NOVEL WEB Chapter 73: CHAPTER 73
"No, no, no, I don't want Ice Release. That's my enemy's ability—I don't want it!"
Haruna waved her hands frantically.
But deep down, it wasn't just about pride. She didn't want to appear like a bully in front of Kimimaro by relying on an inherited or gifted power. She feared losing his respect more than she feared the technique itself.
"Haha, no need to be so nervous," Kimimaro said calmly. "Didn't I already mention we have the genetic samples but lack enough chakra to activate them all? Karashi, Ice Release will be yours. The compatibility process will take about three months."
"Thank you, Lord!" Karashi bowed deeply, his eyes glistening with excitement.
He had followed Kimimaro for nearly a month, and now, at last, he could see a future—something more than just surviving.
The capital of the Land of Vegetables.
"Lord Saibai, we've received two urgent reports," said the minister, sweat beading down his forehead.
"Speak."
"Neither is good news," the minister said bitterly. "Princess Haruna has returned—and publicly declared she will assume the daimyo position in one month. The message was spread through underground channels yesterday."
"Haruna?" Saibai, a rotund man with soft skin and a meticulously styled beard, narrowed his eyes. "She's still alive? Didn't Renga and his squad intercept her?"
"That's the second piece of news. Renga and his team are dead. It appears Haruna now has a powerful protector."
"What?!" Saibai sprang to his feet. "Even Renga, with his unique Kekkei Genkai, was defeated? What kind of monster is protecting her?"
"We don't know yet, but this opens an opportunity. Renga and his men underestimated the threat. They relied only on their own strength. We have influence, my lord. If we mobilize loyal troops from across the country—thousands of men—we can crush them. No shinobi can stand alone against an army, especially in unfamiliar terrain."
"Hmm…" Saibai's expression shifted. "You may be right. Haruna's announcement didn't claim Renga was killed. Maybe her so-called master is gone now, and she's bluffing."
"Exactly. Let us strike first. And while we prepare the troops, we'll also start a smear campaign—accuse her late father of causing the previous wars and draining the treasury. That will undercut her support."
"Very well. Begin the preparations."
"You're truly wise, my lord."
While Saibai prepared his rebellion, Kimimaro was absorbed in testing a newly developed jutsu.
"Holy crap… this is a masterpiece!" Suigetsu exclaimed, eyes wide. "Compared to this, even the Water Golem you helped me with looks like a kid's toy!"
Before them stood a towering beast of pure bone—an enormous skeletal dragon.
Kimimaro had harvested bones from more than 300 corpses. Counting his previous reserves, he had assembled nearly three to four tons of material.
Each human body contains over 200 bones, with a total mass between 10–15 kilograms. Multiply that by hundreds, and Kimimaro had crafted the equivalent of a small vehicle's worth of bones.
His Shikotsumyaku—the Kaguya clan's legendary Kekkei Genkai—had advanced beyond self-manipulation. Now, he could forcibly restructure and fuse others' bones, though unlike his own, they lacked regenerative flexibility. Once reshaped, they couldn't be compacted again.
Using external manipulation and hyperplasia stimulation, Kimimaro shaped the collected bones into the frame of a Western dragon—broad skull, spiked tail, skeletal wings.
Admittedly, calling it "giant" was relative. Compared to high-tier creations like Uchiha's Susanoo or Hashirama's True Several Thousand Hands, Kimimaro's work was modest.
The dragon's main body measured roughly ten meters, standing about three to four meters tall—slightly smaller than the early-stage Susanoo, and even Deidara's C3 clay dragon was physically larger.
Still, for a single shinobi using real organic material rather than chakra constructs, it was a feat of both strength and finesse.
"This is just a prototype," Kimimaro admitted. "It can intimidate common soldiers, but against a seasoned jonin, it won't last. Our materials are limited. Water-based creations like the Water Golem are easier to scale but depend on the terrain."
Yet, this bone dragon gave Kimimaro insight into the future potential of his Bloodline Limit.
If he had enough chakra, he could create an external armor from his own bones, wrapping himself in skeletal plating—a rudimentary version of Susanoo, though more akin in principle to Hashirama's wooden colossus, with direct tissue growth rather than spiritual projection.
Unfortunately, the Senju bloodline he'd recently acquired through experimentation was only a weak strain. Without proper Uzumaki vitality or Hashirama's healing factor, it was a massive chakra drain.
He would need Karin. Her Uzumaki lineage, with its vast chakra reserves and regenerative vitality, could be the final piece Kimimaro needed to surpass his limits.
In about ten days, the system would generate a new batch of test tubes. At that time, he planned to extract a tube of Karin's blood and absorb some life energy to activate it.
Spending 5000 life energy just for an extra test tube felt wasteful—Kimimaro hesitated. He had already spent 10,000 life energy to activate the Red Eye potion that had been left unused for some time, leaving him with just 18,000 remaining.
"It all depends on how many enemies Saibai can send our way."
A few days later, new intelligence arrived.
"Saibai has rallied an army of eight thousand and has begun surrounding us?"
"That few?" Kimimaro muttered.
"That's few?" Haruna looked anxious. "Eight thousand soldiers! And how many do we have? The guards assigned to me by the Lord of Bamboo Green City are barely a few dozen."
It was true—this was the Land of Vegetables. A small, politically fragile nation with limited military power. Eight thousand might be an inflated number, especially since not everyone in the country supported Saibai.
"They're just eight thousand ordinary soldiers, not eight thousand shinobi. What's there to fear?" Kimimaro's tone was calm. "But if we want to establish authority, we must act. Haruna, send out a message. Invite those who haven't yet aligned with Saibai to send troops in your support."
"I doubt we can assemble enough to confront them directly, at least not right away."
"That's fine. The goal isn't to defeat them with allied forces. It's to let others witness what happens next. Once they see what you represent—and what fate awaits your enemies—they'll fall in line. We're going to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys."
Haruna's heartbeat quickened. "I just love it when you talk like that, Kimimaro. I may be their daimyo, but you are my master."
Her demeanor had softened around Kimimaro in recent days. Now alone with him in the room, she burrowed into his arms and let herself act a little spoiled.
Kimimaro, unfazed, mentally calculated: eight thousand soldiers—how much life energy could they provide?
The average civilian's life energy was around 100. These soldiers might be stronger than ordinary villagers, perhaps close to 120 each. Any shinobi among them would likely be low-level—at best, genin. The Land of Vegetables wasn't known for producing strong ninja.
Eight thousand soldiers, each worth around 100 life energy… that meant at least 800,000 in total.
He had never fought such a profitable battle before.
Though he had to admit… the word "profitable" felt a little off in this context.
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