Just as Isshiki and Urashiki were speaking, a pitch-black portal suddenly appeared before them.
Wen Lan and the others stepped out one after another.
"So it really is you!"
The moment Kaguya saw Isshiki, her mind wavered slightly.
Although she had already confirmed earlier that Isshiki was still alive, seeing him with her own eyes still left her shaken.
Ay, with his explosive temper, didn't waste a single word.
He threw out a punch immediately.
Violent chakra exploded like thunder as his fist shot straight toward Isshiki's face.
But at the instant the blow was about to land—
Isshiki's body shifted ever so slightly, narrowly evading the strike by mere millimeters.
Ay's fist brushed past Isshiki's robes before slamming into the stone wall behind him, shattering rock in every direction.
At the same moment Isshiki dodged—
a black chakra rod suddenly appeared in his hand and viciously stabbed toward Ay.
Ay didn't dodge at all.
He believed his Lightning Release Armor had reached its absolute peak.
No weapon should have been capable of harming him.
So instead, he pressed forward aggressively.
But—
the instant the black chakra rod pierced his body like a hot knife through butter—
Ay's pupils contracted violently.
He stared down in disbelief at the black rod embedded deep in his chest.
Blood dripped from the chakra rod with soft tap… tap… sounds that struck everyone's nerves.
Ay groaned as he staggered backward.
The Lightning Release Armor surrounding him instantly dissipated.
Isshiki calmly formed another chakra rod in his right hand and hurled it directly at Ay's head.
BANG!
A yellow flash suddenly appeared before Ay.
A kunai precisely knocked away the incoming rod, sparks exploding outward.
Golden hair fluttered lightly in the wind.
Minato Namikaze stood between Isshiki and Ay, his eyes sharp as lightning.
"Be careful!"
"Those rods interfere with the chakra inside your body!"
Ay gritted his teeth, grabbed the rod lodged in his chest, and violently ripped it out.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
However, using sheer muscular control, he forcibly compressed the wound shut to stop the bleeding temporarily.
"Water Release: Water Whip!"
Mei condensed a water whip and lashed it toward Isshiki.
Suddenly—
a crimson fishing hook burst from underground and precisely hooked onto the whip, instantly dispersing it.
"Did you forget I exist?"
Wen Lan unsheathed the Kusanagi Sword and flashed toward Urashiki's throat like lightning itself.
At this moment, Wen Lan was still maintaining both the Gate of Death and Sage Mode.
His speed was terrifying.
But right before the strike connected—
Urashiki sneered.
His body suddenly transformed into several glowing red paper cranes that scattered in all directions before reassembling high in the air.
The fatal strike missed.
"I've already seen through your attacks."
Urashiki's mocking voice echoed through the cavern.
Wen Lan's eyes narrowed.
That strike had absolutely been guaranteed to hit.
How had Urashiki dodged it?
Then he noticed—
Urashiki's eyes had transformed into blue Rinnegan.
[A Rinnegan ability… troublesome.]
Wen Lan frowned slightly.
He raised his left hand toward Urashiki.
"Universal Pull!"
A massive attractive force violently dragged Urashiki toward him.
"Almighty Push!"
Urashiki suddenly roared.
His body instantly froze in place as repulsive force collided directly against the attraction.
The two powers violently clashed midair, unleashing massive shockwaves that blasted dust everywhere.
Suddenly—
huge amounts of gold dust erupted upward from beneath Urashiki.
The sand did not attack him directly.
Instead, it rapidly formed a pyramid around him, sealing him inside.
Rasa clenched both fists tightly.
"Sand Binding Coffin!"
The pyramid instantly began compressing inward.
But halfway through—
Rasa's fists suddenly stopped moving, as if blocked by some invisible force.
At the same moment, Wen Lan sensed the disappearance of Almighty Push and prepared to continue attacking.
Then—
the pyramid suddenly exploded apart.
Golden sand scattered like torrential rain in every direction.
Urashiki floated calmly in the air, his Rinnegan gleaming coldly as he swung his fishing rod.
"Ame-no-Subaruboshi no Mikoto!"
The fishing hook instantly multiplied into countless hooks that rained down toward Rasa.
Rasa immediately raised both hands.
Walls of sand rose rapidly from the earth in an attempt to block the attack.
But the hooks passed directly through the sand walls as though they were paper.
Rasa's pupils shrank.
He rapidly retreated while simultaneously forming a massive shield of gold dust behind himself.
But Wen Lan paid no attention to any of that.
His body shot toward Urashiki like a cannonball.
The Kusanagi Sword ignited with blazing flames.
"Flame Breathing…"
"First Form — Unknowing Fire!"
The blazing sword collided violently with the fishing hooks, erupting in dazzling light.
Flames and hooks intertwined as shockwaves exploded outward like hurricanes.
The ground cracked apart in spiderweb patterns.
Using the recoil, Wen Lan launched himself upward.
His sword momentum remained uninterrupted as his body spun violently, transforming the flames into a spiraling inferno slash.
Urashiki's Rinnegan contracted.
He could no longer dodge.
But just as Wen Lan's blade was about to sever Urashiki's neck—
Urashiki suddenly vanished.
Wen Lan immediately sensed something wrong with the surrounding flow of time.
Time itself seemed stretched unnaturally.
In that instant, Urashiki disappeared—
only to reappear several meters away.
The position he stood in…
was exactly where he had been moments earlier inside the golden sand pyramid.
Wen Lan's eyes narrowed sharply.
He understood instantly.
"So that's it…"
"Time reversal."
He lowered his sword slightly and looked at Urashiki.
"You can manipulate the flow of time around you…"
"…but you cannot manipulate your own personal time."
"You're using external time flow to move your body back to a previous position from several seconds ago."
Urashiki froze briefly before smiling faintly.
"As expected of this world's strongest."
"You understood it after only a few exchanges."
"Not only that."
Kaguya's voice sounded behind Wen Lan.
"Urashiki and I are of equal rank."
"His abilities also allow him to observe and predict an opponent's attack trajectories and techniques."
"He always chooses the safest possible response."
"I see."
Wen Lan finally understood.
"So that's how you dodged my first strike earlier."
"Tch."
Urashiki looked at Kaguya irritably.
"Traitor."
"Do you really think you'll survive this?"
Kaguya looked at him coldly.
"I simply do not wish to die."
Then she raised a fist.
"Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack!"
Countless chakra fists descended like meteors toward Urashiki.
Space itself twisted and shattered beneath the force of the blows.
Urashiki's pupils contracted violently.
His Rinnegan spun rapidly as he predicted the landing points of each attack.
His body flickered repeatedly, attempting to weave through the gaps—
but the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack possessed no true physical form.
Once locked onto, escape was impossible.
"Almighty Push!"
Urashiki roared.
Massive repulsive force exploded outward from his body, forcibly blasting away dozens of the chakra fists.
Space trembled with layered ripples.
Yet the assault did not end.
The remaining Vacuum Attacks pierced through regardless, tearing several bloody wounds across his shoulder.
Fresh blood instantly stained his robes red.
"Damn it!"
Urashiki grabbed several pills and stuffed them into his mouth, chewing wildly.
His injuries visibly regenerated.
"You forced my hand!"
Then—he grabbed the crimson fish basket hanging from his waist and began devouring its contents in huge mouthfuls.
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