Chapter 267: Slaying Kimimaro
"More enemies?"
Naruto turned toward the east.
Without hesitation, he leapt onto a nearby tree and concealed himself among the branches.
He did not have to wait long.
A lone figure soon entered the devastated battlefield.
White hair framed a pale, sickly face.
The newcomer carried a sword formed from bone.
Kimimaro.
He landed among the shattered trees and immediately noticed the bodies scattered across the ground.
Jirōbō.
Tayuya.
Sakon and Ukon.
Kidōmaru.
All four were dead.
Kimimaro stood in silence for a moment.
His eyes swept across the battlefield.
"Sasuke's body isn't here…"
His voice remained calm.
"Was he taken back to Konoha?"
He turned toward the direction Sasuke had gone, preparing to continue the pursuit.
Naruto moved first.
Several three pronged kunai shot downward from the branches.
Whoosh!
Kimimaro reacted without hesitation.
He shifted aside, allowing the weapons to strike the ground around him.
His thoughts moved rapidly.
Someone was still here.
That meant Sasuke might not have been captured.
Perhaps he had already escaped and continued toward Orochimaru's base.
The tension in Kimimaro's expression eased slightly.
Then Naruto dropped from the tree.
He landed beside one of the kunai and picked it up.
Kimimaro immediately recognized him.
"Uzumaki Naruto."
Naruto looked over.
Kimimaro raised the bone sword in his hand.
"Lord Orochimaru told me about you."
His gaze remained completely steady.
"I have one question."
"Where is Uchiha Sasuke?"
Naruto returned the three pronged kunai to his hand.
"Do you really think I'm going to tell you?"
Kimimaro showed no anger.
His expression barely changed.
"In that case…"
He lowered his stance.
"I will do my best to make your death painless."
The bones at his fingertips shifted.
Naruto's eyes narrowed.
Kimimaro raised both hands.
"Shikotsumyaku: Ten Finger Drilling Bullets!"
The tips of his fingers opened.
Bang!
Ten hardened finger bones shot forward like bullets.
Naruto drew Ryūjin Jakka.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The sword flashed repeatedly, knocking the projectiles away.
At the same time, Naruto formed a hand seal.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
Poof!
Smoke filled the clearing.
Numerous Narutos burst from within it.
Each Shadow Clone carried a three pronged kunai.
They immediately scattered among the surrounding trees, establishing marked positions throughout the battlefield.
Kimimaro's finger bones had already regenerated.
He showed no surprise.
His figure blurred.
Body Flicker.
He crossed the distance between them with his bone sword raised.
"Dance of the Camellia!"
His arm became a blur.
Thrust after thrust rained toward Naruto.
The attacks overlapped so densely that they seemed to form a wall of sharpened bone.
Naruto drew Ryūjin Jakka across his body.
Chakra condensed along the sword edge.
"Fuzan!"
Slash!
The two weapons collided.
Kimimaro's bone sword snapped apart.
Naruto's strike continued through it without slowing.
Kimimaro immediately pulled back.
There was still no shock in his eyes.
Orochimaru had already warned him about Naruto's sword.
He knew ordinary bone would not withstand it.
So he changed tactics.
Bones erupted from across Kimimaro's body.
Shoulders.
Elbows.
Back.
Knees.
Sharp protrusions tore through his skin and extended outward.
"Dance of the Larch!"
Kimimaro spun.
His body became a storm of bone.
Naruto had already entered close range.
There was no room to complete another swing.
Flash!
Golden light appeared.
Naruto vanished.
He reappeared beside one of the marked kunai several metres away.
Kimimaro stopped spinning.
Naruto watched him more carefully now.
This enemy was different.
The Sound Four had been strong by the standards of ordinary young Shinobi, but none of them came close to Kimimaro.
Even while visibly ill, the man's combat ability was extraordinary.
Kimimaro appeared to reach the same conclusion about Naruto.
Neither had defeated the other during that brief exchange.
So Kimimaro stopped holding back.
Dark markings spread across his body.
The Cursed Seal advanced.
Second state.
His skin darkened.
His white hair turned grey.
His ribs expanded and pushed outward through his flesh.
A thick tail emerged behind him.
Kimimaro's appearance became almost inhuman.
He looked at Ryūjin Jakka.
"Lord Orochimaru was right."
"That sword can cut through nearly anything."
Naruto remained silent.
Kimimaro continued.
"But my kekkei genkai is Shikotsumyaku."
"I can freely manipulate the growth, density, and shape of my bones."
His hand reached behind his neck.
His fingers sank into his own flesh.
Then he pulled.
A long spine slid from his back.
Kimimaro gripped it like a whip.
"So cutting them changes nothing."
His arm moved.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Clematis!"
The spinal whip tore through the air.
Crack!
Naruto dodged.
The weapon struck a thick tree behind him.
The trunk exploded.
Kimimaro swung again.
Naruto leapt aside.
Crack!
Another tree was severed.
Then another.
The bone whip lashed through the forest with terrifying force, destroying everything within reach.
Naruto continued avoiding the attacks.
Flash!
Golden light carried him from one Flying Thunder God mark to another.
Every swing missed.
Trees did not.
