A terrifying thought flashed through Ōtsutsuki Kūshiki's mind. He looked at Kaito in disbelief and shouted,
"Ten Tails? Don't tell me you want to plant a God Tree here!?"
Kaito glanced at him strangely and replied,
"What else? If a God Tree can be planted on other planets, why shouldn't this one be able to host one too?"
"Bastard! I won't let you succeed!"
Kūshiki dove straight downward, Kaito chasing close behind. His eyes once again burst forth with golden light, beams shooting after Kūshiki.
Sensing the golden rays behind him, Kūshiki didn't dare underestimate them. He opened another black hole, swallowing the beams whole.
From the start of this battle, he had basically been suppressed by Kaito, which was completely unbefitting of his status as Great Elder.
Over thousands of years, Kūshiki had consumed countless God Tree fruits, but the more he consumed, the weaker their effects became.
On top of that, he had spent much of that time secluded in the forbidden land, possessing immense power but unable to properly wield it. The frustration gnawed at him.
The white ripples in his eyes had already vanished, leaving only pitch black.
Kūshiki suddenly twisted his head toward Kaito. Numerous Truth-Seeking Orbs instantly floated around Kaito, only to dissolve moments later into a dense black fog that engulfed him.
Inside the black fog, Kaito felt an overwhelming corrosive force. The barrier formed by the God of Tides sizzled under the assault, its glow dimming rapidly.
Worse yet, the space smothered by the black fog seemed completely sealed—no spatial abilities could be used.
Kaito narrowed his eyes and muttered to himself,
"This guy's been holed up too long… now he's finally showing a bit of what a Great Elder should be."
Seeing the God of Tides on the verge of collapse, Kaito recalled it back into himself and instead relied on his raw body, charging straight out of the smoke.
The price, however, was clear—his body bore deep corrosive scars, still smoking with black mist.
Kūshiki, calmer now, summoned a Truth-Seeking Orb and reshaped it into the form of an arm, attaching it to his severed limb.
The display genuinely broadened Kaito's horizons. After Obito, Kūshiki was now the one he considered the slickest at playing with Truth-Seeking Orbs.
Kūshiki drew in a deep breath. Black chakra surged upward from his body, and countless gray bones sprouted from his back, spreading outward until they became a pair of gray bone wings.
His entire body was soon covered in a bony armor, even his face concealed, leaving only a pair of black Rinnegan exposed.
From his palm, a spear of bone grew forth. He grasped it tightly, pointing it at Kaito above.
The aura radiating from Kūshiki was now completely different. Even Kaito frowned at the oppressive energy rolling off that bone armor.
Whoosh!
Kūshiki vanished in an instant. The moment he disappeared, the God of Tides split into seven different weapons that lashed out behind Kaito, striking at the air.
Sure enough, Kūshiki reappeared exactly where the weapons landed. His eyes flickered with surprise, but he didn't panic. He let the weapons stab into his chest.
The God of Tides couldn't pierce through the bone armor. Worse still, patches of gray began to spread across its surface.
Kūshiki smirked contemptuously, then shook his body violently, blasting the God of Tides away.
The gray patches on it crumbled into dust. When the seven weapons merged back into a ring, a glaring crack marred its surface.
Kaito caught the God of Tides, his expression grim as he stared at the scar.
From this alone, it was obvious—the bones covering Kūshiki's body were all All-Killing Ash Bones.
And his All-Killing Ash Bones worked not just on living beings but even on weapons like the God of Tides, erasing them utterly.
Had Kaito not imbued it with his own power, the God of Tides would already have been reduced to ashes.
A glint of disdain flashed in Kūshiki's eyes as he sneered,
"The God of Tides is still just an external force. Let's see how long you can keep up without it!"
A small black hole opened at Kūshiki's side. He thrust the bone spear in his hand straight through it.
Kaito's eyes sharpened. He instinctively twisted his body, the spear grazing past his waist.
Kūshiki nearly lost his composure. To him, Kaito's reactions were absurdly fast—as though he could predict the future.
...
This was thanks to Kaito's Observation Haki, a skill he had learned in the pirate world. Normally, he had little use for it, since ever since evolving into an Ōtsutsuki, no enemy had managed to move beyond his perception.
But in this situation, it was invaluable. If Kūshiki's All-Killing Ash Bones really struck him, even Kaito wasn't sure if his body could withstand it.
Kūshiki, however, refused to believe it. Spreading his bone wings wide, he shouted lowly.
Countless bone spikes shot from his wings, filling the sky in a dense gray storm.
His intent was clear—by expanding his attack range, he could corner Kaito, leaving him nowhere to escape.
At the same time, his eyes turned pitch black again, sealing the space around Kaito.
With everything in place, Kūshiki slashed his hand through the air. The countless spikes hovering behind him shot forward like a gray ocean, crashing down on Kaito.
Kaito's Tenseigan blazed with golden light. He unleashed a Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, blasting into the gray sea of bones.
But compared to the overwhelming tide, his beams were far too small. In moments, Kaito's body was engulfed completely.
A faint golden glow flickered within the bone sea. Kūshiki snorted coldly at the sight. He clenched his hand, and the bones converged instantly, forming a massive gray sphere—a bone version of Chibaku Tensei.
The golden light died out as the sphere solidified. Satisfied, Kūshiki nodded and allowed a look of smug pleasure to cross his face.
But when he turned back to the now empty Ōtsutsuki Star, his smile faded. With a hateful snarl, he muttered,
"Damn it! There aren't many clansmen left… which means fewer God Tree fruits in the future!"
Then suddenly, a thought struck him. Kaito had unleashed a Ten Tails earlier—so why had it made no move all this time?
Not only was that Ten Tails strangely colored, its aura was terrifying. He had never seen such a "robust" Ten Tails before.
Realizing this, Kūshiki immediately dove toward the ground, determined to see for himself what was going on with that Ten Tails.
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