"Universal Pull."
A palm was headed toward Akashi as his foe, the other world's himself, declared.
There was an invisible pull that forcibly yanked Akashi's entire body off the ground, toward the foe's palm.
'Gravity?'
Unfamiliar with the abilities of rinnegan, Akashi thought within himself as he revealed a kunai holding the mark of Flying Thunder God and threw it straight at the foe.
With the power of 'Universal Pull,' the speed at which said kunai flew was substantially faster than it would've been without it.
In the blink of an eye, the kunai was right before the iris of the foe, a mere centimeter away.
At the next moment, Akashi and the foe simultaneously vanished. Then appeared, clashing arm-to-arm.
"It seems that..."
The foe smirked,
"We utilize exactly the same seal for Flying Thunder God."
Given how the nature of their chakra too was identical, it could be said that... the foe could access the same seal-attached kunai as Akashi.
"And guess what? You are within my range."
At the next instance, numerous black, metallic rods protruded out of the foe's body, piercing Akashi's body to an irreparable state.
"Is that so?"
Said Akashi's body suddenly inflated.
With a boom, Akashi exploded, revealing that it wasn't his true self, but a shadow clone meant to explode.
The wind blew violently. The explosion was ferocious enough to generate a miniature storm.
However, the foe, yet remaining on the spot, looked unscathed. His hand was stretched out with his palm open.
"Preta Path."
As the wind calmed down, Akashi once again stood across the foe, calmly reflecting upon the previous interaction.
'He absorbed the chakra from the clone explosion. Furthermore, during the arm-to-arm clash, I did feel the drainage of my chakra.'
A conventional use of ninjutsu is likely to have no substantial effect on his other self, who clearly has an advanced mastery over rinnegans.
Taijutsu isn't as favored either, for the extended exchange of physical blows will drain his chakra, and considering how his pool of chakra is a lot smaller than his foe's, he would eventually be out of fuel.
The foe then formed a hand seal.
"Fire Release,"
His cheeks inflated, before his mouth spat out a fierce wave of fire, majestic enough to call it the sea of flames.
"Great Fire Annihilation!"
The purpose of the technique, Akashi could tell, was to prevent him from thinking any further.
Revealing three shurikens, Akashi threw them to counter the kunais that were hidden beneath the sea of flames.
Akashi subsequently jumped, evading the pair of hands that popped out of the ground to hold him in place.
Twisting his body, evaded a huge, cat-like creature with rinnegan eyes, that suddenly appeared from above.
Then, beyond the approaching sea of flames, the wind blew. It was clear that the foe supplemented the fire with a Wind Release technique.
Within such a small window of time, the foe launched four different attacks on Akashi, simultaneously. Arrogance doesn't equal letting one's guard down, and there was indeed a reason why his other self was able to take down other well-known ninjas in the past.
Surrounded by numerous dangers, Akashi's mind ran more rapidly than ever. Such was his strength, being able to think rationally in the midst of danger. This was not an innate ability, but something that he developed throughout the harsh life that he led.
'He expects me to use Flying Thunder God.'
The kunai that Akashi previously threw was still on the ground, untouched.
'He will teleport to it at the same time. Likely, he has a plan to get himself on the upper hand.'
Therefore, the use of Flying Thunder God would mean getting himself into trouble, one that may turn out to be fatal.
'In addition... he hasn't used it yet.'
Akashi noticed that, unlike himself, his other self's mastery over chakra control wasn't at his level.
Chakra control is the essential component in manifesting the ability to utilize Energy Release as well as Yang Release. Therefore, he could, to some extent, hypothesize that his other self may lack the ability to use them.
His other self did know, however, that Akashi could use Energy Release. After all, he showcased the technique back in the fight against the other Akatsuki members.
'Therefore...'
Akashi disappeared from his spot, a second right before the sea of flames overwhelmed the area.
At the same time, the foe appeared at the site where the Flying Thunder God kunai was embedded.
"Hm...?"
The foe's eyes widened upon realizing that Akashi didn't appear as he expected.
Well, more like there was a 'delay' in Akashi's appearance, for a second after, Akashi was behind the foe's back, with Ryuma drawn.
'This isn't Flying Thunder God... but Body Flicker!'
The foe realized as he quickly turned and stretched his palm out.
Ryuma glowed in a vibrant green, which indicated the use of Energy Release.
Chakra gathered around the foe's palm.
"Almighty Push!"
The explosive heat met the suppressive gravity.
'Gravity.'
As the two forces briefly clashed, Akashi realized.
'Almighty Push, followed by Universal Pull. The key revolves around the manipulation of the gravitational field... through the manipulation of the mass.'
