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While Sam was urging the King of Wisdom to hurry up and close the spatial rift, Kurama suddenly appeared in front of Elsa and the others.
His instincts told him one thing.
The enemy wasn't dead.
Sure enough, barely two and a half seconds after Kurama arrived, a deafening explosion rang out from the massive ice sphere in the distance.
The enormous ball of ice cracked apart in an instant. Frost shattered and fell away as the humanoid mantis slowly rose from the mist, shaking off chunks of ice like it was nothing.
"Holy crap, it's that strong?!"
Wu Liuqi's face practically turned into a meme. "That huge ice ball smashed down on it and it's not even hurt?"
"It's not like it's completely fine," Kurama shot back, refusing to admit his attack had been useless. "At least it was dizzy for a moment…"
Liu Erlong: "…"
Dizzy?
Something that big crashing down would've crushed even a top-tier Titled Douluo's skull.
And this thing was just… dizzy?
Elsa's eyes narrowed. "Its defense is insane."
"Are mantises always this tough? And it heals that fast too?"
She'd caught it. There had been a wound on its head—small, but real.
It healed almost instantly.
Kurama wasn't as relaxed as Wu Liuqi. His expression was grim.
Sixth tier…
Just like Robin from the Transdimensional Mercenary Guild had said. After the third tier, every step up was a whole new world.
That joint attack he and Elsa just used? Back in the Naruto world, even a Hokage would've needed everything they had just to barely hold it off.
Well… not counting monsters like Hashirama or Madara. Those two were built different.
Still, Kurama didn't wait around for the mantis to make the first move.
The best defense is offense.
While the mantis was still stiff from the freezing and lingering dizziness, Kurama took the initiative. A Tailed Beast Bomb began forming in front of him.
Like Naruto in Four-Tails mode, he compressed it to a critical point—then swallowed it in one gulp and fired it straight at the mantis.
Even though the mantis had shrunk compared to before, it was still huge. A perfect target.
It was fast, sure—but it hadn't fully recovered yet. All it could do was rely on instinct. It raised its scythe-like forelegs, the blades gleaming as it braced for impact.
The Tailed Beast Bomb hit.
Boom.
A violent explosion ripped through the air. Shockwaves blasted outward in every direction.
Elsa and the others had no choice but to retreat and hide behind the ice walls they'd created earlier.
"This fight is seriously…" Liu Erlong muttered, lips twitching. "It's rewriting my understanding of reality."
It wasn't even a back-and-forth clash.
It was Kurama bombarding the thing nonstop while the mantis turned the battlefield into a fireworks show.
"Before, I thought the mantis just lacked experience," Sam said after watching closely. "But now? It's definitely sixth tier… it just has no idea how to use that power properly."
"Answer: Analysis indicates the target was born not long ago. Its current evolutionary stage was likely completed only recently."
Sam blinked. "Wait. King of Wisdom? Aren't you busy sealing the rift? How do you have time to analyze a mantis?"
Parallel processing. Ever heard of it?
After silently scoffing, the King of Wisdom replied calmly, "Closing the spatial rift does not interfere with my analysis."
"…Fine. You win. You're amazing, okay?"
"Hehe."
Cold. Unbothered.
"Hold on," Sam frowned. "You said evolution? At this level? And it was just born?!"
"Correct."
"After entering this area, you noticed that aside from Void-corrupted soul beasts, no normal ones remained. I began analyzing. Conclusion: all native soul beasts were devoured by this humanoid mantis and converted into energy for its evolution."
Sam stared. "That's literally Kha'Zix's setting from League of Legends!"
"Wow. Robin really lied straight-faced about Void creatures being totally different from the game."
He seriously wanted to unleash his legendary five-curses-per-second rant right now.
What 'completely different,' my ass.
Kurama, meanwhile, realized the Tailed Beast Bomb hadn't done enough damage and switched to close combat.
But the mantis's forelegs were absurdly sharp. One clean hit and even he couldn't tank it. Worse, that eerie Void energy slowed the healing of his wounds.
After a few exchanges, Kurama shifted forms—transforming into a humanoid shape wrapped in a chakra avatar of the Nine-Tailed Fox.
Sam's jaw dropped.
"Isn't that the mode Naruto used after fully mastering the Nine-Tails' power?"
He burst out laughing.
"Becoming your own jinchūriki? That's some next-level stuff!"
"....."