Whispers of Bones

A little earlier, beyond the dust and smoke of Beast Soldier Guard's berserk battlefield, another deadly clash was unfolding.

Corpse Erosion gripped a bone blade that was deathly white tinged with blue-gray in his intact right hand, his attacks broad and forceful.

His left arm, wrapped layer upon layer in blood-soaked bandages, was like a hidden venomous scorpion. Without warning, the bandages would burst apart, firing several short, sharp, silent bone spikes that viciously sealed off Itachi's paths of retreat.

Relying on the dynamic vision granted by the Sharingan, as well as the chakra transmitted by the slug on his shoulder to sustain his rapidly depleting stamina and chakra, he barely maintained a fragile balance.

The young Uchiha clan heir kept a constant watch on the surroundings from the corner of his eye.

Water Erosion had vanished. Senior Shizune and Senior Anko were in trouble.

How long could the one in the backyard sustain the enormous chakra consumption of supporting three people at once? Would the vanished enemy cause the barely maintained situation to collapse?

Senior Shuji still hadn't arrived. I'm the only one who can achieve anything.

I can't fight conservatively anymore.

Itachi made up his mind.

He narrowly deflected three bone spikes flying straight at him once more, seized an opportunity as his enemy attacked head-on, and met that lifeless eye with his Sharingan.

Genjutsu: Sharingan!

Corpse Erosion's blade-swinging motion suddenly stiffened.

Darkness... endless darkness... a cold metal restraint table... blinding white light...

"Mmm... the degree of skeletal mutation exceeds expectations... viability is acceptable... try this..."

A snake hissed beside his ear.

Crack! Agonizing pain! His arm was forcibly twisted... his deathly pale hand bones were pulled out one by one... ripped free...

"Ah—!!!!" The scream from the depths of his soul seemed ready to tear everything apart!

"Urrgh—!!!"

In reality, Corpse Erosion suddenly arched his body and let out a shrill, twisted howl that did not sound human!

The terrifying memories buried in the deepest recesses of his mind erupted under the precise prying of the Sharingan's genjutsu! The violent mental shock made his blade-wielding right hand tremble violently. His offensive collapsed in an instant, and his whole body froze in place.

Now!

Itachi did not hesitate in the slightest as he pounced toward Corpse Erosion, whose center was wide open!

The kunai in his hand stabbed straight at the enemy's throat, completely exposed by his agonized howl!

Yet, just as the kunai's tip was about to touch skin—

Corpse Erosion's bloodshot, clouded eyeballs, nearly bulging from their sockets, suddenly locked onto Itachi at point-blank range!

At the final moment, the extreme threat of death actually overwhelmed the mental storm caused by the genjutsu, awakening the most primitive, mutually destructive savagery in his bones!

He completely abandoned defense and evasion. With an almost crazed motion, his blade-wielding right hand slashed upward from below toward Itachi's unguarded waist and abdomen!

Splat!

At the critical moment, Itachi forcibly twisted his body, barely avoiding a lethal blow to the waist and abdomen! But the edge of that bone blade, glinting with an eerie sheen, still swept past the combat uniform at his side with a bone-piercing chill.

"Hah... hah... let's... go to hell together!!" Corpse Erosion spat out hot, bloody foam. One hand clutched his throat, pierced by the kunai and pouring blood, as he crashed to the ground with endless resentment and relief.

Itachi lowered his head and glanced at his side.

The combat uniform from Aoki Ninja Tools Store had been cut open by a gash about an inch long, leaving a clear scratch along the edge of the metal plate embedded within.

The gift was damaged.

A faint coolness came from his skin. It seemed to be only a shallow scratch.

A minor injury. Nothing serious.

At that moment, a muffled cry of pain suddenly came from the direction of the main battlefield, followed by the dull thud of something heavy hitting the ground!

Itachi turned toward the sound. Through the roiling smoke and dust, he happened to see Senior Shizune's right arm stained with blood as she stumbled and fell! He instinctively started to move to support her—

An indescribable chill, one that came from the very depths of his marrow, suddenly erupted from the tiny scratch at his waist!

Like countless tiny ice awls covered in barbs, they crazily burrowed and spread upward through his blood vessels and chakra pathways!

The chill was like a living thing, brimming with intense corrosive and destructive power as it rampaged through his body! It not only frantically gnawed away at his chakra pathways, but also battered his neural center like maggots clinging to bone! His vision instantly blurred and warped, as if veiled by a thin layer of blood-red gauze.

