Change Terrain! Bone Forest!

At this moment, Akiyama Shun's entire body underwent a transformation.

His skin and hair turned a brownish-black due to the second stage of the Cursed Seal, black markings appeared on his face, the whites of his eyes were swallowed by darkness, and his pupils shifted to gold.

Giant bone blades erupted from his spine, bone spurs tore through his skin at his elbows, knees, and the backs of his hands, and his tailbone elongated into a tail.

The surrounding Iwagakure ninja had no time to react to this sudden change before massive, tens-of-meters-long white bones erupted straight from the ground, piercing through a bounty hunter's body and continuing to grow upward, blood winding down the bone ridge.

"Urgh..."

The bounty hunter struggled symbolically for a moment before losing all signs of life.

And this was merely the beginning!

The ground shattered continuously as bone spurs surged forth in wave after wave of madness; before the first spikes had even finished emerging, more white bones tore through the soil, piercing out from all directions with a shrill whistle!

The bone spurs ran through the trees one after another, replacing them until the pale color of bone rapidly dominated everyone's field of vision.

"Don't just stand there! Get out of the way!"

Even without the Iwagakure Jonin's warning, the other ninja had already reacted. They knew they needed to dodge, but the problem now was how—and where?

Some bounty hunters had already begun cursing the Iwagakure ninja; the pay was nowhere near worth this level of difficulty!

They had been dissatisfied when Akiyama Shun unleashed Ice Release earlier, but now this? Shikotsumyaku?

Are you kidding me!

Dual Kekkei Genkai?

If they had known they would run into this kind of monster, they wouldn't have come for anything!

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

A bounty hunter, finding no way to dodge, decided to use ninjutsu to shatter the bone spurs. However, the moment the Water Dragon Bullet struck, it shattered instantly, the water scattering in all directions, while the bone spur remained completely undamaged—not even a scratch, looking as pristine as if it had just been manufactured.

The next second, another massive bone spur erupted from the ground, piercing through his body.

He wasn't the only one who tried to break the bones, but without exception, they all failed.

"This thing is indestructible, run!"

The Iwagakure Jonin felt his scalp tingle, using every ounce of strength he had to flee; he even wished he had more legs to run faster.

However, his speed could not compare to the speed at which the ninjutsu was unleashed. A bone spur erupted from beneath his feet, and the Iwagakure Jonin reacted instantly, trying to grab onto the spur to let the growing bone carry him into the air to avoid other attacks.

But there were simply too many spurs. Just as he grabbed one, others continued to grow, and under Akiyama Shun's deliberate control, three bone spurs pierced the Iwagakure Jonin who had tried to take a shortcut.

Akiyama Shun also took care to avoid Aburame Takuma and Sarutobi Jun'suke, using the bone spurs to shield them.

"This... is this a joke?"

Sarutobi Jun'suke grabbed a bone spur and climbed to the top like a monkey, looking around with a scalp-tingling sense of dread.

At this moment, the terrain had been completely altered by Akiyama Shun's ninjutsu.

They had been in a small forest, but now the forest had vanished entirely; looking out, one could only see dense, towering pale bones standing there like high towers!

The once lush forest had been completely transformed by Akiyama Shun into a Bone Forest!

"No way, I'm a Chunin too! Why can't I do that?"

Sarutobi Jun'suke felt a bit of an existential crisis. In this team, he had always thought his "level" was too low. There were the legendary Sannin and a Special Jonin; only Akiyama Shun and he were Chunin, and he had assumed they were just fellow Chunin partners.

And yet, Akiyama Shun just hit him with this.

"It's fine, I can't do it either."

Aburame Takuma was also sighing inwardly. He knew that powerful ninja had the ability to change the terrain, but when he saw it with his own eyes, the shock was still indescribable.

"By the way, where is Akiyama Shun?"

Sarutobi Jun'suke suddenly asked.

Aburame Takuma: "How would I know? It's all bone spurs, I can't see anything. Wait for me to use my bugs to scout."

At this moment, on the edge of the "Bone Forest."

"Are you crazy? You watched this thing change the terrain, and you still want to go in?"

Among a four-man bounty hunter squad, one looked at the leader.

"Changing the terrain on such a large scale must have consumed a lot of chakra; he can't be in good shape. Besides, we don't need to fight. We just need to see who used the Shikotsumyaku and then run out to sell the intel."

The leader had barely finished speaking before another voice was heard.

"You won't have the chance to leave."

Akiyama Shun's figure suddenly appeared from within the bone spurs.

To the others, they only saw a flash of Akiyama Shun's figure, and by the time they reacted, the leader's entire body had been sliced evenly into dozens of pieces!

Dance of the Willow!

After finishing off the leader, Akiyama Shun merged back into the bone spurs.

The strength of the Dance of the Seedling Fern was ridiculously high; not only could it change the terrain and resist destruction, but it also possessed properties similar to Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, allowing Akiyama Shun to move freely between these bone spurs!

"Boss! Forget it, run!"

One of the bounty hunters let out a shout, but the moment he turned his head, he saw Akiyama Shun blocking their path.

Three people, resolved in just two moves.

Meanwhile, over at Jiraiya's location, the battle had already concluded.

"Are you alright?"

Jiraiya turned to ask the bald man lying at his feet.

"I am fine, Lord Jiraiya. I have caused you trouble."

The bald man still felt a lingering sense of having narrowly escaped death; had it not been Jiraiya who arrived, but rather an ordinary jonin team leader, he likely would have perished against that kind of ambush.

Jiraiya did not respond, instead taking the scroll the bald man handed to him before quickly departing the area.

He had to save his teammates!

He had to save his teacher!

From the moment he left Akiyama Shun and the others until now, no more than five minutes had passed, and he trusted that with Akiyama Shun's strength, he could absolutely hold out!

He must hold out!

The more Jiraiya thought about it, the more anxious he became; someone like Akiyama Shun would be an immeasurable asset to the entire village if he were allowed to grow, and if he were to die here...

At this thought, Jiraiya hurriedly shook his head to banish such grim notions, accelerating his pace even further.

Following the traces of battle along the way, Jiraiya easily located the position of Akiyama Shun and the others.

However, when Jiraiya saw the Bone Forest before him, his mind went completely blank.

Wait, where the hell did this bring me?

Wasn't this place supposed to be a forest?