Addicted Despite Being Bad

The Senju Clan ninjas maintaining the Barrier slightly parted it.

A ripple suddenly appeared in the transparent air, which turned viscous.

Like air baked beneath the summer sun.

"All right, go in."

The Great Elder waved his hand.

Jueming and Sayuri stepped inside.

"Great Elder, Funano Daikoku came by earlier. I already dealt with him..."

A clan member approached the Great Elder and spoke quietly.

"Mm, I know."

The Great Elder nodded, then turned his gaze toward the two of them.

He was not the only one watching this scene.

The other clan members were watching as well.

Every one of them had witnessed the mutation of their fellow clansmen.

Many of them had personally killed mutated Clan Members too.

And now...

It was the turn of a brand-new generation to go through what they had once experienced.

That was... personally killing Aberrations, killing their own clansmen, and ending their suffering.

Jueming slowly approached Senju Takeshi's house.

The residence and the surrounding courtyard had both been sealed off by the Barrier.

This place had become an arena for a trapped beast's desperate struggle.

"Strategy."

Sayuri turned to look at Jueming beside her.

The Ninja Academy had taught them plans for "team strategies."

A two-person team had its own methods of coordination as well.

"Have you dealt with mutated clansmen before?" Jueming asked her first.

"..."

Sayuri shook her head.

"Then stay behind me. Leave it to me."

Jueming stated.

Since she had no combat experience, she should stay in the back and watch carefully instead of causing trouble.

After all, she was a silver-haired, red-eyed girl who would likely help him cultivate in the future and help him make the Senju Clan great again. It was fine to take care of her a little.

"..."

The silver-haired girl with thin braids nodded.

Then, the two of them crept toward the window.

Crunch, crunch... crunch, crunch...

The sound of chewing raw meat and white bones drifted over.

Through the shattered window, Jueming and Sayuri saw a figure.

Senju Takeshi was squatting on the floor with his back to them.

The sight reminded Jueming of Senju Akira.

She had looked just like this before her mutation.

Holding something in both hands, Senju Takeshi was gnawing on it.

It was probably the rat he had chewed to death, as the Great Elder had mentioned.

"Sigh..."

Suddenly, Senju Takeshi stopped moving and let out a sigh.

"Senju Jueming..."

"Being able to speak doesn't mean he's fine."

Jueming explained to Sayuri with a cold expression.

"A mutated clansman might seem conscious, but they are no longer human... They may have even lost their souls, leaving only a mutated shell behind."

"..."

Sayuri nodded slightly to show that she understood.

Senju Takeshi remained crouched in the shadows, without even raising his head as he continued, "We're clearly the same age. Why am I always inferior to you...?"

"Maybe... because you're just too bad."

Jueming replied blandly.

Senju Takeshi: "...!!"

Crunch! Crunch!

Senju Takeshi's body twitched several times. Flesh wriggled beneath his skin, as though he were about to explode into action.

Jueming said, "Bad at everything, yet so addicted to trying. If he didn't mutate, who would?"

Mito Uzumaki: "..."

"!"

Senju Takeshi abruptly turned his head and glared fiercely at Jueming with bloodshot eyes.

His mouth was covered in the flesh and blood of dead rats.

He looked like a zombie monster gnawing on corpses.

"Senju Jueming~~~~! Why... are you... so infuriating?"

"..."

Senju Sayuri froze slightly.

Then she saw a black shadow pounce at Jueming with lightning speed!

Boom!!

The impact not only shattered the window, but struck Jueming's body as well!

Jueming was sent flying backward, hitting the ground with a thud and falling Prone.

Sayuri stood motionless, as though she had frozen stiff.

She could clearly see Senju Takeshi's body constantly twisting and swelling.

It was as if... some monster was about to burst out of him.

"This is bad..."

Senju Sayuri's pupils contracted as she realized the severity of the situation.

The top student of their grade.

Senju Jueming, the genius among his Peers who had surpassed even the son of Konoha's White Fang, had actually been instantly defeated by mutated Senju Takeshi in a single move?!

"!"

The clan members outside the Barrier all wanted to rush inside.

But the Great Elder waved a hand and stopped them.

"Strange..."

Senju Takeshi was actually rather confused inside.

"It seemed like... I barely used any strength, yet he dropped to the ground?"

In the black night.

Jueming lay Prone on the ground, seemingly knocked down.

However, only Jueming himself knew what had happened.

The instant Senju Takeshi pounced, Jueming had borrowed the force to retreat rapidly and thrown himself down.

When in doubt, go Prone first.

After bringing the stance of "Grass Release - Body - Prone" to its fullest, Jueming felt much more at ease.

Thanks to the increased defense of his skin from his long-term Fencing in the past.

Combined with the defensive buffs from the two stances of Prone and Handstand.

The three combined.

He could completely withstand the attacks of any of his Peers.

Compared to when he had faced Senju Akira, Jueming was undoubtedly far calmer now.

"Ahhh~~~!!"

Senju Takeshi let out a roar that did not sound human.

He began changing again.

Crack, crack, crack...

Tree-like patterns spread across his palm, gradually turning it into a grotesque fusion of wood and flesh.

The Wood Release Factor Hereditary Virus had finally erupted within his body.

"Senju Jueming~~~~."

With a voice full of venomous hatred, Senju Takeshi charged at him again.

His arm suddenly stretched out, branches and flesh spreading together to form a massive hand.

Then it smashed down viciously toward Jueming's back.

That palm strike.

It could have shattered a boulder the size of a soccer ball.

If it struck one of his Peers, it could directly pound them into minced meat.

However...

After an explosive bang, dust flew into the air.

As the dust slowly dispersed, Jueming's Main Body was revealed.

Forget being turned into minced meat—his skin had not even been damaged.

"?!"

Senju Takeshi froze on the spot.

While he was still dumbfounded.

Jueming, whom Sayuri believed had already been "whipped into a corpse," suddenly sprang up.

He threw a punch that struck Senju Takeshi.

Senju Takeshi staggered back three steps before steadying himself, but unlike Asuma and the others, he was not easily knocked down by Jueming.

The Wood Release Cells had altered his body, making his mutated flesh incredibly powerful.

"Hmph..."

Senju Takeshi sneered as even more mutations appeared across his body. His other arm was also eroded by the Wood Release Factor, becoming a mutated mass of wood and flesh.

Now, he looked even less human.