Like a natural disaster given form by storm and thunder.
Four dragon-shaped tempests wrapped around the land covered in a forest of bones, lifting it high into the sky.
At the same time, the four storm dragons raging up and down underwent a new transformation. After circling the lifted bone forest several times, they spread outward, weaving a curtain of wind centered on Suzuki's island.
Then, the four storm dragons entwined together and spiraled skyward. With their movement, the entire sky's clouds were stirred into a colossal vortex, and even the drifting thunderclouds in the distance were drawn in, converging toward the swirling storm.
Boom… boom… boom…
The muffled roar of thunder echoed within the clouds. Natural thunder, born of heaven and earth, was something utterly different from chakra-born lightning—neither in scale nor destructive power could the latter compare.
"Fuse!"
From the four directions, Ranzuki shouted together. Raising their hands high, the storm dragons responded as if sensing the command, plunging into the clouds, swallowing cloud and lightning.
The storm dragons formed by sage chakra moved with extreme swiftness. Very quickly, they devoured one another and transformed into four fully manifested Arashi Dragons.
Once they had consumed the thunder of the heavens, the four Arashi Dragons turned their violet lightning-glowing eyes toward the bone forest below.
From Suzuki Kaguya's perspective within the bone forest, his gaze collided directly with that of one of the dragons.
In that instant!
Goosebumps erupted across Suzuki's back. Since becoming leader of the Kaguya clan, this was the first time he had felt fear—the sensation of something irresistible.
"Disappear." ×4
With Ranzuki's cold declaration, the four Arashi Dragons crashed down toward the bone forest mountain below.
At the moment of impact—utter silence.
...
The might of the Storm of the Gods could no longer be described. Its very existence transcended the limits of any technique.
From that silence burst countless rays of rainbow light, enough to pierce the deepest darkness.
These radiances were the ultimate fusion of Wind Release sage art and natural thunder. Spreading outward from the center, the rainbow-hued energy radiated in every direction, then rebounded continuously within the wind curtain's confinement.
Where the light passed, everything vanished like foam—air, the bone forest infused with dual-element transformation, even mountain rock.
All of it was annihilated beneath the rainbow light.
This terrifying sage art, enough to destroy shinobi villages or nations, was tightly confined by Ranzuki's wind curtain, forcing its energies to collide, overlap, and surge higher and higher.
At last, it formed a colossal rainbow pillar reaching from earth to sky.
No sound could pass through, for even the medium that carried sound had been completely obliterated.
"..."
From afar, in the midst of their chase, Ai Tachibana and Setsu Yuki widened their eyes in shock at the sight of the towering pillar of light.
In that eerie silence, both suddenly felt as though the battle no longer had meaning.
And Taki Tachibana, who had witnessed the technique directly, was completely stupefied.
When the pillar formed by the Storm of the Gods finally dissipated, the restraining wind curtain dispersed as well. With its disappearance, water currents and air from the surroundings rushed in to fill the void where all matter had been annihilated.
The surge of torrents and winds poured back toward the epicenter, even creating a second round of storm.
"Release."
Ranzuki dismissed her Shadow Clones, and a crushing fatigue and depletion of chakra rebounded onto her own body, nearly breaking her ability to maintain Sage Mode.
Though utterly exhausted, she still lifted her head confidently toward the raging storm gradually enveloping the bone forest.
No one could possibly survive such a technique—except Lady Satsuki.
Yet!
As the storm subsided, within the place that should have been completely annihilated by the rainbow light, a massive gray-black bone sphere floated in midair.
The sight made Ranzuki's heart jolt.
Even Taki Tachibana, relegated to the role of mere spectator, was filled with disbelief at what he saw.
"He actually blocked that move?"
"How is this possible…"
This time, it was finally Ranzuki's turn to utter the signature line.
But the perception of a Sage granted her clarity—Suzuki Kaguya, beneath the Storm of the Gods, was indeed still alive.
As the technique ended and the secondary tempest dispersed, Suzuki, within the bone sphere, could no longer endure.
Puh~
Blood spilled from Suzuki Kaguya's mouth.
"At least I managed to block it… but after forcefully stimulating the Shikotsumyaku, I won't last much longer."
But… I must protect my clan…
A glint of resolve flashed in his eyes.
Reaching into his robes, he pulled out another vial of medicine and downed it in one gulp. Once again, Suzuki catalyzed his Shikotsumyaku, his entire body sprouting gray-black bones that encased him under his bloodline control, forming a suit of skeletal armor.
One hand gripped a spear, the other held a shield. Fully armed.
Shikotsumyaku: Enma.
