Gray Bone! Gray Bone!

Seeing Isshiki turn and chase after Seiji, Genji had no time to dwell on the many speculations that had just arisen in his mind. With great difficulty, he pulled the black rods embedded in his body out.

Each black rod he pulled out brought a gush of blood with it. Genji grew weaker and weaker, the flame of his life liable to go out at any moment.

Enduring the pain, Genji once more gathered the twenty to thirty percent of Chakra remaining in his body and staggered toward Seiji.

Elsewhere, Seiji had already been caught up to and was forced to fight Isshiki.

With no combat experience whatsoever, Seiji could only begin by probing with a ranged attack.

Seiji employed the prince's tactics.

"Shikotsumyaku: Ten Finger Drilling Bullets!"

Seiji aimed all ten fingers at Isshiki. The Jonin-level Chakra within him rapidly gathered at his fingertips, and waves of bone bullets shot toward Isshiki. The dense barrage of high-speed bone bullets struck Isshiki's body and the ground around him, kicking up a huge cloud of dust.

Seeing his attack connect, Seiji could not help but smile.

But when nothing was supposed to go wrong, something usually did. By the law of smoke meaning no damage, once the dust settled and Seiji saw Isshiki standing there expressionlessly, without even a tear in his clothes, his pupils contracted. Fear welled up inside him, and he involuntarily took half a step back.

Compared to others his age, in the cannibalistic Ninja World where children of five or six could be sent to the battlefield, Seiji possessed a resilient heart—but at this point in time, having never experienced any conflict, he was as immature as an infant.

"Give up struggling, mortal! I am Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, the god of this planet! Obediently merge with me and become the vessel for my resurrection!" Seeing the fear on Seiji's face, Isshiki revealed a satisfied expression. He had finally regained the bearing a god ought to have before mortals, and he slowly approached Seiji with an arrogant look.

Now I can finally sleep peacefully, Isshiki thought as he walked. His steps were slow, yet every one of them landed precisely in time with Seiji's heartbeat.

Damn it, move! I can't die here! Cold sweat covered Seiji's face as unwillingness filled his expression, and he roared inwardly.

Seeing this from afar as he rushed over at high speed, Genji's eyes nearly split apart. Enduring the pain throughout his body, he accelerated once again.

"Stab!" Just as Isshiki was about to reach Seiji, Seiji finally summoned every ounce of his strength and broke free of his fear. He pulled out the Bone Blades Genji had given him, which he kept close to his body, and fiercely stabbed it into his own thigh. Blood immediately spurted out.

Using pain to break free from fear, Seiji finally moved. He stomped hard against the ground with his still-uninjured leg and shot backward at top speed.

"Oh? Not bad, mortal." Isshiki smiled disdainfully, his face bearing the arrogance of a cat toying with a mouse. With a casual wave of his hand, he sent a massive wave of Chakra blasting toward Seiji.

Although the Shikotsumyaku physique he had awakened possessed the ability to heal injuries on its own, he had awakened it far too recently. Moreover, the gap in strength between Isshiki and Seiji was simply too vast. Unable to dodge in time, Seiji was struck by the Chakra blast and hurled away, crashing to the ground like a rag doll.

Isshiki looked at Seiji lying prone on the ground. Several black rods appeared and pierced Seiji's body.

"Ah!" Having never fought anyone in either his past or present life, Seiji could not help crying out in agony. The immense disparity in strength left him powerless to resist, and he was grievously wounded at once.

Genji grew increasingly anxious. Watching his son suffer such devastating injuries, he was overcome with heartache.

Isshiki walked up to Seiji and lifted the already battle-incapable boy with his right hand. "Karma" activated, and black markings rapidly spread across Seiji's body.

Isshiki increased his Chakra output, and the Karma he had just implanted swiftly entered a thawing state.

Isshiki's earlier disdainful indulgence and playful toying had ultimately bought Genji time to arrive. Just as Isshiki prepared to press on and let the Karma thaw further, Genji, having exhausted all his strength, finally reached Seiji and viciously kicked Isshiki away.

At the end of his strength, Genji could no longer suppress his battered body. He spat out another mouthful of blood, braced his hands against the ground, and dropped to one knee. His breath suddenly weakened, and only ten to twenty percent of his burning bloodline remained.

The ambushed Isshiki rose to his feet and straightened the clothes that had gained a few minor wrinkles during that childish fight. He once again walked toward Seiji. In Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's eyes, neither Genji nor Seiji retained any ability to resist.

Unable to move as he lay on the ground, Seiji was like a lamb awaiting slaughter, waiting for Isshiki to thaw the Karma he had just implanted and finally complete his reincarnation.

Nearly collapsed on the ground, Genji stood between Isshiki and Seiji. Isshiki disdainfully raised his foot and kicked at Genji.

In that instant, with preparation on his side, Genji used the last of his strength to tightly cling to Isshiki's incoming leg.

"Hah, how can an ant contend with a god?" Isshiki paid no heed to Genji's final struggle. He bent slightly and raised a hand, about to grab Genji by the hair and throw him away.