The forest around them was rapidly demolished.
Within moments, the battlefield had been stripped bare.
Broken trunks covered the ground.
Open sky appeared above them.
Yet Kimimaro still had not landed a single clean hit.
His breathing became heavier.
Not because Naruto had wounded him.
Because his own body was dying.
Kimimaro could feel it.
Every technique.
Every movement.
Every breath.
His remaining life was being consumed.
Time was running out.
Orochimaru's face appeared in his thoughts.
The person who had given purpose to his existence.
The person to whom Kimimaro had devoted everything.
His expression hardened.
If his life was going to end, then he would spend every remaining second serving Orochimaru.
Kimimaro dropped the spinal whip.
His hands struck the ground.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Seedling Fern!"
The earth erupted.
Boom!
Giant bones burst from the ground.
One.
Ten.
Hundreds.
They rose like an enormous forest of sharpened ivory.
The technique expanded across the entire clearing in an instant.
Trees vanished beneath the bone field.
Every possible foothold was pierced.
Every route of escape disappeared.
Kimimaro stood among the towering spikes.
His chest heaved.
The technique had taken an enormous toll on his already failing body.
Still, his eyes searched.
Then his pupils contracted.
Naruto stood on one of the bone spikes.
Completely unharmed.
Naruto looked across the field.
"So that was your plan."
Kimimaro remained silent.
Naruto continued.
"You covered the entire area so I wouldn't have enough time to dodge."
He lifted one of his three pronged kunai.
"But against Flying Thunder God…"
Naruto shook his head.
"It doesn't work."
Kimimaro stared at him.
Then he gave a small, bitter smile.
"You truly are extraordinary."
Naruto looked back at him.
"Coming from an enemy, I'll take that as a compliment."
A slight smile appeared on his own face.
"You're strong too."
Kimimaro said nothing.
He already knew.
He could not defeat Naruto.
His body had reached its limit.
His techniques had failed.
Even the Dance of the Seedling Fern had done nothing.
But surrender had never been an option.
Kimimaro released the spinal whip completely.
Bones burst from his right arm.
They grew around the limb, wrapping flesh and bone together into a massive drill shaped weapon.
He lowered his body.
Naruto tightened both hands around Ryūjin Jakka.
Neither spoke.
Kimimaro charged.
He raced across the towering bones directly toward Naruto.
Naruto moved at the same moment.
Flames erupted along Ryūjin Jakka.
The heat intensified.
Naruto drew in a breath.
Then leapt.
His body rotated sideways through the air.
The burning sword traced a brilliant circle around him.
A wheel of fire appeared above the white forest of bone.
"Hinokami Kagura: Fire Wheel!"
Kimimaro thrust the bone drill forward.
Sword and bone collided.
Slash!
Ryūjin Jakka cut through the drill.
The burning edge continued without losing momentum.
It passed through Kimimaro's waist.
Naruto landed behind him.
The flames faded from his sword.
Kimimaro remained standing for a moment.
Then the upper half of his body separated from the lower.
He fell.
There was no scream.
No desperate struggle.
Perhaps there was not even pain anymore.
Kimimaro had already been living on borrowed time.
He had used the last of that time for Orochimaru.
In his own mind, his debt had been repaid.
Death was simply the end.
Inside Ryūjin Jakka, the system responded.
[Ding! Negative emotions detected from Jōnin level target Kimimaro at the moment of death.]
[Gained 5000 emotion points.]
[Gained 5000 Demon Power.]
[Fifty percent will be returned to the Sword Master.]
Power flowed into Naruto.
His eyes widened slightly.
This time, the change was unmistakable.
His chakra increased.
His physical strength rose.
Even his spirit seemed to strengthen.
Compared with the weaker enemies he had killed before, Kimimaro's feedback was on a completely different level.
Naruto looked back at the body.
He remained silent for a moment.
Then he began collecting his scattered three pronged kunai.
One by one, he retrieved them from the ruined battlefield.
He had just finished when Asuramaru sensed approaching chakra signatures.
Naruto turned.
Several figures emerged from the forest.
Sakura was among them.
They stopped almost immediately.
Everyone stared at the battlefield.
Towering bone spikes covered the entire clearing.
Trees had been shattered across a wide area.
Bodies lay scattered among the destruction.
The Sound Four were dead.
Another unfamiliar white haired Shinobi lay farther away.
But there was one person missing.
Sasuke.
Sakura's face changed.
She hurried toward Naruto.
"Naruto!"
Naruto looked at her.
Sakura stopped in front of him.
Her eyes searched the battlefield one more time.
Then she asked the question she was afraid to ask.
"Where's Sasuke?"
The others looked toward Naruto as well.
Naruto lowered his gaze.
He thought of Sasuke walking away through the forest.
That final farewell.
The decision he had made.
Then Naruto answered quietly.
"I'm sorry."
Sakura's fingers tightened.
Naruto continued.
"By the time I caught up…"
"Sasuke had already decided to leave."
Pain crossed Sakura's face.
For a moment, she could not speak.
Then she shook her head.
"No."
Her voice was soft.
"You don't need to apologize, Naruto."
She forced herself to look at him.
"This isn't your fault."
....
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