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I can't feel anything anymore.
If he had to describe his current state, Urashiki could only use such an insubstantial description.
Not only the most basic five senses, but even their perception of the Chakra within their bodies, their meridians, and their ocular power—all of it, in this silent moment, transformed into an indescribable void, as if his entire self had been stripped away.
Even his perception of the entire world fell into a strange state of stagnation.
Only his consciousness remained.
Ōtsutsuki Urashiki quietly watched Sawara Kiri in front of him; his fishing rod had already pierced the other's torso, and at the same time, around him were his familiar companions: Momoshiki, Kinshiki, and Shibai.
However, at this moment, they were also in the same state as him.
Deep in their hearts, there was only intense unwillingness.
This feeling...
This feeling of being forced to yield to a lower species, to mere ants, was all too familiar to him.
He looked at the bloody heart that had already been gouged out of the other's chest, unable to accept it.
Clearly, it had already...
However, at the very moment his entire being was filled with infinite unwillingness, resentment, rage, and even fear...
"Buzz—"
The sun, suspended in mid-air, seemed to have become countless times hotter in that instant. No, it wasn't the sun.
—The azure-green sky also slowly split open a seemingly endless rift, pulled by some unknown force, directly above their heads. Boundless radiance gradually spread out from the depths of that indescribable crack, and in this frozen world, even the normally invisible space seemed to be pressed into distinct ripples by this trans-spatial power, appearing convex, as if distorting a certain curvature in their vision.
The ripples behind this space gradually emerged under the pressure of this radiant power, and the single-traced fissure was also torn and shattered with difficulty under this immense force. The light contained within seemed to overflow, continuously seeping out.
Just this faint trace of power, perhaps less than one-hundred-millionth of its full might, awakened an uncontrollable surge of all their combined memories of previous jump-and-strike encounters within the hearts of all the Ōtsutsuki present.
That terrifying, irresistible sharpness, like the sun falling to the ground, swallowed all their consciousness like ten thousand insects gnawing at their hearts.
Run!
Run!!
Run!!!
The four Ōtsutsuki's present were now completely unable to think about anything.
Their formerly active consciousness was now left with only a sense of humble fear.
Until finally, the boundless radiance transformed into a sword blade, seemingly ignited with flames.
It descended.
"Boom—!"
In the static world, no sound should have been heard.
However, just the movement revealed in the instant the blade descended caused their minds to seemingly tremble, their entire bodies wanting to shiver but unable to.
But, just as they thought they were about to die...
They saw that the sword's target was not them.
It was...
Sawara Kiri himself.
"Hiss."
The katana, condensed from an unknown amount of power, pierced Sawara Kiri's back, causing his somewhat hazy consciousness to suddenly halt.
The continuous power transmitted from deep within the blade reactivated his life force, which had been depleted by multiple abilities like Limitless and Inherent Time Control. As a result, his previously hazy consciousness suddenly invigorated by several points, and even the wounds being pierced showed signs of healing.
A power he had never experienced before suddenly ignited from deep within his heart.
"Death Exemption x1, Activated"
A line of text suddenly appeared on the always-quiet system panel.
At the same time, along with the life force transmitted from deep within the blade, there was also a piece of consciousness.
"Damn it, that dog Shibai."
"I just can't stand it when I'm too weak to win, and then jump timelines to beat up my alt account!"
"If it weren't for limited ability and only so much power I can split off, I would have gone myself long ago."
"Here, take more, I'm giving you a chance to get revenge with your own hands."
"There are only three cuts in total, use them sparingly."
"—Past me, add points, damn it!"
Almost the instant this voice sounded.
The world before Sawara Kiri's eyes suddenly underwent drastic changes. An unprecedented power suddenly filled his chest, and surging flames seemed to transform his entire body into a blazing fire. A considerable amount of it even continuously gushed out from his wounds, scorching Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki's arm in front of him into a shriveled, charred mess.
Listening to the familiar voice resounding in his ears, a smile couldn't help but well up in Sawara Kiri's heart.
He had originally thought that after being exempted from death, he would have to act like a grandson for a while.
As expected of future me!
The moment this violent power injected into his body, the quiet world around him seemed to have some kind of seal unlocked, causing the stagnant timeline to suddenly begin flowing.
Immediately after.
"Boom—"
Violent and pure fire, originating from Sawara Kiri, spewed out in all directions without any technique. Just this small portion of residual power, difficult to control due to initial reception, made the four Ōtsutsuki present feel as if they had touched the surface of the sun, their entire bodies scorched beyond endurance. Their figures instantly retreated at flying speed, transforming into streaks of pale shadows.
