Seeing Urashiki making strange movements, the older Sasuke took a few quick steps forward and positioned himself in front of the four kids, shielding them behind him to prevent any tricks.
No matter what, Urashiki's target was the Nine-Tails. As long as he wasn't allowed to obtain the tailed beast's chakra, there was nothing to worry about.
The older Sasuke tested him with a remark.
"Urashiki, is there any point in continuing this pointless struggle? It's over."
"Over? Ahahaha! What a naïve lower life-form you are. Allow me to show you my most savage form."
To ensure his transformation wouldn't be interrupted, Urashiki flew higher into the sky.
After all, transforming in the real world didn't come with invincibility frames.
After swallowing his red-glowing fish basket and both of his eyes, he became blind. But that didn't matter. A crack appeared in the center of his forehead.
When it opened, it revealed a golden Rinnegan.
At the same time, terrifying chakra gathered throughout his body, radiating an almost tangible pressure.
The strange changes didn't stop there.
A dazzling light appeared beneath his feet and formed into an oval-shaped barrier.
Urashiki stepped forward and walked directly into it.
When he emerged from the other side, his appearance had completely changed.
His transformation was complete.
Gone was the carefree image he had worn before.
He had become a monster.
The pair of blue Rinnegan he had swallowed regrew, but they were now golden.
The horns on his forehead had transformed into wings, though one side was broken, making them look oddly asymmetrical.
His pale blue hair turned into long white hair that flowed down his back.
His arms became wings.
His legs transformed into black bird talons.
His face was covered in black rectangular markings that looked like stitched-together tattoos.
He had gone from a handsome young Ōtsutsuki...
...to a birdman.
The appearance might have been questionable, but the pressure he gave off far surpassed before.
The terrifying chakra gathered within his body felt incomparably heavy.
Meanwhile, the barrier used for his transformation erupted with light once more.
For a moment, it outshone the sun itself.
Like a supernova exploding, it turned the entire area into a sea of white.
The blinding radiance even engulfed distant Konohagakure.
Countless villagers looked toward the source of the light, wondering what had happened.
Fortunately, Konoha's troublemaking citizens were far less easily rattled than people elsewhere.
What hadn't they seen before?
It was only a bright light.
Nothing to fear.
Minato, however, wasn't willing to leave things to chance.
He immediately issued orders as Hokage.
The entire ANBU and Police Force were mobilized to guide civilians into shelters, preventing Konoha from suffering collateral damage and having its residents killed by the enemy's large-scale attacks.
After the brief eruption, the barrier collapsed.
It dissolved into sinister black mist-like chakra that swept outward in every direction.
Like a violent gale tearing through a forest, it flattened nearby trees.
The battlefield, which had already been blasted to pieces, was scraped clean yet again.
Dirt and rocks flew everywhere.
The chaotic chakra currents were so powerful that they drew dark clouds over the region.
Thunder rumbled.
Lightning flashed.
It felt as though everyone had been thrown into an apocalyptic world born from an extreme natural disaster.
The Ōtsutsuki Clan truly deserved their reputation as the rulers of the universe.
To other intelligent lifeforms, they were beings who called themselves gods.
Now, with Urashiki unleashing his full power, the pressure he exuded completely surpassed the understanding of ordinary shinobi.
Put simply, compared to the usual ninja battles where people tossed a few kunai and shuriken before ending things with a handful of jutsu, the power scaling had completely gone off the rails.
Makoto didn't know how the Ōtsutsuki performed in Boruto's world.
But here, Urashiki had finally stopped embarrassing the clan.
At least now he looked somewhat worthy of being called a god.
Since the older Sasuke had been keeping Urashiki suppressed, Makoto hadn't intended to intervene.
But looking at the situation now, it seemed he needed to add an extra layer of insurance for Konoha.
Chakra surged through his body.
In an instant, Makoto created ten Wood Clones.
Then he vanished.
When he reappeared, the clones had already taken up special positions around the outer perimeter of the battlefield.
All ten clones formed a complex sequence of hand seals in perfect synchronization.
Then they raised both hands toward the sky and remained motionless.
Together, they formed a transparent, invisible barrier around the battlefield, preventing any damage from spilling outward.
...
The intense light faded.
The chaos subsided.
Several people lying in a giant crater near the edge of the battlefield lifted their heads and shook the sand and dirt from their hair before looking toward the bizarre figure in the sky.
Naruto said, "This guy looks different now. He's some kind of monster, isn't he?"
Little Sasuke replied, "No... it's more than that. His chakra feels even more terrifying now."
Sakura said, "What kind of monster is that? Why are we the ones who have to deal with something like this? Is this really something genin are supposed to handle?"
Boruto said, "Urashiki is actually this terrifying?"
