Zzzzzzz…
The sharp, piercing screech of high-frequency friction echoed between them.
On another part of the battlefield, the other three also sensed the disturbance from Ranzuki's side. After several probing exchanges with no clear winner, each realized it would be impossible to defeat the other quickly. Up to now, they had silently reached an unspoken truce of stalling. But with this sudden sound, the fragile balance was shattered.
Without a word, Setsu released his Ice Release and immediately fled the area.
"Taki, go support Ranzuki. We can't let this Yuki shinobi escape. I'll track him," Ai said.
"Yes, brother."
With their plan made, the two split up instantly.
...
Meanwhile, on Ranzuki and Suzuki's battlefield, the clash between the Sage Art wind-enhanced kunai and Suzuki's strongest spear had already reached a conclusion.
What shocked Suzuki was that even his full-powered dual-layered defense couldn't stop the attack. The kunai, empowered by sage chakra, tore through his wind nature transformation and pierced directly through the massive bone spear he had forged.
The force carried straight into his arm, punching through it, then sent him flying hard into the ground.
"It's over."
Before he could catch his breath, Ranzuki Body Flickered again, her wind-blade sword raised for a decisive strike.
Facing the storm-like attack descending upon him, Suzuki let out the faintest laugh.
To think… I would be pushed to this point by a little girl.
From his chest erupted dozens of jagged bones, layered and interwoven like a bramble. For every one that was cut, another layer took its place. Even Ranzuki's Sage Art wind blade could not slice through them all instantly. Her strike carved through most, but was caught midway.
In Ranzuki's vision, she could see the heavy earth nature chakra infused into the bone spikes, forcibly withstanding her assault.
In the deadlock, Suzuki spoke with genuine admiration: "You are the strongest brat I've ever seen… no, the strongest female shinobi I've ever met."
Ranzuki's expression didn't change. "You're the hardest hedgehog I've ever seen."
"Heh."
With a low chuckle, Suzuki's body erupted with a thunderous surge of chakra. A wave of danger welled up in Ranzuki's chest.
"Dance… of the Seedling Fern!"
In an instant, countless sharp bones sprouted from Suzuki's body, infused with both wind and earth chakra. Ranzuki's Tenseigan immediately recognized the change, and even someone as powerful as her had no choice but to withdraw temporarily.
But the bones multiplied endlessly, spreading outward without pause. Within moments, spikes jutted from the ground in every direction, extending rapidly toward Ranzuki's position.
"Wind and earth dual chakra transformation."
Even she was forced to evade, leaping back while focusing Tenseigan chakra. At the last moment, she launched herself into the sky with gravitational force.
When she finally looked down from above, she saw an entire forest of bones covering the ground.
Through her perception, Suzuki's chakra was no longer a distinct point—it had fused with the bone forest, impossible to pinpoint.
"So he guessed my eyes can track chakra… he deliberately poured chakra into the bone forest to conceal himself, while slipping underground with Earth Release."
Understanding his tactic, Ranzuki smirked bitterly. "As expected of a super S-class missing-nin. What a pain."
At that moment, Taki also arrived near the bone forest. Seeing the terrifying expanse of bones, his face was filled with shock.
"Ranzuki! You okay, brat?"
"I'm fine. Don't get close to that bone forest." Ranzuki's Tenseigan continuously scanned below. "Suzuki Kaguya's chakra is fused with this forest. He can appear from anywhere at any time."
Hearing this, Taki was stunned and immediately backed away from the surrounding bone spikes.
Hovering above, Ranzuki rubbed her chin in thought before calling down, "Hey, if the target's corpse ends up incomplete, does it still count?"
"Huh?"
The question left Taki utterly baffled, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead.
"It counts. It counts," he stammered.
"Good."
Ranzuki instantly formed hand seals and released Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Poof!
Poof!
Poof!
Three clones emerged from the smoke. Including her original body, the four Ranzukis positioned themselves around the bone forest, each at a cardinal point.
Hidden within the reinforced bone forest, infused with dual wind and earth chakra, Suzuki also noticed the formation.
"Is this to prevent my escape… or something else?"
Yet, concealed within his fortified domain, Suzuki felt certain the girl could do nothing to him.
Once all four Ranzukis took their positions in the sky, they began weaving seals in perfect unison.
Instantly, a terrifying surge of chakra flooded the battlefield.
The overwhelming wave of energy was so immense that even Ai Tachibana and Setsu Yuki, far away in their pursuit, stopped and turned their eyes toward Ranzuki's location.
"That kid… she's really this strong?" Ai murmured.
Witnessing it firsthand, Taki stood frozen, shaken by both her overwhelming aura and the killing intent she exuded.
Her indigo haori flared wildly under the torrent of sage chakra.
The four figures, with brilliant azure eyes, fixed their gazes firmly on the mountain cloaked in white bone.
Then, in unison, their voices rang out, crisp and overlapping like divine decree:
"This shall be your grave." ×4
The moment the words fell, four colossal storms roared to life, each taking the form of a dragon. With terrifying force, they tore apart the towering waves and wrenched the bone-infested canyon straight from the earth.
"Sage Art: Storm of the Gods!" ×4