Shinji's expression was somewhat gloomy.
He had indeed prepared well for this battle, challenging the Plague Hegemon with the realm of 'Kekkei Shinra' and catching the Plague Hegemon off guard. He was very certain of this in his heart.
But at the same time, he also had oversights, namely underestimating the extent of the Plague Hegemon's infiltration into the Six Rings World.
Now it seemed that the Plague Hegemon had long thoroughly understood the situation within the Six Rings World. Even the strategy formulated by the 'Lampbearers', it probably sensed a thing or two. It was only because it couldn't give up the bait of the Reproductive Hegemon's remnant body that it was lured in.
Even so, the Plague Hegemon taught Shinji a lesson. As soon as it acted, it killed four of his 'Lampbearers' and turned his subordinates into its own puppets, using the power of the 'Lamp' to consume his chakra instead.
"Phew..."
Shinji exhaled gently.
Four fierce battles erupted simultaneously, three of which he was forced to fight in the form of shadow clones. After this series of battles, his consumption was astonishing.
It was only because he had successfully advanced to 'Kekkei Shinra' now. If he were at the previous 'Kekkei Mora' level, even in his peak state as a 'Kekkei Mora', he would have long reached his limit.
Nevertheless, he still needed to rest slightly, re-refining all comprehensible energies around him—such as natural energy, life energy, wind power, and even gravity—into chakra to replenish himself.
Taking advantage of the interval of replenishing chakra, while monitoring the movements of the possessed 'Whitebeard' and 'Nighthawk', Shinji analyzed the Plague Hegemon's abilities.
From the current engagement, he summarized the Plague Hegemon's ability as 'Disease'.
This so-called 'Disease' was not a disease in the conventional sense, but a state, or rather a concept.
The 'Lampbearers' possessed by the grayish-white mist were dead in Shinji's view, but interpreted from a certain angle, it could also be said that they were 'sick'. Not only them, but even the 'Lamps' on them representing hope and protection also fell 'sick' together.
Therefore, the light emitted from the lamp vessel changed from a warm tone to a cold ghostly white!
But no matter how terrifying and unsolvable this 'Disease' was, it was a state. Since it was a state, it needed a host to manifest.
So Shinji easily eliminated the four streams of grayish-white mist that failed to possess successfully one by one. The four streams of grayish-white mist that successfully possessed became a major trouble for Shinji. After exerting tremendous effort, two streams still remained uneliminated.
Swish...
Just then, a streak of ghostly white struck from the distant horizon!
Shinji was not surprised. The movements of 'Whitebeard' and 'Nighthawk' possessed by the Plague Hegemon had never escaped his control.
Among them, 'Whitebeard' attacked him straight on, while 'Nighthawk' pounced on the giant black snake formed by the Reproductive Hegemon's remnant body.
Shinji wasn't worried about the giant black snake.
Releasing the Reproductive Hegemon's remnant body was not only to lure the Plague Hegemon into the arena but also intended to let the Reproductive Hegemon's remnant body help him attract part of the firepower. So having the giant black snake lure one away was a good thing for the current Shinji.
He even looked forward to the Plague Hegemon putting pressure on the giant black snake, forcing the Reproductive Hegemon's main body to re-enter the arena.
This was simply because the Plague Hegemon was too strong. Without the intervention of other Hegemons, Shinji felt his chances of winning one-on-one were not high.
Staring at the streak of ghostly white striking from the horizon, Shinji's expression gradually became solemn.
That streak of ghostly white looked unremarkable at first glance. But looking closely, he found that wherever the ghostly white passed, it seemed to be solidified by something, losing its spirituality. Moreover, this 'deactivated' state was still spreading. So what struck was not only that streak of ghostly white but also large swathes of dead silence behind the ghostly white!
"Tch!"
Shinji spat.
This scene could scare ordinary people, but it couldn't scare him.
Although his chakra hadn't fully recovered, he didn't wait for the opponent to rush over. instead, he flashed and turned into a startling rainbow to meet it.
Both sides were extremely fast, colliding in the blink of an eye.
At the moment of contact, Shinji's gaze focused, and he activated 'Goshingu' on the possessed 'Whitebeard'!
Instantly, the possessed 'Whitebeard' froze in place. Not only him, but even the ghostly white light emitted from the lamp vessel raised in his hand froze together. Only the grayish-white mist churning on his body wasn't completely affected and was still lingering.
Subsequently, Shinji waved both hands, and the influence range of 'Goshingu' instantly expanded hundreds and thousands of times, enveloping all areas affected by the ghostly white light, freezing all the spreading dead silence!
Clap...
Shinji clasped his hands together and shouted: "Bansho Ten'in (Universal Pull)!"
All areas polluted by the ghostly white light were pulled and drawn by a gravitational force. Large swathes of areas, like a pulled canvas, surged towards Shinji with clasped hands one by one amidst continuous distortion and deformation.
The 'Bansho Ten'in' displayed by Shinji in the realm of 'Kekkei Shinra' was no longer a simple gravitational pull.
Just like now, within the range influenced by his 'Bansho Ten'in', neither matter nor space, nor even time, could escape the capture of 'Bansho Ten'in'. That was why a whole area was sucked away like a pulled canvas.
Finally, Shinji condensed the entire area polluted by the ghostly white light into a small ball only the size of a thumb using 'Bansho Ten'in'. Then with a gentle pinch of his fingertips, accompanied by a poof sound, the small ball was crushed into debris and scattered with the wind.
After dealing with the polluted area, he shifted his gaze to 'Whitebeard' frozen by 'Goshingu'.
For these 'Lampbearers' who resolutely joined his command, he really wanted to leave their corpses intact. But the current situation didn't allow him to do so. So after gathering all his thoughts, he immediately created nine 'Truth-Seeking Balls', condensed the 'Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion' with a turn of his palm, and then stabbed fiercely towards the lamp vessel held high in 'Whitebeard's' hand.
Crack...
Because time was frozen by 'Goshingu', the ghostly white light emitted from the lamp vessel couldn't condense into a beam to resist Shinji's 'Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion' like before. So in just an instant, Shinji's golden sword pierced through the lamp vessel in 'Whitebeard's' hand.
With a backhand slash, Shinji annihilated the possessed 'Whitebeard' and the grayish-white mist lingering around 'Whitebeard' together!
The whole process took only a few seconds. 'Whitebeard', who came menacingly manipulated by the Plague Hegemon, was resolved by Shinji...