Thud...
Kisame Hoshigaki kicked Kazama Kaguya square in the chest. The tremendous force sent him flying like a sandbag, crashing through several trees.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
A searing pain stabbed through his chest. Blood rose with his breath, filling his mouth with a metallic taste.
"Teacher Kisame, you're being pretty ruthless."
Kazama Kaguya panted as he activated his Byakugan. Shikotsumyaku formed a bone spear, barely forcing back the figure rushing at him again.
"Ruthless? How else are you going to improve your Taijutsu?"
Kisame Hoshigaki moved like a ghost, repeatedly using the Body Flicker Technique. The moment he spotted a gap in Kazama Kaguya's defenses, he followed up with a kick.
The two fought in the dense forest, neither holding back in the slightest.
After the temporary mission to develop Storm Release ended, time seemed to return to a few days earlier.
Kazama Kaguya was still following that same brutal training plan.
Weighted training, Taijutsu sparring, studying ninjutsu...
Starting at five in the morning and going until midnight, Kazama Kaguya was once again worked to the bone.
This was the second day since he'd returned to his training schedule.
Even though he had developed an A-rank Storm Release capable of cleaving a mountain, when it came to Taijutsu, he was still a weakling getting thrashed by Kisame Hoshigaki.
Taijutsu required relentless practice and extensive combat experience. It wasn't nearly as easy to improve as ninjutsu.
Now, whatever pride Kazama Kaguya had felt after developing a new technique had been kicked right out of him.
Of the three disciplines—ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and genjutsu—his ninjutsu was now far ahead of the other two.
After an intense period of training, his Taijutsu had steadily reached Jonin level.
That kind of improvement was undeniably rapid, but it still wasn't enough to stand up to Kisame Hoshigaki.
After three hours of sparring, Kazama Kaguya was covered in bruises and his limbs ached with exhaustion.
For lunch today, Kisame Hoshigaki had changed his mind and decided he wanted venison.
Kazama Kaguya had no venison on hand, so he had to go hunt some dozens of kilometers away.
He carried his exhausted body through the air toward the Land of Fire. The Land of Water was full of waterfalls and rivers, making it unsuitable for deer; they could only be found in the Land of Fire.
Taking advantage of the break, he opened the information interface on the obelisk.
[ Evolver: Kazama Kaguya ]
[ Kekkei Genkai: Shikotsumyaku, Byakugan, Storm Release, Blood Release ]
Seeing the four Kekkei Genkai listed side by side lifted his spirits after the beating he'd taken.
This was a healing-type Kekkei Genkai with some combat potential, which had just evolved today.
It had two functions.
First, it could control and extract the blood of living creatures. Second, it could absorb the life force in blood and use it to heal himself or others.
"Water that has life in it... That's blood, isn't it?"
Kazama Kaguya thought he'd uncovered some of the rules behind the obelisk's equation-based evolution.
However, Blood Release hadn't been developed yet, so its effects were limited. He planned to test it out while hunting.
In less than ten minutes, he'd flown seventy or eighty kilometers.
Far below, he spotted a herd of deer in the forest.
He landed without a sound and pressed both hands to the ground. Shikotsumyaku burst through the earth, forming a huge bone enclosure seven or eight meters high.
The deer panicked, but no matter which way they charged, they couldn't escape.
Kazama Kaguya activated Blood Release and used its power on a stag.
The next moment, the charging stag stiffened. Its blood began to boil, then sprayed from its nose and mouth.
Streams of crimson blood floated through the air, gathering in Kazama Kaguya's hands like swallows returning to their nest. They formed a blood sphere about the size of a human head.
The stag's body had become completely shriveled, as if it had been left to dry out for ages.
"Drained to the last drop? How is that not just a vampire's ability?"
Blood Release was extremely powerful. Against beasts without chakra, it could instantly drain their blood and life force.
Kazama Kaguya could feel the intense vitality within the blood sphere. It gave off a sweet aroma.
He looked at the bruises covering his body and began absorbing the life force in the sphere to heal himself.
A thin stream of crimson energy flowed into his body, and his fatigue and internal injuries quickly disappeared.
In just a few seconds, the sphere turned into black sludge, and Kazama Kaguya had fully recovered.
"This is an extraordinary Kekkei Genkai. Its ability to provide continuous healing is second to none."
Kazama Kaguya's eyes lit up. He drained the life force from another adult stag, wanting to see if he could store it in advance and use it to heal himself when needed.
But the experiment soon failed.
It wasn't that he couldn't do it; the conditions weren't right.
"My body is missing something that can store life force."
Kazama Kaguya noticed a pattern: as long as his body was healthy, any life energy he absorbed would simply dissipate.
To store life energy in advance, he'd have to develop Blood Release and create a storage center, like Tsunade's Yin Seal.
"The Yin Seal is an S-rank technique, the pinnacle of Medical Ninjutsu and Sealing Jutsu."
Kazama Kaguya didn't yet have any good ideas for developing Blood Release.
The ability to control blood could make for attacks with a surprising effect.
But that meager power was no match for Storm Release, so there was no need to develop Blood Release attack techniques.
Blood Release's strengths were its rapid healing and excellent endurance.
"If I can draw on resurrection abilities like Dragon Life Reincarnation, Self-Reincarnation, and Samsara of Heavenly Life, then combine the life force I extract from living creatures with Impure World Reincarnation, I should be able to offer a one-stop dragon resurrection service."
Kazama Kaguya didn't know how those resurrection techniques worked, but Blood Release might not be much weaker than them.
Since it could directly steal a concept as fundamental as life force, he figured he could first use Impure World Reincarnation to pull someone back from the Pure Land, then bring them back to life.
However, none of that was possible yet.
He needed to gain experience with Medical Ninjutsu; otherwise, Blood Release's effectiveness would be greatly reduced.
"The best village for Medical Ninjutsu is undoubtedly Konoha."
Konoha's medical team was not only famous but also the only organized medical corps. It could be called a world-class medical center, and its reputation spoke for itself.
"Konoha, Medical Ninjutsu..."
Kazama Kaguya used Storm Release: Light Fang to pierce the head of a stag, then returned with the fresh venison.
He kept pondering how to obtain the knowledge of Medical Ninjutsu all the way back. Only when he neared the camp did he finally let go of the thought.
"Thinking about all that now won't help. I need to fill Kisame Hoshigaki's stomach first."
He set the idea aside and began cutting up the venison to roast it.
Before long, the aroma of roasted venison began to spread.
Just as the two of them were about to eat, one of Kisame Hoshigaki's clones returned from afar.
Every few days, Kisame Hoshigaki sent out a clone, disguised with the Transformation Jutsu, to gather intelligence beyond their camp. It was a basic skill for any ninja.
This time, the clone looked grave. He pulled a scroll from inside his clothes and handed it over.
"Main body, an urgent report from Kirigakure."
"The last broken sword of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Juzo Biwa, and Raiga Kurosuki, wielder of the Kiba sword, have defected. Lord Fuguki Suikazan has sent a squad to support you in obtaining the Mangekyō Sharingan."
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