—drenched but smirking—as Bloodhound still clung to her.
Her finger gun leveled at Karasu.
**"Bang."**
*PCHOO!*
A fingerbone bullet **pierced his skull**.
Brains sprayed. He crumpled.
**"Karasu!!"** Bloodhound roared, crushing her throat in his arms.
*SNAP!*
Her neck bent backward—**vertebrae exposed**, throat torn open.
Yet—
Her upside-down face **kept smiling**.
*THUNK!*
A spinal spur **impaled his eyeball**, drilling into his brain.
*"G-GAHHH—!"*
More bone spikes erupted, turning him into a pincushion.
**Bloodhound—DEAD.**
———
Dawn light crept through the trees.
Hikari wrenched her head back into place, *chakra* stitching flesh. Steam rose from the wounds.
*Not fatal. But close.*
The *Dead Bone Pulse* had limits. A *Senju* or *Uzumaki*'s vitality would've healed this instantly.
Still—she'd won.
**Rule #1 of combat:** *Never engage a Hyūga or Kaguya in close quarters.*
Yet they'd nearly succeeded. Without *Rabbit Hair Needles*, she'd have died.
*A genjutsu specialist (Tokubetsu Jōnin) and a taijutsu-focused Chūnin*—with her *Byakugan* negating illusions—had almost killed a **dual bloodline wielder**.
Why?
1. **Her body's youth.** A mere week had passed since her rebirth into this hunted life.
2. **Kiri's quality.** The *"Bloody Mist"* bred only the strongest. The weak perished.
A cruel system—but one born of necessity.
The *Land of Water* was small, resource-starved, sandwiched between *Fire* and *Lightning*. The *"Bloody Mist"* ensured survival through ruthless meritocracy.
*"Mist is fleeting—but blood feeds the roots."*
Her father's words echoed.
———
As sunlight burned away the mist, Hikari stripped her ruined clothes, skin sheathing itself in bone scales.
She dressed, packed, and burned the corpses.
Then—
A **chakra-dense "worm"** squirmed from Bloodhound's remains.
*The source of his sudden power?*
She smashed it into a vial.
*To be studied later.*
Staff tapping, she turned **west**.
Toward *Konoha*.
Where true power awaited.
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