Forty-Sixth Chapter: Three Kekkei Genkai

The Qi Refining Stage eighth-level cultivator, who had been preparing to flee, suddenly discovered that numerous stakes had been driven into his limbs and body. A stinging pain struck him instantly, and he lost all control over his body, as if he had been nailed to the ground.

"Ahhh..." The scream he let out made the other three shudder in terror; not daring to offer the slightest resistance, they turned and fled for their lives.

Lin Chuan, having been prepared for this, would never give them a chance to escape. After using the Sharingan to cast a genjutsu on the strongest one, Lin Chuan raised his hands, turned to aim at the three fleeing cultivators, and lunged forward, his Sage Chakra surging through his meridians to his fingertips in an instant.

In a flash, the Sharingan in Lin Chuan's eyes shifted into the Byakugan. The meridians and acupoints of the three fleeing cultivators became clearly visible. The next moment, the finger bones shot out from his fingertips, and with the Byakugan's powerful vision, they struck directly at the trio's weak points and acupoints.

"Shikotsumyaku: Finger Bullet!"

After this strike, Lin Chuan didn't even need to check the results; he turned and walked toward the eighth-level Qi Refining Stage cultivator.

The genjutsu Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique had already dissipated the moment Lin Chuan deactivated his Sharingan, but his purpose had been achieved: temporary immobilization and the trauma of the illusion.

The cultivator was now half-kneeling on the ground, his arms bracing his weight. Sweat poured from his forehead like raindrops, and his entire body trembled as if he had just been fished out of water. In that brief moment, he had experienced the most terrifying scene in the world, and even now, he had not fully emerged from that horrific vision.

Hearing footsteps approaching, the eighth-level cultivator raised his head in terror. His expression was slightly vacant from the torture of the genjutsu, his eyes wide as he stared at Lin Chuan, unable to regain his senses for a long time. "You... who exactly... are you..."

"My name is Lin Chuan!" he said in a calm and indifferent voice.

"Ahhhhh... don't kill me... please, don't kill me... I..." the man shrieked in terror, his face completely twisted; he had even forgotten how to run away.

After Lin Chuan stated his name, the bone protruding from his palm swept across the man's neck. A hideous, twisted head was tossed high into the air before falling to the ground.

Lin Chuan dodged nimbly, not a single drop of blood touching him. Facing the corpses scattered about, Lin Chuan finally set aside his calm expression, revealing a hint of complexity.

Before entering this place, he had felt extreme anger toward the Lin Clan for forcing them to harvest the Crimson Flame Lotus to improve the quality of the herbs by devouring their spirit roots, and he had even intended to harvest more of the lotuses to spare those children from being harmed.

However, after entering, he discovered that these children were worlds apart from his perception of what a child should be. They had long been ravaged by this cruel world and knew that to survive, one had to kill constantly; everyone was fighting just to stay alive.

Perhaps it is more appropriate to think of them as children from the terrorist organization ISIS in my previous life, Lin Chuan thought to himself. By now, he had abandoned that "saintly" mindset; to live, one must kill—this was the law of this world.

All he could do was try his best to protect those who were important to him, to ensure they didn't die in this cruel world, and nothing more.

Putting aside his inner reflections, Lin Chuan looked at the few people killed by the Finger Bullet, walked over, and retracted the finger bones, while the bones protruding from his entire body also receded at this moment.

In the original Naruto series, the Hyuga clan was famous for their close-quarters taijutsu, pushing the abilities of the Byakugan to the limit. However, they had their own weaknesses, namely the lack of long-range attacks—a deficiency that could be mitigated by the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm in the later stages, though it could not be completely resolved.

But the Shikotsumyaku's Finger Bullet provided Lin Chuan with a decent long-range attack method for the time being, and when combined with the precision of the Byakugan, he could strike weak points and acupoints without missing.

The Gentle Fist's Eight Trigrams Palms, Rotation, and the like are primarily defensive; they perfectly complement the lack of offensive power in the Shikotsumyaku. Now, there is no one below the Foundation Establishment Stage who is my match! Lin Chuan thought, slowly putting his clothes back on.

The only issue is the consumption of chakra. My current chakra is still a bit low; I can't use many of my powerful techniques. Lin Chuan shook his head helplessly.

However, he was quite satisfied with his offensive power. In Naruto, regardless of the technique, as long as Sage Chakra was used, the attack power would increase exponentially, and this held true in this world as well.

Otherwise, if Lin Chuan had used Shikotsumyaku: Finger Bullet with his normal chakra, it wouldn't have been enough to instantly kill three cultivators of higher cultivation levels; at most, it would have only severely injured them.

Moreover, this one-hit kill was achieved in coordination with the Byakugan and because those people were only focused on fleeing. If used directly in the heat of battle, the effect certainly wouldn't have been this good.

I've used seventy percent of my Sage Chakra, and there is less than thirty percent left in my body. Although the Kekkei Genkai doesn't consume much chakra, using the Sharingan, Byakugan, and Shikotsumyaku all at once is quite a drain!

While reviewing the gains from this battle, Lin Chuan dragged the bodies together, preparing to destroy the evidence. The wounds caused by bone spikes were somewhat unique, after all; it was best to leave nothing behind if possible.

Once a battle begins, after the chakra in my body mixes with the spiritual energy in my dantian to form Sage Chakra, I cannot absorb spiritual energy from the outside world to recover. This is different from other cultivators; they can absorb spiritual energy while fighting to recover, making their sustained combat ability stronger than mine. This is a major weakness of mine right now.

Lin Chuan constantly drew conclusions from his battles, summarizing his strengths while searching for his weaknesses. One must know oneself and the enemy to be invincible in every battle.

At this moment, the spiritual energy in the surrounding air began to surge toward Lin Chuan, entering his meridians through the acupoints all over his body, then being refined, circulated, and finally gathering in his dantian.

His spirit root was the strongest Heavenly Grade Superior Spirit Root, and his speed of absorbing spiritual energy far exceeded that of ordinary people, so his recovery was quite fast. Only during the time he was mixing Sage Chakra could he not absorb spiritual energy; once he ceased the mixture and no longer had Sage Chakra, Lin Chuan could recover his spiritual energy rapidly.

After stripping everything useful from the six people, Lin Chuan formed hand seals and blew a small flame, burning the six corpses to ashes.

Having finished cleaning up, Lin Chuan headed toward the cave, preparing to call Zhang Leyang and the others to leave this place.