Your Big Blade, I Like It

Forest.

Big trees lay in a jumbled mess upon the ground, the air filled with the scents of dust and fresh blood, and the buzzing snap of leaping lightning arcs sounded exceptionally distinct in such a peculiar environment.

Hyuga Satoru hovered a foot off the ground in mid-air, lightning arcs dancing amidst his dark hair, his clothes whipping loudly in the gale he stirred up around himself.

It was just like a Super Saiyan after a transformation.

Biwa Juzo narrowed his eyes as he stared at Hyuga Satoru, who was wrapped in lightning, and in the span of a mere brief instant, he suddenly sensed the aura on the other man expand severalfold.

"Some kind of secret art for temporarily boosting strength? Similar to the Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode?"

"Heh-heh, I didn't expect you to even have this kind of ability. Such prey is actually interesting."

Kaguya Maro let out a harsh, grating laugh as something visibly squirmed beneath his skin, and two sharp bone spikes drilled out from his palms, firmly gripped in his hands.

"Maro, he's my prey!"

A cold glint flashed through Biwa Juzo's eyes, chakra surging within his body as he violently charged at the floating Hyuga Satoru, the Kubikiribōchō carrying terrifying force as it fiercely hacked down toward him.

Bang!

Accompanied by a dull, heavy thud, Biwa Juzo's pupils abruptly constricted.

"How is that possible..."

He saw Hyuga Satoru raise a hand to block right in front of the blade of the Kubikiribōchō, yet that massive big blade was unable to advance even a single fraction of an inch, remaining rigidly stuck in place.

"What kind of secret art is this? Why did your Magnet Release suddenly get so strong?"

Biwa Juzo was struck with dismay.

Hyuga Satoru's palm wasn't even touching the Kubikiribōchō; to be precise, when there was still a centimeter of distance left, a terrifying repulsive force had appeared on the blade like a mountain peak, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not shake it in the slightest.

However, an even more terrifying scene appeared before him.

The massive blade of the Kubikiribōchō actually began to dissolve, starting from the spot where Hyuga Satoru's palm held it, melting into a silvery metallic liquid that slowly flowed down Hyuga Satoru's arm.

In just a few breaths, the majority of the blade had already been decomposed.

Biwa Juzo's pupils trembled slightly, and not daring to lock blades any longer, he immediately let go of the Kubikiribōchō and quickly retreated in panic.

"Maro, this brat is strange."

"Juzo, isn't it just that your attack was blocked? Since when did you become so cowardly?"

Kaguya Maro sneered with a chuckle; because Biwa Juzo's body had been in the way, he hadn't seen that terrifying scene.

Hyuga Satoru had completely decomposed the Kubikiribōchō, and the silvery metallic fluid seemed to have gained life, slowly slithering like a small silver snake around his shoulder and arm.

Matter Disintegration!

Under the terrifying amplification of Tyrant Mode, Hyuga Satoru had finally touched upon the threshold of matter disintegration.

Although he still couldn't reach the atomic level, he had dismantled the entire Kubikiribōchō into tiny particles under 10 nanometers in diameter. Metal in this special state would retain both metallic and fluid properties, commonly known as...

Magnetic Fluid!

Capable of infinitely switching forms between fluid and solid!

Locking his gaze onto Biwa Juzo, Hyuga Satoru moved, rocketing forward like a startled thunderbolt.

A thick crisis of life and death completely enveloped him as a chill erupted from his tailbone, racing up his spine to the back of his head. Panic gripped Biwa Juzo's heart; having lost the Kubikiribōchō, he was not much stronger than an ordinary Jonin and was completely powerless to withstand this strike.

There wasn't even time to dodge before Hyuga Satoru's attack arrived.

The little silver snake squirmed at extreme speed, darting out from his arm and transforming into a curved saber that slashed across his throat in an instant.

Squelch!

