Among the three pairs, the first to determine a winner was Sasuke and Kimimaro.
Sasuke panted heavily, his face looking slightly tired, but the depths of his eyes were full of joy. This time, he finally defeated Kimimaro with his own hands.
Not far away, Kimimaro lay on the ground, the marks of the 'Karma' release on his body fading away bit by bit.
The 'Karma' on him originated from Kinshiki Otsutsuki.
In the original timeline, Kinshiki Otsutsuki couldn't even defeat the one-armed Sasuke who hadn't fully advanced to 'Six Paths Level'. This showed that he had just barely stepped into 'Six Paths Level' and was much weaker than Momoshiki.
The power obtained through releasing 'Karma' was obviously not comparable to Kinshiki Otsutsuki himself. So this contest was actually very unfair to Kimimaro.
However, where in this world is there absolute fairness?
Exhaling a breath, Kimimaro climbed up from the ground: "I lost!"
Sasuke curled his lip: "You guy!"
Kimimaro was still the same as in the Ninja Academy. Even if he lost, his expression remained indifferent, robbing the victorious Sasuke of any sense of accomplishment.
Subsequently, Sasuke shook his head: "The Otsutsuki power on you is just so-so. I took advantage this time! If you're not convinced, raise your strength to 'Six Paths Level' as soon as possible. We'll fight again then, and I'll make you accept it wholeheartedly!"
Kimimaro nodded, still indifferent: "Okay!"
At this time, Yakumo, Haku, and the others walked over and asked: "Are you two okay?"
Sasuke shook his head, then asked: "How are they doing?"
Yakumo said: "Just listen and you'll know. The commotion over there is much bigger than yours!"
Sasuke listened, and sure enough, 'rumbling' noises came continuously from the distance. Those unaware would think it was thundering.
On Hikari and Neji's battlefield, the two were like two streaks of light, chasing and colliding with each other. The aftershocks overturned everything along the way, causing bursts of explosions and sky-filling dust!
Compared to Kimimaro, the power of 'Karma' on Neji was much stronger.
Momoshiki Otsutsuki was an Otsutsuki noble after all. His chakra level belonged to the upper-middle range of 'Six Paths Level'. Plus, unlike Kinshiki, he was very optimistic about the host Neji and genuinely wanted Neji to obtain the 'Chakra Fruit', so he put in extra effort.
Unfortunately, Neji was facing Hikari Uchiha!
As Shinji stepped into the realm of 'Kekkei Shinra' (Bloodline of All Creation), he realized belatedly that the true ability of 'Yachihoko' was not 'transmission'. Its true core ability was 'recording'—recording memories, information, dojutsu, etc. Transmitting chakra was merely a byproduct of this 'recording' ability.
Therefore, as Hikari successfully advanced to 'Six Paths Level', her 'Yachihoko' also began to gradually reveal its edge.
Transmitting chakra or dojutsu was just a small trick. The truly domineering aspect was that she could borrow the tens of thousands of ninjas marked by 'Yachihoko' throughout the Shinobi World to check useful information from each person.
The information here was not only the ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu mastered by the ninjas but also included the ninjas' skills in using various techniques, their understanding of chakra, and even their comprehension of every move and style. So Hikari's progress during this period was extremely rapid. Even Karin vaguely felt she was no match for Hikari anymore.
Bang...
Soon, the two collided again. After sending out a shockwave that overturned the ground within a hundred meters, they disengaged again and retreated separately.
Inside Neji's inner world, Momoshiki's face was full of disbelief: "How is this possible!?"
Neji asked: "What's wrong?"
Momoshiki said: "How did this little girl become so strong? Even in our Otsutsuki clan, this strength..."
Before Momoshiki could finish, Neji interrupted him: "Don't forget, you Otsutsuki are our defeated opponents!"
"Hmph!"
Momoshiki snorted coldly and fell silent.
He indeed hoped Neji could seize that 'Chakra Fruit'. Besides his competitive spirit, he also harbored the intention of occupying Neji's body later and receiving the fruit of the 'Chakra Fruit'. However, after engaging, he knew Neji was bound to lose.
The opponent's strength clearly exceeded his host. Let alone the host borrowing his power, even if he personally took action, he might not be the opponent's match. So things having come to this, continuing to consume power was meaningless. Thus, he forcibly interfered with Neji's body and released the liberation of 'Karma'.
Sensing the power provided by 'Karma' rapidly fading, Neji decisively chose to concede. He was already very happy to be able to contend with Hikari to this extent, so he had no regrets.
With Neji conceding, only the pair of Karin and Naruto remained among the three pairs.
Naruto had a straightforward personality and wouldn't hide anything. Menma went all out this time, wanting to gain a firm foothold in the Akatsuki organization. So this pair had no intention of holding back.
Unluckily, they encountered Karin.
With the code name 'B', Karin's existence in the Akatsuki organization was second only to Shinji.
In successive major battles afterward, she was the main force second only to Shinji. Especially in the confrontation against Isshiki Otsutsuki, if Karin hadn't used 'Amenonuhoko' to greatly exhaust Isshiki Otsutsuki's chakra, the battle situation might have even reversed. Because Shinji at that time truly didn't possess an overwhelming advantage when facing Isshiki Otsutsuki.
Suddenly, an aurora flashed in the sky.
That was Menma, who had left the body, activating the 'Great Spiralling Ring' containing Six Paths Power in the air. At the same time, Naruto on the ground, having activated 'Six Paths Sage Mode', also unleashed the 'Ultra-Big Ball Rasenshuriken'.
One bright and one dark, one up and one down, both launched their ultimate moves simultaneously.
In the next instant, a 'rumbling' explosion erupted. Even the others more than a dozen kilometers away had their eardrums hurt by the shock!
After the dust settled, everyone rushing from all directions was horrified to find a red armored deity appearing on the battlefield.
Undoubtedly.
At the critical moment, Karin activated the Complete Body 'Susanoo'!
But even the Complete Body 'Susanoo' failed to completely block the combined attack of the 'Great Spiralling Ring' and the 'Ultra-Big Ball Rasenshuriken'. The body, over a hundred meters tall, had a large crater blasted in the upper half, the entire left shoulder completely vanished, and obvious damage appeared at the knees of the lower half.
Rumble...
Losing balance, the 'Susanoo' soon fell to the ground.
Just as everyone thought Naruto had won, they suddenly noticed that the golden-glowing Naruto seemed to be locked by something.
Looking closely, they discovered that under the dilapidated 'Susanoo', not only was Karin unharmed, but the chains emitting a soft halo from her body had unknowingly tightly wrapped around the distant Naruto, making it impossible for Naruto in 'Six Paths Sage Mode' to break free.