Chapter 8: Fierce Battle
NOTE: Let me explain something first. I've seen many people say Jigen wasn't this weak. The key issue is that the powerful Jigen is the one from over fifty years later. According to the official intelligence book, this is because Isshiki supplemented and evolved the Karma through Jigen's natural energy, and Isshiki's injuries had greatly improved, which is why he could overwhelmingly defeat Naruto and Sasuke.
At this point in time, Isshiki is still heavily injured and spends most of his time asleep. The Karma hasn't evolved through natural energy. Jigen is just a monk who has lived a bit longer.
He has fighting power, but not much. He's not as formidable as imagined and is not invincible.
In other words, isn't this also to give the protagonist a boost? So, I'll have to let Jigen and Isshiki die here.
-----------------
With the activation of the Blood Burning Secret Technique, the Kaguya clan bloodline within Genji suddenly boiled, his Chakra rapidly increasing exponentially, and his aura quickly strengthening.
The surging Chakra within his body made Genji unable to help but spit out a mouthful of blood, which barely allowed him to control his body. His strength had reached the initial stage of the Kage level.
Clenching his fists tightly, Genji felt he could now rival the Mizukage.
"He used a life-burning technique? No, it's burning his bloodline." Jigen looked at Genji, whose body surface had turned red due to the use of the secret technique, and instantly saw through the essence of the Blood Burning Technique.
"Mortal." Jigen sighed with disdain, his arrogance still present. He didn't believe Genji could threaten him.
"Die!" Genji roared, his body shooting towards Jigen, his right foot heavily kicking towards Jigen.
Jigen raised his black rod and easily blocked Genji's heavy kick. He aimed his left hand at Genji, and several black rods instantly appeared.
Genji's keen battle instinct saved him. Sensing something was wrong, he quickly retreated, narrowly avoiding the black rods that appeared in his previous position.
"What is this ability? Is it a space-time ninjutsu?" Genji analyzed Jigen's abilities in his mind.
"It seems to be activated by the position of his hands. Then let's try this move." Genji quickly came up with a new battle plan.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Camellia!"
Drawing a bone blade from each arm, Genji charged towards Jigen again. Wielding the dual blades, Genji stepped with exquisite dance steps, fiercely attacking Jigen, trying to restrict Jigen's hands.
"It seems I need to be a little more serious. Although you're an insect, you're a slightly stronger insect," Jigen said calmly.
Jigen activated the first stage of the "Karma" on his body, and black markings spread all over his body surface. Chakra then erupted, forcing Genji back. He swung the long black rod that had just materialized, heavily sweeping it towards Genji. Genji hurriedly blocked, but he was still pushed back due to the immense power.
Jigen raised his left hand again, repeating his previous move. This time, a large number of black rods appeared, shooting towards Genji like bullets.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Clematis! Vine!"
Genji put down the bone blades in his hands and pulled out his long spine from his back, transforming it into a white bone whip. It danced with powerful force, blocking all the incoming black rods. Then, taking advantage of the momentum, he forcefully swung it towards Jigen, and the long bone whip bound Jigen's movements.
At this moment, a huge white bone drill rapidly condensed on Genji's left arm, fiercely stabbing towards Jigen.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Clematis! Flower!"
Jigen couldn't dodge in time and was restrained. His body was already decaying, and not wanting to take this attack head-on, he had no choice but to further release the power of "Karma" and enter the second stage of "Karma" after failing to break free by erupting his Chakra.
A horn appeared on Jigen's head, and his aura became even more terrifying.
"Ridiculous!" Jigen sneered, erupting his Chakra again. This time, he easily broke free from the restraints of the Clematis bone whip.
Genji missed his attack but was not discouraged. The white bone drill on his left hand quickly detached, and Genji took the opportunity to slam both palms heavily on the ground.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Seedling Fern!"
