Ninjutsu Counterplay: Bloodline Struggle

The dark red energy cloud dissipated, revealing Haotian's indifferent figure.

He slowly walked to the struggling Aburame Shigei and looked down at him.

Shigei's body was already deformed, his skin festering, muscles atrophied, bones twisted, like a decaying corpse.

He writhed in agony on the ground, letting out bone-chilling wails, like a demon from hell.

The air was filled with the smell of burnt flesh and nauseating rot, suffocating.

"You... what kind of monster are you..." Shigei struggled to lift his head, looking at Haotian, his voice hoarse, like a broken bellows, filled with pain and despair.

Haotian sighed and shook his head helplessly.

"Monster? I was just defending myself." He pointed around. "You attacked me with those dangerous nano-poison insects, shouldn't you pay a price?"

Haotian clearly remembered the pain of being gnawed by countless tiny insects, which burrowed everywhere, trying to enter his every pore and devour his flesh.

That feeling, like ten thousand ants devouring his heart, sent shivers down his spine.

If not for the timely eruption of Ghidorah's power, he would probably be an empty shell by now.

"Cough cough..." Shigei coughed violently, spitting black blood mixed with small insect corpses.

He struggled to stand up, only to find his body completely unresponsive.

His legs lay uselessly on the ground, his body collapsing like a puddle of mud.

"I... I must complete the mission..." Shigei's voice was weak, barely audible.

Yet, his eyes were unusually firm, as if possessing an unshakeable conviction.

"Mission?" Haotian frowned, a hint of doubt rising in his heart. "What mission is more important than your life?"

"Cough cough... It's Lord Danzo's order..." Shigei barely managed to utter a few words, his voice growing weaker, as if he could die at any moment.

"Danzo..." Haotian's heart skipped a beat. He was not unfamiliar with that name.

It was the darkness of Konohagakure, the leader of Root, a ruthless individual who would stop at nothing for the village.

"I... I must complete it..." Shigei's voice grew lower and lower, finally fading into barely audible murmurs.

His eyes were wide open, staring fixedly at Haotian, his gaze filled with unwillingness and madness...

Shigei's eyeballs seemed about to pop out, his bloodshot whites crisscrossed with red veins, like a hideous spiderweb.

His hoarse voice was like a broken gong, filled with a chilling determination: "For Lord Danzo... For Root... Even if I die... I will complete the mission..."

He took a deep breath, his chest heaving violently, as if about to explode.

A strange Chakra fluctuation erupted from his body, distorting the surrounding air and emitting a nauseating stench.

"Vase Poison Technique!" Shigei roared, a hint of mad triumph in his voice.

Haotian's heart tightened as he recognized this Forbidden Technique.

It was the most terrifying secret art of the Aburame clan, transforming oneself into a source of potent poison, releasing a toxic gas capable of corroding everything.

A dark green gas gushed from Shigei's mouth, like a venomous snake, spreading rapidly and dyeing the surrounding air a sickly green.

The air was filled with a suffocating stench, like rotten corpses mixed with poison, revolting.

The grass and trees on the ground withered instantly, turning into black ash.

Haotian held his breath, daring not to inhale a single wisp of the poisonous gas.

He felt a stinging sensation on his skin, as if pricked by countless tiny needles.

He knew that even through his clothes, the poison gas could penetrate and corrode his body.

"Hmph, a dying struggle." Haotian sneered. He formed hand seals, and the Ghidorah power within him surged again, forming a dark red energy barrier around him, isolating the poison gas.

The dark green gas continuously battered the dark red energy barrier, emitting a sizzling corrosive sound, like sulfuric acid dripping onto metal.

Haotian felt his internal energy rapidly depleting, but his expression remained unchanged, his gaze firm.

He knew that as long as he persisted, he could exhaust Shigei's Chakra and win this battle.

Shigei's body grew thinner and thinner, like a deflated balloon.

His eyes also gradually dimmed, his life force rapidly draining away.

But he still stared fixedly at Haotian.

"I... I won't let you go..." Shigei used his last bit of strength to utter a few words.

His voice was so weak it was almost inaudible, but his tone was filled with bone-deep hatred.

His body began to tremble violently, as if something was about to burst out of him...

Shigei's body suddenly swelled, his skin tightening like an about-to-burst balloon.

He let out beast-like roars, chilling to the bone.

"Insects... devour..." He mumbled a few words, his voice hoarse and distorted, like a demon from hell.

"Bang!" With a dull thud, a large hole exploded in Shigei's abdomen, and countless black insects surged out like a tide, densely packed, making one's scalp tingle.