Chapter 354: The Energy Has Weakened
Ōtsutsuki Àoshiki originally thought victory was already in his grasp.
He had come fully prepared — well aware of his younger brother Ōtsutsuki Kyōshiki's abilities, and having already gauged the depth of Uchiha Dali's power. That was precisely why he had dared to face the two of them alone.
He watched as his five clone bodies surrounded their target and prepared to strike. Victory seemed just within reach.
At that very moment, Àoshiki couldn't help but curl his lips into a wicked grin.
But just then, he saw something that made his expression freeze.
Around Uchiha Dali, at least twenty or thirty new figures suddenly appeared.
The instant they emerged, an overwhelming, suffocating pressure swept across the battlefield.
Àoshiki's face changed slightly. When he looked carefully, he realized in disbelief — all of those dozens of figures were Uchiha Dali's clones!
And each one of them carried the exact same power as the original.
"Impossible…"
Ōtsutsuki Àoshiki's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Equally stunned was Ōtsutsuki Kyōshiki. He hadn't expected that Uchiha Dali had been holding back such a trump card.
"Not bad, kid!"
Kyōshiki suddenly saw a glimmer of hope and began to fight back fiercely.
Facing three enemies at once, he actually managed to hold his ground for a moment — buying himself a precious second or two.
And that fleeting moment was all it took for Uchiha Dali's clone army to close in and surround three of Àoshiki's clones.
In an instant, the tide of battle turned.
Now, it was Àoshiki's clones who were besieged and forced onto the defensive.
At the same time, the other Dali clones charged toward the enemies that had been attacking their original.
It became an all-out brawl.
Not only were Àoshiki's clones targeted — even his true body was not spared.
Soon, as the remaining Dali clones finished off their current opponents, their gazes turned toward Àoshiki himself.
Àoshiki's expression tensed. He quickly leapt backward, opening a black-and-red space-time portal behind him.
"Trying to run? Think it's that easy?"
Uchiha Dali snorted coldly and lunged forward to pursue — only to suddenly halt and pull back.
Instead, he allowed his clones to continue the chase while he turned his attention back toward the remaining Àoshiki clones under siege.
Outnumbered, Àoshiki's five clones were quickly overwhelmed and captured.
Each one contained unimaginably vast energy — like a walking energy reservoir.
Now it was time to divide the spoils.
Ōtsutsuki Kyōshiki stopped as well, his gaze burning with hunger as he stared at the captured targets now immobilized by Dali's dozen-odd clones.
"How do we split them?" Kyōshiki asked.
He could hardly contain his eagerness to absorb their energy.
But right now, Dali was clearly in charge. With dozens of powerful clones at his command, crossing him would only end badly.
"I'll take four, you take one," Dali said — a division he considered perfectly fair.
Kyōshiki's face turned green at that.
But surrounded by those watchful clones glaring coldly at him, he hesitated for a moment before swallowing his anger.
"I did help you, you know," he muttered. "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have taken them down so easily. At least give me two."
"I'll take four, you take one," Dali repeated flatly.
Kyōshiki could only grit his teeth and nod.
He knew that pushing further would only make things worse — he'd be lucky to even keep the one he was getting.
Once Kyōshiki gave in, Dali signaled for several of his clones to hand over one of Àoshiki's captured clones to him.
Then, Dali began to activate his Heavenly Devour and Refining Art, wildly absorbing and consuming the other four Àoshiki clones.
Endless torrents of high-level energy surged into his body, rapidly boosting his strength.
At that moment, Dali glanced around at the idle clones nearby — more than twenty of them — and shouted an order.
"What are you standing around for? Go help out!"
"There are still over a hundred clones left on that side — bring them all to me alive!"
No sooner had he given the command than he suddenly felt a strange hollowness inside.
He turned in surprise and saw that one of the Àoshiki clones he was absorbing had already been completely drained.
That was new — it hadn't happened the first time he and Kyōshiki divided the spoils.
Curious, Dali turned to look at Kyōshiki, only to find that his clone had also vanished, fully absorbed.
The two exchanged puzzled glances.
"What's going on?" Dali asked. "Why is their energy…"
The energy from these clones was far weaker than the first one they had absorbed earlier — almost as if it had been diluted.
Kyōshiki frowned slightly as he thought it over. "Looks like it's because clone bodies only possess temporary energy, not permanent. That's probably the cause."
"Your clones have time limits too, right?"
"Energy can't appear or vanish out of nowhere. A clone having the same power as the original doesn't mean the energy exists independently — it's more like it's borrowed from somewhere else. Otherwise, your true body's energy level would be multiplied hundreds of times over."
The explanation made sense.
Dali nodded, though some confusion remained.
"Then what about the first clone we captured? The one we split between us — that energy was real."
That part puzzled Kyōshiki as well.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "I'm guessing Àoshiki might've discovered a way to make his clones permanent."
"If a clone can exist indefinitely, its energy would naturally remain stable as well."
"But apparently, Àoshiki hasn't managed to apply that method to all of them. That's probably why there's this difference."
"Makes sense," Dali agreed.
While they spoke, the last of the four Àoshiki clones Dali was absorbing finally vanished completely.
When he carefully examined himself, Dali realized that the total energy he gained from these four clones was actually less than what he had obtained from splitting the very first clone with Kyōshiki.
Even though that first one had been shared fifty-fifty, the energy boost he'd gotten back then had been enormous — a tangible leap in power.
Now, after consuming four clones on his own, his energy level had only increased a little.