Although Shiraishi had suppressed Kaguya Tenyue with a single strike, the latter's shattered bones transformed into countless projectiles, whistling through the air like bullets.
Shiraishi backflipped to evade, his body dissolving into a flurry of bubbles to dodge Mangetsu Hozuki's follow-up Water Gun volley.
Mangetsu lunged forward to rejoin the fray, but Shiraishi's silver blade suddenly emitted a crackling purple discharge.
Perceiving it as Lightning Release, Mangetsu skidded to a halt and retreated, fearful of the elemental counter.
His Hydrification Technique's primary weakness was lightning, making him instinctively cautious.
However, the strange electric wave possessed little actual killing power. Shiraishi, whose repertoire of Lightning Release was limited, was primarily performing real-time data analysis on his opponents while keeping a wary eye on the inactive Kisame.
Is he just here to observe and collect intelligence?
Shiraishi shifted his focus back to the primary threats. To his surprise, the heavily injured Tenyue stood back up, his shattered bones mending and regrowing at an astonishing rate.
This level of osteoproliferation...
"I am glad," Tenyue spoke with a faint, pained smile, "that in the final moments of my life, I could encounter a powerhouse like you."
As he fought, a pair of massive bone blades erupted from his back. His entire body transformed into a spinning whirlwind of white calcium, surging toward Shiraishi.
Simultaneously, Mangetsu swung the Hiramekarei, unleashing a devastating beam of chakra. Facing a pincer attack from both sides, Shiraishi crossed his hands, and two massive earthen walls erupted from the ground to meet the impact.
As the walls shattered, Shiraishi used a Body Flicker to appear beside Tenyue. Just as he prepared to fire a beam of Origin Pulse, the ground beneath Tenyue exploded with thousands of bone spikes.
Shiraishi slashed downward, grinding the bones to dust, but Tenyue leaped into the air, firing a barrage of bone bullets from his fingertips.
Shiraishi's silver sand surged from his scabbard, forming a Shield of Sand in mid-air to intercept the bullets
. During this exchange, Shiraishi had been secretly manipulating the silver sand beneath the island, gradually increasing its volume.
Sensing Shiraishi's preparations, Tenyue made a desperate decision. Without hesitation, he activated the ultimate Bloodline technique of the Kaguya clan.
Dead Bone Pulse: Dance of the Seedling Fern!
Seeing Tenyue unleash this technique, Kisame retreated further onto the ocean surface to avoid the indiscriminate bone growth. "So this is the Macabre Bone Pulse at its peak..."
The terrifying technique caused giant, razor-sharp bones to erupt from the earth in a chaotic forest. Once the growth stopped, the entire island was covered in a dense thicket of bone, making it a death trap for anyone caught on the ground.
Tenyue collapsed to one knee, his body nearly succumbing to the agonizing pain of the rapid bone growth. Mangetsu clicked his tongue in annoyance; Tenyue's indiscriminate attack had forced him to back off as well.
The battlefield was now a skeletal landscape—a specialized domain where fighting a Kaguya was suicidal.
However, unlike the future Kimimaro, Tenyue lacked the medical support of Orochimaru or the enhancement of a Curse Mark. Activating this technique had triggered a violent, terminal backlash within his body.
Seeing Tenyue momentarily incapacitated, Mangetsu fired another high-pressure water gun. Shiraishi, emerging from the bone forest, dissolved into bubbles once more to evade.
"Genjutsu?" Mangetsu sneered. He pushed the Hiramekarei to its maximum output, the blade glowing with intense energy. "I've got you now, Black Mist Shiraishi!"
According to the Hozuki clan's secret records, after a "Mirage" is used, the caster's position can be triangulated through specific sensory ripples.
With the ground covered in Tenyue's bones, Shiraishi had nowhere left to hide. Mangetsu charged with predatory speed, the Hiramekarei flashing in a wide arc.
The blade bit deep into Shiraishi's chest. As blood sprayed, Mangetsu let out a manic laugh. "Finally! You're finished! The genius of the Sand loses to the genius of the Mist after all!"
"It seems you truly never learn..."
The scene before Mangetsu's eyes warped and distorted. Shiraishi appeared behind him, his silver blade already buried in Mangetsu's heart. "The only genius that matters is the one who stays alive."
Silver sand surged from the blade into Mangetsu's heart. The blood became saturated with specialized Magnet Release sand particles that acted like a virus, rapidly invading his organs and nervous system.
"Why... why can't I Hydrify?!"
Normally, physical attacks were useless against the Hozuki clan's Hydrification and healing techniques.
In their last encounter, Shiraishi had only managed to wound him, but this time... Kisame watched in horror as Mangetsu's watery form collapsed and solidified back into a normal, vulnerable human body.
"Black Mist... Shiraishi!" Mangetsu's voice was filled with unwilling rage. He hadn't expected to be defeated by the same man twice. The price of his arrogance was his life.
While Shiraishi didn't use Lightning Release, using Magnet Release to manipulate a magnetic field within the opponent's cells was a far more elegant way to disrupt the Hydrification Technique at its core.
As Mangetsu fell, a monstrous roar erupted from the heart of the bone forest. Tenyue, in his final death throes, began merging the surrounding bones into a single, colossal entity.
A Giant Hand of Bone formed from the island's landscape, reaching out to crush Shiraishi.
Tenyue was being consumed by his own power. This final strike felt eerily similar to the Wood Release of a Sage Body, fueled by a terrifying burst of terminal natural energy.
"Let's end this with one stroke."
Shiraishi gripped his silver blade. The air around him began to spiral violently, forming a series of localized hurricanes. With a calm gaze, he unleashed his finishing move:
Wind Release: Aerial Ace!
The hurricanes transformed into a series of aerial explosions, shredding the Giant Hand of Bone with relentless concussive force.
Black Mist Shiraishi... that guy is a total monster.
Seeing the sheer scale of the destruction, Kisame didn't linger for a second longer. He dove into the ocean and swam away at top speed.
He knew that once Shiraishi finished off the bone hand, he wouldn't stand a chance of escaping.
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