He had comprehended a certain law of space-time—no matter how the past or future changed, his body and his clones existed along a separate, relatively independent timeline.
Normally, when both the main body and clones resided in the same era, it wasn't all that noticeable.
However, when he traveled into the past, the independence of his timeline clashed with the cause-and-effect flow of the two interconnected temporal states.
That was why, while operating the Breathing Art of the Sage Path and resonating with the surrounding energy, he experienced time speeding up and slowing down erratically.
"Maybe once I reach the stars, I'll be able to sense the same kind of force near a black hole..."
While circulating the Breathing Art of the Sage Path and allowing the currents of time to wash over him, Uchiha Kirin followed Urashiki's trail on foot.
"You lowly inferior creatures... you filthy insects—AH! AAAHHHH! Spare me...!"
But before he could even catch sight of Urashiki,
He heard the Otsutsuki's furious curses and weakening screams from a distance, growing feebler by the second.
Amid the yelling came the dull thuds of fists and kicks pounding flesh.
"This guy's definitely from the Hamura clan. Damn, he's got some serious loot on him! No wonder that clan's known for being battle-crazed lunatics. Even with half his body gone, he's still this tough!"
"Inferior creatures! AHH! AAAHH!!"
Urashiki listened in disbelief as the ninja who had beaten him started openly discussing how to divvy up his body—treating a noble Otsutsuki like mere loot.
He was beyond frustrated.
Yet it was clear he still hadn't adjusted to the shinobi world—especially the brutal Warring States Era. After taking a few solid hits to the back of the head from clubs, he could no longer speak at all.
"Boss, should we just take this guy apart and sell him on the black market?"
"Idiot. He's worth more whole!"
The black-clad leader smacked his underling hard across the face with a palm the size of a fan.
"But… he's not exactly whole anymore..."
...
The Limbo Clone approached the group of ninja.
Damn... Urashiki really had it rough—even Uchiha Kirin couldn't help but feel a shred of pity for the guy.
After traveling through time, Urashiki was completely drained of chakra and left with just one arm and half a chest still connected to his head.
The rest of his body had been devoured by the aftershock of a massive energy explosion, leaving only scorched, blackened flesh covering the gaping wounds.
The pale Otsutsuki body was soaked in a muddy pit,
Beside him, a toppled red fish basket spilled a few fish that were still flopping and twitching.
Clearly, Urashiki had arrived intending to catch some fish to absorb their life energy and restore himself.
Unfortunately, shortly after his arrival, a gang of roadside bandit ninja had spotted him.
And they went all in—beating him with iron-wrapped clubs without hesitation.
The Otsutsuki body may have surpassed ordinary ninja in vitality, but without chakra, he was just flesh and blood—albeit tougher flesh.
He stood no chance against such a savage beating.
They didn't stop until Urashiki had completely lost the ability to move. Then they even gouged out his eyes—
One pure Byakugan.
One blue Rinnegan.
In the hands of someone knowledgeable, these could kick off the unification of the entire shinobi world...
But this bunch had no clue what they were holding and just kept guessing how much it could fetch on the black market.
Even the Otsutsuki treasure, 〖Karasuki〗, soaking in the mud beside them,
Was mistaken for an ordinary turtle and tossed aside.
Uchiha Kirin took a moment to assess the situation.
Luckily, these roadside bandits had no bloodline or secret techniques, and weren't connected to any future clans or factions.
Even if they died, it wouldn't affect the timeline.
No surprise there—they'd fallen so far as to rob travelers for a living, barely better than common bandits...
Still, to play it safe, Kirin chose not to kill them.
Instead, he erased their memories entirely and returned them to their original positions, wiping out all trace of their encounter with Otsutsuki Urashiki.
"How considerate."
The Limbo Clone used spatial energy to conjure two hollow spheres made of space-time barriers. He sealed Urashiki's two eyes into them and hung them at his waist.
He then washed off the fish basket and the little turtle, inspecting them both for damage.
Sadly, the life energy Urashiki had absorbed from the fish was already used up—otherwise, Kirin could've gained something extra from it.
The little turtle tried to crawl away from Kirin's grasp, but it was too slow, and he easily picked it up again.
Upon closer inspection, he realized that 〖Karasuki〗 was truly worthy of being called an Otsutsuki treasure. Not only could it traverse space-time, it was also a sentient, fully mechanical lifeform—
Capable of explaining its own functions.
It was almost on par with Kirin's own simulation system...
But it seemed 〖Karasuki〗 lacked a recognition function—whoever picked it up, it followed.
Now that it was in Uchiha Kirin's hands, it obediently began explaining its usage.
And revealed the reason behind Urashiki's miserable state:
During the earlier energy explosion, although Urashiki managed to repel the Jashin avatar, he put himself in a situation where he could be devoured at any moment.
Panicked, he activated 〖Karasuki〗 and escaped into a random point in the past.
In fact, he had chosen the time period so hastily that he passed out the moment he set it.
And when he woke up, he was already being stomped on and tortured by that gang of ninja...
"Are there any restrictions on your time travel?" Kirin asked.
"You can't travel to the future of your original timeline. And the person being transported shouldn't interact with their past self..."
"Also, the stronger the lifeform being transported, the more space-time energy it consumes."
〖Karasuki〗 scanned Uchiha Kirin with a beam of light and ran an analysis.
It concluded that with its current remaining energy, it couldn't support Kirin's return to his original timeline.
If it were Kirin's main body instead of his clone, it estimated it wouldn't even have enough energy to carry him at all.
"Then how do I replenish your space-time energy?"
Uchiha Kirin asked. If 〖Karasuki〗 couldn't carry him, did that mean he'd have to rely on the Dragon Vein to return randomly to the future?
Or... should he try to comprehend the laws of time himself? That wasn't entirely out of the question!
"Use my charger," the turtle turned slightly and pointed its stubby paw toward the unconscious Urashiki lying in the mud.
Uchiha Kirin tossed the unconscious Otsutsuki onto the riverbank.
He lifted his cloak and released a Water Release jutsu to rinse off Urashiki. Upon doing so, he discovered a small black box embedded in Urashiki's body.
"This is your charger?"
Kirin picked up the now-deformed black box—it was the same device Urashiki had once used to freeze Otsutsuki Toneri and Neji.
But now, there wasn't even a trace of energy left inside, and the outer casing was severely warped.
It looked like the energy blast that sent Urashiki flying also fried 〖Karasuki〗's charger along with it...