Black and White Hair

After receiving the message from Hozuki Shingetsu, Senju Meima immediately issued the order for a counterattack.

Every member of the Senju clan felt as if they had been injected with adrenaline; they had been stifled for too long, and each one fought as if their lives depended on it—a strategy employed by those in command.

The Kaguya Clan pressed forward immediately. This battle was different from the previous skirmishes; the clan emblems of both sides covered the battlefield, with nearly two-thirds of the personnel, from elite Jonin down to Genin, participating.

Amidst the blood-soaked battlefield, a noticeably small figure appeared, as black trees continuously spread, absorbing the blood from the ground.

"Senju Shugo! He's over there!"

"Take him out!"

"This wood is so annoying!"

The Kaguya ninja discovered the boy's trail and shouted loudly; over these past few days, they had realized the nature of this disgusting Kekkei Genkai.

Shugo's Wood Style had not yet reached the level of rapid regeneration or indestructibility, but on the battlefield, it was incredibly irritating, constantly stealing their Chakra and firing off branches to disrupt the fighting.

Furthermore, this situation only targeted the Kaguya side; under Shugo's control, these trees would not attack the Senju clansmen.

"Three Jonin."

A flash of crimson crossed the depths of Shugo's eyes. His body moved; he stepped back half a pace to dodge the first man's downward slash, then stepped onto a bone blade on the ground to leap up, kicking the second man in the face, and finally transformed his right hand into a wooden fist to knock the third man—who had just arrived—to the ground, where wooden vines bound him.

The entire process was fluid, as if it had been rehearsed beforehand, without a single pause.

"Damn brat!"

The first Kaguya clansman to attack had just recovered his senses when his eyes were pierced by branches; this was the fastest way Shugo could think of to kill a Kaguya clansman.

Their entire bodies were encased in bone, making it difficult to find weaknesses from the outside, save for the eyes, which barely counted. After the wooden branches pierced through, he used the Wood Style: Cutting Technique to kill them instantly.

Although the process was somewhat disgusting, there was no other way on the battlefield.

The Kaguya ninja who had just been kicked in the face regained his focus only to feel a sharp pain in his neck, and the Kaguya ninja bound on the ground suffered the same fate.

Water Style: Water Severing Wave.

This ninjutsu was truly useful; even though he mostly used Wood Style now, he had kept this Water Style technique.

"Don't get too arrogant!"

Kaguya Hakujin used the Body Flicker Technique to appear and slashed out with a blade. This was exactly when Shugo was finishing off the three men, and facing this sudden attack, he had no time to weave hand seals.

Wood chips flew, and his armor shattered.

Shugo spat out a mouthful of blood and steadied himself, relying on the dual protection of his Wood Armor and ninja armor to resist the brunt of the damage.

"How shameless."

Shugo said coldly, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Killing you is enough."

Dance of the Flowing Blade.

Kaguya Hakujin said no more; half of the bone spurs appearing on his body surface were aimed at Shugo and fired in one breath.

Wood Substitution.

Wood Style: Forest Birth.

Facing such dense bone blades, Shugo first swapped himself with the wood on the battlefield, and once he had enough distance, he used Forest Birth to block.

Kaguya Hakujin's eyes widened; he hadn't expected the Substitution Technique to be used in such a way.

Within the dense forest, the attack was completely intercepted. Relying on the cover of the trees, Shugo moved away from Kaguya Hakujin and ran toward another location.

He must have been out of his mind to fight this guy; reaching Special Jonin at five years old was already his limit. There was no "life-or-death breakthrough" to be had fighting him, and with blood covering the ground waiting for him to collect, he didn't care about this one person.

But Kaguya Hakujin had no intention of letting Shugo go, flying over by continuously using the Body Flicker Technique. His Chakra erupted, and the spinal bone sword was already in his hand, which he pulled out with force.

"Kaguya Hakujin, I'll * your *, why are you chasing your grandfather so relentlessly!"

Shugo cursed loudly, bit his finger, and pressed it to the ground.

Summoning Jutsu: Rashomon.

The closed gate emerged from the earth, followed by the sound of metal colliding.

