Amidst the thick, swirling dust, Suijin's body slowly ascended into the air. His gaze was fixed intently on the spot where Isshiki Otsutsuki had been standing moments before.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh~
Beside him, three sharp sounds of air being cut echoed as Tatsuya's main body, Fujin, and Jizo appeared at his side. Under Suijin's control, the four figures now hovered together in mid-air.
Soon, a gentle breeze blew past, gradually dispersing the dense dust cloud below. The four of them looked down in unison. At the spot where Isshiki Otsutsuki had been, the thick wall of black rods had been split in two. Peering through the gap, they saw Isshiki Otsutsuki standing there, his appearance disheveled and battered. His right hand was clutching his left arm. On the ground, Isshiki's severed left arm, which had been directly cut off and destroyed by the earlier sword light, lay amidst the debris.
At this moment, Isshiki Otsutsuki's expression was incredibly grim, almost murderous. He had actually been injured by these insignificant native ants of this world! This was simply unforgivable!
With Isshiki Otsutsuki's abilities, regenerating a lost arm wouldn't be difficult. However, he was currently in a state of forced reincarnation. An Otsutsuki's life force in such a state was limited. The battle just now had already consumed a considerable amount of Isshiki's energy. If he were to expend more power to regenerate his arm, the time he could remain in this revived form would be further compressed.
Looking up at the four figures hovering in the air, a flicker of something unreadable passed through Isshiki Otsutsuki's eyes. Then, a black spatial portal materialized out of thin air behind him. Isshiki Otsutsuki's body vanished into it. This time, he intended to first retrieve the juvenile Ten-Tails and absorb a portion of its energy before dealing with these four bothersome ants.
Watching Isshiki Otsutsuki depart through the spatial portal, a mocking smile touched Tatsuya's lips. With a flicker, the four of them also vanished from the battlefield.
Several tens of kilometers away, Kagutsuchi had already brought the juvenile Ten-Tails to a desolate desert area. He stood silently before the massive, yet still young, Tailed Beast.
High in the sky not far away, a black portal appeared, and Isshiki Otsutsuki's figure emerged. He looked down at Kagutsuchi and the juvenile Ten-Tails below, a savage grin spreading across his face. His figure shot downwards like a cannonball, streaking towards Kagutsuchi with incredible speed, leaving a series of sonic booms in his wake.
However, the savage grin on Isshiki Otsutsuki's face quickly froze. His body came to an abrupt halt in mid-air, still several tens of meters away from Kagutsuchi, and he twisted sharply to the side, dodging. In the spot where he had been just a moment before, a colossal blue energy sword slashed through the air. Simultaneously, at the spot where Isshiki had dodged to, another brilliant yellow sword light cleaved downwards.
Two violent impact sounds echoed across the desolate landscape as massive sword-shaped craters were gouged into the ground. Isshiki Otsutsuki, having narrowly and rather awkwardly dodged these two devastating attacks, had not yet fully stabilized himself in mid-air when an incredibly dazzling light erupted from the sky above him. Immediately following this, an invisible shockwave of sound swept towards him.
Isshiki Otsutsuki felt his body uncontrollably freeze in mid-air. The intense sound waves and violent air vibrations severely hampered his senses and his ability to move. After a moment, the blinding white light and the disorienting sound waves finally dissipated. Isshiki Otsutsuki slowly lowered the hand he had raised to shield his eyes and looked up towards the sky.
Instantly, a colossal blue giant, nearly a hundred meters tall, appeared before his eyes. It was Jizo's Perfect Susanoo. The massive blue energy sword that had intercepted Isshiki Otsutsuki's path earlier had been unleashed by Jizo, manipulating his Susanoo.
Towards Jizo and the Susanoo he had summoned, Isshiki Otsutsuki didn't pay too much attention. His gaze quickly shifted to Suijin and Tatsuya, who were positioned nearby. Tatsuya had now entered Sage Mode, and a continuous, powerful stream of Dragon Vein energy was surging from his body. The blinding white light and the disorienting sound waves from before were the effects of Tatsuya's Sage Art: White Rage Technique.
It was from Tatsuya's main body and Suijin that Isshiki Otsutsuki sensed a true, undeniable threat. Isshiki Otsutsuki's gaze shifted downwards again; Kagutsuchi and the juvenile Ten-Tails were no longer on the ground below.
"Hmph… truly troublesome ants," Isshiki Otsutsuki exhaled softly, a hint of frustration in his voice. His severed left arm, which had been cut off by the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, rapidly regenerated. He looked up at Tatsuya and his three clones, his expression now unprecedentedly grave.
All of his opponents were proficient in space-time ninjutsu, and they could even teleport the Ten-Tails directly. Under these circumstances, Isshiki Otsutsuki's plan to first absorb some energy from the Ten-Tails was now completely thwarted. If he didn't defeat these opponents here and now, he might genuinely perish in this place. Moreover, the bodies of these individuals before him… they were all very suitable vessels for his reincarnation.
Thinking this, Isshiki Otsutsuki's body shot upwards into the sky with a sonic boom. He extended his right hand, and countless black rods materialized out of thin air, shooting towards Tatsuya and his clones like a deadly barrage.
Suijin extended his right hand, manipulating repulsive force to create a defensive field around himself, deflecting all the incoming black rods. Isshiki Otsutsuki's figure flickered, appearing atop the head of Jizo's Perfect Susanoo, which was positioned behind Suijin. He threw a powerful punch!
CRASH!
The Perfect Susanoo, a defensive construct that most ninja in the world would find utterly insurmountable, shattered like fragile paper under Isshiki's blow. Isshiki Otsutsuki's fist slammed directly into Jizo's body, sending him flying far into the distance. He was about to summon more black rods to deliver a fatal follow-up attack.
Behind him, a violent sonic boom echoed. Isshiki Otsutsuki quickly turned to block.
BOOM!
A muffled thunderclap exploded in mid-air, and Isshiki Otsutsuki's body was sent crashing downwards, falling from a height of several tens of meters and slamming heavily onto the ground below. In the sky, a streak of green light cut through the air, pursuing the falling Isshiki Otsutsuki.
From the crater his impact had created, Isshiki Otsutsuki's body quickly flickered, dodging the incoming attack.
Thwack! Bang! Thump!
Then, a series of heavy, muffled sounds of fists and feet colliding, like a dense, rapid drumbeat, echoed across the battlefield. Isshiki Otsutsuki and Tatsuya, who had activated Sage Mode and his Butterfly Mode secret technique, were engaged in a fierce, high-speed taijutsu exchange. At this moment, every attack from these two combatants carried terrifying, destructive power.
Seeing Tatsuya opposite him, actually able to match him blow for blow in a pure taijutsu battle, Isshiki Otsutsuki's composure began to crumble. Since when did the natives of this world possess such formidable strength? In his current, not yet fully recovered state, it seemed it would be impossible for him to completely and utterly defeat these few natives. Moreover, with every second that passed, his own life force was rapidly diminishing.
Just as Isshiki Otsutsuki was momentarily distracted, another brilliant yellow sword light flashed behind him.
BOOM!
Suijin's Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion struck Isshiki Otsutsuki once more. This time, half of Isshiki Otsutsuki's body was obliterated by the attack. The remaining half of his battered form was sent flying a great distance before finally crashing to the ground.
Swoosh~
A figure flashed before him, and Tatsuya appeared in front of the grievously injured Isshiki Otsutsuki. Tatsuya didn't launch another attack. Instead, to Isshiki Otsutsuki's utter confusion, he knelt and placed his hand on the remaining half of Isshiki's ravaged body.