Chapter 199 : Sacrificial Shinigami
Even after using the forbidden technique and fusing the soul power of dozens of his clansmen, Ghostshadow still couldn’t land a single blow on Riku.
What he didn’t realize was that Riku hadn’t even gone all out yet.
He hadn’t used Wood Style or the Rinnegan—he hadn’t shown his true strength at all.
Ghostshadow gripped his short sword tightly, but Riku held him off with just one hand.
Gritting his teeth, Ghostshadow growled, "Agh—!"
With a roar, he thrust the blade forward, aiming straight for Riku.
His speed was fast, but in the blink of an eye, Riku’s body flickered—Ghostshadow’s strike hit nothing but air.
Thrown off balance, Ghostshadow tried to recover, but at that moment, Riku reappeared behind him like a bolt of lightning and drove his blade straight through his back.
The sword pierced through his chest.
Blood gushed from the wound.
Ghostshadow let out a pained grunt as he kicked off from Riku’s blade and was sent sliding dozens of meters away, clutching at his bleeding chest and gasping for breath.
"Damn it... Why the hell is he this strong?"
He hadn’t expected this. Even with his chakra sealed and restricted, Riku was overpowering him.
Ghostshadow had originally possessed mid-tier Kage-level strength. After devouring the soul energy of his own clansmen, his power had reached its peak. But unless he completed the sacrificial ritual, he couldn’t go beyond the current level.
And even that required him to continue consuming the souls of his fellow clansmen—or the souls of other shinobi.
But that was unsustainable.
If he dared continue, the entire shinobi world would hunt him down.
He hadn’t fully spiritualized yet, and his body was still vulnerable.
Staring at Ghostshadow as he panted and clutched his chest wound, Riku said calmly, "That’s all you’ve got? After all these years of planning... this is it?"
The words were merciless.
Ghostshadow had completely misjudged Riku’s strength. He had thought they were evenly matched under normal conditions. Even after devouring the souls of dozens of his kin and reaching the peak of Kage-level, he was still being overwhelmed.
And Riku was still fighting effortlessly, not even tapping into his full power.
Ghostshadow realized that if this continued, he would die.
The last hope of the Ghost Clan would be gone.
With that terrifying thought, Ghostshadow turned to glance at his remaining clansmen.
Gritting his teeth, he muttered, "Forgive me, my kin..."
He formed a rapid string of hand seals.
"Soul Recall Technique!"
The moment he completed the seals, the soul power of hundreds of Ghost Clan skeletons—those still fighting Kurenai Yuhi and Anko—were instantly drawn into his body.
Countless ghostly wails echoed through the air as the souls were absorbed.
Some were willing, some resisted, but Ghostshadow no longer cared.
He needed power—no matter the cost.
"Soul Fusion Technique."
After gathering the massive pool of soul energy, he formed another seal. The screaming intensified, and then faded into silence as the hundreds of souls were devoured completely.
An explosive surge of chakra erupted.
BOOM!
SKREEEEE—!
A high-pitched, blood-curdling screech tore through the battlefield.
Ghostshadow’s body, once two meters tall, rapidly swelled to over three meters. Strange forbidden seals lit up across his body, steel-like skin forming, lined with twisted, glowing markings.
SKREEEEEE—!
The ear-splitting wail came again.
A wave of violent, unstable soul energy exploded outward.
Within a radius of several hundred meters, every living creature felt their soul tremble under the pressure.
They turned, stunned, toward the source.
Anko and Kurenai, already heavily injured, fainted instantly under the overwhelming spiritual pressure.
The soul energy surged toward Riku as well—but it had no effect.
Riku’s soul power was far superior—several times stronger.
In fact, the negative energy was absorbed by the chakra serpents coiled around him.
The snakes, formed from Riku’s purple-gold Sage Art chakra, seemed to be feeding on the corrupted soul energy.
Riku could feel his own soul power increasing, albeit slowly.
The snakes themselves transformed. What had once been simple pythons now became majestic lionsnakes—massive serpents radiating raw, natural power.
Their size expanded drastically. Each serpent grew to five or six meters in length.
More than a dozen serpents slithered around Riku’s form, their many heads rearing and hissing at Ghostshadow.
Their hissing formed an eerie resonance—an ultrasonic attack.
The powerful sound wave struck Ghostshadow, and his mutated form trembled uncontrollably.
"Damn it! What kind of genjutsu is this?!"
He was right. That sound was a high-level illusion attack—true Sage-level genjutsu—unleashed by the chakra snakes themselves.
Ghostshadow’s body surged and buckled under the illusion.
His form began to lose control.
Even Riku hadn’t anticipated this. He hadn’t known that the serpents born from his Sage chakra could unleash such overwhelming illusionary power.
This was far stronger than Tsukuyomi.
And the snakes weren’t even using all their power.
What’s more, their attacks continued to feed spiritual energy back into Riku—his soul was growing even stronger.
The snakes were not mere constructs. They had awareness.
Ghostshadow fell to his knees.
Even with the combined soul energy of hundreds of his clansmen, he couldn’t withstand the illusion.
His flesh twitched and spasmed—his own body turning against him.
"ROOOAAAR—!"
Ghostshadow howled as his body swelled painfully. The snakes continued their assault. And this wasn’t even their full strength.
The louder the hissing, the more unstable his form became.
He glared up at Riku, who stood calmly in the storm of chaos. Blood dripped from Ghostshadow’s lips.
"If I die here... then I’ll take you with me!!"
He roared and began forming hand seals again, faster than before.
Riku narrowed his eyes.
He didn’t act immediately. He wanted to see how far this man was willing to go.
"ROOOOARRRR—!"
Ghostshadow completed his jutsu and screamed into the sky, "I offer myself in sacrifice! Grant me the Grave of Power, Lord Shinigami!!"
A monstrous shadow loomed behind him.
The spectral image of the Shinigami appeared—its presence signaling the dreaded Reaper Death Seal.
BOOM—!
In an instant, Ghostshadow’s bloated form returned to its original size—but his body was now covered in dark, ominous runes pulsing with forbidden energy.
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