Kaguya Hakujin exerted all his strength to leap over the Rashomon from the side, his eyes filled with murderous intent: "Kid, your mouth is the only thing that's sharp. You're already too scared to move, aren't you? Just obediently accept your death!"

Wood Style: Wood Rotation Wall.

Wood grew from both sides of Shugo and closed in the middle, forming a shield.

"Muda muda muda..."

Kaguya Hakujin's full Chakra erupted, slashing out several swords in succession to split the wood like a white bone flower blooming, finally hacking toward Shugo's neck.

But at that moment, the ground beneath his feet suddenly turned soft. His powerful strike faltered, and the direction shifted from the neck to the chest.

Shugo's already tattered armor was completely destroyed, and he spat blood again, his entire body stumbling back until he hit the broken Wood Rotation Wall.

Mud...

Hakujin glanced at his feet; the previously stable ground had been converted into mud.

Was this the only reason this brat didn't run? How foolish, wait...

Kaguya Hakujin's eyes narrowed slightly; something black seemed to be moving beneath the soil. It was a vine covered in Explosive Tags, which had quietly coiled around his right leg.

Kaguya Hakujin could have dodged immediately, but he had been hindered by the mud and had just wounded Hiugo with a single strike, so he had naturally grown a bit careless with his target right before him.

The next second, a brilliant white light erupted from his right leg, accompanied by a violent explosion. Hiugo was sent flying, his entire body turned into a bloody mess.

Kaguya Hakujin let out a miserable scream. With this level of concentrated explosion on a single foot, his Shikotsumyaku-enhanced physique was enough to prevent him from being killed outright, but his right leg, where the blast was concentrated, vanished entirely—taking his masculine features along with it.

The pain, both mental and physical, was excruciating.

Hiugo panted slightly. With a thought, a vine emerged from the soil, drawing in the blood and Chakra absorbed from the battlefield and channeling it into his body through the previous vine, strengthening his power while accelerating his recovery.

In a spot he didn't notice, his originally black hair began to turn white at a rate visible to the naked eye. This white was not the pale color of old age, but a bright, pure hue.

Feeling that it was about time, Dark One and Dark Seven, the two Dark Ninja, appeared before him. The former moved directly to finish off Kaguya Hakujin, while the latter scooped up Hiugo and retreated from the battlefield.

Damn it, I didn't see anyone when I was being hunted earlier, and now that it's over, one shows up to take the kill and the other doesn't even know what he's doing.

Dark Seven brought Hiugo directly to the front of Senju Rei's wooden hut, and upon seeing his condition, she immediately summoned a Slug to begin treatment.

The slimy slug crawled over his body; it looked fine in the anime, but in reality, the contact was slightly disgusting.

"Rei, he is fine, and his condition is actually better than most of yours."

The Slug replied in a soft, gentle voice.

The Slug summoned by Senju Rei was a split entity of the Slug Sage, ancient beyond measure, yet its attitude was always gentle and never condescending.

"It's fine. My recovery ability is strong after awakening Wood Style; I just look a bit miserable," Hiugo said, scratching the back of his head.

Dark Seven remained silent for a moment, then manifested a mirror to show the boy his head of white hair.

"?"

Hiugo looked at it with a hint of surprise, then immediately said:

"Nothing strange about that. Isn't Tobirama a white-hair? And Hashirama has half-black and half-white hair. This is probably related to my Kekkei Genkai awakening."

"But why didn't you two come out to protect me? The clan leader ordered you to protect me. When I was being chased and beaten by an elite Jonin, were you two asleep?"

Dark Seven replied calmly: "I did not hear your call for help, and sensing your movements, I assumed it was a personal trial, so I did not intervene... My apologies."

Hearing this, the corner of Hiugo's mouth twitched. He hadn't expected that because he was too focused on the enemy, he hadn't called for help, leading his "bodyguards" to believe they shouldn't interfere.

"Regardless, be careful next time. Getting injured too often is never a good thing," Senju Rei said with a sigh of relief.

"Understood."

Hiugo nodded, secretly trying to control the vine to absorb his own blood, but it was to no avail.

It seems I cannot evolve by consuming myself like Otsutsuki Urashiki.