Sawara Kiri, standing still, now stood like a demon god.
A layer of pure white fire now clung to the originally pitch-black blade, and his entire body was enveloped within the center of these blazing flames.
He merely stood there, causing everything within this sealed space to begin to evaporate.
The crimson blood beneath his feet was scorched into large, dry, black cracks, and the verdant grass leaves turned into flying black ash the moment the temperature spread. The moisture in the air rapidly evaporated under the violently erupting heat, the surrounding trees spontaneously combusted without fire, and even breathing gradually became a difficult and life-threatening task.
The fiercely surging fire current caused a golden cage to spontaneously appear around the spatial sealing array.
The moment Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki witnessed this scene, a look of horror uncontrollably appeared in his eyes.
—This indicated that merely the residual Chakra was causing the 'cage' to feel a strong attack, and its consumption rate was astonishingly fast.
Besides that, there was also this all too familiar stance.
"Bankai: Zanka no Tachi"
Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki stared fixedly at Sawara Kiri's appearance, painstakingly uttering a name.
Just to look directly at his posture, Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki had to activate his Byakugan with all his might.
"Oh? You actually know about it?"
Hearing this, Sawara Kiri looked at him with some surprise.
However, during the battle just now, he had already figured it out.
Since these people could jump timelines in the original work, then the reason they had arrived at this time period must be because they had already encountered him at some point in time.
Otherwise, with the Ōtsutsuki Clan's arrogance, viewing humans as a lower species, it seemed unlikely they would be so cautious, even setting up such a comprehensive ambush strategy.
Therefore, he wasn't too surprised.
However, despite his light tone, Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki dared not be careless in the slightest.
Not only Momoshiki, but the other Ōtsutsuki also stared fixedly at his appearance, so terrified that their hands and feet trembled uncontrollably.
Was it merely 'seeing' him?
In the previous and the one before that timeline, a total of seven Ōtsutsuki had all died by this technique.
Just one cut was enough to leave no trace of them, let alone allow them to parasitize others and form a 'Karma'.
Sawara Kiri, however, seemed to have no intention of attacking immediately. He simply watched them quietly, stepping towards them one by one.
Each step he took left a deep, scorched mark on the ground. Even the soil was crushed into fine black ash by the extreme heat, and it even subtly sank a few inches.
"Damn it, how can he know this technique in this timeline?!"
The burly Ōtsutsuki Kinshiki's voice trembled just from seeing this scene.
He had personally witnessed a powerhouse, many times stronger than himself, die helplessly by this blade.
If their bloodline weren't bound to Sawara Kiri in this sealed space, trapped within the 'cage,' he might have turned and fled.
"Click."
Sawara Kiri stood still, raising the blazing blade in his hand.
However, Ōtsutsuki Urashiki, further away, suddenly seemed to notice something. He stared intently at the flickering flames on Sawara Kiri's body, then suddenly shouted, his voice so sharp it nearly broke:
"Attack!"
"He hasn't adapted to the power of Zanka no Tachi yet!!"
Before the others could react, he had already lunged madly towards Sawara Kiri in a life-or-death charge.
The moment this shout fell, the others also immediately noticed Sawara Kiri's slight abnormality and instantly reacted.
That's right, suddenly gaining unprecedented power from his future self, even a prodigy among lower beings like Sawara Kiri would need time to adapt.
This was their chance to live!
Sawara Kiri, however, smiled, openly admitting:
"Yes."
"I'm waiting to adapt to the power. What are you waiting for?"
This plain sentence suddenly ignited the self-esteem of all the Ōtsutsuki present. The intense shame caused by their fear of a lower being seemed to burn their hearts.
Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki, as the temporary leader, had bloodshot eyes and roared as he shot towards Sawara Kiri.
"Boom boom boom boom boom—"
The Ōtsutsuki's physical prowess far surpassed humans by an unknown degree. Just the residual shockwaves from their charge left deep gouges on the vast scorched ground. They moved so fast that Sawara Kiri originally had to maintain at least 'Inherent Time Control: Triple Speed' to fully track their movements.
But now, everything was different.
All matter existing in this world was so clear.
Sawara Kiri's feeling at this moment was unprecedentedly pure.
"Whoosh—"
Ōtsutsuki Urashiki, who charged from the side, had a faint, pure white membrane attach to his body the moment he shot out. The air, already superheated by the 'Zanka no Tachi,' brushed against this membrane, faintly emitting a translucent, bright red glow. His speed was even several times faster than when he had previously probed Sawara Kiri, and the fishing rod in his hand shot straight towards his face like a long spear.