The world seemed to turn a uniform scarlet as Biwa Juzo suddenly felt his body grow light, and all the objects in his field of vision began to flip upside down.

At the very last moment before his consciousness faded, he seemed to hear a light chuckle echo by his ear.

"Your big blade, I like it."

Plop...

His head dropped to the ground, the look of terror still frozen upon his lifelike face.

"Ju... Juzo."

Kaguya Maro blankly swallowed a mouthful of saliva. The battle had shifted so fast he hadn't even had time to react; all he had seen was Biwa Juzo retreating in terror for some unknown reason, followed by Hyuga Satoru's counterattack and Biwa Juzo's head sent flying high into the air.

The blood remaining on the silver saber seeped into the metal, and after absorbing that portion of blood, the little silver snake seemed to grow even sharper.

Joy stirred in Hyuga Satoru's heart. As expected, the magnetofluid-transformed Kubikiribōchō still retained the property of absorbing blood.

"Bastard..."

Kaguya Maro clenched his teeth tight, extreme fury bursting forth from his mind and causing bloodshot veins to spread across his eyeballs.

Beneath his skin, visible to the naked eye, violent writhing occurred, and accompanied by the sound of flesh being pierced, root after root of sharp bone spurs actually burst right through his body!

His chest, elbows, and spine were covered everywhere with sharp bone spurs, making him resemble a ferocious monster.

Hyuga Satoru's expression grew a fraction heavier. The reason he had been able to deal with Biwa Juzo so easily was because the man was a swordsman ninja whose abilities were completely countered by his own.

Meanwhile, the calcium in bones primarily existed in the form of inorganic salts, which were very difficult to magnetize, coupled with the Kaguya Clan's near-fanatical desire for battle.

Next came the true battle.

"Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets!"

Kaguya Maro roared, raising his ten fingers to aim at Hyuga Satoru as white bones squirmed out from his fingertips and shot forth explosively.

Hyuga Satoru did not dodge; the little silver snake flowed swiftly, transforming into a silver metal shield that blocked in front of him.

Clang clang clang...

Accompanied by the sounds of metal clashing against metal, all ten bone bullets were blocked.

"It's not over yet!"

The moment the silver shield melted, the Kaguya Maro who resembled an evil ghost was seen to have already charged right up to Hyuga Satoru's side, sharp bone spurs protruding from his knees as he slammed a heavy whip kick toward Hyuga Satoru.

The little silver snake slithered once more, blocking Kaguya Maro's attack.

The silvery-white metal pressed against Kaguya Maro's thigh slowly flowed, following the pale bone spurs onto his body.

Feeling a chill spread all over his body, Kaguya Maro immediately pulled back and retreated, swinging his palm like a blade to swiftly sever the flowing bone spurs of the little silver snake.

"Truly cautious."

Hyuga Satoru couldn't help secretly thinking it a pity. As long as the metal managed to enter Kaguya Maro's body, the outcome of this battle would have been sealed.

Yet he hadn't expected the opponent to retain such extreme caution even in a state close to madness. It seemed this person was definitely no nobody within the Kaguya Clan; he wondered what relation he bore to the future Kaguya Kimimaro.

Under the amplification of Tyrant Mode, he possessed many abilities he hadn't been able to use before.

However, he was still some distance away from atomic-level matter manipulation; otherwise, he could have directly controlled the calcium ions inside Kaguya Maro's body and made him drop dead on the spot.

"Brat, you have completely angered me."

Having walked past the gates of hell, Kaguya Maro could no longer suppress his enraged emotions, and the chakra within his body surged frantically.

"Dance of the Clematis!"

A massive number of bone spurs drilled out from the ground around him like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, rapidly spreading across the entire battlefield, while Biwa Juzo's corpse nearby was violently pierced into smithereens amidst the chaotic growth of the bone spurs.

Hyuga Satoru's body floated rapidly upward, dodging the assault of the growing bone spurs.

Looking down from mid-air, a forest of pale bones had abruptly come into view.