"Hey! Old man, the person's already gone! What the heck are you still monitoring here for?" Boruto yelled, dissatisfied, at the ninja squatting on the utility pole.
"We can sense his chakra at all times. So, please don't try to deceive me with such a shallow lie," the portly ninja retorted, equally dissatisfied.
"...Completely unreliable." Boruto was speechless. Sensing that Kawaki's presence was about to leave the village, his expression changed slightly. He left a shadow clone to inform his dad and then quickly gave chase himself.
"Huh?!" After hearing the shadow clone's account, the Seventh Hokage immediately snapped to attention and ordered, "Ino, have the Sensor Division search for Kawaki's chakra with all their might!"
"What's wrong? Isn't Kawaki with you?" Ino's voice appeared in his mind.
"The Kawaki at home is a shadow clone. His real body has erased his chakra signature through some unknown means and is about to leave the village," the Seventh Hokage said in a grave voice.
"The notification has been sent out. But I don't quite understand. It seemed like he had already integrated into the village..." Ino said.
Recalling the rumors that had been circulating within the village recently, the Seventh Hokage's expression turned somewhat grim. He too had experienced such things and understood the terror of others' malicious gossip. "Why didn't I stop it sooner? I'm such a fool..."
"It's no use dwelling on it now that it's happened. The top priority is to find Kawaki as soon as possible," Nara Shikamaru successfully connected to their telepathic link. "It's dangerous for him to be out there alone. He's also one of Code's targets."
"Leave it to me. The entire Sensor Division has already been mobilized," Ino assured them.
"The ANBU should also get moving. For some reason, we can't detect Kawaki's chakra signature," the Seventh Hokage said.
"Understood. I'll notify the ANBU immediately," Ino replied.
Amado's Residence.
"You seem to already know what's happening outside?" Naruto appeared behind him.
Sizzle~
The cigarette glowed a dark red.
Amado glanced at him. "I refuse to believe that you, as his teacher, wouldn't have noticed anything unusual. What exactly do you want?"
Naruto walked to the window, gazing at the ninja leaping across the rooftops. "The wind has picked up."
Phew~
Amado exhaled the smoke from his lungs.
"Finally found you." A claw mark spread across a surface, and Code's figure suddenly appeared. After looking Kawaki up and down, he remarked, "You've gotten fat."
Although Kawaki was inwardly shocked, his recent training allowed him to instinctively harden his right arm and strike out. But Code easily blocked it and kicked him to the ground instead.
"Hey! Code, can't you be a little gentler? He's my future 'love interest'!" Eida, seeing this, was very displeased.
Code scoffed under his breath. "Even excluding Kawaki, there are several others who could be your 'love interest.' Is there a need to be in such a hurry?"
"You, I'm not interested in. Boruto is cute, yes, but not suitable as a love interest. As for that guy... I wouldn't dare fall in love with him," Eida pouted slightly.
"Heh heh, an unpleasant answer." Though he said this, Code indeed did not continue his attack. "Kawaki, let's talk, about your future."
With new and old hatreds piling up, how could Kawaki possibly listen to him go on? He turned and attacked again, but Code dodged each blow.
"You! You want revenge on the one who killed Otsutsuki Isshiki, right?" Kawaki asked sharply.
"You seem to know quite a bit," Code didn't deny it.
"If you're going to kill someone, kill me." Kawaki suddenly stopped his attack. "The cause of all this is me. Kill me, and give up attacking Konoha."
"Huh?!" Code was stunned. "Have you stayed in Konoha for too long? Has your brain gone soft?"
Thwack!
Code grabbed Kawaki's hair and kneed him hard in the stomach. "Do you even know what you're saying?" Their foreheads touched, and Code stared directly into Kawaki's eyes, roaring.
BOOM!
Grabbing Kawaki's hair, he slammed him onto the ground. "You have indeed committed grave sins, however..."
BOOM!
"You are neither qualified nor do you possess the capital to bear all the blame."
BOOM!
"Enough is enough! Kawaki! Don't use Otsutsuki Isshiki's [Vessel] body to say such nauseating things to me!" Code stomped heavily on Kawaki's back.
"The one who should know when enough is enough is you, Code! Don't bruise Kawaki's clean and handsome face," Eida frowned.
However, Code ignored her. "I am the inheritor of the Otsutsuki Will. Taking revenge on those few is merely a prelude. Planting the God Tree, draining all life, and bearing the Chakra Fruit—that is my goal."
"However..." Code stepped aside and squatted in front of Kawaki. "Though the others must die, I can spare your life, because someone wants you."
"Urgh... Hahahaha..." Hearing his words, Kawaki seemed to have shed all his burdens and let out a bone-chilling laugh. The black markings of Karma slowly spread up his left arm. The transformation didn't stop there; on his forehead, Otsutsuki Isshiki's characteristic [Horn] spiraled into existence.
Seeing this, Code's expression changed drastically. Instinctively, he crossed his arms in front of him.
BOOM!
A terrifying attack sent his figure flying backward at high speed.
"What's going on?" Code, having just stabilized himself, couldn't help but ask. "Hasn't his Karma disappeared?"
"It was Amado. He helped Kawaki re-imprint Karma." Eida placed the sleeping child in her arms onto the sofa and paced around the hall. "Clearly, that fellow completely views us as pawns to help Kawaki awaken his power."
"Pawns? It seems that fellow is living more and more in the past. Playing chess recklessly can get your hands burned!" Code's face was incredibly grim. His hands transformed into sharp claws, and his figure vanished from the spot.
Kawaki lightly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His left eye twitched upwards, and his pupil transformed into the pattern of four golden triangles—Otsutsuki Isshiki's characteristic eye.
As Code's claws descended, Kawaki's body shrank to the size of a finger, and Code's attack instantly missed. Immediately after, several black rods materialized within the claw marks, and Code's figure reappeared.
BOOM!
The tiny figure delivered a flying kick in mid-air.
"Pfft!" Code, sent flying, spat out a mouthful of blood. However, before he could recover, several giant cubes rained down from the sky.
"This is... Otsutsuki Isshiki's ability?" Eida's pupils constricted. Amado, are you trying to turn Kawaki into a second Otsutsuki Isshiki?
"What's going on?" Boruto, having just arrived, almost doubted his own eyes. "Are you... still Kawaki?" Recalling his own experience of being possessed by Otsutsuki Momoshiki, Boruto asked cautiously.
"It's me." Kawaki gave him a reassuring look and then continued his assault on Code.
Having regained his composure, Code's response to Kawaki's attacks was no longer as flustered as before. After all, without the limiter, he was an existence capable of suppressing Jigen! Gradually, after finding his rhythm, he also began to counterattack.
However, all his attacks were dodged by Kawaki using Sukunahikona...
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