Daemon was clearly bewildered. His memories were still stuck on the events prior, when he was attacked by Code, his sister Eida used as a threat, and he was imprisoned in some unknown dimension.
Now, just freed, he hadn't even had a chance to take revenge on Code.
He was immediately confronted with Sasuke's Indra's Arrow. He didn't even know where he was!
What was actually happening?
Facing a terrifying, life-threatening attack, Daemon panicked.
He couldn't touch anyone else at the moment, so he couldn't activate his strongest Divine Technique, Reflect. He also had no time to dodge or escape, only able to brace himself to take the attack. He endured this fatal strike for Isshiki.
*BOOOOOMMMMM!*
The blinding light of Indra's Arrow's explosion swallowed everything once again!
This Indra's Arrow was slightly weaker than the previous one. After all, no matter how strong Sasuke was, it was unrealistic for every shot to be as ferocious as a lion.
At the same time, Sasuke sensed that Isshiki, before being hit, seemed to have thrown something to block it. But Sasuke didn't care. If the enemy truly had a weapon or item that could perfectly block Indra's Arrow, he would've used it earlier.
Why wait until he was on the brink of death?
There was one possibility: unless this thing was something even Isshiki couldn't fully control, perhaps even a threat to himself!
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
"Aaaaaaaarrrggghhh!!!!"
Amid the blinding explosion, Sasuke heard a series of agonizing screams!
Like a little hedgehog thrown into boiling water, struggling and screaming pitifully. But this voice clearly wasn't Isshiki's—it wasn't that youthful; and with such severe injuries, he couldn't possibly scream anymore!
So, Isshiki had thrown a living being to block his Indra's Arrow? But what living being could withstand its power and survive the explosion's destruction while screaming in pain?
As the explosion slowly subsided, the screams didn't stop. Finally, Sasuke clearly saw the target's form.
The tiny Daemon looked utterly wretched. Not only was his flesh and bones charred and torn, but his chest had a massive hole from the explosion, and half his right arm, used to block the arrow, was completely obliterated… Yet he was still alive!
This artificial human, Daemon, the strongest of his kind, survived an Indra's Arrow without dying instantly. Truly impressive. It was like enduring a giant Juubi Bijuudama explosion from point-blank range with his physical body and not dying!
Absolutely excessive!
In Sasuke's memory, only Isshiki had ever done this. Could this kid's physique and strength rival Isshiki's true body?
How was that possible?!!
More importantly, not far behind, a space-time portal was slowly closing!
Isshiki's shattered head was nowhere to be seen. Indeed, Isshiki had escaped. Using the moment Daemon blocked the Indra's Arrow for him, he frantically opened a space-time portal and fled from this death trap.
"Damn it, he still managed to escape?"
Sasuke frowned and sighed regretfully. Though extremely annoyed, he wasn't too hung up on it.
Though Sasuke had planned this deadly ambush for a long time, he was never certain of killing Isshiki from the start. After all, the opponent was an Otsutsuki—who knew what other hidden trump cards he had, unseen in the ninja world?
Killing Isshiki outright would've been ideal. If not, severely wounding him would still gather advantages for thoroughly killing him later.
To survive, Isshiki had sacrificed a crucial chess piece!
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Sasuke turned his gaze back to the small, charred child, his hair completely burned off. He recognized his identity.
Artificial human: Daemon! Also Eida's younger brother.
Since Amado had defected to Sasuke's side, as the creator of these artificial humans, he had naturally shared all information about Eida and Daemon with Sasuke.
According to Amado, Daemon was the strongest artificial human he'd ever created. His power even surpassed Jigen, surpassed Code with his limits removed!
As for whether he was stronger than Isshiki's true body?
Amado had never seen Isshiki's true body, so he couldn't judge Isshiki's strength; but this alone proved Daemon's own power.
In short, in terms of strength, speed, reactivity, durability against attacks, and other basic abilities, Daemon was not inferior to Isshiki's true body.
However, their other aspects differed greatly. Isshiki had Kāma, super-strong self-healing, and various Dōjutsu, making his combat more flexible and varied.
Daemon, meanwhile, had the nearly unbreakable Divine Technique: Reflective Killing Intent, which could reflect all damage and negative effects, even killing intent, making it more absurd and excessive.
If they fought, it was hard to say who would win.
If Daemon's Divine Technique Reflect paired with Eida's Divine Technique Clairvoyance, that would be truly invincible. In fact, it was precisely because Isshiki sensed an uncontrollable threat from Daemon and Eida that he ordered Amado to destroy them.
"Where's Code?"
"I'll kill him! I'll definitely kill him!"
"He dared threaten me with Big Sister, dared imprison me, and used me to block an attack!"
"Aaaaaaaarrrggghhh!!!!"
The severely injured Daemon screamed and roared alone, furious.
Daemon's intelligence wasn't mature; he was barely in his early teens, an artificial human who spent most of his time sleeping and being researched. Plus, he was around mad scientists like Amado.
His current lively and mischievous personality was already a remarkable development; compared to a neglected child like Homelander, raised in a lab, Daemon was far better off.
This was, of course, thanks to his sister Eida's care and protection, which was why Daemon cherished her so much, seeing her as the only one he'd protect to the death.
As for why Eida didn't have a warped personality?
Her Clairvoyance could monitor the entire ninja world anytime, even viewing historical events. She'd understood the ninja world from the lab, forming a relatively normal worldview.
"You're Daemon?" Sasuke asked coldly.
"Bastard! Who are you?" Daemon glared sharply at the distant Susano'o.