An irresistible heaviness and numbness spread through his body, as though his blood were freezing solid!

He tried to steady himself, but his legs felt as if they had been filled with lead, as if he were standing in a bottomless swamp.

A violent wave of vertigo struck him. He dropped heavily to one knee, driving the kunai in his right hand deep into the cracked stone slab before him just to barely support his collapsing body.

Every breath brought icy, piercing pain. The air entering his lungs seemed to turn into fine shards of ice.

The Sharingan still shone crimson, but the focus in his eyes had become scattered and strained due to the abrupt changes in his body.

Gritting his teeth, he used the last of his will to raise his head and look through the pervasive smoke, dust, and Blood Mist toward the heart of the storm—

At the same time, in the rear courtyard of the Wasabi Family, at the deep corridor leading to the inner residence.

The air seemed frozen, saturated with tension and a rusty smell of blood that even the sea breeze could not disperse. Water Erosion was like a ghost crawling out from the depths of a swamp. The enormous brown gourd on his shoulder tilted slightly, its mouth aimed at the corridor entrance and the panicked figures faintly visible deeper inside.

Thick, ink-black water, reeking intensely of rot and decay, flowed from the gourd's mouth like a living creature. It gathered and churned before him, forming an ever-expanding, filthy tide that radiated an ominous aura. Wherever the black water passed, the wooden surfaces of the corridor pillars rapidly blackened and rotted away, issuing faint yet terrifying sizzling sounds as wisps of pungent white smoke rose. Its slow but unstoppable advance carried the oppressive weight of a death sentence.

Just as that filthy tide was about to wash over the corridor threshold and devour everything beyond it—

Whoosh—!!!

A piercing shriek tore through the dead silence!

A feathered arrow with a white paper talisman tied to its tail shot down like a burning meteor from the top of a tall watchtower to the side! The arrow struck with perfect precision at the edge of the churning black water, less than half a step in front of Water Erosion!

Boom!!!

A deafening explosion erupted! Blazing fire instantly engulfed an area several feet around where the arrow landed!

The violent shockwave, carrying shattered stone, wood splinters, and burning scraps of talisman paper, blasted outward in all directions.

The filthy black water was violently blown apart by the sudden impact. Countless tiny black droplets shrieked as they carbonized and evaporated in the intense heat.

The air filled with a nauseating stench of scorched rot.

The blast made the hovering Water Erosion sway slightly, his cloak whipping violently.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

There was no pause! From the watchtower came the rapid, storm-like twang of bowstrings as three more arrows, each with an Explosive Tag tied to its tail, shot down in a triangular formation at Water Erosion and the black water gathering again before him!

Wasabi Jirocho stood behind the watchtower battlements. Behind him were several Wasabi Family guards who had volunteered to stay behind. Their faces were equally pale, but their eyes burned with the same determination as their family head.

Their movements were swift and steady. One drew his bow and nocked an arrow, its point aimed firmly at the disgusting monster below. Another deftly fastened Explosive Tags covered in sealing runes to special clasps at the ends of the arrow shafts.

"Stay steady! Aim at his feet! Interrupt his jutsu!" Jirocho's voice was low and clear.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three explosions erupted violently around Water Erosion almost simultaneously! Fire surged into the sky and shockwaves rolled outward! The black water that had just gathered again was torn apart and evaporated once more by the violent force! Scorching air swept up the dust on the ground, forming a murky cloud of smoke.

"Keep going! Don't stop! Suppress him!" Jirocho growled, taking an arrow with an Explosive Tag already tied to it from the guard beside him and personally drawing his well-maintained hard bow.

The bowstring pulled taut with a teeth-grating groan. He took a deep breath, his gaze piercing through the smoke as he fixed on the churning darkness below.

One arrow after another, burning with the flames of death like unyielding meteors, poured continuously from the top of the watchtower!

Explosions flared one after another, and the deafening booms continued without end, firmly pinning Water Erosion and the filthy black water he had summoned within the limited space outside the corridor entrance!

Every explosion made the writhing black water churn and diminish violently.

Water Erosion tried to manipulate the black water to spread forward, but the incessant blast waves and scorching flames formed an invisible barrier, greatly disrupting and weakening the black water's ability to gather and advance.

The restless swarm of insects, like black dust and occasionally flashing amid the explosions, also seemed to fall into brief chaos before such dense physical impacts and bursts of energy.

For research, I reinstalled the mobile game. Which self-selectable A-rank ninja should I choose?