The ground trembled beneath Genji's feet as his blood boiled hotter than fire, his fists clenched so tightly they trembled. His skin flushed deep red, chakra flaring wildly around him like a living storm.
He could feel it—this power. For the first time, he believed he could rival the Mizukage. Not just in strength, but in presence.
From across the battlefield, Jigen's cold gaze narrowed. "A technique that burns your life away?" he murmured, his voice indifferent. "No... what's burning—is your blood."
He watched as Genji's skin pulsed crimson, veins throbbing with chakra-enhanced blood. A frown barely touched Jigen's lips, more out of curiosity than concern.
"How foolish," Jigen muttered. "Mortals never learn."
"Die!!" Genji roared, voice layered with fury and grief. He surged forward like a crimson lightning bolt and lashed out with a powerful right kick.
With inhuman calm, Jigen raised his black chakra rod and blocked the attack effortlessly. His left hand pointed toward Genji—and with a whisper of chakra manipulation, several black rods materialized and shot out like bullets.
But Genji's instincts were razor sharp. He twisted in midair, narrowly evading the sudden barrage. The rods pierced the spot he'd just occupied.
That attack... it came from where his hand was pointing... Genji noted silently, heart thundering. Is it some kind of space-time jutsu?
He landed lightly and instantly began recalculating his strategy. His Byakugan flared, veins bulging around his eyes as his perception sharpened.
I can't let him point at me again.
He clapped his hands together. "Dance of the Clematis: Vine!"
Bone blades erupted from his forearms, white and jagged like the fangs of a predator. With a sudden burst of speed, Genji closed the distance again, his footwork like flowing water—sharp, yet graceful. He whirled, struck, spun. His twin blades became extensions of his soul, weaving a dance of fury meant to keep Jigen's hands tied up and his focus divided.
Jigen's expression remained unchanged, but a flicker of annoyance crossed his brow. "So the ant learns to sting," he said dryly.
He lifted his left hand again.
Not again...! Genji's heart leapt.
This time, dozens of black rods appeared at once, shooting toward him at blinding speed.
"Dance of the Wire Flower: Vines!"
With a cry, Genji reached into the blood-fueled depths of his chakra. The ancient bloodline from the Hyuga within him surged, boiling to life. His chakra spiked exponentially, forcing a mouthful of blood from his lips. Pain rippled through every cell of his body, but he gritted his teeth and endured.
His strength surged. Even the earth beneath him cracked under the sheer weight of his power. The air grew heavy.
Genji's body now pulsed with raw, untamed Kage-level chakra.
Across the field, Jigen's expression finally shifted. With a hiss of chakra, the wedge mark on his body flared alive. Black markings slithered across his flesh like cursed ink. His chakra spiked in response to Genji's power.
The first stage of Isshiki's Karma had been activated.
Jigen swung his materialized black staff with monstrous force. Genji met it with both bone blades crossed—but the force sent him skidding back, his heels carving trenches in the ground.
Blood trailed from the corner of Genji's lips, but he didn't falter.
"Dance of the Wire Flower: Flower!"
"Dance of the Early Fern!"
The ground exploded. Shards of bone erupted like a field of white death, turning the battlefield into a graveyard of ivory spears.
Genji vanished into the haze—and reappeared behind Jigen, launching an ambush with a hidden bone spur as leverage.
But Jigen sensed it at the last moment. His left hand snapped up again.
"Dance of the Wire Flower: Vines!"
Genji dropped his blades and pulled a long spine from his back, shaping it into a whip. With a snap of his arm, the white bone whip lashed out, deflecting the black rods—and then wrapped itself around Jigen's limbs, locking him down.
A massive bone drill condensed around Genji's left arm.
"No escape," Genji growled.
He lunged, the drill roaring through the air like a falling star.
Jigen struggled, chakra flaring wildly—but he couldn't break free in time. He cursed under his breath and activated the second stage of Karma.
The air cracked.
Horns erupted from his skull. His body grew paler, almost spectral. The transformation was terrifying. Isshiki's consciousness stirred.
Jigen sneered. "You think that's enough to defeat me?"
He exploded with chakra, shattering the bone whip like glass.
Genji's drill missed—but he didn't hesitate. He dropped the broken weapon and slammed both palms into the ground.
A second forest of bone erupted—denser, sharper, more brutal.
Jigen fought back, spinning his staff, destroying every bone that tried to impale him. But Genji wasn't done. Another bone drill formed, and this time—Jigen was too slow.
BOOM!
It landed. The drill struck true.
Jigen's body flew back, crashing into the broken terrain. Blood spilled from his lips, his expression finally cracking with disbelief.
The arrogant god had been struck down.
"Impossible..." Jigen muttered.
Genji collapsed to one knee, panting. His chakra was fading, the blood-burning technique reaching its final toll. His body was at its limit.
But his heart—
His heart still burned.
I have to protect him… my son… even if I die.
Jigen slowly stood, wiping blood from his face. "You've... angered me."
Suddenly, he coughed violently—and blood poured from his mouth, then his nose, his ears. Red poured from his orifices like a leaking dam.
His body was dying. The strain had finally reached its breaking point.
Isshiki's essence stirred fully within him now. The wedge activated on its own, consuming the vessel entirely. But there was a problem.
He had never carved a backup wedge onto Quon.
Desperation filled Isshiki's fading consciousness.
"No..." he rasped. "Not yet... I still have time…"
The wedge activated, and the reincarnation began.
But Genji saw it. Pale skin. One golden eye with a ring of triangles. A Byakugan in the left socket. A horn like a crescent moon.
Isshiki Ōtsutsuki had returned—but imperfectly. The vessel had failed. His chakra was unstable.
He had only two days to live.
And yet... he smiled. "Quon… I will place my wedge on the boy. Two days… is all I need."
Genji's eyes widened in horror. "No… no, you won't…"
But his body gave way. Blood dripping, chakra depleted, bones broken, he fell to his knees again.
He could barely lift his head as he watched the god in front of him begin to walk away.
Isshiki didn't look back. His time was short. But in that moment, something ancient awakened in Genji—a final flicker of his clan's indomitable will.
The battle wasn't over.
(End of Chapter 8)