Hearing Jun Tianlin's confident, utterly... arrogant and conceited tone, the smile on Yamamoto Ichiki's face vanished. In an instant, gloom clouded his expression, and killing intent poured from him uncontrollably as his anger flared.
"Kid, so according to you, you deliberately took my sneak attack and pretended to be gravely wounded to lure me out here, just so you could kill me?"
"Mm, let me think. I guess that's pretty much what happened. But speaking of which, that palm strike of yours really hurt. It really... hurt a lot!"
Blinking his big, dark eyes, Jun Tianlin gave him an innocent smile, as if to say he wasn't lying. It really had hurt just now, hadn't it?
The next second, seeing Jun Tianlin's teasing expression, Yamamoto Ichiki's forehead creased with a "#." The veins at his brow bulged, his eyes blazed with fury and savagery, and the killing intent on his face nearly solidified.
"Kid, I admit it: you've really managed to piss me off. The consequences of provoking me are dire. Today, I'll show you the biggest difference between me, a battle-hardened man who's been through the slaughter of the battlefield, and a snot-nosed brat like you. This is no game!
"Now die, you insolent bastard!"
Before he'd even finished speaking, Yamamoto Ichiki vanished from where he stood and appeared behind Jun Tianlin. Blue lightning crackled around his right hand as he drove a punch toward Jun Tianlin's head.
"Bam!"
A loud crash rang out. Tiny white fragments of bone fell through the black night, quickly disappearing from sight in the darkness.
"Heh, heh, heh. Seems your strength doesn't match your big talk. Compared to all that bluster, your Chunin skills are pretty weak. You couldn't even break through my most basic Bone Shield defense. You're useless, Yamamoto Ichiki!"
By the end, Jun Tianlin was standing perfectly still, delivering his taunt slowly, almost word by word.
"Shikotsumyaku: Bone Drill Assassination!"
Not giving Yamamoto Ichiki behind him another chance to attack, Jun Tianlin took advantage of his Shikotsumyaku and struck first.
"Crack!"
In almost the same instant, a flurry of brittle cracking sounds rang out. Countless bone spikes suddenly burst from inside Jun Tianlin's body, turning him into a human porcupine covered in spikes.
"Ah!"
Yamamoto Ichiki had never expected countless bone spikes to erupt from Jun Tianlin's body. Caught by Jun Tianlin's almost cheat-like attack, he let out a scream of agony and hurriedly pulled back his right hand, which had been pierced by the spikes.
Turning around, Jun Tianlin saw Yamamoto's right arm, pierced through by bone spikes and bleeding steadily from the holes. He continued his merciless taunting.
"Hmph. I called you useless, so that's what you are. You're a Chunin, and you couldn't even dodge an attack like that. I really don't know whether the scroll was telling the truth when it said you'd killed three Chunin of your own rank.
"But none of that matters now. I'll be putting you out of your misery soon. Die, Bone Drill!"
A cruel glint appeared in his eyes. The blood of the Kaguya Clan ran through Jun Tianlin's veins, and its distinctive bloodlust stirred again at the sight of blood. He gradually grew excited, a deeply buried pleasure surfacing within him.
Of course, Jun Tianlin was too caught up in his excitement to notice this deeply buried pleasure. He simply thought such feelings were only natural in a fight.
Seeing Jun Tianlin charge toward him with his right hand completely covered by a spinning cone of white bone, Yamamoto Ichiki's eyes blazed with madness. He endured the excruciating pain in his right hand, raised it, and quickly formed hand seals.
"When I became a ninja, you were still in your mother's womb, you little brat! If you want to kill me, you'll have to let me finish you off first! Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
As Yamamoto roared madly, a mass of dark-blue lightning shot from his hand, flying into the night sky with the piercing shriek characteristic of lightning.
"You think some mere B-rank ninjutsu can kill me? Even the Lightning Release, said to have the greatest attack power, can't do it! Bone Drill: Rotating Attack—break through!"
Jun Tianlin's clear shout rang out from within the dark-blue lightning.
The next second, the lightning shattered and vanished, replaced by a spinning Bone Drill in Yamamoto Ichiki's line of sight.
"Thud!"
With a muffled sound, the spinning Bone Drill in Jun Tianlin's right hand plunged straight into Yamamoto's body, spraying blood in every direction...
Jun Tianlin's Rotating Bone Drill attack was nothing like Naruto's Rasengan.
Though both used rotation, the former struck with an explosion of spinning energy, while the latter dealt damage by drilling into its target with a rotating physical attack. Their methods of attack were completely different, so they couldn't be compared.
Feeling the searing pain in his chest, Yamamoto Ichiki knew he'd lost today. To be beaten by a kid who hadn't even grown all his hair yet was fucking infuriating!
"Hahahaha! Even if I die, I won't let you get off easy. Come with me to meet the previous Raikage! Lightning Release: Lightning Explosion!"
As Yamamoto let out his last mad, despairing roar, Jun Tianlin's deep black eyes narrowed, and a chill welled up from the depths of his heart.
Without thinking, Jun Tianlin unleashed the strongest defensive technique he could use right now.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Larch!"
Before you continue