Bone Release (Seeking Collection, Recommendation, Monthly Votes)

The final word fell, and his arm suddenly exerted force, accompanied by the grating sound of rock shattering. The bone spear swept downward in a single stroke, and a severed arm thudded to the ground.

It rolled a few times before stopping at Qifeng's feet. He raised his foot and crushed it like an ant underfoot.

With the arm no longer in the way, the bone spear pierced straight through Tsuchi's chest, pinning him to the wall behind as well, linking them together.

To be honest, Qifeng himself was a bit surprised. He hadn't expected to display such strength after fully unleashing the Shikotsumyaku.

It was also because he'd been coasting along until now, so he didn't have a clear grasp of his own abilities.

Of course, the element of surprise played a big part. Tsuchi probably never imagined that the Konoha brat who couldn't even take one of his punches would suddenly transform into a spiky hedgehog bristling with thorns.

At the same time, Qifeng didn't notice the system pop-up that appeared when he fully activated the Shikotsumyaku.

Kekkei Genkai Shikotsumyaku: +10 Taijutsu!

This was the true effect of a Kekkei Genkai as assessed by the system.

His original Taijutsu stat of 45, boosted by 10, now reached 55—pushing him close to jonin level.

The severed arm and the piercing wound through his chest finally snapped Tsuchi back to reality.

Gritting his teeth, he used his remaining left hand to push hard against the wall, steadying his center of gravity and footing, then swung a roundhouse kick straight at Qifeng's head.

Bam!

Qifeng blocked with his left arm.

But the blood vessels and meridians in his forearm burst instantly from the sheer impact, blood seeping out from every capillary.

At the same time, he stumbled back, loosening the bone spear lodged against Tsuchi and letting him escape.

Losing an arm, plus a hole through his chest—this was a devastating blow for Tsuchi.

Blood poured from his mouth in endless streams, as if it cost nothing.

But a jonin was still a jonin, and one built for physical combat at that. He took a deep breath, clenched his left fist, and charged at Qifeng.

The Sharingan locked on, the Shikotsumyaku stood guard.

The battle once again turned into one-sided beating.

The difference was that Qifeng had played all his cards, while Tsuchi's wounds kept gushing blood—the gap between them was steadily closing.

"I still haven't mastered the Shikotsumyaku. Otherwise, one Dance of the Emerging Fern would skewer him like meat on a stick." Qifeng stared through the gaps in his bones at Tsuchi's storm of attacks, his mind churning as he tried to distract himself from the pain of the bones being pulled out.

There was no helping it. Even though the extracted bones could be repaired instantly, the pain didn't disappear.

He'd thought the Shikotsumyaku he got from the system was the complete version, letting him unleash its full power right away.

As it turned out, he was overthinking it.

No matter how powerful a Kekkei Genkai the Shikotsumyaku was, he'd only acquired it recently and barely grasped the basics. He couldn't bring out its true strength at all.

Otherwise, in this state, Qifeng wouldn't just be approaching jonin level—he'd be far above it.

Bam!

Tsuchi threw another punch, sending Qifeng stumbling back several steps.

But he couldn't keep up the relentless pursuit like before, attacking in a continuous flurry.

Instead, he braced his hands on his knees, his chest heaving violently.

Yet the harder he tried to breathe, the more blood spurted from his chest wound.

His face had already turned deathly pale.

He probably never imagined the fight between them would end up like this.

All because he stepped on a corpse.

If he'd known, he would've gone all out from the start.

Now the breath he'd been holding had dissipated, his limbs grew weaker, and his eyelids began to droop uncontrollably.

Was death coming?

A flicker of panic set in.

Qifeng quietly let out a sigh of relief. To be honest, he wasn't in great shape either. Every punch from the other side felt like a sledgehammer blow.

His left arm had burst from the heavy strikes.

Luckily, his bones were tough, and with the Shikotsumyaku's regenerative ability, he'd barely recovered enough to move.

He glanced at the shield made of bone—it was covered in fine cracks.

And this was Shikotsumyaku bone!

"Cough, cough."

Tsuchi coughed violently.

Qifeng's face remained cold, showing no trace of sympathy.

Dragging the bone spear, he cautiously stepped toward him one pace at a time, not letting his guard down just because the enemy was gravely wounded.

Tsuchi lifted his head with difficulty, his weary voice rasping out, "What's your name?"

Qifeng stopped a step away from him, his bone spear aimed at the other's heart.

The moment the words fell, Tsuchi, who had looked half-dead, suddenly burst into action.

But fast as his movements were, Qifeng—locked onto him by the Sharingan—reacted even faster. He had long anticipated that the man wouldn't just give up.

With a push of his right hand, the bone spear pierced into Tsuchi's chest.

In an instant, Tsuchi's raised arm froze.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

One after another, pale white bones burst out from inside Tsuchi's body, as if a cluster of bones had exploded from within, skewering him into a hedgehog.

"Bone Release! Bone Stab Technique!"

This was a use of Shikotsumyaku that Qifeng had improvised on the spot.

The Kaguya Clan had compatible taijutsu to pair with Shikotsumyaku, such as Willow Dance, Camellia Dance, and so on.

But he had only obtained Shikotsumyaku, not those techniques.

In that split second, a thought struck him: since Shikotsumyaku was so similar to Wood Release and the Sage Body, could he try learning Senju Hashirama's Wood Release techniques and combine them with his own bones to perform something similar?

This move was inspired by "Wood Release: Wood Stake Technique."

Pierce the bone into the opponent's body, then detonate it, destroying them from the inside out and killing their vital signs.

Tsuchi, a taijutsu powerhouse, had a strong physique—especially reinforced by Earth Release on the surface. But if he chose to destroy him from within, it became much simpler.

The experiment was a success, and it laid the groundwork for Qifeng's future development of Bone Release.

Grabbing Tsuchi by the head, under his incredulous gaze, his body slammed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Only then did Qifeng finally let out a breath. He plopped down on the ground, feeling sore all over.

This fight had been terrifyingly close.

He had won purely by catching the enemy off guard; otherwise, there was no chance of victory.

Hadn't he seen how the guy, even with one arm severed and his chest pierced, could still beat him down?

Without the surprise factor of Shikotsumyaku, no matter how furious Qifeng was about the destruction of his body, he would have had no choice but to flee.

Principles were principles, but you had to be alive to have them.

"Hiss—"

It really hurt.

Shikotsumyaku was strong, sure, but the pain was real too.

Looking at the bones protruding from his body, he thought for a moment, then drove his Chakra again. One by one, bones still connected to flesh and blood pushed out from within and fell to the ground.

He had no intention of reabsorbing them.

He didn't know if Kimimaro's blood disease came from reusing those bones, but as long as there was a possibility, Qifeng would discard them.

It only deepened the pain.

But pain—well, pain on pain, you got used to it.

Once all the bones had fallen off and the wounds on his body had healed themselves, Qifeng lay on the ground, drenched in sweat.

His face was pale.

He stopped feeding Chakra to his eyes, and the Sharingan returned to normal.

He rested for a moment.

Then forced himself to stand up.

He couldn't rest yet. He had to clean up the scene before Orochimaru and the others returned.

For now, he couldn't let anyone know about his abilities—especially not Orochimaru.

If even a small-scale skirmish was this dangerous, who knew how terrifying it would be when war truly broke out.

The outside world was too dangerous. He wanted to go back to Konoha.