Naruto: Drop System

"Since you're awake, let's move forward," came the weak voice of Kimimaro as he received the barrel containing Uchiha Sasuke from Sakon and Ukon. Sasuke had just emerged in his Cursed Seal Level 2 state, and Kimimaro spoke, "Ignore those behind us; I will hold them off. Your mission is to reach Lord Orochimaru as quickly as possible."

Uchiha Sasuke, gradually exiting his Cursed Seal Level 2 form, glanced at the ailing Kimimaro and then at the forest behind him. Without a word, he used Body Flicker to dash forward.

Having made the decision to join Orochimaru, and even consuming the Awakening Pill that brought him to the brink of death, Sasuke had no intention of looking back.

Whoosh—

Just as Sasuke disappeared, Yagyu shot out of the forest in a blur, hot on his trail.

"Stop right here," Kimimaro said, extending a sharp bone from his palm to form a bone sword. He pointed it at Yagyu, saying, "If you want to chase Uchiha Sasuke, you'll have to get through me first."

Yagyu smiled knowingly and replied, "Chasing Sasuke isn't my mission. You are my target."

"Then let's begin," Kimimaro responded, not understanding but knowing he had little time to waste. Without further words, he charged at Yagyu.

Yagyu quickly formed a one-handed seal. "Wood Style: Wood Lariat," he said.

Several green tree branches shot out from the ground around Kimimaro, coiling and whipping toward him like snakes.

Kimimaro's pupils contracted slightly. His body immediately became covered in black markings as he activated Cursed Seal Level 1.

In the next instant, the branches missed their target. With his increased speed, Kimimaro easily dodged the attack and appeared to Yagyu's right, charging once more.

Unfortunately for him, Yagyu's Sharingan had already tracked his movements.

As Kimimaro appeared on Yagyu's right, Yagyu swiftly finished another hand seal, and a fine red powder materialized around him, quickly forming two phantom clones that lunged toward Kimimaro.

Kimimaro was puzzled.

Having not participated in Konoha's destruction plan due to his worsening illness, Kimimaro had no knowledge of Yagyu. However, being trained by Orochimaru from a young age, he quickly recognized the phantom clones as basic illusions.

Why is this person using distractions against me? Kimimaro thought but continued his assault, slashing through the two phantom clones with his bone sword.

Just as expected, the bone sword passed through the clones without any sensation of hitting a solid body.

But in the next moment, a sense of mortal danger overwhelmed Kimimaro. His skin rapidly darkened, turning brown-black as he activated Cursed Seal Level 2.

The phantom clone that had just been slashed reformed, and before Kimimaro could react, it completed a seal and shot a jet of water toward him.

Kimimaro barely managed to dodge with another Body Flicker.

Boom!

The water jet slammed into the ground, carving a deep trench across the plains.

"Dead Bone Pulse: Dance of the Seedling Fern!" Kimimaro called out as his speed further increased in Cursed Seal Level 2.

However, Kimimaro no longer rushed directly toward Yagyu.

After just two exchanges, he had already gauged Yagyu's strength and understood how dangerous he was. The clones were peculiar, and the power of Yagyu's Water Style was formidable.

Kimimaro reappeared a dozen meters away, immediately unleashing his ultimate technique—a large-scale battlefield jutsu.

The ground shook violently once more, but this time, instead of cracks, massive sharp bones burst from the earth, growing like trees. These bones branched out, forming countless spikes, much like the branches of a forest.

The number of bones was overwhelming, forming a sea of white that surged toward Yagyu like a tidal wave. Kimimaro's technique rivaled the destructive power of Yagyu's Tree World Birth.

With this one move, Kimimaro's power was enough to threaten even Kage-level opponents.

Anyone without the ability to fly or the necessary speed would be impaled and skewered by the sea of bones.

But Yagyu was unfazed. With a single seal, a serpentine tree branch burst from the ground beneath him, lifting him skyward. As Yagyu ascended on the branch, he effortlessly evaded the bone forest that surged beneath him.

