In the future timeline, Sasuke was battling Urashiki.
Urashiki, wielding a red fishing rod, continuously dodged, yet the wounds on his body continued to increase, his white clothes long since soaked with blood.
"Sasuke, you truly are a troublesome individual." Urashiki gritted his teeth.
His fishing rod suddenly flung out, Chakra threads transforming into sharp spikes, heading straight for Sasuke's face.
But Sasuke merely shifted his body slightly, and Susanoo instantly appeared in front of him, blocking the attack. The threads collided with the hard Chakra barrier, instantly snapping.
Immediately after, Susanoo swung its great sword in a sweeping motion. Urashiki hastily jumped backward, the rocks beneath his feet split in half, shattered fragments flying and landing on the ground with crisp cracking sounds.
"Do you think you can defeat me with just this much?"
Urashiki shrieked, his voice fierce but his heart timid, raising a red glowing fishing basket with his left hand. Countless red orbs of light shot towards Sasuke.
Sasuke swiftly dodged, throwing out a large number of shuriken.
—
Their battle lasted for half an hour. Urashiki's aura grew weaker and weaker, each dodge appearing increasingly strained.
He watched Sasuke's relentlessly advancing figure, and began to contemplate a retreat.
Since he couldn't defeat the current Sasuke, he would go back to the past and kill him when he was a child. As long as Sasuke died in childhood, this troublesome opponent would not exist in the future.
This thought caused a ruthless glint to flash in Urashiki's eyes. He quietly reached for his waist. There, hidden, was the treasure of the Otsutsuki clan, Karasuki.
Sasuke took in his small movements, yet he did not accelerate his attack rhythm. Instead, he slowly sheathed his blade, his eyes revealing undisguised disdain.
Urashiki seized the opportunity to inject all his Chakra into Karasuki. The ancient artifact glowed with a faint blue light.
He laughed maniacally. "Sasuke, don't get ahead of yourself. I can't defeat the current you, but can't I go back to the past? As long as I kill you when you were a child, the current you will disappear, and the ultimate victory will be mine."
He shrieked as he stumbled into a spatial rift, believing he had escaped a calamity.
Sasuke stood still, watching the spatial rift slowly close, without a hint of worry on his face. Instead, he revealed a dismissive, shallow smile.
He gently brushed dust from his sleeve, then slowly spoke, "Going to the past? How foolish. Do you think you can succeed by going back to the past? My father's strength is far more terrifying than my current self. Your trip there will simply be walking into a trap."
Having said that, Sasuke turned to look in the direction of Konoha, his gaze calm and unperturbed.
He knew his father's capabilities very well. Not to mention a heavily injured Urashiki, even an Otsutsuki at their peak would not fare well against his father.
...
On the other side, in the wilderness of Konoha year 64, a spatial rift opened, and Urashiki stumbled out, falling heavily to the ground.
Karasuki's energy was not enough to transfer him to the time of Sasuke's childhood. His remaining strength could only send him back 20 years, to Konoha year 64.
He struggled to get up, and just as he was about to catch his breath to calm his chaotic Chakra, a dark shadow flashed by with extreme speed, and Karasuki in his hand was instantly snatched away.
"Who?"
Urashiki was both shocked and enraged, turning to look at the newcomer.
It was an Uchiha dressed in a dark brocade robe, his black hair tied up, and a vertical pupil on his forehead glowing with cold golden light.
It was Shun.
Killing intent instantly ignited in Urashiki's eyes, and his residual Chakra surged around him.
"Return Karasuki to me. That is a treasure of the Otsutsuki clan. How dare a mortal like you lay hands on it!?"
Shun toyed with Karasuki in his hand, sensing the artifact's faint and chaotic energy fluctuations.
He possessed the ability to read minds, so he quickly understood the opponent's thoughts.
"You want to go back to the past and kill Sasuke when he was a child? What a pity. You can't even control the treasure's energy, yet you dare to attempt to change time and space. Truly overestimating yourself."
Urashiki's face changed drastically. He hadn't expected this person in front of him to be able to read his mind.
He was enraged. The red fishing rod flung out, Chakra threads heading straight for Shun's face.
Shun merely shifted his body slightly, avoiding the attack, and at the same time, kicked towards Urashiki's chest.
Urashiki flew out, smashing heavily against a rock, spitting out a mouthful of blood, even his breathing becoming difficult.
"Impossible! How can you be so strong?" Urashiki lay on the ground, looking up in disbelief.
He had just barely escaped from Sasuke's hands. Now, he had encountered an opponent even stronger than Sasuke?
He struggled to get up and attacked again, the remaining Chakra in the red glowing fishing basket condensing into light orbs, shooting towards Shun.
Shun didn't even use Susanoo. He simply raised his hand and condensed a Truth-Seeking Orb barrier, easily blocking the light orbs.
In just a few moves, Urashiki was covered in wounds, falling to the ground in a sorry state.
Watching Shun's relentlessly advancing figure, he used his Rinnegan's ocular jutsu: Temporal Rewind.
The surrounding scenery instantly flowed backward, shattered rocks returned to their original positions, and the wounds on his body gradually healed.
"Time Rewind?" Shun raised an eyebrow.
His Divine Eye could see through the trajectory of time and space, so Urashiki's small movements could not be hidden from him.
"Unfortunately, even if you rewind time, you still cannot defeat me."
Urashiki was about to seize the opportunity to activate Yomotsu Hirasaka to escape, but the spatial rift at his feet had barely opened a crack before Shun interrupted him.
"Trying to run? Not so easy."
Shun pressed closer, making Urashiki's Chakra circulation sluggish.
"You fled miserably in front of Sasuke just now, and want to escape to harm him when he was a child. Do you think I'll give you the chance?"
Urashiki panicked. He knew that if this continued, he would surely die.
He suddenly grabbed the red glowing fishing basket, absorbed all the Chakra inside into his body, and then savagely dug into his own Rinnegan, even swallowing the Rinnegan.
Instantly, his body swelled, his Byakugan eyes turned golden, a golden Rinnegan opened on his forehead, multiple black horizontal stripes appeared on his face, huge horns grew on his head, and his feet transformed into black sharp claws.
"This is my final form! Mortal brat, now let's see how you can defeat me!"
Urashiki, in his crane-like form, let out a sharp cry.
His wings flapped, stirring up gales, and countless feathers transformed into sharp blades, shooting towards Shun like a rainstorm.
Shun stood still, his expression unchanged. Facing the incoming feather blades, he gently activated his golden Rinnegan, the vertical pupil on his forehead glowing intensely.
Divine Acceleration!
Time around him seemed to instantly slow down in his eyes, the trajectory of every feather blade clearly visible.
He calmly dodged every attack and then transformed a Truth-Seeking Orb into a black longsword with golden patterns.