The edges of Seimei's lightning-covered ninjato and Katsuro's bone blade met, generating a powerful shockwave due to the sheer force behind the two strikes.
BOOOOOMI
Crackle!
Countless lightning bolts danced wildly in the air, ready to reduce Katsuro into nothing but a charred corpse. But Katsuro had also empowered his bone blade with sharp Wind Release chakra, stopping most of the wildly dancing lightning bolts from reaching him.
Of course, Katsuro's Wind Release chakra only managed to stop "most" of the lightning bolts.
Crackle!
Some still managed to penetrate the defense of the wind chakra. After all, Seimei's peak LV6 lightning affinity was not something most ninjas could achieve.
Crack! Crack!
After piercing through the protective wind chakra, the lightning bolts directly assaulted the bone blade. Several minute cracks appeared on the bone blade. Katsuro's right arm wasn't spared either.
Even though he had reinforced his entire body with chakra and created a protective wind field around his right arm, the purple lightning arcs still ripped his arm's skin apart, leaving several jagged, bloody, and scorched wounds.
Katsuro was in a world of pain. But he knew he couldn't afford to lose his concentration.
He molded chakra like a madman and kept reinforcing his bone blade to prevent it from shattering.
Otherwise, the edge of Seimei's lightning-infused ninjato would surely land on his neck.
Still, he knew this couldn't go in.
Not even one second had passed since their blades clashed, but for Katsuro, it already felt like he was fighting peril for an eternity.
So, he struck back.
Katsuro brought his left hand forward, opened his palm, and slammed it toward Seimei. At the same time, a sharp bone spike emerged from his palm, targeting Seimei's chest. Katsuro even covered the bone spike with sharp wind chakra to increase its lethality.
Seimei was still mid-air, making it extremely difficult for him to twist his body enough to dodge the bone spike.
Or, so what Katsuro thought. Unfortunately for him, things didn't go the way he imagined.
Any other ninja foolishly hopping mid-air to attack him would have surely been stabbed by his bone spike now.
But Seimei wasn't just any other ninja. He was a complete cheat, whose spatial affinity was off the charts.
Just when the bone spike was about to pierce Seimei, his figure disappeared all of a sudden.
Katsuro's bone spike hit nothing but the air, and he ended up standing in a weird pose, stretching both of his arms toward the sky.
What the fuck? How the fuck did he just disappear? Katsuro's mind raced, and his pupils constricted in shock.
No signs of Substitution Jutsu. No clones either.
Katsuro even thought that he had fallen under a Genjutsu. But after repeatedly disrupting his internal chakra flow, he discovered that he wasn't under any illusion either.
And that made the situation even more baffling.
If Seimei had used some sort of bizarre move or Jutsu to move his body, he wouldn't be this shocked. Heck, even if Seimei could fly like a bird, Katsuro wouldn't be fazed. He would have simply shot bone spears like bullets to bring Seimei down.
But that guy completely disappeared out of nowhere—as if his whole existence had vanished—giving Katsuro the creeps.
Meanwhile, Seimei, who had already reappeared in another location approximately 25 meters away from the now-confused Katsuro, stared at his opponent with malicious intent.
As for how he suddenly disappeared from Katsuro's sight and arrived at his current location out of thin air…
Of course, he had used the Flying Thunder God Technique—First Step to achieve that.
Although he still hadn't mastered the technique enough to achieve the Second Step, which allowed the users to teleport to a moving spatial coordinate, he could effortlessly teleport to any stationary spatial coordinate marked by his unique Flying Thunder God Mark.
Seimei had already spread his kunai and shuriken, carrying his unique Flying Thunder God Mark, all around the battlefield discreetly.
So, when Seimei saw that he was about to be stabbed by Katsuro's bone spike, he decisively activated the Flying Thunder God Technique—First Step to teleport to one of the marked locations.
That was why Katsuro couldn't see Seimei move or use a substitute. After all, he had used a space-time Ninjutsu to travel through the layers of space.
Unless Katsuro also possessed excellent space-time affinity, he couldn't track shit, let alone perceive the disturbance in the spatial folds.
Seimei had to say that possessing superior space-time talent, supplemented by a proper Space-time Ninjutsu, was indeed a game-changer.
It could allow him to fight more recklessly and unwind while staying safe. No matter how dire the situation was or how many enemies encircled him, he could still get away from and survive the deadliest of situations.
He gave his father, Senju Tobirama, a mental thumbs up for inventing such an awesome space-time Jutsu.
