Chapter 25: Final Victory

———

Whoosh!

White bone splashed through puddled water.

Without warning, Hikari lunged at Bloodhound.

The masked ninja spun to flee—but she closed the gap in an instant, her bone blade slashing downward toward his spine.

CLANG!

The razor-edged strike didn’t cleave him in two as she’d expected. Instead, it bounced off his back as if she’d struck a mountain. Her wrist trembled from the recoil.

Seizing the opening, Bloodhound bolted.

Byakugan—activate.

Beneath his cloak, his skin was armored with densely packed Earth Release chakra.

"Earth Style: Hardening Technique," crooned Crowmist’s slimy voice from the shadows. "Little miss, what will you do now?"

Ignoring the taunt, Hikari assessed her options.

These Kirigakure ANBU elites live up to their reputation.

Even with her taijutsu and genjutsu specialties countered, they were relentless. A full-power burst would leave her drained for six critical seconds—but without it, her six-year-old body lacked the strength for a killing blow.

Crowmist’s Water Instantaneous Movement made him untouchable.

Her only path? Kill Bloodhound first. His right arm was crippled, his weapon lost. To break his hardening, she needed blunt force.

Creeeak—

Thick bone erupted from her palm, reshaping—tapered at the tip, weighted at the base. Edges sharpened into brutal facets.

A dense, four-edged bone mace now filled her grip.

She tested its heft. Perfect balance.

Bloodhound’s eyes narrowed at the grotesque weapon.

Too late.

WHOOSH!

Hikari vanished—reappeared in his face—mace already mid-swing.

Wind pressure screamed as it descended.

His temple throbbed. Locked in hardening’s stiffness, he crossed his arms to block.

BOOM!

The mace struck.

Impact shattered his earthen armor like glass. The force launched him spinning through the air—CRASH!—into a tree trunk.

"Guh—!" He vomited blood, arms shaking as he tried to rise.

SWISH!

Hikari swung again—aiming for his skull.

His hairs stood on end. A direct hit would crush his head like a melon.

"Got you!"

Crowmist materialized via Water Instantaneous, tendrils of liquid lashing at her ankles.

She sidestepped—

—only for Bloodhound to tackle her, pinning her arms.

SNAP! Bone spikes jutted from her body… but his hardening deflected them, sparks flying where they scraped.

Muscles spent from her earlier strikes, she couldn’t break free.

Five seconds.

Both enemies knew: her next burst wasn’t ready.

Crowmist’s hands plunged into gathering water.

"Water Style: Water Prison Technique!"

The ground’s moisture spiraled upward, poised to engulf them. Once sealed, no one escaped alive.

Now.

Hikari’s fingers flexed—aimed at Crowmist.

"Dead Bone Pulse—!"

Glinting bone bullets loaded at her fingertips.

Three seconds.

A whirlpool barrier erupted between them.

"Water Style: Water Wall!"

A second Crowmist (a water clone?) completed the jutsu before dissolving, speeding the prison’s formation.

"Little miss, this is how Hellfox died, isn’t it?" His voice oozed through the liquid. He’d anticipated her trick.

One second.

The water sealed shut.

Crowmist exhaled. "Game over."

Just wait for suffocation—then extract Bloodhound. Victory.

…Hmph. Impressive child—

RUMBLE!

The prison shuddered violently.

"What?!"

He poured in more chakra—but his pathways clogged. Alien energy choked his flow.

His eyes widened.

Beneath the water, hair-thin bone needles had pierced his acupuncture points.

His veins were paralyzed.

SPLASH!

The prison collapsed, revealing Hikari—drenched but smirking—as Bloodhound still clung to her.

Her finger gun leveled at Crowmist.

"Bang."

PCHOO!

A fingerbone bullet pierced his skull.

Brains sprayed. He crumpled.

"CROWMIST!!" Bloodhound roared, crushing her throat in his arms.

SNAP!

Her neck bent backward—vertebrae exposed, throat torn open.

Yet—

Her upside-down face kept smiling.

THUNK!

A spinal spur impaled his eyeball, drilling into his brain.

"G-GAHHH—!"

More bone spikes erupted, turning him into a pincushion.

Bloodhound—DEAD.

———

Dawn light crept through the trees.

Hikari wrenched her head back into place, chakra stitching flesh. Steam rose from the wounds.

Not fatal. But close.

The Dead Bone Pulse had limits. A Senju or Uzumaki’s vitality would’ve healed this instantly.

Still—she’d won.

Rule #1 of combat: Never engage a Hyūga or Kaguya in close quarters.

Yet they’d nearly succeeded. Without Rabbit Hair Needles, she’d have died.

A genjutsu specialist (Tokubetsu Jōnin) and a taijutsu-focused Chūnin—with her Byakugan negating illusions—had almost killed a dual bloodline wielder.

Why?

• Her body’s youth. A mere week had passed since her rebirth into this hunted life.

• Kiri’s quality. The "Bloody Mist" bred only the strongest. The weak perished.

A cruel system—but one born of necessity.

The Land of Water was small, resource-starved, sandwiched between Fire and Lightning. The "Bloody Mist" ensured survival through ruthless meritocracy.

"Mist is fleeting—but blood feeds the roots."

Her father’s words echoed.

———

As sunlight burned away the mist, Hikari stripped her ruined clothes, skin sheathing itself in bone scales.

She dressed, packed, and burned the corpses.

Then—

A chakra-dense "worm" squirmed from Bloodhound’s remains.

The source of his sudden power?

She smashed it into a vial.

To be studied later.

Staff tapping, she turned west.

Toward Konoha.

Where true power awaited.

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