Encased in full armor, Suzuki leapt from the bone sphere. Guided by an inexplicable instinct, he appeared beside Ranzuki in a flash, thrusting his gray-black bone spear at her shocked face.
In that dire moment, the brilliant insight of her Tenseigan revealed the flaw in his attack. She dropped low, narrowly avoiding the deadly strike that threatened her life.
Just as she was about to counterattack, a surge of danger erupted in her heart, startling her into instinctively retreating.
Only after creating distance did Ranzuki notice the transformation before her. Staring at the changed Suzuki Kaguya, her heart sank.
"This form…"
The warning in her heart did not cease. Step by step, she was forced to retreat, while Suzuki pressed forward, reversing the roles of predator and prey.
Not a single wasted movement—every strike was precise, clean, and efficient, radiating a mastery of taijutsu beyond compare.
"So it's true… just as the scrolls said, he excels in taijutsu."
Over these past days, Ranzuki had taken pride in her taijutsu and even faced formidable experts like Ai Tachibana and Taki Tachibana. Yet Suzuki's style was entirely different. Where Ai was domineering and fierce, and Taki was sharp and fluid, Suzuki's technique perfectly countered her—someone with overwhelming physical power but lacking in refined experience.
From afar, Taki, still shaken by the Storm of the Gods, finally stirred, intending to help Ranzuki.
But the speed of the two fighters' clash was far beyond his reach. At his level, he could not intervene at all.
Realizing he would only be a burden, he decisively surged his Lightning Release chakra and retreated to regroup with Ai before returning to assist.
Ranzuki spared him only a glance before fixing her attention back on her opponent.
Suzuki's spear shadowed her every movement. Each step and dodge was already anticipated. Without the insight of her Tenseigan, she would already have been riddled with wounds.
Yet the ceaseless sense of danger gnawed at her.
From the moment she laid eyes on those gray-black bones, the alarm within her never stopped ringing.
There's something strange about these bones.
She dared not risk contact with them, forced only to evade. Even her vaunted speed at forming seals found no opening—Suzuki had pressed her down entirely.
In a sudden burst, Suzuki swept forward with a thrusting slash. Already perceiving the strike, Ranzuki tilted her head slightly, letting the bone spear graze past her cheek. She moved to counterattack—
"Dance of the False Cleavers."
Suzuki unleashed his secret dance, his movements accelerating to an unbelievable degree. He canceled the stiff delay of his sweep, withdrew his spear, and launched a storm of rapid thrusts at her.
Ranzuki, her Sage Mode and Tenseigan insight pushed to the limit, moved like a tightrope walker, weaving between the rain of blows. Miraculously, she evaded every strike.
Huff~~
His ragged breaths and the blood seeping from within his body were plain in her perception, bolstering her confidence. This was but the death throes of a man's body pushed beyond its limits. If she endured, his own body would collapse.
But Suzuki's expression did not change. Indifferent to his failing body, he wrung out his final strength, appearing behind her in an instant. The bone spear stabbed downward.
Her Tenseigan foresight already caught his intent, and she dashed forward to avoid it.
"As long as I dodge this, the rhythm of the fight is mine."
Yet this very movement made Suzuki smile faintly.
At the same moment, a sharp gray-black bone blade burst from her escape path.
A trap!
Ranzuki's heart lurched. She pushed her Tenseigan to the limit, but her body no longer had the stamina to avoid the carefully prepared ambush.
Shhk!
From below upward, the hidden bone spike pierced through her foot, pinning her in place.
The instant she was struck, a mysterious energy within the bone severed her body's flow of sage chakra. Her Sage Mode was forcibly dispelled.
Before she could even process it, death loomed—the reaper's scythe already descending from behind.
"Die!"
The whistling wind at her back sealed her fate. In that instant before death, time slowed in her Tenseigan's vision.
A blurred yet familiar figure appeared before her eyes.
That noble, merciless person—the very first face she had seen at birth.
An illusion? Ranzuki didn't know.
"But… to see you once more before death… that's enough."
She closed her eyes slowly, her chakra utterly dispersed, awaiting death.
...
Yet seconds passed, and the fatal strike never landed.
Instead, she felt a hand on her back, radiating immense power. That force expelled the strange energy from the gray bones.
Relief washed over her. Calming herself, she opened her eyes.
Before her stood a stunning woman of supreme nobility, long black hair flowing. With a single outstretched finger, she had effortlessly stopped the massive bone spear.
Ranzuki's eyes widened in disbelief. The woman turned her head slightly, golden eyes dazzling as they met hers.
"Next time, be more careful."
She spoke softly.