The bone spikes continued to erupt for a while before finally halting, leaving the once grassy plains transformed into a white bone forest.

Naruto, who had just escaped from Sakon and Ukon's pursuit with Gaara's help, emerged from the forest and was stunned by the sight of the bone forest.

Sensing Naruto's chakra, Yagyu glanced toward his direction and shouted, "Naruto, Sasuke hasn't gone far. Head that way, and you should catch up with him."

"Got it! Thanks, Yagyu!" Naruto shouted back before dashing around the bone forest in pursuit of Sasuke.

A closer look revealed that Naruto's eyes had turned red with slitted pupils, and the whisker marks on his face had darkened and thickened. The more he used the Nine-Tails' chakra, the more his body showed signs of its influence.

If he continued at this rate, it wouldn't be long before he entered a state where he could no longer control the Nine-Tails' chakra and would instead manifest the berserk Tailed Beast Cloak.

"Hmm?"

Yagyu's expression suddenly changed as he looked down. Bone spikes began growing from the tree branch beneath him, rapidly ascending toward him.

"Impressive ability," Yagyu remarked, not with fear but with excitement.

Without hesitation, Yagyu clapped his hands, channeling Wood Style chakra through the tree branch and into the ground. "Wood Style: Tree World Birth!" he declared.

Boom!

The earth shook once again as saplings sprouted from the ground, rapidly growing into towering trees that intertwined with the white bone forest, creating a bizarre landscape of green and white.

Now that the battlefield was split evenly between their respective terrain jutsu, Yagyu leaped down from the tree branch, landing lightly on a tree canopy. Red powder surrounded him, concealing his form.

At the same time, a tree branch extended from the treetop, transforming into a wooden clone of Yagyu.

"Water Style: Water Severing Wave!"

The clone immediately formed a seal and shot a powerful water jet, slicing through both the trees and bones in its path.

One of the massive bone pillars shattered, revealing Kimimaro, who quickly leaped to another bone structure and melded into it like liquid.

This was one of the most terrifying aspects of the Dance of the Seedling Fern—Kimimaro could travel freely through the bone forest, much like Haku with his Demonic Ice Mirrors.

Unless one could destroy the entire bone forest, Kimimaro had an absolute terrain advantage, similar to how Yagyu did with his Tree World Birth.

Unfortunately for Kimimaro, he gained no advantage over Yagyu.

With Yagyu's red-eye vision, Kimimaro's massive chakra signature was easily trackable, no matter how much he moved through the bones.

Moreover, it seemed that Kimimaro lacked a bird's-eye view and had been deceived by the genjutsu of Yagyu's red eye.

Kimimaro, deducing the location of Yagyu's wooden clone from the direction of the Water Severing Wave, launched a desperate charge, his time running out due to his illness. With little regard for his own safety, he aimed to take Yagyu down with him.

From a nearby bone spike, Kimimaro emerged, transforming his arm into a bone spear, and lunged at Yagyu's wooden clone with a fatal thrust.

The wooden clone's expression appeared to change in surprise.

Unable to dodge, the clone extended a sharp tree branch from its palm, aiming at Kimimaro.

Shhk!

Kimimaro's bone spear pierced through the wooden clone, while the clone's tree branch stabbed into Kimimaro's body.

However, the clone did not bleed. Instead, its expression shifted from shock to a smile. It quietly said, "Wood Style: Insertion Technique."

Shhk shhk shhk!

A series of sharp sounds echoed as numerous wooden spikes erupted from within Kimimaro's body, instantly covering him in piercings.

Gazing at the clone, which began reverting to wood, Kimimaro's eyes showed a trace of regret. Before the darkness completely engulfed his consciousness, he murmured, "Forgive me, Lord Orochimaru…"

With those words, Kimimaro's body fell to the ground, lifeless.

Whoosh!

In the next moment, a red glow appeared around Kimimaro's corpse—a special effect visible only to Yagyu. A red beam of light shot out, forming a floating red orb above Kimimaro's body.

