Chapter 344: Strength Restored, Preparing to Strike Back
After a round of absorption and recovery, Ōtsutsuki Kyōshiki's power had essentially returned to its peak.
The cost, however, was that over a thousand planets in this starfield that once held life energy had all turned into dead, barren stars, devoid of even the slightest trace of vitality.
On Uchiha Dali's side, he too had reaped considerable gains.
By continuously battling against his own replicated clones, relying purely on physical combat—fist against fist, flesh against flesh—this extreme method of pushing his body's resilience and explosive power to the limit, combined with his monstrous talent, brought Uchiha Dali unparalleled growth.
Now, the toughness of his body far surpassed what it once was.
Though he was still nowhere near reaching the state of Ōtsutsuki Shibai, who had transcended the shackles of the flesh to become free and unrestrained, wielding limitless power, Uchiha Dali's physical strength had already gone beyond what ordinary imagination could fathom.
This manifested in several key aspects.
The first, of course, was the regeneration and recovery ability of his body.
After all, he was still made of flesh and blood. No matter how powerful the body, it could still be wounded—and if left untreated, those wounds could lead to dire consequences.
In terms of healing ability, Uchiha Dali had already mastered Creation Rebirth, a technique of that level of recovery.
He didn't need hand seals or external aids; with just the activation of chakra, he could stimulate his cells to divide rapidly, achieving instant healing of injuries.
But this method, while effective for quick recovery, had serious drawbacks.
The chakra consumption was enormous. And beyond that, the truly lethal drawback was excessive cell division.
As long as one remained bound to the flesh, without transcending it as Shibai had, whether "mortal" or "god," the number of times cells could divide was finite.
The difference was simply that mortals might only have tens or hundreds of divisions in a lifetime.
Whereas beings beyond mortals—"gods" like the Ōtsutsuki clan—their cells could divide thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of times.
But no matter how vast the number, even if it reached into the millions, it was still finite.
Once the limit was reached, it not only meant one would lose the ability to regenerate but also signaled the end of their life.
Understanding this principle, it wasn't hard to see that forcing limited cells to divide prematurely would inevitably shorten one's lifespan.
This was the greatest risk faced by Uchiha Dali and any other powerhouse still bound by the limitations of the body.
Yet now, after pushing his body through a period of extreme, hellish training, Uchiha Dali's cells had undergone further evolution.
Not only had the upper limit of his cell divisions increased more than a hundredfold, the energy required for each division had also been drastically reduced.
Moreover, unlike before, when large numbers of somatic cells had to divide together to achieve quick regeneration, now just a small number of his cells could bring about the same instant healing effect.
Even more astonishing, he could now use his cells to heal others. As long as the target wasn't beyond saving, he could directly bring them back from the brink of death.
And if he suffered catastrophic damage, such as his entire body being severely destroyed, then all of his somatic cells would simultaneously engage in division and regeneration.
In this way, he had essentially reached a form of undying existence—so long as his cells still had divisions remaining.
"With my current level of toughness, I wonder… if I fell straight into a star, would I still die?"
Feeling the changes in his body, Uchiha Dali couldn't help but have this chilling, thrilling thought.
Of course, he wasn't foolish enough to actually test it.
Instead, he continued silently summarizing the results of his brutal training.
In addition to his cellular evolution and enhanced regenerative abilities, the toughness of his muscles, bones, meridians, organs, and every part of his body had reached astonishing levels.
His bones were as hard as steel—no, harder than steel, harder than diamond.
His muscle density too had reached unimaginable levels; each fiber, each strand of muscle, possessed alloy-grade strength.
When these muscle fibers were aligned and layered in precise ratios, the overall strength of his muscles multiplied geometrically.
Naturally, Uchiha Dali's physical prowess had become incomparably terrifying.
Ōtsutsuki Kyōshiki suddenly appeared before him in a flash, his eyes glancing—seemingly casually, yet with intent—at the clone by Uchiha Dali's side, identical in both form and aura.
"So this is your trump card?"
He didn't look particularly surprised.
Uchiha Dali knew that someone of Kyōshiki's level would naturally have trump cards of his own that he had yet to reveal, so he only smiled faintly at the question.
"Why don't you tell me about the opponent we're about to face—Ōtsutsuki Àoshiki, your elder brother. At least give me some idea of what we're up against."
Uchiha Dali shifted the topic.
This was indeed a matter of utmost importance. Hearing this, Kyōshiki didn't waste words and laid out everything he knew about Ōtsutsuki Àoshiki.
"In terms of evolutionary level, that guy and I belong to the same class. We both possess power surpassing that of other Ōtsutsuki, and we command formidable abilities known as 'Divine Arts.'"
"You've already seen mind-reading. And I must admit, I actually learned that particular technique from Àoshiki."
As he spoke, Kyōshiki recalled events from the past.
Back then, on Uchiha Dali's homeworld—the planet known as the Shinobi World—he had encountered Àoshiki.
The two were rivals, so Kyōshiki had opposed Àoshiki, who had already modified the planet and was preparing to plunder its energy. From that clash, Kyōshiki had gained a number of interesting abilities.
Mind-reading had been one of them.
Uchiha Dali didn't know what Kyōshiki was recalling at this moment. Seeing him speak, he didn't interrupt, but instead listened with keen interest.