What does it feel like to be shot in the head by a sniper rifle?
At this moment, Hikari had a rough idea.
A sharp, icy metal object pierced her brow, carrying a bizarre, searing heat. Her brain flooded with adrenaline, dulling the pain as memories of her past and present life flashed chaotically before her eyes, overwhelming her senses.
But soon, as the adrenaline faded, agony erupted through every fiber of her being. The wound between her eyebrows burned and twisted like red-hot iron scraping through her skull—especially the damage to her cranial bone, which throbbed as if her head were being roasted over flames.
*Is this how it ends?*
*My thirty-something years of life… over just like this?*
The pain and shock left her consciousness flickering. Blood seeped into her vision, dyeing the world crimson.
*I don't want to die.*
*I refuse to die!*
A surge of defiance ignited her will to survive. Her ashen eyes suddenly gleamed, veins bulging around her sockets like roots burrowing into flesh, drawing strength. The world sharpened into crystal clarity.
Countless memories condensed into a single thought—*survive*. Her desperation surged like wild brambles, her brain jolted awake by the pain. A switch inside her body *clicked*. Power erupted from her core, bones and muscles awakening as if possessed.
***Crack.***
A strange grinding echoed from her skull—like ice crunching underfoot or a beast gnashing its fangs.
Before her stood a girl with eerie, pale eyes. In her ears, the grotesque sounds of her own skull shifting.
---
The ANBU operative, his legs crippled, instantly sensed something was wrong. Muscles tensed, he drove his kunai deeper into the bizarre girl's forehead.
But… it wouldn't budge.
As his eyes widened in shock, Hikari—her face bloodied, the kunai still lodged in her brow—twisted her lips into a grotesque smile.
Chakra surged into her frontal bone.
***CRUNCH!!!***
The kunai shrieked under the pressure, bending grotesquely before snapping in half under the force of her *skull*.
*Clang.*
The broken blade hit the ground.
"M-Monster…!" The ANBU scrambled backward on his hands, legs useless, unable to escape.
Under the moonlight, the girl raised her right hand, peering through her fingers with dead, ash-gray eyes.
From her fingertips, *bone* erupted—elongating, sharpening into slender, razor-edged blades. Her delicate hand morphed into a beast's claw.
The claw tore through the air.
The ANBU jerked his head back—
But her eyes *locked onto him*, predicting his movement. The claws adjusted mid-swing, cleaving through his mask—and the skull beneath.
A scream. The Kirigakure insignia shattered. A once-handsome young man collapsed, painting the earth with blood and brain matter.
---
Night. The mist cleared.
Moonlight spilled over the battlefield, silvering the corpses.
"Hah… hah…"
Retracting her bone claws, Hikari slumped to the ground, heart hammering like a crazed stag. She gingerly pulled the bent kunai tip from her forehead—strangely, no blood followed.
Chakra rushed to the wound, burning like fuel in a race car. Osteoblasts multiplied, sealing the gap in her skull. Flesh knitted itself back together with a hiss of steam.
In seconds, the grievous injury vanished—as if it had never existed.
None of this surprised her.
***Shikotsumyaku.***
The Kaguya clan's kekkei genkai.
The power to manipulate one's own bones—for offense, defense, or regeneration. Every aspect of bone—osteoblasts, osteoclasts, calcium density—could be controlled at will. Extraction ruptured flesh, yet the Shikotsumyaku's rapid healing sealed wounds instantly.
But this was only the *surface* of its power.
As a true Kaguya, Hikari knew more.
In her clan's teachings, full mastery of Shikotsumyaku—**Stage Two Awakening**—granted total bone manipulation. **Stage One (Half-Awakening)** allowed accelerated healing and enhanced physicality.
The Kaguya didn't dominate the battlefield through rare Stage Two users. They thrived because *most adults* achieved Half-Awakening.
**Half-Awakened Shikotsumyaku:**
- Bones hardened to steel.
- Tendons reforged for inhuman strength.
- Rapid regeneration of non-fatal wounds.
- Autonomic hemostasis, preventing fatal blood loss.
- Adrenal surges—fighting *beyond* consciousness, driven by muscle memory.
Every Half-Awakened Kaguya was a berserker. A *corpse demon* that feared neither pain nor death.
That explained this battlefield's carnage.
Under the moon, most Kaguya corpses were mangled beyond recognition—not from posthumous mutilation, but because they were *that* hard to kill. Some clansmen even saw intact corpses as *shameful*—proof of weakness.
*No wonder I survived.*
Hikari touched her smooth forehead, then glanced at the blood soaking her chest. The original host had been stabbed through the heart—yet her reincarnated consciousness triggered Half-Awakening, healing the wound.
And just now, in mortal combat, her Byakugan had *pushed* Shikotsumyaku into **Stage Two**, letting her crush the kunai and counterkill.
---
She forced herself up.
Near-death terror left her limbs weak. Though the kunai hadn't pierced her brain, the impact left her dizzy, begging to collapse into the corpse pile.
*No. Stay awake.*
A sharp slap stung her cheek—pain jolted her alert.
Half-digested soldier pills dissolved in her gut, replenishing her dwindling chakra.
Her Byakugan scanned the area. The battle was ending.
Kirigakure's ANBU net tightened, squads combing the field—except the *east*, where the encirclement had been *torn open*.
Chakra channeled into her eyes. The pale gray deepened.
Trees blurred as her vision expanded.
Miles away, corpses piled high—ANBU in white masks, cloaks tattered. Giant serpents slithered through craters, venomous snakes weaving over bodies like living thread.
Only one man left such carnage.
*Orochimaru.*
He'd taken Kimimaro and broken through the east. If she wanted to escape, that was her only path.
Then—
*Chakra signatures.*
Her pupils contracted. Half a mile out, a squad of ANBU closed in.
Too fast. No time to run.
*Thud.*
Hikari dropped, her bloodied face smearing into dirt. Shikotsumyaku contorted her limbs into a corpse's lifeless pose. Only the faintest rise of her back betrayed her.
---
Silence. Then—
*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*
A dozen ANBU landed.
Masks of foxes, crows, and dogs. Standard-issue uniforms.
Their leader—black-brown hair, a *Tengu* mask—surveyed the field.
Hikari held her breath.
Byakugan activated.
Clothing and flesh melted away, revealing chakra networks: *One elite jōnin. Three tokubetsu jōnin. The rest, chūnin.*
Hopeless odds.
"Uzukage, Enko, Chigiri—secure the area. Execute any surviving Kaguya. The rest, with me."
"*Hai!*"
The masked trio stayed.
The others vanished into the trees.
---
*Click.*
A shuriken *thunked* into a corpse beside Hikari.
"Hm?" The fox-masked ANBU—*Enko*—tilted his head.
"What's wrong?"
"Thought I heard something."
Enko spun a kunai on his finger, prowling toward her.
"Careful. These Kaguya freaks don't die easy."
"Relax~"
He stopped at a small corpse—a Kaguya child, limbs twisted, face bloodied.
The kunai plunged.
*Squelch.*
The body twitched, broken arms flailing weakly. A whimper escaped its lips—a puppy-like sound.
Hikari's nails dug into the earth.
*Alive. But not for long.*
Two more kunais silenced the child. Enko rifled through its clothes.
The other ANBU moved on, methodically stabbing hearts.
*Why are* ANBU *handling corpses? What are they searching for?*
Enko neared her position.
Closer.
Closer.
Her muscles coiled—
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