"Talking nonsense, you should just be quiet."
Chiga extended his finger, releasing a surge of thick purple lightning that tore through the air like a divine judgment.
Jigen reacted instantly, summoning Black Rods in an attempt to block. But the rods shattered the moment they made contact with the lightning. The bolts pierced through his body, leaving behind charred, smoking holes.
"Pfft!"
A mouthful of blood sprayed from Jigen's lips as he collapsed onto one knee, his presence dimming rapidly.
Chiga calmly raised his arm, releasing a beam of lightning into the sky. In an instant, the once clear heavens were swallowed by endless thunderclouds. Serpents of lightning danced through the storm, their roars echoing like drums of war.
Jigen remained kneeling, head bowed as if resigned to his fate.
Chiga's eyes burned like clusters of violet fire, arcs of energy surging wildly. Pressing his palm down, he spoke with quiet certainty.
"Do you like this magnificent funeral?"
Jigen lifted his head. A golden glint flashed in his pupils.
"You will regret this!"
Chiga's lips curved faintly. "Is that so? I'm looking forward to it. One Billion Volts, Purple Kirin!"
Boom!
From the thunderclouds, a colossal beast descended — a Kirin made entirely of lightning. Its body blazed brighter than the sun, its roar shattering the air. The divine creature crashed into the forest below, and in an instant, the world was drowned in purple-white destruction.
When the light faded, the forest no longer existed. What remained was nothing but scorched earth and pillars of black smoke.
Through the haze, a shadow flickered.
Chiga narrowed his eyes. "So you've finally revealed yourself, Ōtsutsuki Isshiki."
A sudden gust dispersed the smoke, unveiling Isshiki in his true form. Gone was the frail shell of Jigen. Now he stood tall, adorned in the white and crimson robes of his clan, a curved horn rising proudly from his forehead. His aura was refined, elegant, almost aristocratic.
But most striking were his eyes — one golden, one white — each brimming with an overwhelming power.
Chiga crossed his arms, voice laced with dry amusement. "Much better. You look less pitiful now."
Isshiki's composure held firm, his tone sharp. "Enough stalling. Reveal your true form, Ōtsutsuki Chiga."
A low chuckle escaped Chiga. He extended his hand, and a black staff materialized in his grip. Radiance poured from his body, engulfing him in light.
When it faded, his transformation was complete. His frame glowed with divine energy, his eyes had become a pair of Twelve-Tomoe Rinnegan, swirling with unfathomable depth. He regarded Isshiki with detached calm.
"You'd best be careful. In this form, I don't control my power very well."
Isshiki sneered. "Then I'll return those words to you."
The air stilled. Neither moved, tension hanging between them like a drawn blade. Isshiki knew Chiga's dark impulses could make him strike without warning. Yet this time, Chiga remained still, watching with cold patience.
Isshiki's heart tightened. On the surface, he was calm — like an old master of strategy. But inwardly, he was anxious. Painfully anxious.
Chiga understood. Isshiki's current vessel gave him less than three days to live. The closer his end loomed, the more desperate he became.
As expected, Isshiki broke first. His golden eye glowed, summoning Black Rods that hovered menacingly around him. With a sharp gesture, they shot toward Chiga.
But Chiga's eyes glimmered, and a hemispherical barrier enveloped him. The rods shattered the instant they struck its surface.
Isshiki's hand moved again. Above Chiga, massive cubes of black and red materialized and plummeted like divine hammers.
Chiga's Susanoo erupted in its third form, absorbing the crushing blows. Even so, the sheer weight made the ethereal warrior stagger.
But Chiga retaliated. A Truth-Seeking Orb detached from behind him, streaking toward Isshiki.
Isshiki scoffed. As a pureblood Ōtsutsuki, he had little fear of such orbs. Yet just as it was about to touch him, the orb expanded violently, its size multiplying in an instant.
His expression twisted in shock. "What—!?"
Boom!
The orb crushed him mercilessly into the earth, carving a smooth, circular crater.
Chiga clenched his hand, and the pit erupted in blinding white light, followed by a violent explosion that shook the land.
For a long moment, silence. Then, from beneath the ruins, Isshiki rose. His horn was shattered at the tip, his body battered. Only his quick use of Sukunahikona — shrinking the orb's size in the nick of time — had spared him from total annihilation.
Even so, his breathing was ragged, his body trembling with pain.
Behind Chiga, the shattered orb reformed, whole once again.
Isshiki's golden eye narrowed. That trick… the sudden expansion of the orb. It was too similar to his own ocular ability. Suspicion gnawed at him. Was Chiga wielding the same jutsu? No — his eye was supposed to be unique among the clan.
Grinding his teeth, Isshiki acted. Golden light flashed, and he vanished.
Chiga's gaze sharpened. One of his orbs shifted instantly, transforming into a black barrier at his side.
Crack!
Isshiki reappeared, his fist slamming into the shield. His eyes widened — his ambush had been perfectly countered.
Chiga turned his head, smiling faintly. His Rinnegan glowed, unleashing Suigan no Masshō.
A gray vortex swallowed Isshiki, draining his life force. Panic seized him as he fought to escape. With only days left to live, Suigan no Masshō itself was his natural enemy.
Chiga deliberately slowed the vortex, his expression unreadable. Too much force, and Isshiki would vanish instantly. And that wouldn't do. A foe like Isshiki was a rare prize — far too valuable to waste so quickly.
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Milestone
100 Power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter.
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