In the blink of an eye, the figure ahead seemed to suddenly vanish from the spot.
"What!?"
Kabuto's pupils constricted, and alarm bells rang in his mind. Before he could react, Mamoru appeared by his side, his right leg sweeping toward him with the sharp sound of wind.
'Oh no!' Kabuto could only shout in his heart.
Bang!
A heavy impact sounded, and his body flew backward.
Almost at the same moment, Kimimaro reacted. With a tooth-aching squelch, pale white bone spurs suddenly jutted from his palms. He kicked off the ground, his body shooting toward Mamoru a few steps away like an arrow, the bone spurs aimed straight at his vitals.
Mamoru didn't even look back, he simply raised his hand toward the incoming direction. A deep blue orb of light rapidly condensed in his palm and shot out.
Boom!
Blue hit Kimimaro without suspense, and blood splattered. The powerful compressive force caused his limbs to twist unnaturally, and the expanding blue halo, like an invisible giant hand, sent his broken body flying into the distance.
Bang!
Just then, the Kabuto lying on the ground not far away turned into a cloud of white smoke with a—it was actually a Shadow Clone.
The soil on the ground suddenly loosened, and a figure burst out like a lurking snake, silently appearing behind Mamoru.
It was the real Kabuto!
The pale blue Chakra Scalpel condensed in his hand flickered with a dangerous light, stabbing toward Mamoru's heart. However, at a hair's breadth away, the sharp blade seemed to hit an invisible barrier and could go no further.
"Tsk... what a troublesome ability." A look of gravity flashed across Kabuto's face.
"You're quite clever with your little tricks." Mamoru turned his head, a half-smile on his lips.
Before he finished speaking, he spun around with a swift roundhouse kick, the wind from his leg whistling toward Kabuto's face.
Kabuto didn't dare take it head-on and hastily retreated to dodge. Simultaneously, he swung his hand-blade, precisely cutting toward Mamoru's exposed ankle. The Chakra Scalpel passed through the intended spot, but there was no sensation of cutting flesh, as if it had only sliced through air.
Kabuto couldn't help but frown, a hint of frustration flashing in his eyes.
"Your skills are quite good." Mamoru landed lightly and offered his praise without hesitation.
As he spoke, he leaped again, his right leg raised high, coming down toward Kabuto's head with the force of a thousand pounds.
"Not at all, I can't compare to you." Kabuto spoke humble words while rolling clumsily to the side to dodge.
Boom!
The ground groaned under the heavy impact, mud and stones flying as dust filled the air.
"Too much humility becomes hypocrisy." Mamoru's voice sounded from the dust, and his figure suddenly lunged out, pouncing again on the just-stabilized Kabuto.
Kabuto condensed Chakra in both hands, and two Chakra Scalpels carved out arcs as he met the attack.
Just as the two figures crossed and clashed again—
In the distance, Kimimaro, who had been ravaged by the terrifying compressive force of Blue, suddenly thrust several thick bone spears from his body, stabbing them deep into the ground.
The bone spurs plowed several deep furrows in the earth, forcibly stopping his backward momentum, coming to a halt just a meter away from the edge of the barrier.
His current appearance was tragic—his limbs were already twisted like pretzels, and he relied only on several main bone spurs thrust into the ground by his upper body to keep from collapsing entirely. He turned his neck with difficulty, casting his gaze toward the two fighting in the distance.
He saw Kabuto being suppressed everywhere under Mamoru's storm-like offensive, every dodge appearing incredibly cautious, as if dancing on the edge of a blade where any slight mistake would lead to doom.
I must support him as soon as possible.
Driven by a strong will, the Cursed Seal of Earth on his chest suddenly activated as if it were alive, its pitch-black patterns rapidly spreading across his entire body.
A hair-raising sound of bone remodeling came from within his body—new, harder bones were forcibly replacing the shattered and broken parts. Fragments of bone mixed with bright red blood peeled off his body and dripped to the ground.
Amidst the splashing blood and falling bone shards, Kimimaro actually managed to stand up again by relying on the power of the Cursed Seal.
At this moment, his body was completely covered by intersecting, eerie cursed patterns, looking like a demon returned from hell.
Boom!
A loud explosion suddenly erupted, and a surging wave of sand, like a giant yellow beast, galloped out from the arena's contestant waiting area, creating a waterfall of sand on the arena wall.
Mamoru and Kabuto looked up almost simultaneously.
As the dust settled slightly, several figures emerged vaguely in the sand mist—the genin from Konoha were clutching the railings outside the waiting area tightly, barely managing not to be washed away by the sudden wave of sand. This familiar Sand Waterfall, without a doubt, could only be Gaara's handiwork.
Those few genin flipped into the waiting area, and within seconds, the sound of clashing metal was heard. They had clearly engaged the enemies from Sunagakure.
Mamoru's heart couldn't help but tighten, and just as he was about to look away—
Whoosh... Whoosh...
A pale figure exploded with startling speed, rushing toward him.
It was Kimimaro!
At this moment, bone spurs protruded menacingly from his back, making him look like a skeletal monster crawled out of hell.
The finger bones shot over in an instant, but a foot away from Mamoru, they hit an invisible wall and were all blocked by Infinity.
Mamoru's eyes turned cold. He raised his right hand, pointing two fingers at the charging Kimimaro, a dangerous blue light already beginning to gather at his fingertips—it was the starting stance for Blue.
But just then, Kabuto appeared from the flank, his highly condensed Chakra Scalpel carving a sinister arc as it slashed diagonally toward Mamoru's arm.
The Chakra Scalpel was also blocked by Infinity, unable to cut in even a fraction. But this momentary distraction had created the perfect opportunity for Kimimaro.
Taking advantage of this pause, Kimimaro had already fiercely closed in on Mamoru. The skin on his arms and chest suddenly split open, and more sharp bone spurs grew out rapidly like living things, sweeping toward Mamoru as if to turn him into a sieve.
"Truly terrifying."
Facing an attack that would make an ordinary person's heart fail, a playful, cold smile appeared on Mamoru's face.
Instead of retreating, he advanced. His right hand shot out like lightning, grabbing one of the thickest bone spurs. His arm muscles instantly bulged, veins popping out, and with sheer brute force, he lifted Kimimaro completely off the ground.
"Haaa!"
Mamoru exerted force from his core, swinging Kimimaro like a human weapon and slamming him toward Kabuto, who was preparing to attack again.
Kabuto, who had intended to coordinate the attack, was horrified. The body covered in bone spurs came too fast and too fiercely, he couldn't dodge completely and could only barely twist his body to avoid his vitals.
Squelch!
Blood splattered and countless sharp bone spurs on Kimimaro's body plunged mercilessly into Kabuto's body. The massive impact sent Kabuto flying back with him, crashing heavily to the ground.