"Finally… recovered!"
The ripple crystal exploded, completely killing Jigen and bringing an end to the tragic life of this unlucky monk.
At the very same moment, Otsutsuki Isshiki completed his reincarnation.
After a thousand years, he once again stood on this land in his true body.
In the past, Isshiki hid everywhere. On the surface, he claimed to disdain fighting with humans and lived an elegant, leisurely life in seclusion.
But when the dead of night came, when he sat alone at home, savoring red wine crushed by someone else's feet, the voice buried deep in his heart would surface, he was afraid.
Afraid that his identity would be exposed, that one day he would reincarnate using Jigen's body and die inexplicably on this backward, primitive planet.
His fear of death trapped Isshiki for a thousand years.
Now that this moment had truly arrived, he instead felt relieved.
Isshiki looked at the iron ball Ryosuke had thrown, then looked at the planet-destroying cannon falling straight down from the sky. The corners of his mouth slowly curled into a smile, "Ryosuke, you want to die…"
"Then come on!"
In Karma, Stage Two, he had been evenly matched with Ryosuke. Now that he had recovered his true body, Isshiki believed he could firmly suppress Ryosuke. The only thorn stuck in his heart was the matter of the "other world."
'It seems I've forgotten some things… but it doesn't matter. As long as I kill Ryosuke, everything will become clear.'
Isshiki's reincarnation, recovery of his true body, and thinking were all completed in an instant.
He arrogantly lifted his chin slightly, glanced at the iron ball flying toward him, and was about to use Sukunahikona to shrink it and erase it.
Isshiki was already planning it out in his mind, 'First eliminate the iron ball, then avoid the beam overhead. Ryosuke has never seen my true power. The speed of my burst will be enough to catch him off guard, letting me seize the initiative...'
The fleeting thought came to a halt. Isshiki stared blankly at the iron ball that had reached his chest.
'It didn't work?!'
His Sukunahikona couldn't affect a lousy iron ball?
Is it a living thing?
Sukunahikona can shrink anything, except living beings. But almost instantly, based on the feedback from the ability, Isshiki understood the real reason.
"It's not a living thing."
"It's this iron ball…"
Isshiki's pupils shrank.
"It possesses spatial power on the same level as Sukunahikona and Daikokuten!"
Realizing this, Isshiki wanted to leave.
But it was already too late.
Perhaps it was overconfidence. Perhaps it was the influence of the "unlucky position." Isshiki missed the best moment to escape. He didn't even have time to summon chakra rods or Daikokuten to block it.
The only thing he managed to do was shrink himself, praying that the iron ball wouldn't hit.
But when something has to be left to "luck"…
The influence of an unlucky position reaches its maximum.
Bang!
The Infinite Rotation struck Isshiki's body with pinpoint accuracy. The rotational force spread from his chest throughout his entire body.
Isshiki's body folded in on itself, completely out of control.
At the same time…
The planet-destroying cannon arrived.
The planet-destroying cannon was developed with space warfare as its goal. Drawing lessons from the previous lunar crisis, experts from the weapons development department worked day and night, learning from their pain.
With the current level of technology in the ninja world, fighting a war in space was still far too difficult.
Whether at the level of theoretical physics, or in applied fields like aerospace engineering, materials science, and energy science, humanity simply did not possess the ability to wage cosmic warfare.
So they had no choice but to take a shortcut.
They used the repulsive reaction between Extreme Yang natural energy, the dragon veins, and Extreme Yin natural energy, the Oni-God energy. Using a massive collider, they accelerated the two to their limits, and then… Collided them.
At the moment of impact, an extremely terrifying annihilation reaction would occur.
This annihilation would spread outward. The richer the surrounding natural energy, the stronger the spreading reaction, and the more terrifying the instantaneous energy produced.
However, since it was a shortcut, a price had to be paid.
The collider, the launch system, the manpower and material resources, those aside for now.
The most important factor was a location rich in natural energy.
Under the influence of the God Tree a thousand years ago, natural energy became scarce worldwide. Only three sacred lands, Mount Myoboku, Shikkotsu Forest, and Ryuchi Cave, still had abundant natural energy.
A single planet-destroying cannon shot would consume all the natural energy of one sacred land.
And the corresponding power… was true cosmic-level power.
A thin crimson beam shot straight out from the ruins of Ryuchi Cave, passing through a spatial transfer gate ahead.
At the same time, hundreds of kilometers above the desert, a sky fortress hovered in the air. Beneath it, another transfer gate opened.
A thin, crimson laser shot straight toward the "X" position marked by Ryosuke.
Planet-destroying cannon.
The strongest weapon humanity had ever wielded.
When it first entered the atmosphere, its power wasn't yet obvious. In Otsutsuki Isshiki's eyes, it wasn't worth mentioning. Most of his attention was focused on the iron ball thrown by Ryosuke.
As the crimson light descended, the thin natural energy in the air was ignited. Rings of light rapidly expanded across the sky, like stepwise boosters, continuously increasing the cannon's power.
By the time the planet-destroying cannon reached a hundred meters overhead, the desert within dozens of kilometers crystallized at an extremely terrifying speed.
Heaven and earth both dimmed.
A crimson beam with a diameter of only ten centimeters, like the tiny human fist Isshiki saw in his eyes, carried an unstoppable, absolute killing intent and heavily, crashed down.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
The ground trembled and tore apart. The firelight of the explosion spread for hundreds of kilometers without fading. As far as the eye could see, the desert completely melted.
At the point where the planet-destroying cannon struck, a hundred-meter-wide abyss appeared, plunging straight into the depths of the earth.
At the bottom of the abyss was boiling magma.
Isshiki lay in the magma, his head buzzing.
There wasn't a single patch of intact skin on his body. His bones and internal organs were shattered, and his chest and abdomen, where the iron ball had hit, were torn open with a huge gash.
"This kind of power… what exactly is going on…"
Isshiki had expected that, given Ryosuke's sinister personality, he would most likely launch an attack during his reincarnation.
But the attack just now had already surpassed Isshiki's understanding.
The planet-destroying cannon aside.
Why could an ordinary iron ball fold space?
More importantly, in the previous battle, Ryosuke had not displayed this ability.
Which meant that in just a few short months, Ryosuke had gained a spatial ability not inferior to Sukunahikona.
This rate of growth was terrifying.
No, compared to the speed of growth, even more terrifying was…
Isshiki stared at Ryosuke, who was charging down from above the abyss without a moment's pause.
"Even more terrifying is 'Ryosuke.'"
There was no need to add any prefixes. Potential, growth, resolve, none of that was needed.
After four months of interaction and two life-and-death battles, Otsutsuki Isshiki clearly understood, the very existence of "Ryosuke" symbolized power and terror.
His long life told Isshiki that for an enemy of this level, continuing to weigh gains and losses or calculate costs was a disrespect to his own life.
He took a deep breath and burned his life energy. The wounds all over his body rapidly healed.
The price was that his already short lifespan, due to reincarnating through an imperfect body, was shortened even further.
Isshiki didn't care anymore. The only thought left in his mind was, 'Kill!'
He charged at Ryosuke.
Living toward death.