Grind is My Ninja Way

'Genjutsu: Sharingan~'

Taking advantage of the pressure exerted by the two shadow clones, Seimei once again seized the opportunity and cast the genjutsu he had honed to perfection.

However, Kaguya Morinosuke was no pushover either.

He had been active on this battlefield for years, and this was a place where Uchiha ninjas gathered. Naturally, he had mastered ways to counter Sharingan genjutsu.

Moreover, he had just fallen for it once not long ago, so he was already on guard.

Therefore, the moment he sensed the genjutsu's intrusion, he reacted.

The bone spurs all over his body suddenly contracted and bent, and in the blink of an eye, they transformed into a ferocious white bone armor, protecting his entire body.

This was the first time Seimei had encountered such a situation, and for a moment, he didn't know how to proceed.

If it were ordinary bones, he could easily break through them.

But the key issue was that the bones forming this armor were not ordinary.

These bones, generated by Kaguya Morinosuke manipulating his osteoblasts and osteoclasts, had extremely high density and hardness comparable to steel. A mere kunai couldn't penetrate them at all.

So, Seimei was quite helpless.

And with this delay, Kaguya Morinosuke broke free from the genjutsu and regained consciousness.

What could he say?

As expected of a clan full of battle-hungry individuals!

Their willpower, or rather their madness, truly shocked Seimei. The instant 'Genjutsu: Sharingan' couldn't trap him for long.

But more powerful genjutsu either required longer preparation time or needed the activation of the Mangekyo Sharingan for enhancement.

The former was obviously not an opportunity his opponent would give him.

As for the latter...

Seimei discreetly glanced around.

Just now, the feeling of being watched had appeared again.

Clearly, the enemy was still hiding nearby.

In that case, he couldn't expose his Mangekyo Sharingan even more.

Fortunately, he had expended chakra to create two shadow clones and hadn't expected to defeat his opponent so easily.

The opportunity just now was merely a pleasant surprise.

Now it seemed that this surprise wasn't enough for him to achieve victory, and everything had to go back to the original plan.

Thinking this, Seimei once again joined forces with his two shadow clones and launched an attack on Kaguya Morinosuke.

For a time, the clanging of metal resounded continuously.

It had to be said that Kaguya clan ninjas, with their 'Shikotsumyaku', were indeed very suitable for combat, especially utilizing taijutsu.

Not to mention anything else, just their freely growing bone spurs all over their bodies could completely turn them into killing machines.

As for Seimei's taijutsu, even if it didn't surpass most Jonin, it was at least above average.

However, even so, he and his two shadow clones together still couldn't completely suppress Kaguya Morinosuke, who would occasionally launch counterattacks.

If not for the Sharingan's overly powerful insight ability, he might have already been injured.

During this time, he also witnessed the Kaguya clan's unique taijutsu techniques such as the 'Willow Dance', 'Camellia Dance', 'Japanese Umbrella Pine Dance', 'Wire Plant Dance: Vine', and 'Wire Plant Dance: Flower'.

These taijutsu techniques each had their own characteristics and uses. Kaguya Morinosuke combined them and unleashed them with astonishing destructive power.

It was only because his opponent was Seimei that any other Jonin would have probably been unable to withstand it.

However, if this continued, it would also be a huge drain on him.

That's right, his current 'Shadow Clone Jutsu' was indeed at lv4. Simply creating and dispelling a shadow clone would only consume about 7% of the chakra within the shadow clone.

But this was under the premise that the shadow clone didn't move. If it engaged in intense combat like now, the chakra consumed would be much greater.

That's why almost no ninja would use the 'Shadow Clone Jutsu' to assist in battle.

This was also the reason why Kaguya Morinosuke mocked him at the beginning of the fight.

His opponent saying, "You can't beat me alone, you don't think three of you can, do you?" Although it was to probe his thoughts, he might not have actually thought that way in his heart.

And in reality, it was indeed the case!

If the main body couldn't win, even with two shadow clones assisting, it was basically impossible to defeat the enemy.

Unless...

You had a trump card like Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Otherwise, using shadow clones to fight was a thankless task.

So why did Seimei still do this?

The reason was simple, he also had a trump card.

Seeing that the timing was about right, Seimei started to subtly influence Kaguya Morinosuke's choices based on the combat habits he had gathered over the past period, along with his two shadow clones, making him fight according to his own plan.

...

Time passed by second by second.

Finally, Kaguya Morinosuke found an opportunity and once again used the 'Shikotsumyaku: Willow Dance'.

In the blink of an eye, the bones in his body seemed to disappear, and his entire person became like a willow catkin dancing in the wind, gently avoiding Seimei's attack.

Then, the counterattack came. His bone blade struck consecutively without any unnecessary movements, instantly disrupting the offensive rhythm of Seimei and his two shadow clones.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Kaguya Morinosuke noticed that one of the Seimeis seemed to have reacted half a beat slower, revealing a slight opening, though not a fatal one.

The opportunity was rare, and Kaguya Morinosuke instinctively followed up, swinging his blade, aiming to cleave Seimei's waist and abdomen.

Sensing the danger, Seimei immediately dodged.

However, Kaguya Morinosuke pressed his advantage, his body moving flexibly and bonelessly, slashing out four or five times in an instant.

For a time, Seimei was in grave danger.

Seeing this, the other two shadow clones immediately came to the rescue.

However, it was too late.

Relying on his powerful combat instincts, Kaguya Morinosuke seized this rare opportunity and finally killed this Seimei before the two shadow clones could get close.

*Poof~*

A cloud of chakra smoke dissipated.

"Not the main body?"

Kaguya Morinosuke murmured, seeming somewhat disappointed.

But at this moment, he suddenly noticed that one of the Seimeis who had come to the rescue abruptly stopped, and his position happened to be at eye level with him.

'Genjutsu: Sharingan~'

"A trap?!"

In an instant, Kaguya Morinosuke realized that the shadow clone's slow reaction and being chased by him earlier was a complete trap.

Its purpose was to create an opportunity for the Seimei in front of him.

Various thoughts flashed through his mind, and Kaguya Morinosuke had already sensed the genjutsu's intrusion.

Without any hesitation, he immediately closed his eyes.

At the same time, he controlled the bone spurs on his body to rapidly split. Some formed a ferocious bone armor, protecting his vital points, while others grew rapidly, turning into sharp bone spikes about a meter long, preventing Seimei from approaching.

Although he was confident in the defensive capabilities of his bone armor, and Seimei hadn't shown any means of breaking it before...

Considering that Seimei had gone to such lengths to create this opportunity, he still chickened out and decisively added another layer of insurance outside the bone armor.

To react so much in an instant, it had to be said that his combat awareness was truly terrifying.

But could this stop Seimei?

The answer was obviously no.

He had made so many preparations and even gained more time to cast 'Genjutsu: Sharingan'. How could he be stopped by these mere two layers of defense?

(End of this chapter)