Grind is My Ninja Way

"Shikotsumyaku" Seimei muttered, his long katana and body flashed with green light, and he used the 'Instantaneous Sword Technique'. In the blink of an eye, he appeared beside Kaguya Kotaro.

Whoosh~

A flash of sword light.

Screech~

A harsh scraping sound rang out.

Seimei's katana, aimed at Kaguya Kotaro's neck, was blocked by his raised arm.

The long katana clashed with the bone spikes, producing a teeth-grinding sound.

However, unlike his previous encounter with Kaguya Morinosuke where he couldn't break through the defense, this time, with the help of the rare weapon - the Kusanagi Sword, the opponent's bone spikes could no longer block his blade.

With a "crack," the bone spike on his arm was cut off by Seimei's katana infused with Wind Release Chakra, revealing the flesh and blood beneath.

Unfortunately, after cutting off this bone spike, the force on the blade was almost exhausted, and in the end, it only pierced the opponent's skin and flesh, failing to sever his arm bone a second time.

Feeling the pain from his arm, Kaguya Kotaro licked his lips and grinned ferociously: "Not bad, you have some skills, but..."

"Don't underestimate the power of our Kaguya clan!"

He shouted, activating the Shikotsumyaku ability within his body. The severed bone spike regenerated, and the torn skin and flesh quickly healed.

Not only that, but he also leaped back, creating distance, and then ten finger bones shot out like bullets, forcing back Seimei, who was trying to pursue.

Then, he extended his left hand forward, and a sword hilt grew from his palm. He grasped it with his right hand and pulled it out forcefully, revealing a bone sword as white as jade in his hand.

Completing these actions in the blink of an eye, Kaguya Kotaro looked at Seimei and the long katana in his hand, twisted his neck, and said: "Kid, let me, your grandpa, have some fun with you next."

As he spoke, he charged forward, arriving in front of Seimei, and swung the bone sword in his hand.

Seimei raised his katana to block. With a "clang," the bone sword and the long katana clashed, producing a crisp metallic sound.

This time, even with Wind Release Chakra infused to increase its sharpness, the long katana in his hand couldn't damage the opponent's bone sword.

This showed just how hard the bone sword in his hand was.

And at the same time, after confirming that Seimei couldn't damage the bone sword in his hand, Kaguya Kotaro finally felt relieved and started laughing loudly, launching a series of attacks.

His moves were fast, and his attack angles were tricky. Often, before one move landed, the second move was already prepared, forcing Seimei to only passively respond.

Seimei had also seen this kind of fluid combo from Kaguya Morinosuke. It was one of the six secret techniques of the Kaguya clan, used in conjunction with Shikotsumyaku - the Dance of the Camellia!

It emphasized speed and used continuous attacks to pressure the opponent, forcing them to reveal openings and then land a killing blow.

It was only because Seimei had the Sharingan that he could see the opponent's movements clearly, his nerve reaction speed could keep up, and his swordsmanship skills were not low.

Otherwise, he might not necessarily be his opponent.

Clang, clang, clang~

The crisp sound of metal clashing rang out continuously, as dense as raindrops. Both of their movements were incredibly fast.

To ordinary people, it was already a blur.

And at this time, their speed was still increasing.

Now, it depended on who couldn't keep up first.

At that time, the victor would be decided.

One second, two seconds...

One minute, two minutes...

The high-intensity battle lasted for a full five minutes.

Finally, at some point, Seimei's long katana grazed the bone sword in Kaguya Kotaro's hand and slashed onto his body.

Although he had bone spikes for defense and didn't suffer any serious injuries, this was undoubtedly a sign that he could no longer keep up with Seimei's speed.

Realizing this, Kaguya Kotaro's face turned extremely ugly. Among the six secret techniques of Shikotsumyaku, the 'Dance of the Camellia' was his specialty.

Now, he had lost in his strongest area.

The blow to his confidence could be imagined.

On the contrary, Seimei's eyes seemed to emit a different kind of light, his confidence soaring, and he wielded the long katana with all his might.

'Swordsmanship', 'Illusionary Sword Technique', 'Instantaneous Sword Technique' were all used by him in succession, continuously attacking Kaguya Kotaro.

For a time, Kaguya Kotaro was overwhelmed, the continuous flashes of sword light making him dizzy.

It was only because he possessed Shikotsumyaku, with his entire body covered in bone spikes, and some superficial wounds could heal quickly.

Otherwise, he would have been cut down by Seimei's katana long ago.

However, continuing like this wasn't a solution either.

Although the Shikotsumyaku ability was strong, continuously generating bones also required a large amount of Chakra consumption. If he ran out of Chakra, even the strongest Shikotsumyaku would be useless.

With this in mind, Kaguya Kotaro no longer tried to compete with Seimei in swordsmanship. Instead, he controlled the bones throughout his body, fully utilizing the Shikotsumyaku ability, and interspersed the five secret techniques to fight Seimei.

As for why it was five secret techniques?

It was simple. Because the last one, the 'Dance of the Seedling Fern', no one in the Kaguya clan, except for Kimimaro Kaguya, who was used as a weapon, could perform it.

Therefore, there were only five secret techniques.

However, even with these five secret techniques, he didn't use them as skillfully as Kaguya Morinosuke, at least not as balanced as him.

Back then, when Seimei faced Kaguya Morinosuke, he still needed to avoid his attacks.

But now, facing Kaguya Kotaro, he could completely fight head-on, even taking advantage of the moments when the opponent switched between secret techniques to launch counterattacks.

Of course, this was also partly because he had gained some experience in dealing with these five secret techniques after fighting Kaguya Morinosuke.

But it was undeniable that the pressure Kaguya Kotaro exerted on him was indeed not as great as Kaguya Morinosuke's.

Coupled with a good katana...

'Perhaps... there's no need to waste time anymore.'

Thinking this, Seimei seized an opportunity, slashed out his katana, blocked Kaguya Kotaro's attack, and leaned forward, getting close to him.

Then, a high-density Chakra ball condensed in his left palm, clearly the unsealed ninjutsu - Rasengan!

Bang~

Seimei extended his left hand and pressed it directly onto Kaguya Kotaro's chest. The high-density Chakra ball exploded, sending him flying.

Thump~

Kaguya Kotaro fell heavily to the ground, and a series of cracking sounds came. The bone spikes on his chest were all broken.

The skin and flesh beneath also showed obvious signs of distortion, with blood seeping out, forming winding bloodstains.

Obviously, even with the bone spikes blocking, Seimei's 'Rasengan' still caused him considerable damage.

In fact, if the opponent hadn't used his Shikotsumyaku ability at the critical moment to strengthen the bone spikes in that area, with the power of the lv6 'Rasengan', even if he didn't die, he would have been severely injured. He wouldn't be able to get up so quickly after taking a hit like he did now.

That's right, Kaguya Kotaro wasn't seriously injured by this, and he quickly stood up again.

(End of Chapter)