Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Willow

"W-what kind of monster is this..." The five survivors stared at Lin Chuan in shock. The two bone spurs protruding from his body were blindingly sharp and eerie. Combined with his already unnatural white hair and white eyes, everyone felt in that instant that they were not facing a man, but a monster!

"Are those his bones? What on earth is this guy? He can actually use his own bones to attack, this..." A cultivator at the sixth level of the Qi Refining Stage swallowed hard, speaking with difficulty. He had seen with his own eyes how Lin Chuan killed someone of the same cultivation level in an instant, and his heart was filled with extreme terror.

"Trash! What are you panicking about? This guy just got lucky with a sneak attack using his weird techniques. As long as we all attack together, are we really afraid we can't take him down?" The youth at the eighth level of the Qi Refining Stage had an ugly expression, but he hadn't lost his composure yet.

Although Lin Chuan's attack method was bizarre, he was only at the fifth level of the Qi Refining Stage. Being three levels lower than him, it wasn't enough to make him overly worried. Besides, there were five of them and only one of Lin Chuan; they could grind him down to death!

Sure enough, once the youth spoke, the four who had been intimidated by Lin Chuan's aura immediately regained their senses. There were five of them, after all. Even if Lin Chuan had killed one of them with a sneak attack, so what? He would still die at their hands.

"Bastard! I'll kill you!" One of them, who clearly had a good relationship with the person who had just died, rushed forward the moment he regained his focus.

Seeing someone make a move, the other four followed suit. They dared not let Lin Chuan attack again; if he killed another one of them with those strange bones, they would have no face left to show anyone.

"Hmm? You can feel anger for a fallen comrade, too? Too bad, you shouldn't have provoked me!" Lin Chuan parted his lips to sigh, then dashed forward, Sage Chakra circulating throughout his body.

"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Willow!"

BOOM!

The person attacking from the opposite side threw a punch, his twisted face filled with unbridled rage. It wasn't just because Lin Chuan had killed their companion, but also because of Lin Chuan's unnervingly calm expression—a cold, detached superiority, as if he were looking down on them and had never taken their attacks seriously.

The punch was rapid; an ordinary person would never be able to dodge such lightning-fast speed. Unfortunately, under the insight of the Byakugan, dodging this strike was effortless. Lin Chuan tilted his body slightly and let it pass.

"Impossible... how did he know the landing point of my fist..." Just as the man was shocked that Lin Chuan had evaded his attack, Lin Chuan pivoted his body and drove his knee directly into the man's abdomen.

"Oh no!" Seeing the knee strike coming, the man immediately dropped his arms to block it, as the abdomen was one of the body's weak points. He dared not let the knee land, or he would be severely injured.

However, just as he was about to intercept the blow, a strange smile appeared on the corner of Lin Chuan's mouth. The next moment, a slender bone spur pierced directly out from the top of his knee, instantly punching through the man's arms and striking his abdomen.

BANG!

The man was sent flying by the impact. His arms were pierced by the Shikotsumyaku bone spurs, but his abdomen was spared from a fatal blow; at the last second, his teammates arrived, preventing Lin Chuan from continuing the assault.

"A pity..." Lin Chuan sighed lightly, but there was no trace of regret on his face. If these people were truly that easy to kill, they wouldn't have survived until now. After all, he was one against five, and his combat techniques were not yet perfect; to achieve this much was already no small feat.

In that split second, Lin Chuan was already surrounded by the five, but they did not immediately launch an attack. Instead, they stared at him with grim expressions.

This guy was practically a hedgehog. In the Qi Refining Stage, where only close-quarters combat was possible, he was essentially invincible. Not only was his offensive power shockingly strong, but his defense was also top-tier. Even more terrifying was the calm, all-seeing gaze of Lin Chuan, which sent chills down everyone's spines.

However, they couldn't just stop attacking. Should they just let Lin Chuan leave? Even if they were willing, Lin Chuan wouldn't be now, because they knew his secrets and his trump cards. This was a life-or-death situation.

Sweat beaded on the foreheads of the five. It wasn't that they feared Lin Chuan's strength—from beginning to end, they never thought they would lose—it was just that they truly didn't know where to start.

It was as if they were facing a real hedgehog; you knew you could kill it, but you couldn't bring yourself to touch it because the spikes were too troublesome. One wrong move and you'd end up hurting yourself. The man who had just had his arms pierced was the best example.

Lin Chuan stood in the center of the arena, making no move to attack. He was curious to see how these cultivators would come up with a way to deal with the powerful Kekkei Genkai of the Naruto world, the Shikotsumyaku.

Through the Byakugan, Lin Chuan saw the five exchanging glances. Then, three of them suddenly attacked—two from the front, and one from behind.

"Two to distract me, and one to sneak attack from behind?" Lin Chuan thought calmly. If I only had Shikotsumyaku, this might be a bit difficult to handle. But these white-pupiled, white-eyed eyes of mine aren't just for show...

Although he had already seen the person attacking from behind, Lin Chuan remained unmoved, instead raising his hands to attack the two in front. This caused them to reveal a subtle, triumphant smile.

SWISH!

The Shikotsumyaku bone spur swept across the front, forcing one of them back. At the same time, as Lin Chuan retracted his arm, he struck backward with his elbow. The direction and position were incredibly precise, aiming exactly at the heart of the person behind him.

Simultaneously, the man's full-force strike landed, only to have his arm instantly clamped by a bone protruding from Lin Chuan's back.

"How is this possible... why was it so precise..." The expressions of all five changed instantly.

They knew about Lin Chuan's "hedgehog" attribute, but they knew that even controlling one's own bones to attack required seeing the attacker's position first. Otherwise, blind bone attacks would be useless for defense and would only waste spiritual energy. But now, their faces finally turned pale.

Because it was clear that Lin Chuan could see everyone's attacks; his field of vision was far from that of an ordinary person.

The eyes of the four remaining men fell upon Lin Chuan's white eyes. The bulging veins around his eye sockets were blindingly obvious—this was by no means a pair of ordinary eyes.

DRIP!

Warm blood flowed directly from the enemy's heart, trailing down the Shikotsumyaku bone spur and onto Lin Chuan's arm.

"Hmm... another one down..." As Lin Chuan finished speaking, he retracted his arm from the man's heart, lowered his stance, and spread his arms in a pose resembling a muscle display. "So, who's next?"