The greater the mass, the stronger the gravitational pull. Conversely, should the mass become negative, a repulsive force occurs instead.
Anything with mass would be subjected to the power of gravity.
If so, one had to ask, does chakra have mass?
The answer was yes, for half of the chakra was composed of the physical energy, known as Yang.
As soon as such a thought reached Akashi's mind, Akashi, instead of maintaining the frontline clash, ended the clash by dashing toward the side.
"Hm..."
The foe snorted, seemingly amused as his rinnegans followed Akashi's movement.
His body didn't turn. Instead, two additional arms grew out of his shoulders, much to Akashi's surprise.
"Universal Pull."
Once again, Akashi realized his body was getting pulled toward the foe.
'Rinnegans... just how many abilities do they have?'
Solemnly, Akashi struck the metal rod-like object, that suddenly shot out of one of the palms of the foe, with Ryuma, to deflect himself out of the angle and free himself from the effect of the Universal Pull.
Right in the direction to which Akashi was headed, a kunai was flying.
Flying Thunder God.
In a split second, the foe appeared in the kunai's place.
Akashi, utilizing Flying Thunder God on the same kunai, was behind the foe's back.
"All within my calculation."
The foe smirked as his form disappeared with a puff; it was a shadow clone.
The real one was behind Akashi, holding the black, metallic rod with his right hand.
'Flying Thunder God again... looks like I got to experience most, if not all, of what rinnegans are capable of.'
'If so, there shouldn't be any additional variable that I should watch out for.'
The analysis is complete.
Without turning, Akashi grabbed the swung rod with his left hand, over his shoulder.
"You touched it."
The foe grinned, pleasantly surprised.
This metal rod, being a chakra receiver, serves as an extension that allows the foe to absorb the chakra of whatever it contacts.
Considering his rate of absorption, a direct contact would prove to be detrimental.
It was for this reason that the foe affirmed his victory in this instant.
However...
"Is that so?"
Akashi turned his face.
Instead of his usual hazel-colored iris with a black pupil in the middle, there instead lied a universally grey-colored one.
"?!"
That's when the foe, the other Akashi, felt the abnormality in the chakra that he drained.
Instantly, the black rod under their hold shattered, much to his disbelief. Taking a step back, the foe coughed up blood, having taken internal damage.
"Your chakra..."
Gone was the feeling of victory.
As the foe growled, Akashi's features began to morph.
"Just what did you do?!"
Akashi's body was enveloped in an equally grey-colored energy. His entire self glowed in the color.
Sage Mode.
Back in his training, Akashi was pondering how to achieve the golden ratio of Yin, Yang, and natural energy, one that would give him the clue in mastering not only the senjutsu but also the Yin-Yang Release.
He drew the conclusion that there was no possible way at the moment for him to consciously draw and control those innate Yin and Yang energies in him. However, he found a loophole:
Instead of drawing them in, match their 1 to 1 ratio by purifying a portion of his chakra into Yang and integrating the energy back into him while he is in a Yin-abundant state.
This Sage Mode that Akashi was currently demonstrating wasn't the mere Sage Mode of the snakes.
It could be said that... it was a footstep toward the Sage of Six Paths.
"Two volatile energies of opposite characteristics... are continuously clashing."
His other self, having recovered the injury in a second, remarked.
"It was as if you managed to separate chakra into its spiritual and physical compartments..."
There was no longer the look of arrogance in him. Instead, a caution entered his rinnegans.
"However..."
However, such caution didn't last long, as he smirked once more with that of confidence.
"For how long can you maintain that unstable state?"
Akashi raised Ryuma, which was encased in the same, grey-like energy.
Upon looking closer, one would see that said grey-colored trait is, in fact, the endless swirls of black and white, Yin and Yang.
In this state, Akashi broke a poker face and chuckled, confusing his other self.
Then, said state, the Sage Mode, died. The grey energy left his body, further confusing the foe.
"Perhaps."
Ten seconds. That is probably the time span that Akashi can maintain the state before it starts to destroy his innards.
However, this Sage Mode was simply the reconfiguration of chakra within Akashi through the minimal use of chakra—one that he needed to convert into Yang.
And when he trained regarding this Sage Mode, stabilization wasn't necessarily what he trained himself in.
Rather, he focused on improving the speed at which he could enter this mode, and the speed was proven as he held the meta rod of the foe, the chakra receiver, with his hand.
In other words... he could enter this mode quite many times as long as his focus allowed, within a second.
Now, not spilling a single bit of information, Akashi raised Ryuma, calculating his new chance of victory after a successful test of his Sage Mode against the Rinnegan wielder.
"Heh... now isn't this interesting."
Akashi's alternate self glared at Akashi with a thick killing intent underneath.