Chapter 152: Doctor, the Patient is in Critical Condition!
Tsuki, having missed her strike, quickly spun and kicked, guarding against a potential counter-attack. She then retreated several meters and struck out to the left and right, but hit nothing.
After a moment of this, just as she was about to catch her breath, she was struck from behind. A kunai was embedded in her lower back.
She quickly counter-attacked, but again, she hit nothing. She calmly pulled the dagger from her back. Only a small amount of blood flowed out.
The moment he had turned invisible, she had controlled the bones in her body to grow and protect her vital organs. And a small wound like that was nothing to a Kaguya, who could pull out their own bones. It healed almost instantly.
This was the other characteristic of the Kaguya clan, hidden beneath their terrifying bone techniques: an incredible healing ability.
Finger bones, arm bones, ribs, even the spine could be used as weapons, and the massive wounds created in the process would heal in a short time. External injuries were not a major threat to a Shikotsumyaku user.
But she still couldn't find him.
"Does that male ninja have the ability to turn invisible?" an audience member asked, astonished. "Isn't he invincible?"
"How do you fight an enemy you can't see? Even if that woman is tough, she can't win."
But in the arena, Tsuki, who was on the defensive, suddenly smiled and, to everyone's surprise, closed her eyes.
"Why did she close her eyes? Did she give up?"
"Even if she opened them, she couldn't see him. But isn't closing them even worse?"
In the stands, the Waterfall Village's team, though they had all been eliminated in the second round, were still watching with enthusiasm.
"When a taijutsu master reaches a certain level," their team leader explained to his young ninja, "they no longer rely on sight. Sight is the most important sense for a human, and there are many ninjutsu that target it. Taijutsu masters will sometimes undergo special training, to fight with their hearing and their sixth sense. I just never thought a Genin would have already mastered this ability. It requires very rigorous training."
Sure enough, the blind Tsuki seemed to be concentrating on something. The next moment, she swung her bone sword at the empty air to her right.
To the outside world, it looked like she had missed again.
But she knew she had succeeded. She had forced the red-eyed ninja back.
The two of them, one in the open, one in the shadows, engaged in a fierce taijutsu battle. The audience could only hear the sound of fists and feet, but they could not see her opponent. It was as if she were fighting the air, and they were amazed.
Fighting blind was a disadvantage for her, but her advantage was that she was not afraid of being injured. She could be cut by a kunai a hundred times, even have a broken bone, and it wouldn't matter. But he only had to be hit once, and he would be in a crisis.
She was waiting for an opportunity. A one-hit kill.
"The Shikotsumyaku is a huge boost to taijutsu," Hanzo said to the Third Raikage. "It's almost as if it were made for it. If that red-eyed kid could, like the Hyuga, attack a person's acupoints and internal organs, it would be a different story."
"Now!"
She swung her bone sword with all her might. But the next moment, she felt a blow to her elbow.
Her arm went limp, and the sword fell to the ground.
Yusuke's figure slowly appeared. "Though my clan's traditions are almost lost," he panted, "and I don't know anything about acupoints or the Gentle Fist, but with these eyes, I can see your joints, your tendons. And I don't need a special taijutsu to break them."
But her only answer was a cold smile.
She twisted her elbow with a sickening crack. The dislocated joint was snapped back into place.
"Did you think that I, a Kaguya, would not know my own joints and tendons?" she said, her voice dripping with contempt. "I have taken out every one of my own bones to study them."
His face fell. This was a complete counter.
In the stands, Dana was also cringing. To be fair, Yusuke, as a talent of the Red Eye clan, was not weak. His invisibility, his x-ray vision, and his joint-targeting attacks were all very troublesome abilities. And his own taijutsu was not bad. In the first round, he had even briefly suppressed the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
But he had run into Tsuki Kaguya.
It was his own bad luck.
Sure enough, a short while later, he was on the defensive. Not only was he countered at every turn, but because he had evaporated a large amount of his body's moisture to create the mist, he was now severely dehydrated. It looked less like he was fighting in the Land of Rain and more like he had just had a battle in the desert of the Land of Wind.
Finally, at the 20-minute mark, he couldn't hold on any longer and surrendered.
"The match is over!"
The examiner immediately stepped between them.
A kunai flew and cut the scroll with his name on it, leaving only hers.
Dana thought the design was pretty cool.
"Water... I need water," the post-battle Yusuke said, looking like a dried-up corpse. He collapsed the moment he returned to the contestants' area.
The twin sisters, Ganseki and Akane, rushed over and shoved a special water bottle, which looked like a giant syringe, into his mouth.
"The patient is in critical condition!" Akane said. "He needs at least eight liters of water!"
"Understood!" Ganseki replied. "Water is being administered!"
Dana's eye twitched. Was this a nurse-themed play? And eight liters? Seriously? He hoped his kidneys could handle it.
Wait, what was the reason the Red Eye clan had almost gone extinct again?
On the other side, Tsuki had returned to her own section. The Fourth Mizukage offered a few words of praise, and her teammates congratulated her.
The first match had been exciting enough, and the audience had given them a round of applause. The Rain ninja examiner then appeared in the center of the arena again. "Second match: Pakura of the Hidden Sand Village versus Ringo Ameyuri of the Hidden Mist Village."
At the same time, two more scrolls unrolled from the torii, with their names on them.
The scantily clad Pakura and the strangely coiffed Ringo leaped down from the stands.
The examiner announced the start of the battle.
Ringo, with her twin swords, attacked, and Pakura, retreating, had a Scorch Release fireball ready to be launched at any moment.
"Lightning Release: Fangs of Lightning!"
Ringo crossed her swords and then swung them open, sending a wide arc of lightning towards Pakura.
Pakura formed a one-handed seal. "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Ringo had not yet obtained the legendary Kiba swords, and though her fighting style was already taking shape, she was still a step below Pakura in terms of overall strength. At the 15-minute mark, she made a mistake and was hit by Pakura's Scorch Release.
The Scorch Release could instantly evaporate the moisture from an enemy's body. Whether Pakura had held back, or her Scorch Release was not yet fully mastered, Ringo was not killed on the spot. The Rain ninja examiner quickly took her away for treatment.
After seventeen or eighteen Healing Talismans, they finally managed to save her, but she had still lost a large amount of water. She was placed next to Yusuke.
The twin sisters took out another special syringe-like water bottle and shoved it into the unconscious Ringo's mouth.
"Doctor! The patient is in critical condition!" Ganseki said. "She needs at least seven liters of water!"
"Understood."
Yusuke: "Glug, glug, glug (unconscious)."
Ringo: "Glug, glug, glug (unconscious)."
Dana felt full just watching them. Yusuke's stomach was already bulging.
The Rain ninja examiner had already announced the next match.
"Third match: Sasori of the Hidden Sand Village versus Konan Kohaku of the Hidden Cloud Village."