"Why did this guy suddenly ignite like that? Took a cannon shot and got his brain blown out?"
Dragon's Dream muttered quietly, about to remind Isshiki of the information on the next unlucky position.
Ryosuke directly withdrew Dragon's Dream.
The upcoming fight made lucky and unlucky positions meaningless.
With the speed of Ryosuke and Otsutsuki Isshiki, they could switch dozens of positions in a single second. A single clash was enough to destroy an environment spanning several kilometers. There was simply no time to calmly lock onto unlucky positions.
From here on out... it was a head-on battle.
Ryosuke and Isshiki collided within the abyss. The shockwaves that scattered tore apart the rock walls on both sides. The magma below was struck, violently churning and erupting upward.
Star Platinum pressed Isshiki's head straight into the spraying magma. In the next second, the magma was shrunk and vanished, replaced by hundreds of black chakra rods.
Ryosuke swung the Destruction Greatsword, knocking away all the incoming black rods.
No sooner had he knocked away the chakra rods than four massive pitch-black cubes appeared, covered all over with rings of red patterns. Under Isshiki's control, they closed in on Ryosuke from four directions.
This was Isshiki's strongest attack technique, Daikokuten.
Ultra–high-density black cubes with overwhelming gravity. In the original story, he had relied on this move to forcibly suppress Sage Fox Naruto.
"New Moon."
Ryosuke called softly.
New Moon appeared behind Ryosuke, spreading its arms. The four Daikokuten cubes freezing midair as they closed in.
New Moon raised a hand, pointed, and stammered, "Go, go!"
The four Daikokuten cubes, howling through the air, smashed toward Isshiki.
Isshiki's eyes widened as he activated Sukunahikona. The four Daikokuten cubes vanished.
Along with them, Ryosuke also disappeared.
Clop! Clop! Clop!
The sound of hooves appeared once again.
Isshiki's heart skipped a beat. He violently turned his head and saw Ryosuke had summoned a mount again, galloping along the vertical rock wall, the iron ball in his palm spinning once more.
He stared at the iron ball.
The learning process of the Golden Spin was very similar to Gyro and Johnny's journey in the SBR race. To gain something, you inevitably had to give something up.
Advancing continuously through gain and loss.
That was the Spin.
Lesson 5: Cavalry Spin, gained incomparably powerful destructive force, but what it lost was Lesson 3's tracking ability.
Ryosuke, Johnny, and Gyro were all the same.
Otsutsuki Isshiki had lived an extremely long life and seen countless strong figures. Having personally taken a Cavalry Spin head-on, he immediately judged the flaw of this attack.
As long as he dodged at the moment the spinning iron ball left Ryosuke's hand, he could avoid it.
He stared fixedly at the spinning iron ball in Ryosuke's hand.
"The moment you fire that iron ball is my chance to counterattack."
Ryosuke kept closing the distance.
Suddenly, dozens of deceased appeared out of nowhere and pounced onto Isshiki. He swept a glance over them, saw they were all dead people, and snorted with a laugh.
"Impure World Reincarnation?"
"Ryosuke, even you are using this kind of evil technique now… hm?!"
He was about to shake off all the deceased summoned from the North–South War when, all of a sudden, a thought sprouted in his mind, there was no need to bother with a bunch of dead people. Focus on dealing with Ryosuke.
The thought flashed by, seeming harmless enough. But upon closer reflection, something felt wrong.
Isshiki was not Momoshiki.
Once he entered a focused combat state, he would never let his guard down, nor would he underestimate any enemy.
In just an instant, Isshiki suddenly understood.
"My thinking… has been tampered with."
"Is it… genjutsu?!"
He abruptly looked toward the source of the genjutsu.
Danzo clutched his eye, wailing as he dissipated.
As an old schemer who had lurked in the ninja world for a thousand years, Isshiki had naturally heard of Danzo's name and knew his ability, 'Genjutsu: Kotoamatsukami!'
'Damn it!'
By the time Isshiki reacted, it was already too late. From the corner of his eye, he saw a hand swinging down.
Smack!
The White Snake, hidden among the crowd of deceased, slapped Isshiki hard on the back of the head.
Zzzzt… Click!
A disc popped out.
Isshiki's pupils shrank sharply. He pressed down on the disc, about to shove it back in, "Star Platinum, The World!"
The time stop that had been held back and not released was used at this very moment.
This was Ryosuke's tactic.
Among the many Otsutsuki, Isshiki could be said to have the strongest physical body and was also the most troublesome enemy.
He was smarter than Kinshiki, calmer than Momoshiki, and several times stronger than Obito.
From the start of their battle until now, seventeen seconds had passed. With such massive combat fluctuations, it was impossible to hide for long.
Obito, Momoshiki, and Kinshiki were very likely already on their way.
Killing Isshiki before they arrived was far too difficult. The optimal strategy was to pull the disc.
The planet-destroying cannon and the first Cavalry Spin created the initial advantage.
The second Cavalry Spin was bait.
The dozens of deceased and Danzo's Kotoamatsukami were all meant to create an opportunity for the White Snake.
Ryosuke looked toward Isshiki's position.
'Did it succeed?'
The world was frozen.
Within Ryosuke's field of vision… Isshiki was gone.
Star Platinum walked over, extended both index fingers to point at a spot, then lightly tapped its own head, signaling that Isshiki was still there and the disc had popped out, he had just shrunk himself infinitely.
With Star Platinum's eyesight, it could naturally see him. And if there were a suitable tool, something extremely fine, thin enough to perform cellular surgery, like a pair of ultra-fine tweezers, it could have pulled out the already-ejected disc.
But now…
Ryosuke glanced at Star Platinum's thick, powerful fingers and gave a slight nod. There had been no mistakes in the tactics; everything had been executed perfectly.
It was purely that Isshiki's genjutsu resistance, reaction speed, and speed were too high.
"If only Gyro were here."
Gyro's Infinite Rotation Decay was useless against ordinary Otsutsuki, because their lifespans were too long.
But against Isshiki, who only had his last three days of life left, it would have been the deadliest method.
That kind of thing could only remain a thought.
Besides, Ryosuke had other ways to shave down Isshiki's lifespan.
He cut open his fingertip. A drop of blood fell, suspended in midair, enveloping the shrunken Isshiki. The blood seeped through the gap where the disc had been pulled out, drilling into Isshiki's brain and body.
Because the North–South War had been summoned outside, the halved time stop ended.
Isshiki fled back to the surface.
"Cough, cough… urgh…"
He spat out a large mouthful of blood.
The blood was pure white. When it hit the ground, it gave off a fragrant scent. Nourished by the blood, the land, which had gone through burning, explosions, and magma, eerily grew green grass and fresh flowers.
Genetic contamination.
Back then, Momoshiki had only slightly touched a bit of Ryosuke's blood and immediately suffered genetic contamination, his body nearly collapsing.
It was only because Kinshiki fought to the death and forcibly took the burden for Momoshiki for quite some time that Momoshiki gained the chance to recover.
Now, Isshiki had practically taken a bath in Ryosuke's blood. With an Otsutsuki's physical constitution, he could naturally recover.
But recovery would either consume time, or consume what little life energy he had left.
And Ryosuke would not give him time.
At that moment, space rippled.
Obito walked out.
He looked coldly at Ryosuke.
"Ryosuke, I've brought you destruction… huh?"
Obito looked at Isshiki lying on the ground, then looked at Ryosuke, and for a moment…
He didn't know what to say.