Both his eyes were destroyed by the earlier explosion, so he couldn't see Sasuke's face clearly. But Daemon's sensory abilities were extraordinary, detecting Sasuke's massive, cold, and terrifying chakra aura.
"Uchiha Sasuke."
"Never heard of you." Daemon didn't know Sasuke at all, but clearly disliked him: "That attack earlier was from you?"
Daemon knew he was released by Code as a shield, but he also held a grudge against Sasuke, the enemy who injured him so badly.
In his entire life, he'd never felt such pain or suffered such severe injuries!
Now, he'd not only lost both eyes and his right arm, but his entire body was charred; looking this bad, even his sister might not recognize him? Thinking of this, Daemon grew sadder and angrier.
"That's right!" Sasuke admitted frankly, without a hint of fear.
"You—!" Daemon gritted his teeth in anger, but after a brief pause, he swallowed his rage.
The younger a child, the purer they are. Though he hated Sasuke for injuring him, he knew Code was the root of his wounds. Compared to Sasuke before him, he hated Code more!
And Code had captured his sister; he had to kill Code and save her quickly.
"Your grudge for injuring me—I'll remember it for now. After I kill Code, I'll come find you to fight!"
"By the way, tell me, where is this?"
"Where did that bastard Code go?"
Daemon, clearly distinguishing between love and hate, urgently asked about Code's whereabouts.
Though he didn't yet know the connection between Isshiki, Jigen, and Code, he still thought the one who threw him earlier was the Code who'd imprisoned him…
"This is the Land of Lightning. As for Otsutsuki Isshiki… that bastard Code, he's probably back in Konoha."
"Konoha? Good! Big Sister, wait for me! I'm coming to save you!"
With an answer, Daemon had a goal. He turned and ran toward Konoha.
Though his condition was terrible, saving his sister was clearly more urgent and important. But he hadn't run far before crashing into the solid Six Red Yang Formation barrier.
"What's this thing?"
Daemon punched the barrier, trying to break it, but only caused large ripples on its surface, failing to destroy it.
"This tough? Can't break it?"
"Damn it!"
"Hey, who are you? Is this your doing?"
"Get rid of it quick—don't stop me from saving my sister!" Daemon shouted at Sasuke in the distance, his heart extremely anxious.
Hearing this, Sasuke shook his head, directly refusing: "You can't go."
"What?"
"I said, you can't go, at least not now!"
Reflect was a near-perfect Divine Technique. It was indeed powerful. In short, Daemon without Reflect had astonishing combat power, nearly Six Paths-level. But with Reflect activated, he was almost invincible at that level. Unfortunately, Daemon was currently inside the double barrier.
Besides Sasuke, he couldn't touch any other living beings, so he couldn't activate Reflect. As for Sasuke, he was within the Six Paths Demon God Susano'o. Even a fully powered Isshiki couldn't break Susano'o in one strike, let alone a severely injured Daemon.
Thus, unable to touch any living beings or activate Divine Technique Reflect, Daemon's strength was greatly diminished, making him no match for Six Paths Sasuke.
Sasuke knew this, which was why he was confident he could 'discipline' Daemon.
The Reflective Killing Intent + Clairvoyance combo was indeed unstoppable. But a separated Daemon, unable to activate Reflect, was a defeatable opponent!
*BOOM!*
Daemon charged at the Demon God Susano'o, unleashing a punch.
A terrifying sonic shockwave exploded, shattering the ground within a hundred-meter radius, showing Daemon's immense strength.
Unfortunately, the punch only left a few cracks on the Demon God Susano'o's leg armor, failing to destroy it in one strike.
"How is this possible?!?!"
Daemon was shocked. In his memory, his strength was supposed to be invincible.
Nothing could withstand his ferocity, yet today, this kept happening—what was going on?
Why were ninjas outside the lab so terrifying?
Didn't his sister say he was the strongest in the world? Did she lie to him?
Before Daemon could process the situation, a massive surge of Amaterasu ignited on the Demon God Susano'o's body, enveloping him completely. Sensing the threat, Daemon quickly retreated to dodge.
Without a Kāma Seal, Daemon couldn't absorb Amaterasu. This was his greatest weakness. Besides Divine Technique Reflect, he lacked diverse abilities, insufficient for complex battles.
Normally, with his Six Paths-level abnormal stats and mechanics, he could defeat most enemies. Unfortunately, this time he faced an even more abnormal Six Paths Sasuke.
(What's that fire? It feels so dangerous—I have to avoid it!)
With his sharp sensory abilities, Daemon sensed Amaterasu's difficulty and resolved to dodge. Unfortunately, it was too late.
Within a few thousand meters, across the entire Six Red Yang Formation barrier, over tens of millions of square meters of land, a vast black flame erupted instantly.
Clearly, Amaterasu, enhanced by Six Paths, gained an unprecedented giant range. In an instant, a sea of black flames formed with no blind spots.
Daemon was stunned. Facing the sea of flames, he had no way to dodge!
He couldn't fly or escape the barrier's blockade. No matter how fast he dodged or moved, he couldn't avoid all the black flames! A full-scale attack was simply unavoidable!
Undoubtedly, large-scale Amaterasu was the most effective Dōjutsu against Daemon right now, especially when he couldn't activate Divine Technique Reflect.
With no choice, Daemon leaped high, trying to jump over the sea of flames or the barrier's blockade from above. But as he leaped, he was struck by a giant Susano'o palm swinging at him, smashing him back to the ground.
*BOOM!*
Daemon hit the ground like a missile, swallowed by the surging sea of black flames around him.