Yagyu instantly moved to the orb and collected it.

Summoning his virtual panel, Yagyu checked the information of the glowing orb that now occupied the first slot in his inventory.

[Space Storage: Bloodline Limit—Shikotsumyaku (Red)]

Seeing the words, a satisfied smile crept across Yagyu's face. He was very pleased.

Yagyu now possessed numerous abilities, but ever since obtaining Wood Style, his main focus had been on Wood Style and Water Style, with other abilities as secondary. Once his Sharingan evolved into the Mangekyo Sharingan, his focus would shift to Wood Style and the Mangekyo, with everything else becoming secondary.

At that point, aside from certain forbidden techniques, most other powers would be irrelevant.

Thus, few bloodline limits, ninjutsu, or secret techniques caught Yagyu's interest anymore.

Kimimaro's Shikotsumyaku was one of those exceptions!

Shikotsumyaku, the Kekkai Genkai of the Kaguya clan, whose members bore a striking resemblance to the Otsutsuki Clan, especially Kaguya Otsutsuki, who used the deadly All-Killing Ash Bones. There might indeed be a connection between the Kaguya clan and Kaguya Otsutsuki herself.

After discovering the new mechanics of the system, Yagyu had a bold idea.

If he could continuously fuse the same chakra nature attributes and raise their transformation levels to the extreme, perhaps he could eventually combine the seven chakra nature transformations into Truth-Seeking Orbs—or even reach the level of the Bloodline Selection.

Just the thought that he could potentially obtain the Bloodline Selection without becoming the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki or relying on equipment from Kaguya Otsutsuki gave Yagyu goosebumps.

This was why he had been so determined to obtain Kimimaro's Shikotsumyaku!

If this theory proved correct, Shikotsumyaku could be the foundation for developing the All-Killing Ash Bones.

Moreover, unlike the now-useless Byakugan, Shikotsumyaku was currently very practical. It would not only enhance the power of his Wood Style but also increase his defense.

The bones generated by Shikotsumyaku were incredibly tough, able to withstand even the chakra-infused strikes of Iron Country's samurai.

Even without growing bone spikes all over his body, Yagyu's bone density and durability would now be significantly increased.

And if he did grow bone spikes, he would become a nightmare for any taijutsu expert.

Best of all, Yagyu, with his Asura chakra, wouldn't have to worry about the Kaguya clan's genetic disease.

Filled with excitement, Yagyu merged the Shikotsumyaku into his body.

As the red light left the space inventory and entered his body, Yagyu felt the changes immediately, just as he had when he fused with Ice Release.

Now, he could manipulate his bones at will.

Clenching his fist, Yagyu could sense that his bones had become several times harder than before.

From now on, he no longer had to fear bone fractures. Even if someone managed to break his bones, Yagyu could automatically heal them or expel the broken bones and regenerate new, stronger ones.

Most importantly, Yagyu no longer had to worry about opponents who specialized in taijutsu.

His spirits lifted, Yagyu decided against testing Shikotsumyaku on the spot. Instead, he took out a storage scroll and sealed away Kimimaro's body, then quickly headed toward the Valley of the End.

As Yagyu swiftly left the eerie forest behind, a figure hidden within a giant tree—the familiar shape of a Zetsu—watched his retreating figure.

"Well, that was easier than expected," White Zetsu quipped. "Looks like the bodies of Kakuzu and Hidan are with him."

Black Zetsu, however, remained silent, burdened with an ominous feeling.

Now that it was clear Yagyu was the reincarnation of Asura in this era, Black Zetsu was also certain that Uchiha Sasuke was the reincarnation of Indra.

But...

The difference in strength between the two was astonishing.

When Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara were young, they had been evenly matched. But now, in this generation, the reincarnation of Asura already possessed such immense power at a young age.

For Black Zetsu, who had been planning for millennia, creating the second set of Rinnegan only a few decades ago and preparing to enact his plan in this era, this vast power disparity gave him an uneasy premonition.

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