At that moment, Akiyama Shun's entire body began to change.
His skin and hair turned a dark brown because of Curse Mark Stage Two. Black markings appeared on his face, the whites of his eyes were swallowed by darkness, and his pupils turned gold.
A huge Bone Blade burst from his spine. Bone spikes emerged from his elbows, knees, and the backs of his hands, while his tailbone stretched into a tail.
The Iwagakure Ninjas nearby saw Akiyama Shun's sudden transformation but hadn't even figured out what was happening when a massive bone, dozens of meters long, shot straight up from the ground. It pierced a bounty hunter's body and continued growing upward, blood winding down its jagged spine.
"Urgh..."
The bounty hunter struggled feebly for a moment, then died.
And that was only the beginning!
The ground kept exploding as wave after wave of bone spikes surged up. Before the ones that had just emerged could even stop, more bones ripped through the earth, shrieking as they thrust out from every direction!
The bone spikes pierced trees one after another, taking their place as their pale color rapidly filled everyone's field of vision.
"Stop standing around! Get out of the way!"
Even without the Iwagakure Jonin's warning, the other ninjas had already reacted. They knew they needed to dodge, but the problem was—how? And where could they go?
Some of the bounty hunters had already started cursing at the Iwagakure Ninjas. The pay and the difficulty were on completely different levels!
They'd already been unhappy when Akiyama Shun first used Ice Release. And now there was this? Shikotsumyaku?
Was this some kind of joke?
Two Kekkei Genkai?
If they'd known they'd run into something like this, they never would've come!
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
One bounty hunter couldn't find any way to escape, so he tried to use a technique to shatter the bone spikes. But the moment the Water Dragon Bullet hit one, it burst apart, water spraying in all directions. The bone spike took no damage whatsoever—not even a scratch. It looked brand-new.
The next second, another enormous bone spike thrust out of the ground and pierced his body.
He wasn't the only one who tried to break the bone spikes. Every attempt failed.
"These damn things can't be broken! Run!"
The Iwagakure Jonin's scalp prickled. He ran with every ounce of strength he had, wishing he had a couple more legs.
But he was no match for the speed of the technique. A bone spike was already thrusting up beneath his feet. The Iwagakure Jonin reacted at once, trying to grab hold of it so it would carry him into the air, out of reach of the other attacks.
But there were simply too many bone spikes. He had only just grabbed one when the others were still growing. At Akiyama Shun's deliberate command, three bone spikes pierced the Iwagakure Jonin, who'd tried to take a shortcut.
Akiyama Shun had also taken care to avoid Aburame Takuma and Sarutobi Jun'suke, using the bone spikes to protect them.
"Is... is this a joke?"
Grabbing a bone spike, Sarutobi Jun'suke climbed to the top like a monkey and looked around. His scalp prickled.
By now, Akiyama Shun's technique had completely changed the terrain.
They'd been in a small grove, but now it had vanished. As far as the eye could see, countless pale bones stood towering like giant pagodas!
The lush forest had been transformed into a Bone Forest by Akiyama Shun!
"Wait, I'm a Chunin too! Why can't I do that?"
Sarutobi Jun'suke felt as if he were questioning his whole life. He'd always thought his "rank" was too low compared to the rest of the team: there was one of the legendary Sannin, a Special Jōnin, and only Akiyama Shun and him were Chunins. He'd thought the two of them were Chunin buddies.
Then Akiyama Shun went and pulled off something like this.
"It's fine. I can't do it either."
Aburame Takuma was marveling at it too. He knew powerful ninjas could change the terrain, but actually witnessing it was still impossible to describe.
"By the way, where's Akiyama Shun?"
Sarutobi Jun'suke asked suddenly.
Aburame Takuma said, "How would I know? There are bone spikes everywhere; I can't see him either. Give me a moment. I'll send my bugs to look."
Meanwhile, at the edge of the "Bone Forest"...
"You're crazy! You saw this thing change the terrain, and you're still going in?"
One member of a four-person bounty hunter squad looked at their leader.
"Changing the terrain over such a huge area must've cost him a lot of chakra. He won't be in good shape. Besides, we don't need to fight him. We'll find out who used Shikotsumyaku, then run out and sell the information."
As soon as the leader finished speaking, before his teammate could respond, another voice sounded.
"You're not getting out."
Akiyama Shun suddenly appeared among the bone spikes.
The others only caught a glimpse of Akiyama Shun darting past. By the time they reacted, the leader's body had already been cut evenly into dozens of pieces!
Dance of the Willow!
After killing the leader, Akiyama Shun disappeared into the bone spikes again.
Dance of the Seedling Fern was absurdly powerful. It could change the terrain, was difficult to destroy, and even had a property similar to Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals: Akiyama Shun could move freely between the bone spikes!
"Boss! Forget it, run!"
One of the bounty hunters shouted, but when he turned around, he saw Akiyama Shun blocking their way.
Three people. Just two moves. All of them were dealt with.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya's battle had ended.
"Are you all right?"
Jiraiya turned and asked the bald man lying at his feet.
"I'm fine, Lord Jiraiya. I'm sorry for the trouble."
The bald man still felt as if he'd narrowly escaped death. If Jiraiya hadn't been the one who came, an ordinary Jonin leading a team might really have died in that ambush.
Jiraiya didn't respond. He took the scroll the bald man had given him and hurried away.
He had to save his teammates!
He had to save his teacher!
Only about five minutes had passed since he'd left Akiyama Shun and the others. He believed Akiyama Shun was strong enough to hold on!
He had to hold on!
The more Jiraiya thought about it, the more anxious he became. Someone like Akiyama Shun would be invaluable to the entire village once he grew stronger. If he died here...
Jiraiya quickly shook his head, driving the grim thoughts from his mind, and sped up.
Following the traces of battle along the way, Jiraiya easily found the place where Akiyama Shun and the others were.
But when Jiraiya saw the Bone Forest before him, his mind went blank for a moment.
Wait, where the hell am I?
Wasn't this place a forest?
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