Dangerous Situation II

Chaotic fallen trees littered the ground, and the air was heavy with dust and the scent of blood. The crackling sound of lightning arcs echoed conspicuously in this unusual environment.

Satoru's feet left the ground as he hovered in midair. Arcs of lightning danced among his black hair, and his clothes rustled in the gusts of wind swirling around him.

It was as if he had transformed into a Super Saiyan.

Jūzō, narrowed his eyes as he focused on Satoru enveloped in lightning. In just a brief moment, he suddenly sensed that the aura emanating from his opponent had grown several times stronger.

"Some kind of short-term power enhancement technique? Similar to Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode?"

"Heh heh, I didn't expect you to still possess this kind of ability. This kind of prey is truly interesting."

Maru let out a piercing laugh. Something visibly squirmed beneath his skin, and two sharp bone spikes emerged from his palms, tightly gripped.

"Maru, he's my prey!"

A shadow flickered in Jūzō's eyes, and chakra surged within him. He charged towards the levitating Satoru, the executioner's blade carrying terrifying force, crashing down upon him.

Thunk!

Accompanied by a muffled sound, Jūzō's pupils suddenly contracted.

"How is this possible..."

In front of him, Satoru raised his hand, blocking the blade's edge. Astonishingly, the massive executioner's blade couldn't advance even an inch, frozen in place.

"What kind of technique is this? How did your Magnet Release suddenly become so powerful?"

Jūzō was taken aback.

Satoru's palm hadn't even touched the blade's edge. More accurately, a terrifying repulsive force had manifested on the blade's surface about a centimeter away from Satoru's hand. It was like a mountain range, impervious to his efforts to move it.

However, an even more horrifying sight unfolded.

The enormous blade of the executioner's sword began to dissolve. Starting from where Satoru's palm held it, it melted into a silvery metallic liquid, flowing slowly along his arm.

In a matter of mere breaths, over half of the blade had disintegrated.

Jūzō's pupils trembled slightly. He could no longer hold his ground and immediately released his grip on the executioner's blade, retreating in fear.

"Maru, there's something odd about this kid."

"Jūzō, isn't it just an attack that got blocked? When did you become this timid?"

Maru taunted him with a sneer. Due to Jūzō's obstruction, he hadn't witnessed the astonishing scene.

Satoru had completely disintegrated the executioner's blade. The silvery metallic fluid seemed to come to life, resembling a silver serpent, slowly winding around his shoulders and arms.

Matter disintegration!

Under the terrifying enhancement of his Tyrant Mode, Satoru had finally touched upon the threshold of matter disintegration.

While he hadn't yet reached the level of manipulating atoms, he had dismantled the entire executioner's blade into tiny particles with a diameter of less than 10 nanometers. In this unique state, the metallic substance retained both its metallic and fluid properties, commonly known as...

Magnetic fluid!

With his gaze fixed on Jūzō, Satoru moved like a thunderbolt, charging forward.

A potent sense of life-and-death crisis enveloped him. Coldness erupted from his tailbone, surging up his spine and into the back of his head.

With no time for escape, Satoru's attack was already upon him.

The silver serpent rapidly slithered out from his arm, morphing into a curved blade that sliced through his throat in an instant.

Squelch!

The world seemed to turn crimson, and Jūzō suddenly felt his body becoming weightless. Everything in his field of vision flipped.

In the final moments before his consciousness faded, he seemed to hear faint laughter in his ears.

"I like your greatsword."

Plip...

His head fell to the ground, his expression of terror frozen in vivid detail.

"Jūzō..."

Maru stared in stunned disbelief. The battle had shifted so rapidly that he couldn't even react in time. He only saw Jūzō recoil in fear for some unknown reason, and then, Satoru counterattacked, sending Jūzō's head high into the air.

The remaining blood on the silver blade seeped into the metallic substance, and the silver serpent seemed even sharper.

Satoru felt a surge of joy. Indeed, the magnetically fluidized executioner's blade retained the ability to absorb blood.

"Damn it..."

Maru clenched his teeth, extreme anger bursting forth from his mind, causing his eyes to redden.

Visible movement wriggled beneath his skin, and accompanied by the sound of flesh piercing, sharp bone spikes burst through his body.

From the chest, elbows, and spine, sharp bone spikes protruded everywhere, resembling a monstrous creature.

Satoru's expression grew more serious. The reason he had dealt with Jūzō so easily was that his abilities completely countered the latter's sword techniques. However, with Maru's Shikotsumyaku, the bones he manipulated were difficult to influence. With the nearly frenzied combat desire of the Hiruya clan, the real battle was about to begin.

"Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets!"

Maru roared, raising ten fingers towards Satoru. White bones slithered out from his fingertips and shot forth.

Satoru didn't dodge. The silver serpent flowed swiftly, forming a silver metallic shield that he held in front of him.

Clang clang clang...

With the sound of metal colliding, all ten bone bullets were completely blocked.

"It's not over yet!"

The instant the silver shield melted, it was as if a demon had arrived. Maru was already beside Satoru, and sharp bone spikes burst from his knees, delivering a heavy kick toward Satoru.

Once again, the silver serpent slithered, blocking Maru's attack.

The silver metallic substance flowed on Maru's white bones, moving along the bone spikes and towards his body.

A sense of icy coldness washed over Maru. He immediately retreated and swung his hand like a knife, swiftly severing the silver bone spikes that had flowed onto his thigh.

"Quite cautious, aren't you?"

Satoru couldn't help but lament. If he could introduce metal into Maru's body, the battle's outcome would have been decided. He didn't expect his opponent to retain such a high level of caution, even amid near madness. This Kaguya's shinobi was not an ordinary individual. He wondered if there was any connection between him and the future Kimimaro.

Under the enhancement of the Tyrant Mode, Satoru had access to many abilities he couldn't use before.

However, he still had a long way to go before reaching the level of manipulating matter at the molecular level. If he could, he could directly control the calcium molecules within Maru's body and cause him to die instantly.

"You brat, you've thoroughly provoked me."

Passing through the gates of death, Maru could no longer suppress his anger. Chakra raged madly within him.

"Dance of the Seedling Fern!"

Countless bone spikes sprouted from the ground around him, like bamboo shoots after rain, rapidly spreading across the entire battlefield. The corpse of Jūzō nearby was pierced through and through by the chaotic growth of bone spikes.

Satoru's body floated upward quickly, evading the onslaught of bone spike growth.

Looking down from midair, a forest of white bones had indeed sprung up.