No matter how fearsome the Kaguya clan ninjas are when it comes to close combat, if they can't touch me, how the fuck will they defeat me?
It's time to finish this guy off for good.
Seimei thought inwardly and extended his right arm, pointing at Katsuro, who was still trying to find Seimei's whereabouts.
Chakra surged toward his palm before spreading outward, guiding the water vapor in the air to converge and condense into countless water droplets.
Water Release: Water Burst Bullet
The water droplets quickly converged into a basketball-sized sphere of water, which began to pulsate in a strange rhythm.
And then, Seimei hurled the pulsating water sphere at the unsuspecting Katsuro.
Whoosh!
The water ball rocketed toward Katsuro's back at the speed of a bullet. The moment the water bullet arrived within the five-meter radius of the Kaguya clan ninja, he was instantly alerted by the pulsating water chakra.
Sensing the situation, Katsuro knew that it was too late to dodge.
So, he chose to do the next best thing.
Withstand it.
Shikotsumyaku: Majestic Bone Armor
Katsuro's spinal bone expanded outward and rapidly grew into a regal bone armor, covering his entire back. He even supplied the armor with more chakra to make it sturdier.
It was probably powerful enough to withstand a bazooka without chipping.
But the power behind the Water Burst Bullet turned out to be even more outrageous than a bazooka.
Bang!
The water sphere slammed hard against the bone armor, instantly causing several cracks to appear on the white bone's surface due to the sheer force of impact.
Unfortunately for Katsuro, that wasn't all the water burst bullet did.
At the next moment, the water sphere pulsed faster before exploding, generating a terrifying shockwave.
BOOM!!!
The exploding water sphere also released several highly compressed blades of pressurized water that cut through the sturdy bone, leaving several bone-deep lacerations and gashes on Katsuro's back.
If not for the protection of his bone armor, his body would have been bisected into several chunks of flesh and bones, making the entire scene gory.
"Arrrggh…"
"Hah hah hah…"
Blood continued to leak from his gashes. The extreme pain made him grit his teeth hard. But he still didn't fall.
The extent of his injury and the severe blood loss was already making his body sluggish. He felt lightheaded.
But even then, he didn't ease his vigilance. His enemy was still lurking nearby.
He tried to pinpoint Seimei's location by tracing the trajectory of the Water Burst Bullet.
But the culprit, Seimei, had already vanished.
Right at that moment, he felt a chill down his spine.
Chirp Chirp Zzzzzz Crackle
His mind blared alarm bells as he heard the sound of thousands of birds chirping from behind him.
He quickly looked back, only to see the figure of Seimei thrusting his right palm covered in lightning toward his heart.
Katsuro shifted his body to his left and moved backward, causing Seimei's Chidori to miss his heart and strike the outer edge of his right ribs.
At the same time, Katsuro made a bone spike emerge from his left palm and drove it into Seimei's throat.
However, Seimei, who just had his throat pierced, vanished with a puff of smoke.
Katsuro cursed Seimei and his bad luck. It was a shadow clone, after all.
But the damage he suffered in his right ribs was real.
Suddenly, another Seimei appeared out of thin air in front of Katsuro.
Seimei swung his sword at Katsuro's neck. But Katsuro intercepted the attack and stabbed Seimei's heart with his right hand's bone blade.
Although this made Seimei vomit blood, Katsuro felt something was wrong.
Something was very wrong.
His attack landed on Seimei too easily.
The whole thing reeked of a trap.
Alas, it was too late.
The Seimei, who was vomiting blood a moment ago, suddenly gave a benevolent smile.
His eyes filled with mocking pity toward Katsuro.
And in the blink of an eye, the "Seimei" in front of him turned into a man made of mud. The mud suddenly erupted and enveloped Katsuro before solidifying in an instant.
Katsuro tried to free himself. But his accumulated injuries and blood loss made it very difficult.
However, he didn't have to struggle for long.
Because at the next moment, Seimei appeared behind Katsuro and beheaded him with a swing of his blade.
Katsuro's head rolled on the ground, and blood bloomed from his headless neck like a fountain.
Kaguya Katsuro was finally dead.
Seimei wiped the blood from his blade as he looked toward one of Katsuro's sleeves.
Although others couldn't see or sense it, Seimei could sense his Flying Thunder God Mark there.
He secretly implanted it while fighting with him. And since he added a concealment seal and a chakra masking seal to his compressed Flying Thunder God Mark, those without superior space-time perception, including Katsuro, could not sense it.
"Well, you sure were a tough bone to crack."
Seimei muttered as he looked at Katsuro's lifeless body.
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