i am kimimaro

A pitch-black bone sword slashed down heavily, with Kimimaro pouring all the strength of his right arm into the strike. Yugito's eyes widened in disbelief.

This attack was clearly premeditated.

Otherwise, it couldn't have been executed so smoothly.

He must have predicted her attack path to be able to perform such a precise sword technique.

But how did he figure it out?

He hadn't even opened his eyes.

Even if he had, ordinary eyes wouldn't be able to catch her movements.

Could he possess strong sensory abilities?

Yugito was puzzled.

Kimimaro managed to do all this thanks to the Silent Barrier.

The Silent Card had many functions, and the one he was using now was its third level.

The first level of Silence allows the user to enter a state of tranquility, not only enhancing learning efficiency but also clearing negative emotions.

The second level of Silence creates a barrier within a certain range, causing the voices of those within to be transmitted outside the barrier. However, this only works on opponents far weaker than the user.

The third level of Silence feeds back all sounds within the barrier into the user's mind, allowing them to pinpoint the location of others. At higher levels, it can even detect the sound of chakra flowing, providing more information.

It's somewhat like a sensory ability.

In short, the Silent Card can capture all disruptive factors.

So, when Kimimaro closed his eyes to eliminate visual interference and unleashed the Silent Barrier to its fullest, he could fully track Yugito's rapid movements.

With her trajectory known, he could easily plan his counterattack.

The bone sword, carrying immense force, slashed down!

*Clang!*

It hit!

But the sound wasn't that of a blade cutting through flesh.

Kimimaro's grip on his sword went numb from the shock, and then a blue tail marked with black patterns swung toward him!

The bone sword blocked it, but both Kimimaro and his sword were knocked away!

*Boom!*

Kimimaro was sent flying over ten meters.

In mid-air, he twisted his body and landed steadily on a large tree.

The tree trunk sank under his feet, leaving two deep imprints, and the bark shattered!

"What incredible strength. Has she transformed into her tailed beast?"

Kimimaro murmured, his gaze fixed on Yugito.

Just as his strike was about to land, she had unleashed the chakra of Matatabi, the Two-Tails.

The blue tail marked with black patterns was Matatabi's, now attached to Yugito's back.

When Kimimaro's bone sword struck the tail, his attack was instantly nullified.

At Kimimaro's current strength, breaking through the defenses of a tailed beast was still beyond his capability.

"No wonder you serve under Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin. You're certainly capable. Defeating you with just my own power is too difficult. But now that I'm using the power of the tailed beast, even if you don't die, you'll at least be severely injured!"

Yugito sneered. She waved her right hand, sending ten blue fireballs flying!

They were incredibly fast, reaching Kimimaro in the blink of an eye.

He quickly dodged, but the ten blue fireballs seemed to have a mind of their own, persistently chasing him.

They moved far faster than the earlier Fire Rat Jade attack.

Looking over at Yugito, her fingers were dancing, as if controlling something.

If a Byakugan or Sharingan user had been present, they would have seen chakra strings extending from her ten fingers, like those used by puppet masters.

These chakra strings were connected to the blue fireballs.

Her finger movements controlled the flames!

"Explode!"

One of the fireballs suddenly accelerated and shot toward Kimimaro.

Just half a meter away from him, it exploded!

*Boom!*

A blast of blue flames surged out, engulfing Kimimaro in smoke and dust.

But Yugito didn't stop there. Under her control, the remaining nine fireballs followed suit.

The roar of explosions echoed continuously, the dust cloud growing larger, and blue flames enveloped everything.

"There's no way you're unharmed after that."

Yugito smirked coldly. But the next moment, her eyes widened in shock.

*Whoosh!*

From the smoke, Kimimaro shot out!

His face was missing patches of skin, revealing white bone underneath, and his clothes were torn in several places.

But as he dashed forward, the skin on his face rapidly regenerated, and the white bone disappeared.

The terrifying regeneration power of the Kaguya clan's Shikotsumyaku (Dead Bone Pulse) was on full display.

Yugito hadn't even noticed the moment his wounds healed.

The earlier explosion had been fully absorbed by Kimimaro's Shikotsumyaku.

This level of attack was still within his tolerance.

As he dashed forward, the black bone sword in his right hand was already aimed at Yugito.

Demon Sword Assault!

This strike was aimed directly at Yugito's heart!

By this point in the battle, Kimimaro was no longer holding back.

When facing a stronger opponent, any hesitation would be a fatal mistake, leading to irreversible defeat.

His sword seemed to pierce through space, appearing right in front of Yugito.

Her pupils contracted. How could he launch such a fierce counterattack after only having his clothes torn by her earlier assault?

*Ding!*

The black bone sword stabbed into Yugito's chest, but no blood flowed—only deep red chakra.

It was the chakra of the tailed beast!

"Roar!"

Yugito let out an inhuman roar as a layer of crimson chakra rapidly covered her body.

The Tailed Beast Cloak!

Two crimson tails sprouted from her back, replacing the blue tail from before, and swept toward Kimimaro.

Having been struck once already, Kimimaro wasn't going to get hit again.

Instant Step!

He narrowly dodged the attack.

The tail struck the nearby tree, slicing it cleanly in half!

The power was even more terrifying than before.

"Yugito is taking this seriously now. Two tails... Aside from fully transforming into the tailed beast, this is the strongest state for a Two-Tails jinchūriki."

Kimimaro's face grew tense, not just because of Yugito's new form, but also because his shadow clone in the Hidden Cloud Village had been dispelled.

The commotion here was growing louder, and the Hidden Cloud ninjas had already been alerted. Several were heading this way.

He was running out of time.

If he delayed any longer, once the main forces from the Hidden Cloud arrived, he wouldn't be able to escape.

At that moment, Yugito, in her Two-Tails form, opened her mouth.

Blue and crimson chakra began mixing together, forming a chakra sphere.

"That's... a Tailed Beast Bomb!"

Kimimaro's pupils dilated in shock. He hadn't expected Yugito to use such a powerful move right after entering her Two-Tails state.

Her earlier attacks hadn't broken through his defenses, so the Tailed Beast Bomb was Yugito's last resort.

The crimson Two-Tails bit down on the chakra sphere, its mouth swelling.

"This is bad!"

Kimimaro's toes lightly tapped the ground, and he used his Instant Step technique repeatedly, trying to evade the direction of the Tailed Beast Bomb's attack.

But Yugito had locked onto his position, and his speed wasn't enough to escape such a wide-ranging attack.

In the next moment, the Tailed Beast Bomb was launched!

(End of chapter)