"As expected of Zabuza, the Demon of the Hidden Mist," Takizo whispered.
In the original series, Zabuza paralyzed Naruto and Sakura with pure killing intent alone. Takizo had always thought that was an exaggeration.
But now, standing in the eye of this murderous storm, Takizo felt like a tiny boat in a hurricane, seconds away from capsizing.
Thump-thump! Thump-thump!
He could hear his own heart hammering against his ribs.
His skin crawled, his muscles trembled, and his nerves screamed.
But his bones... his bones were roaring in excitement!
Without any conscious effort from Takizo, his chakra surged, refining itself instantly and rushing toward his spine.
Bones shifted and writhed beneath his skin.
Wrists, elbows, shoulders, chest, back, knees.
Sharp bone spikes erupted from his body.
The combat instinct of the Dead Bone Pulse was taking over.
Takizo felt a euphoria he had never experienced before.
He finally understood why his clan was so addicted to fighting.
His body was screaming.
Let's go!
Zabuza watched the shift in Takizo's aura with interest. "Now that's more like it."
Takizo's voice was raspier now. "Here I come, Senior."
CRACK.
The stone slab beneath Takizo's feet shattered.
He launched himself like an arrow from a bow, appearing instantly in front of Zabuza.
The bone sword in his right hand thrust straight for Zabuza's face.
"So fast!" Suigetsu, who had snuck back out to watch, gasped.
"Fast, but not enough." Zabuza tilted his head slightly, effortlessly dodging the thrust.
Takizo didn't stop. As the thrust missed, he converted the momentum into an elbow strike.
The bone spike jutting from his elbow aimed for Zabuza's neck. Simultaneously, he drove his knee upward, targeting Zabuza's sternum.
But just as he launched the combo, a bone-chilling cold washed over Takizo's back.
The Executioner's Blade was already swinging silently from the side, aiming to bisect him.
In a split second, Takizo manipulated his bone density, making his skeleton lighter than air.
This allowed him to unnaturally alter his jump, launching himself higher.
The massive blade swept beneath his feet, stopping dead in front of Zabuza's chest to act as a shield.
Takizo's elbow strike grazed Zabuza's hair, missing by a hair's breadth.
Zabuza countered immediately. He tilted the broad side of his sword, turning the block into an upward slash, targeting the airborne Takizo who had no leverage to dodge.
Takizo read the move. He slammed both feet onto the flat of the Executioner's Blade.
Using the sword as a platform, he interrupted Zabuza's swing and kicked off, launching himself diagonally upward.
Flipping in mid-air, he snapped his fingers.
Thwip-thwip-thwip!
Ten bone bullets shot from his fingertips with a piercing shriek.
Zabuza, his upward slash interrupted, twisted his waist and swung the massive sword backhanded like a giant flyswatter.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The bone bullets were deflected effortlessly.
But Zabuza was tall, possessed long limbs, and wielded a seven-foot sword. His attack range was enormous.
The swing didn't just block the bullets; it continued its arc, sweeping toward Takizo.
Takizo couldn't dodge in mid-air. He instantly hardened the bones in his arms, crossing them in front of his chest to tank the hit.
BANG.
A heavy impact slammed into his chest, sending him flying backward.
Takizo flipped twice in the air to kill his momentum and landed gracefully.
Zabuza looked at him calmly, adjusting his grip. "Is that all the Kaguya Clan has to offer?"
Takizo grinned. "Just watch."
His body began to writhe grotesquely. Suddenly, a second Takizo burst out of his side.
Two identical Takizos stood side-by-side. The new one was still slick with bodily fluids.
"A clone?" Zabuza scoffed. "If you think a distraction technique will work on me—"
"No," Takizo corrected him. "Bone Clone."
This was Takizo's original jutsu.
Using his precise chakra control, he accelerated the division and differentiation of his bone cells to create a doppelganger made entirely of bone. It had half his combat power and a semi-independent consciousness.
The two Takizos charged, crisscrossing in a coordinated assault.
Zabuza stopped standing still. He began to move, his footwork precise, swinging the Executioner's Blade with terrifying speed and power.
The three figures clashed and separated multiple times.
But this time, it was Zabuza who was forced back.
Takizo tried to hold back a taunt.
He failed.
He grinned widely. "Is that it, Senior?"
Zabuza let out a sharp, angry laugh. "Don't get cocky, kid."
"Hidden Mist Jutsu."
Zabuza formed a single hand seal.
Instantly, a thick, unnatural fog rolled in, swallowing the entire training ground.
"Ehh... I can't see anything!" Suigetsu complained from the sidelines.
"Perfect. Time to test your training results."
Like a ghost, Mangetsu appeared behind his little brother, smiling coldly. "Daring to skip school, are we?"
"EHHHH?!!"
Inside the fog, Takizo's visibility was reduced to zero. He could barely see his own hand in front of his face.
Combined with Zabuza's Silent Killing technique, the situation was critical.
Thanks to his hyper-sensitive combat instincts, Takizo barely managed to dodge the first few lethal strikes.
But his Bone Clone wasn't so lucky. It was slower and weaker, and Zabuza sliced it clean in half at the waist.
Unlike a Shadow Clone that would poof into smoke, or a Water Clone that would splash into a puddle, the Bone Clone was made of... well, bone.
It hit the ground and started wriggling in the shadows, trying to reassemble its top and bottom halves like a gruesome puzzle.
"This sucks," Takizo muttered, sweat trickling down his neck. "God, please nerf the Hidden Mist Jutsu."
He couldn't stay passive.
Everyone knows the best counter to stealth is AOE (Area of Effect) spam.
He leaped into the center of the training ground. The bone spikes on his body began to vibrate.
"Dance of the Larch!"
Countless bone spikes erupted from every inch of his body.
With a shout, Takizo spun, firing the spikes in every direction, covering the entire field in a 360-degree barrage.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
The distinct sound of bone hitting metal rang out from the fog.
"Found you!" Takizo yelled.
Zabuza sneered from the mist and vanished again.
Takizo's lips curled into a smirk. "Gotcha."
"Lightning Release: Lightning Discharge!"
Every single bone spike stuck in the ground suddenly crackled with blinding electricity.
In an instant, the entire training ground lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Crap!" Zabuza realized he'd been baited.
Looking around, the only safe spot in the entire field was the small area where he had just been standing—where he had deflected the spikes with his sword, leaving a gap in the lightning grid.
But Takizo had bluffed him into moving away from that safe zone.
"MOTHERF—" The Bone Clone on the ground let out a pained wail as it was electrocuted mid-assembly.
Zabuza had nowhere to dodge. He had to tank the Lightning Release.
However, since the jutsu was spread over such a wide area, the voltage wasn't lethal. It just paralyzed him for a split second.
But a split second was all Takizo needed.
A massive greatsword tore through the mist, hacking straight toward Zabuza.
It was Takizo, wielding a weapon made from the sacrifice of his Bone Clone. The clone had abandoned its attempt to reassemble and instead fused its remaining parts into a giant, warm bone-greatsword.
Zabuza, recovering from the paralysis, couldn't generate full power. He could only raise his sword to block.
CLANG!
Bone met iron. Sparks flew.
Takizo swung again, and again—faster and heavier with each strike.
Zabuza was forced back, step by step, struggling to defend.
Finally, Takizo leaped high into the air. He spun his body, using every ounce of centrifugal force and gravity to deliver his strongest strike yet.
Zabuza planted his feet, gripping his sword with both hands, swinging upward to meet the attack head-on.
Just as the blades were about to collide, Takizo channeled lightning chakra into his bone sword. Electricity snaked down the blade like wild serpents.
CRACK.
CLANG.