Dense, sharp bone spurs broke out of the ground, extremely numerous, and within a few breaths, they had basically covered the entire ground, like a forest of white bones.
Jigen quickly swung the long black rod in his hand, constantly breaking the bone spurs that grew around him.
In an instant, shattered white bones covered the entire ground.
At this moment, from a bone spur behind Jigen that hadn't been broken, Genji moved his position using the bone spur and silently appeared behind Jigen.
The white bone drill of the Dance of the Clematis condensed on his arm again, heavily stabbing towards Jigen.
By the time the drill was close to Jigen's body, Jigen finally reacted, but it was too late. Unable to dodge, Jigen was attacked again.
An attack that gathered a large amount of Chakra, close to the limit of the Kage level, hit him point-blank. The arrogant Jigen finally suffered a heavy blow.
Knocked back, Jigen was furious, no longer possessing the arrogance he had just shown.
"Mortal, you have angered me!" At this time, Jigen's body was damaged, and the consciousness of Isshiki Otsutsuki within him was stimulated and gradually awakening.
The furious Jigen threw away the long black rod in his hand and got up from the ground. He aimed both hands at Genji, whose aura had weakened, and countless black rods materialized from Jigen's hands, shooting frantically towards Genji.
Kaguya Genji, whose bloodline had been burned away for the most part, struggled to mobilize the bone spurs on the ground for defense, but unfortunately, there were too many black rods. Genji, whose strength had already begun to decline, could no longer resist. Several black rods pierced his body fiercely, and his body was sent flying backward by the immense force, crashing heavily to the ground.
"Cough cough." Genji struggled to get up, spitting out a large mouthful of blood.
The black rods rapidly absorbed his Chakra. Only one thought remained in Genji's mind: to hold back Jigen and protect his child.
Looking at Genji, who had lost his fighting power, Jigen was about to make a move when he suddenly spat out a large mouthful of blood. A sharp pain struck him, and crimson blood began to flow from his seven orifices, as if all his vitality was being drained in an instant.
Jigen's body had suffered too much damage in the previous battle. The life of this body had finally come to an end, and Genji had actually forced a mutually destructive outcome.
After Jigen and the Isshiki within him died, the "Karma" began to automatically enter the reincarnation state. Because Isshiki had only carved the "Karma" on Jigen at this time and hadn't had time to mark Kiyoshi with it, Isshiki was forced to use Jigen's "Karma" for reincarnation and resurrection.
However, because the reincarnation was carried out through an unsuitable "vessel," Isshiki did not fully revive. Not only did he only recover most of his power, but he also only had a lifespan of two days left.
The furious Isshiki couldn't wait to kill Genji, this insect, but reason stopped him. Kiyoshi hadn't run far yet. He needed to mark Kiyoshi with "Karma" first. Even if he only had two days left, a nascent Otsutsuki's body, with a little cultivation, would be enough for Isshiki to reincarnate perfectly again.
Pale skin and grayish-white hair, with a single "long curved horn" growing from the head to the back of the head, like a crown. Only one eyebrow on the forehead, above the right eye. The right eye had a golden wheel-like pattern with eight triangles surrounding the pupil, while the left eye's pupil was pure white.
Genji looked at Isshiki, who had almost completely changed his appearance. Being very familiar with the Hyūga clan, he instantly recognized the Byakugan in Isshiki's left eye. Seeing the single horn on Isshiki's forehead, many conjectures arose in his mind.
(The current time is between the First Great Ninja War and the Second Great Ninja War. At this time, the "Karma" on Jigen's body has not yet evolved with the help of natural energy, and his strength is not as terrifying as in the unremembered content decades later. Setting: Normal state Jigen is equivalent to an elite Jōnin, "Karma" state one is equivalent to an ordinary Kage level, "Karma" state two is equivalent to the limit of the Kage level, approaching the Super-Kage level. The newly revived Isshiki still has severe injuries and his strength has declined significantly, equivalent to the Super-Kage level.)