Genji forcefully turned his head to look at his son, his eyes filled with endless love, attachment, and reluctance.

"Let's die together! You self-proclaimed god—feel the wrath of what you call an ant!" Every trace of bloodline remaining in Genji's body ignited. All his remaining Chakra and life force gathered together, and a gray Bone Spike rapidly emerged from his right palm. He drove it fiercely into Isshiki's thigh, so close at hand.

"Shikotsumyaku: Ash Bone Technique! This is the final strike of the ninja known as Kaguya Genji!"

"That slut Kaguya's All-Killing Ash Bones!" Isshiki, who had remained calm until now, was horrified upon seeing the gray Bone Spike in Genji's hand. The god who had stood high above all others finally revealed fear.

Back then, Kaguya had ambushed him with All-Killing Ash Bones. Even at the height of his power, that attack had completely robbed him of his ability to fight. In the end, in his panicked flight, the berserk Ten-Tails had devoured half his body.

Isshiki, still heavily injured and not yet recovered, had no way to withstand the annihilating power of this attack. He might truly die.

Panic-stricken, like Wu Zetian widowed and "bereft of Li Zhi," Isshiki hurriedly tried to burst forth with Chakra and get away from Genji. But Isshiki's reckless behavior while he had held the upper hand had given Genji the chance to get close and gamble his life. It was too late to think of retreating now—the gray Bone Spike had already touched Isshiki.

"Urgh!" Isshiki let out an unpleasant whimper.

Although Genji's Ash Bone Technique possessed an annihilating effect that killed upon contact, the gap between a mortal and a god was ultimately immense. This strike could not kill Isshiki outright.

Yet for Isshiki, who had forcibly reincarnated while still severely wounded, such a fatal blow finally brought his life close to its end.

Ignoring Genji, whose body was now covered in cracks and whose face was full of terror upon seeing that Isshiki had not been annihilated, Isshiki forced himself onward with his final breath and once again came before Seiji.

He lifted Seiji with force, Chakra flowing through him as he tried to completely thaw the Karma in his final moments and complete another reincarnation.

Bang!

At that moment, the Seiji Isshiki held in his hand turned into a cloud of white smoke and scattered on the wind.

"Hehehe!" Seiji's figure appeared off to one side. He was barely supporting himself on the ground with one hand, kneeling at an angle. Though blood continually overflowed from the corners of his mouth, his face was full of the relief of surviving a disaster.

The Seiji Isshiki had been holding was actually one of Seiji's shadow clones.

The short videos of Boruto: Two Blue Vortex he had watched in his past life had come in handy. While Isshiki's attention had been entirely focused on Genji's Ash Bone Technique, Seiji endured the intense pain and successfully used the only ninjutsu he remembered from his past life—the Shadow Clone Technique created by Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage. His real body had secretly hidden off to one side.

Perhaps Seiji was simply not fated to die. Thanks to his exceptional talent, after awakening the memories of his past life, he had quickly learned the Shadow Clone Technique, a ninjutsu that ran throughout Naruto from beginning to end.

Looking at his empty hands, Isshiki's body began to gradually crumble amid his stunned disbelief and unwillingness. His life had reached its end.

After using the Ash Bone Technique, cracks began to appear across Genji's body, like shattered porcelain.

A gust of wind swept past. Seeing that his son Seiji was safe and sound, Genji's body gently scattered away with the wind, leaving behind only a pile of ashes on the ground.

"No!" Seiji roared in agony, tears streaming uncontrollably down his face. His last remaining family member was gone as well.

The black rods embedded in Seiji's body suppressed his Chakra, disabling his regenerative ability and leaving him unable to recover. The pain was excruciating, but no matter how much his body hurt, it could not compare to the pain in his heart.

In anguish, Seiji clenched his fists and repeatedly pounded the ground. The pain of losing his family was like a sharp sword piercing his heart, endlessly gnawing away at his soul.

At that moment, Seiji hated his own weakness more than anything. He finally understood one truth: in this Ninja World, strength was supreme. Dignity had to be fought for with blades and ninja tools, and truth only existed within the range of ninjutsu.

The road to growth was always accompanied by hardship and pain. This brutal upheaval forced Seiji, who had lived in a peaceful age in his previous life, to swiftly adapt to this Ninja World filled with conflict, accelerating his growth as well.

Seiji's voice had already turned hoarse. When he raised his head, his once delicate yet bewitching face was covered in dried tear tracks, and the light in his lively eyes had faded into utter dimness.

After a long while, Seiji finally gathered himself. Enduring the pain, he gritted his teeth and pulled out the several black rods embedded in his body. Chakra began to flow through him once more.

The strengthened physique brought about by the awakening of the Shikotsumyaku bloodline came into effect, and Seiji's body rapidly began to recover.

A quarter of an hour later, Seiji had regained a little mobility. He picked up one of the black rods beside him, used it as a cane, and staggered away step by step.