36 Bloodline Limi (1/2)
”Punishment, huh...?”
The situation had turned worse for the gray-clothed ninja, and yet he didn't lose his calm. If anything, he looked like he was enjoying his predicament.
”I'd love to see how you'll punish me!”
He threw a shuriken to the back of the room. Upon hitting a slightly protruding brick, a grinding mechanical noise began to fill the hall. The entrance gate suddenly moved on their own, pulling into a tight shut.
”Hahaha! Now that I've locked you all in here, I'll kill you all!”
”Kill us?” the Anbu chuckled. ”We're three against one, buddy. Stop being delusional. You've just sealed your own escape route.”
”Heheheh... hahahaha!”
The ninja's body convulsed as he let out a maniacal laughter.
”Ignorant... truly ignorant!” a smirk surfaced under his face mask. ”Have you ever heard of 'Kekkei Genkai' -Bloodline Limit-?”
Those words didn't register for Hikari and Kiba, but the Anbu frowned slightly upon hearing that.
”...What does it have to do with us?”
”Oh, but it does!”
He began to point at each of the three.
”I've been watching your fights with my subordinate. You're highly proficient with ninjutsu, but that's it. Those kids are even worse, they can only use taijutsu. You can't compare with an elite ninja like me. Definitely can't! Because, I possess it! I possess the so-called Bloodline Limit!”
The Anbu's frown grew deeper, while the kids were oblivious to the meaning of his words.
”Hey... what's a Bloodline Limit?” Hikari mumbled.
”Hahaha! I'm glad that you asked!”
The enemy ninja opened his arms with apparent glee.
”Bloodline Limit is the peak of ninjutsu! It's a special technique only available to select members of a prestigious clan! Compared to normal jutsu, these techniques are far more potent, far more destructive! Since olden times, having a Bloodline Limit ensures power beyond belief! And now, thanks to the master, I've attained it as well...”
”Master?” the Anbu raised an eyebrow.
”Yes, master! The brilliant shinobi who had transformed me from a regular person into an elite! He had given me power! If it's for the master, then I'll do anything! And now, I'm going to kill all of you! All for the sake of the m- gohoh!”
Blood abruptly spurted out from his mask as a pebble was thrown in blinding speed right at his nose, interrupting his monologue.
”Shut up!” Hikari roared. ”Why are you talking so much?! You're not Xiao Dingding! Just fight already, damnit!”
””...fu.””
The bear-masked man and Akamaru were trying their hardest not to laugh. Their lips were twitching heavily.
'Ah, right, he did the same thing when he first met Dingding... although he threw a sword back then.'
”You... you!!”
The ninja leaped back to his feet, and then furiously formed a long sequence of hand signs.
<Cloud Release: Death Shroud>
Chakra rushed throughout his veins, flowing into the bone tubes on his back. Black gas poured out from their opening, which then condensed into a puff of dark clouds.
”What is that?!”
The Anbu was surprised. He had never heard of something called Cloud Release before, neither in the new body's memory nor in the things that he had learned after he awakened his old soul. If it was an unknown style, that means...
”That's right! This is my Bloodline Limit! This is the power that my master had granted to me! Back then...”
”He's going to start a monologue again, isn't he...” Hikari was about to throw another rock at him, but relented when she saw the bear-masked man shaking his head.
”...I came from a small clan with an useless Bloodline Limit. We were just a clan of below-average Shinobi, trying our hardest to survive in this chaotic era against the monstrous might of other clans. I had succumbed to despair, resigning myself to be a failure.
However, it all changed when the master arrived and showed me the light!
He brought us to his lair and told us to fight to the death. The victor will be given power beyond imagination. And I, has emerged as the winner! I had shed my worthless clan's name, and donned a name of my own! Inazuma Taroemon, remember that name! It's the name of the man who will deliver you to hell!”
”By the way,” Hikari raised her hand. ”What's your old clan's power?”
”Huh?”
The ninja flinched slightly as her question caught him off-guard.
”We can produce water out of our skin...”
Everyone except Kiba facepalmed.
”That's not power! That's just sweating! Everyone can do that!”
”B-but- aaargh! Damnit all to hell! I'll kill you!”
The amassing clouds suddenly began to move toward the trio, as if getting pushed by a strong wind.
”It's just a puff of smoke, what's to fe- ugh?!”
The Anbu was the first to enter the dark cloud, but he soon realized his error.
The clouds were thick and heavy, making him feel as if he was moving underwater. Although he could still breath, the amount of air that he could take in was severely reduced, and his nose started to feel wet from water vapor.
”Underestimating my clouds, are you?! Too bad!”
He kept producing more and more gas, slowly filling the room with the dark clouds. He made another string of hand signs, and then pushed his hands into the nearest cloud.
”Taste my strongest technique!”
<Cloud Release: Thundergod's Rage>
His chakra transformed into electric charge, which quickly propagated throughout the hall.
”Damnit-!” The Anbu cursed. He was forming hand signs of his own, but he wouldn't make it in time before the crackling thunder arrived.
At that moment, Hikari rushed into the dark veil as well, and then drew her sword.
<mei Sect Hard-Sword Style: Butterfly Wing Clip>>
A horizontal slash, faster than the eyes could see, split the cloud in two. The resulting shockwave blasted away the surrounding clouds as well, clearing the area in one strike.
”What-!”
”Good job!”
With his hand signs completed, the man pulled up his bear mask, and then blew out a strong gale of wind.
<Wind Release: Protective Wall>