Chapter 7: Jigen Arrives
The next morning, after having breakfast with Genji, Kiyoshi dressed neatly and prepared to go to the lake for his daily training.
Outside the village, in the distance, a monk wearing an elegant and well-fitting white long-sleeved tailcoat and loose black pants slowly approached. It was Jigen.
"Finally found you!" a murmured whisper came.
Jigen identified the aura and slowly walked towards Kiyoshi's house.
The remote fishing village was already sparsely populated, with hardly any outsiders ever visiting. Moreover, Jigen was walking directly towards Kiyoshi's house, which couldn't help but arouse the vigilance of the two Jōnin.
The two teleported and stood in front of Jigen. "Hey, who are you?" the Jōnin named Kaguya Sugito asked loudly.
"Heh!" Jigen scoffed, looking at the two expressionlessly. "Ninjas from the Mist, this aura... are you descendants of the Kaguya clan?"
"Damn it, don't talk nonsense there! Who exactly are you, and what's your purpose here?" the other Jōnin, named Kaguya Nobuya, couldn't help but get angry at Jigen's arrogant demeanor.
Seeing that Jigen didn't respond, the two knew that the newcomer was likely trouble. They exchanged a glance, already deciding to strike first.
Sugito stomped his right foot heavily on the ground and rushed towards Jigen at an extremely fast speed. Chakra burst out of his body, enveloping his right fist, and he punched heavily towards Jigen. At the same time, Nobuya in the rear also began to quickly form hand seals, preparing to use ninjutsu to attack.
Jigen calmly dodged Sugito's heavy punch, sidestepped, and lifted his leg, kicking Sugito in the abdomen.
"So fast!" Sugito didn't have time to react and was hit, his body uncontrollably flying to the side.
Jigen stretched out his right hand, aiming at Sugito who had been kicked away. Several black rods instantly appeared and pierced Sugito's body in various places.
"Ah!" Sugito couldn't help but cry out in pain, "My Chakra is being constantly drained."
At the same time, Nobuya's ninjutsu was ready. "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!" A surge of water gathered in the air, forming the shape of a dragon, and rushed quickly towards Jigen.
"Then I'll play with you a little," Jigen said calmly, then slightly turned his body to dodge the incoming water dragon.
"Don't look down on people!" Nobuya said angrily.
He then quickly rushed towards Jigen and threw a punch, which Jigen casually blocked. Failing with one move, Nobuya immediately jumped into the air with force from both feet and quickly formed hand seals. "Water Release: Water Fang Bullet!"
Water condensed in a swirling motion and then rapidly fired a large number of water bullets at Jigen.
At the same time, Nobuya adjusted his posture in the air and charged towards Jigen again from above. His hand seals continued to form, and a rotating water sword instantly appeared in Nobuya's hand.
"Water Release: Water Fang Blade!"
Jigen dodged the incoming water bullets and grabbed the hand Nobuya used to condense the water sword with his backhand. Before Nobuya could react, the water sword dissipated.
"Is this all the Mist Village ninjas are capable of?" Jigen mocked calmly.
"Damn it!" Nobuya roared, attacking Jigen again. Anger had almost made him lose his composure, relying solely on the Kaguya clan's powerful physical instincts in battle.
"Don't make me waste any more effort. My purpose has nothing to do with you," Jigen said in a calm tone while effortlessly dodging all of Nobuya's attacks.
After speaking, he pointed his right hand in Nobuya's direction again. An invisible wave of Chakra pushed Nobuya away fiercely, and several black rods instantly pinned Nobuya to the ground as well.
"Boring!" Jigen sighed, ignoring the two and walking straight towards his target.
The sounds of nearby fighting and the fluctuations of Chakra and ninjutsu had long been sensed by Kiyoshi and his father. Genji said to Kiyoshi with a grave expression, "Looks like they're coming for our family. I'll cover you, you go first!".
However, before Kiyoshi could even step out of the courtyard, the sounds of fighting outside had already subsided.
"Looks like today will be a tough one. To be able to take down two Kaguya clan Jōnin in such a short time, even if they were ordinary Jōnin who hadn't awakened their Kekkei Genkai... even I couldn't have done it that quickly before!" Genji thought with a grim face.
"For my son, it seems I'll have to fight to the death today," Genji secretly resolved.
Jigen walked unhurriedly, his confidence in his own strength making him not rush in the slightest.
Arriving in front of Kiyoshi, a hint of excitement finally appeared on his usually expressionless face.
"Come, mortal, become one with the divine!" Jigen shouted at Kiyoshi in a fanatical tone.
Looking at Jigen who had approached, Kiyoshi's face was extremely unpleasant.
He recognized the monk-like man in front of him: Jigen, Isshiki Otsutsuki's puppet, who served as the leader of the Kara organization in some unremembered content.
"Although it's still decades before that time, Isshiki Otsutsuki's injuries will only be more severe. But after all, he is a genuine Otsutsuki! This is a truly terrible start!" Kiyoshi, who had just awakened his past life's memories not long ago, lamented inwardly.
Having seen clips of Kawaki and Isshiki Otsutsuki, Kiyoshi felt the undisguised malice Jigen directed at him and clearly understood what Isshiki Otsutsuki wanted to do.
Kiyoshi, who had not yet encountered other ninjas, was not clear about the ninja fighting style, but for Jigen, who had been confirmed as an enemy, Kiyoshi aimed for Jigen's vital points as soon as he made a move.
The Chakra within his body instantly surged, and the bones within his body rapidly grew outwards, condensing into a huge flower-shaped white bone drill on his entire right arm.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Clematis! Flower!" The huge white bone drill attacked Isshiki.
Jigen, as Isshiki Otsutsuki's puppet, also held the Otsutsuki clan's superiority over ordinary people. In addition, Kiyoshi was just a small child, and most of Isshiki's consciousness was still dormant. Caught off guard, Jigen was hit hard by the Dance of the Clematis.
Although Jigen's physical strength had become very high after thousands of years of cultivation, encountering the Chakra-enhanced and strengthened Shikotsumyaku, which could be called the hardest substance in the ninja world, still caused Jigen minor injuries. He was also knocked back several steps by this attack.
"Cough!" Jigen got up from the ground. "I underestimated you, you worm, to think you could actually injure me!"
"Kiyoshi, step back! This is an enemy you can't handle. I'll hold him off, you run!" Genji stood between Kiyoshi and Jigen and shouted loudly at Kiyoshi.
"Another one eager to die?" Jigen said without changing his expression.
Genji held his arms out horizontally, his ten fingers pointing towards Jigen.
"Shikotsumyaku: Ten Finger Drilling Bullets!"
Ten white bone bullets quickly left his hands and accelerated towards Jigen. Jigen did not dodge. He opened the five fingers of his right hand, and a long black rod materialized. Jigen gripped the black rod in his right hand and swept it across the bone bullets, the resulting Chakra storm perfectly defending against the rapidly shooting bone bullets.
"So strong, I need to prepare to fight with my life!" Genji thought to himself, slowly forming hand seals with both hands while shouting.
"Hurry up and go!"
"Yes, Father, please take care!" Kiyoshi looked at Genji, his only father in both his lives, with tears in his eyes. He knew that his father was about to use a forbidden technique.
"Shikotsumyaku: Blood Burning Technique!" After completing twenty long hand seals, Genji's solemn voice came word by word.