However.
Under the attachment of the blazing white flames, a slender arm suddenly extended and abruptly clenched.
The deep pink Chakra fishing rod was thus easily grasped by him.
Even his body violently shook under the inertia formed by the super-high speed. The back end of the fishing rod directly jabbed into his shoulder, causing his entire body to collapse inward and fold at the waist, emitting a dull thud.
"Bang!"
Ōtsutsuki Urashiki uncontrollably spat out viscous saliva. A circular hole was actually forced through the palm of his hand that had been gripping the end of the fishing rod, Penetration his entire palm.
This power...
Before his thoughts could shift, Sawara Kiri, holding the tip of the fishing rod with one hand, violently pulled forward. The fishing rod, along with Ōtsutsuki Urashiki himself, was flung forward like a whip, several times faster than he had arrived.
"Whoosh—"
A sharp, piercing sound echoed.
Ōtsutsuki Kinshiki, directly in front, had no time to react to the almost imperceptible extreme speed. His massive, two-meter-tall body was suddenly halted in its forward momentum by this swing, and then slammed into the ground amidst a deafening roar.
In the violent roar, the entire section of ground where the two were located was forcibly pressed into a huge crater with a diameter of over thirty meters.
However, at this moment, the two attacking Sawara Kiri from the other two directions had no time to assist.
Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki shot towards Sawara Kiri's front in a near-suicidal charge. The Chakra in his hand rapidly condensed into a short staff, which he spun into a floral pattern in mid-air, carrying an unimaginable surge of immense power as it swept out with a whistling sound.
At the same time, Ōtsutsuki Shibai, on the other side, used his small stature and astonishing speed to sneak behind Sawara Kiri, a short blade condensed in his hand pointing directly at his back.
Either of them, if chosen, could easily defeat a master of the Third Raikage's Jinchuriki level in a direct confrontation. However, in front of Sawara Kiri at this moment, they could only seek a path to survival by sacrificing one person in a desperate gamble.
However, Sawara Kiri had no intention of holding back.
"Clap."
The short staff sweeping from below was easily stopped with a single raised foot. Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki's accumulated strength was entirely unleashed onto the ground, blasting open a straight trench dozens of meters long.
Sawara Kiri's tightly gripped black blade, enveloped in blazing flames, drew an arc of light in mid-air and slashed backward.
Ferocious flames burst forth from the depths of his pupils, and all his will condensed within these pure white flames.
As for Ōtsutsuki Shibai behind him, he instantly sensed his astonishingly violent killing intent. The short blade that was about to pierce the other's back seemed to be completely still in comparison to his incredibly fast speed.
"Zanka no Tachi: Morning Sun Blade"
The moment this slash was unleashed, all the flames Entanglement around his body seemed to vanish at this instant.
In reality, they were all swallowed into the interior of the blade in his hand, which had already transformed into a withered, decaying state, burning to the extreme.
"Whoosh—"
What appeared to be a light slash, upon contact with Ōtsutsuki Shibai's short blade, unleashed a terrifying power that ordinary people could never imagine.
The violently rising wind formed a straight line, extending directly into the far distance from the point where Sawara Kiri's blade was swung. The mere wind from the blade instantly pierced through dozens of kilometers of ground, forming a bottomless trench.
Immediately after, the fire current contained within the center of the blade erupted.
"Rumble—!!"
The already warped and rising air completely disintegrated under this single slash, turning into a vacuum. The flames, reaching the temperature of the sun's core, were now invisible, a completely formless pure energy, only bursting into flame upon contact with Ōtsutsuki Shibai's body during the burning process.
First the blade in her hand, then her clothes, then her skin, hair, muscles, organs...
Her sharp scream was swallowed by the raging fire current the moment it left her mouth.
The explosive flames that erupted behind her tore through dozens of kilometers along the previously opened trench.
The seemingly sturdy 'cage' and the blood-colored patterns sealing the ground space, under this indescribably powerful slash, only held for a brief moment before being easily torn apart like paper, turning into a pulverized mess.
Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki's body was pressed down several inches by the short staff underfoot, making him appear to be kneeling before Sawara Kiri from a distance.
He widened his eyes, watching helplessly as one of his last few companions died so easily by Sawara Kiri's blade—or, to be precise, died by his blade yet again.
Sawara Kiri turned his head, looking down at him, just as he had seen countless times before...
A gaze that looked down upon ants.
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