He was beginning to suspect that the Momoshiki he had defeated not long ago might have been a bargain-bin Ōtsutsuki.
The older Sasuke said, "What a troublesome opponent. I didn't expect him to be able to transform. Such sinister and astonishing chakra."
"Hehehehehe!"
Urashiki let out a bizarre laugh from the sky and pointed toward the group's hiding place.
"I'm going to slaughter every last one of you inferior life-forms.
"No, not just you. This damned Konoha doesn't deserve to exist either. Everyone who has seen my ultimate form must die."
Amenosubaruboshinomikoto: Gyokkō!
Urashiki extended his right hand in the air and condensed a large number of purple chakra spheres, firing them toward Sasuke and the others.
The older Sasuke activated his Complete Body Susanoo.
In an instant, a gigantic purple chakra-armored warrior with wings towered between heaven and earth.
The moment it appeared, two Susanoo swords extended from its hands.
With a series of slashes and sweeping strikes, the massive blades instantly cleared away the incoming chakra spheres, triggering a chain of explosions across the sky.
"So, Sasuke, this is your full power? But I'm not done yet."
Amenosubaruboshinomikoto: Ryūgū!
An enormous purple chakra sphere, carrying unmatched kinetic force like a falling meteor, crashed toward the older Sasuke.
If he destroyed it with another slash, the resulting blast might affect the four kids behind him.
Although he knew Makoto would protect them, the older Sasuke didn't want to take that risk.
He trusted his own power more.
Shinra Tensei!
A vast repulsive force abruptly halted the massive chakra sphere before hurling it back at Urashiki.
Since Sasuke possessed the Rinnegan, he naturally knew how to use Pain's signature technique.
After years of development, he could even control its direction, preventing the four people behind him from being blown away as well.
He hadn't used it before because his body had been weakened.
Now that his chakra had temporarily recovered, he could finally fight at full power without holding back.
Shinra Tensei!
Urashiki responded with the same technique.
In his crane form, the golden Rinnegan on his forehead could also manipulate attraction and repulsion.
The two invisible waves of repulsive force collided in midair and instantly detonated the giant purple chakra sphere.
BOOM—
The enormous amount of chakra released by the explosion swept outward like a typhoon.
Had Makoto not set up a barrier beforehand, it was hard to say whether Konoha itself would have been blown away.
But the nearby villages definitely wouldn't have survived.
The entire population would have been wiped out on the spot.
This was power that belonged to gods.
Not only ordinary people—even ninety-nine percent of shinobi would have been equally powerless to protect themselves.
The older Sasuke spread the wings of his Complete Body Susanoo and charged into the storm, engaging Urashiki in battle.
Now, he could fly as well.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
One large figure and one small figure exchanged an endless barrage of attacks high in the sky.
Compared to Susanoo, Urashiki's body was tiny.
Yet his strength was astonishing.
His crane form had greatly enhanced both his physical power and taijutsu capabilities.
Meanwhile, his original red-glowing fishing rod had transformed into a black chakra staff that could freely change shape.
At this moment, Urashiki was swinging the staff—its far end enlarged into a thick club—and clashing directly against Sasuke's twin Susanoo swords.
His smaller size made him far more agile.
From time to time, he slipped through openings and struck the giant Susanoo.
Every blow left large cracks across the Complete Body Susanoo.
Yet it never shattered, and the damage quickly repaired itself.
Susanoo was a dōjutsu unique to the Mangekyō Sharingan.
While the Complete Body form possessed immense size and overwhelming offensive power, it was best suited for devastating large numbers of enemies with wide-area attacks.
It was not particularly suited for dealing with opponents like Urashiki—small, highly mobile, and capable of free flight.
Not only was it passive in such a matchup, but it also consumed a tremendous amount of ocular power.
The older Sasuke naturally understood this.
So he quickly changed tactics.
Beating his wings, he pulled away from Urashiki and switched from close-quarters combat to long-range combat.
The Susanoo swords vanished from the giant's hands.
In their place appeared his signature weapon:
The Susanoo Bow.
Drawing the bowstring, he condensed chakra into arrows and fired them at Urashiki.
The Susanoo arrows seemed to come with a built-in tracking system and a guaranteed-hit buff.
No matter how fast Urashiki flew, he couldn't shake them off.
So he simply stopped trying to dodge.
Turning around, he extended a hand and condensed a large number of purple chakra spheres.
Amenosubaruboshinomikoto: Gyokkō!
High in the sky, countless chakra spheres collided with the Susanoo arrows, producing a continuous series of explosions.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
For a time, the skies above the battlefield became a spectacular sight.
Chakra surged wildly in every direction.
Explosions echoed without end.
The two of them had directly transformed a ninja battle into an all-out energy-beam bombardment duel.