At the edge of his vision, Shizune knelt beside Itachi, the bright green glow of her Mystical Palm Technique flickering urgently. The young boy's slender body trembled uncontrollably, while Anko's figure rushed toward the relentless explosions blazing in the rear courtyard.
If he'd arrived just a bit later, would Shizune have died? Would Itachi? What about Anko?
Would Tsunade have made it in time?
When he'd awakened in this body and chosen to live as Shuji, he thought he'd prepared himself mentally.
When it was time to take a life, he hadn't hesitated.
When formulating battle plans, he'd built up his psychological defenses. But when he actually witnessed people who should have lived much longer seemingly about to die during one of his missions, Shuji suddenly felt disoriented.
Yes, the original story could only serve as reference. The direction of the future would ultimately be decided by the people living in this world.
The brat before him seemed somewhat distracted, yet his leisurely manner of dodging attacks ignited fury in the leader of the Kokushoku-shū.
"Don't act like I don't exist, brat!" Jūbei's roar rang painfully in his eardrums as his blade, wrapped in towering rage, cleaved downward once more!
The ghostly blue flames wreathing his body erupted like oil had been poured on them, exploding and surging upward. With each step he took, the ground groaned beneath him.
The shriek of his blade tearing through air grew more piercing with each strike.
Shuji's eyes sharpened. Forcibly suppressing his churning emotions, he slapped both palms to the ground.
Earth Release: Muddy Mire Abyss!
Chakra surged wildly! The hard ground seemed devoured by an invisible maw, instantly softening and collapsing!
Turbid mud bubbled with foul-smelling gases, forming a viscous, deadly swamp that appeared precisely in Jūbei's charging path.
The massive inertia from his high-speed assault sent Jūbei plunging headfirst into the mire like an out-of-control war chariot!
The thick, slippery mud instantly rose to his thighs, powerful suction like countless hands of the dead dragging his body down into the depths!
"Graaah—!"
Jūbei let out a bestial roar, the ghostly blue flames around him surging wildly as he tried to break free through brute force.
The mud churned violently from his savage strength, spattering everywhere, yet like a persistent affliction, it only wrapped tighter around him!
Rat—Ox—Dragon—Goat—Rooster—Dog
Lightning Release: Firefly Electric Net!
Countless hair-thin yet blindingly bright blue-white electric arcs, like a disturbed swarm of fireflies, burst densely from Shuji's fingertips!
The dancing lightning greedily conducted through the wet mud, carrying destructive energy as it surged toward the trapped beast at the mire's center!
"AAAGH!!!"
At this life-or-death moment, Jūbei's roar nearly tore his throat! Every muscle in his body bulged like rock, the ghostly blue flames erupting like a volcanic explosion!
BOOM!!!
A visible ring-shaped shockwave violently expanded outward with him at its center!
The viscous mud, the leaping electric arcs, even the pervasive smoke and dust were forcefully pushed back and scattered by this purely savage energy burst!
The mire was instantly blown into a deep crater, turbid mud splattering like a rainstorm!
The cost was that his already damaged upper garment completely disintegrated to ash.
As the smoke cleared, it revealed that scarred body.
On his bronze-colored skin, there was barely an inch of intact flesh.
Crisscrossing scars like countless vicious centipedes coiled across every bulging muscle.
Most striking were the vital areas at his chest and lower abdomen—these scars were especially massive, twisted, deep enough to see bone, as though repeatedly pierced by blades and forcibly healed.
One old wound slashing diagonally from right shoulder to left rib looked like it had nearly split him in two.
This man should have died long ago, yet he still lived.
His movements remained swift, his strength still formidable.
"Ha... haha!" Jūbei panted heavily, each breath releasing scorching white vapor, his bloodshot eyes locked on Shuji. "See that, Konoha brat! This level of 'greeting'—I'm long used to it!"
Used to it? No.
Jūbei's words, seemingly boastful and threatening, didn't disrupt Shuji's train of thought. Instead, they made him realize this man was trying to conceal something.
What injuries that body had suffered didn't matter. The real key lay in the Kokushoku-shū leader's current state—the core secret of how he could ignore pain and poison, moving normally.
"This technique, those scars."
"What is your life anchored to?"
Jūbei's pupils contracted to pinpoints! The savage grin on his face instantly froze like a crude mask.
Shuji suddenly charged forward, his right hand hooking a kunai from his ninja pouch, stabbing straight toward Jūbei's right shoulder joint!
Jūbei reacted with shocking speed, his burning body twisting sharply to barely avoid it.
The next instant, Shuji's sweeping leg lashed like a steel whip toward the wound on his left thigh—the spot previously hit by Shizune's poisoned senbon.
BANG!
A dull impact sounded.
Jūbei's left leg merely wavered slightly before steadying, his face even showing a mocking sneer, as if saying "is that all?"
Exactly!
Shuji's offensive suddenly accelerated—fists, elbows, knees, legs poured out like a violent storm! His targets were no longer limited to vital points, but rather joints, ligaments, and muscle attachment points all over his body!
Forcing Jūbei to make the most instinctive responses.
A right fist wrapped in violent wind hammered toward the inner side of his intact right elbow joint!
The muscles at Jūbei's shoulder blade instantly tensed like steel rebar, his entire right arm contracting and twisting inward at a minute yet swift angle. He'd rather let the fist graze his outer arm, drawing blood, than let his elbow joint take the direct impact!
A low kick with a ripping sound swept toward his right ankle, serving as his pivot point!
At the critical moment, Jūbei used his left foot as the axis, forcibly lifting his heavy right foot several inches off the ground!
The heavy kick ultimately only struck his solid calf muscle with a dull thud, failing to reach the vulnerable ankle!
These were it! These subtle movements under the savage assault—the ones being desperately protected!
He didn't fear toxins corroding his organs, didn't fear muscles being torn and pierced, and could likely even ignore damage to some organs.
What he alone strived to avoid, even instinctively producing protective movements for, was limbs being completely severed and joints being utterly destroyed—structural damage!
This scarred, inhumanly powerful body was essentially a precisely controlled weapon, mobile armor! As long as the armor's main structure wasn't destroyed, the operator could continue controlling it in battle!
Then, how was it being controlled? Not chakra threads.
If not external chakra threads, then the cockpit could only be inside the body.
Recalling the earlier probing, an answer gradually surfaced in Shuji's mind. It could only be that location.
In that case, you should die now.
Chapters in advance there: patreon.com/Thaniel_a_goodchild