Inside the palace, a playful smile hovered at the corners of Takuno's mouth.
At this moment, he was undoubtedly the biggest villain.
For Toneri's father, the power of the golden Tenseigan surged within his body, yet it also eroded his remaining life force like bone-burrowing poison.
He gazed at Takuno before his eyes, his look like a quenched sharp blade.
He knew that if he could not thoroughly obliterate Takuno right here and right at this moment, there would no longer be any possibility for his clan's bloodline to continue!
Even if he luckily managed to force the opponent back, so what? The power borrowed by exhausting his life already destined him to be unable to see tomorrow's sun.
Once Takuno made a comeback, who else could guard Toneri? Who else could block this catastrophic disaster?
There was no path of retreat, only a death battle!
Even if he burned his very last sliver of soul, he would drag Takuno into hell here!
"Boom!"
The resolute will transformed into a physical substance.
A boundless and unmatched chakra abruptly exploded from within Toneri's father's body, akin to a slumbering volcano awakening.
A visibly noticeable golden energy torrent, through a channel in the unseen, was infused even more frantically from that radiant golden Tenseigan in the distance.
His robes moved without any wind, the ground beneath his feet fracturing inch by inch under the impact of the energy.
"Oh? Finally going to risk your life?" Takuno raised his brows with great interest, actually not having the slightest intention of intercepting.
His purpose for this trip was fundamentally to catch a glimpse of just how that legendary golden Tenseigan power truly was.
So how could he block the opponent's active demonstration?
The opponent's near-contemptuous indulgence caused the anger in Toneri's father's heart to burn wildly!
A sliver of luck vanished in a flash, replaced by the humiliation of being thoroughly slighted; he actually dared to be so overconfident?!
"Buzz!"
Accompanied by an energy hum that vibrated through space, a dazzling and eye-catching glowing green light abruptly enveloped Toneri's father's entire body!
The power of the golden Tenseigan surged in, as if time were flowing backward.
The dried-up musculature was filled with boundless vitality; the hunched posture straightened instantly like a javelin, wrinkles smoothing out, white hair flying wild.
A stream of power far exceeding his peak period careened through his four limbs and hundred vessels!
"Is this... the power of the Tenseigan?" Sensing the unprecedentedly terrifying energy within his body, Toneri's father's clenched fists let out the popping of bone joints.
An unprecedented confidence burned in his eyes; at this moment, he had absolute certainty to thoroughly terminate the enemy before his eyes!
"Hmm? Tenseigan Chakra Mode?" Takuno's gaze swept across that layer of condensed glowing green chakra coat, his tone carrying a trace of surprise.
But very quickly, he shook his head.
Although the outward appearance possessed a few points of similarity to the form after Toneri awakened the true Tenseigan, the fatal flaw was clear at a single glance.
Those Truth-Seeking Balls capable of distorting all of creation and symbolizing the ultimate of power failed to surface at this moment.
"A Tenseigan Chakra Mode unable to even condense Truth-Seeking Balls? It is merely a defective product with a superficial appearance, not even counting as a semi-finished product!"
However, he also knew that for a mortal who failed to awaken the Tenseigan himself and relied solely on external force to stubbornly prop himself up, being able to drive this "Pseudo-Tenseigan Chakra Mode" to such an extent was already the limit that could be reached by burning his life.
Toneri's father had indeed already done well enough, but, to Takuno, it was still not enough!
Toneri's father clearly sensed that although that borrowed power within his body was powerful, it was simultaneously counterattacking frantically; every single inch of his Tenketsu was wailing, his bones letting out groans of being overburdened.
He knew that his life was already like a remnant candle in the wind, liable to be completely burst open by this massive power at any next second.
Time was already running short, the shadow of death hanging above his head, tolerating not half a point of hesitation.
Only a single target remained in his eyes: Takuno!
The ground beneath his feet fractured in response to the sound, his figure turning into a blurry green residual image; almost at the instant the thought arose, he had already ferociously advanced to the front of Takuno.
The right fist which condensed his entire strength, wrapped in a piercing air-breaking shriek, shattered outward resonantly without any embellishment!
"BANG!!"
A dull, thunder-like giant roar exploded open.
Takuno merely lifted his arm to parry, his body yet like a giant rock rooted in the earth, moving not a single thread!
However, that wild airwave agitated by the collision acted like invisible sharp blades, instantly sweeping through the entire space.
The magnificent pillars and exquisite ornaments around, under the impact of the aftermath of this pure power collision, shattered one after another, turning into sky-blotting fine dust to fly about.
"The force... is passable."
Takuno felt the impact coming from his arm, evaluating in a flat tone.
"Wha...?!" Toneri's father's pupils abruptly contracted into the size of needle tips, an unbelievable horror instantly swallowing his sanity.
The opponent actually caught this strike of his so effortlessly?! To the point of not even needing to dodge once?
However, an anomaly that caused his mind to shake even more violently followed closely behind!
The scene before his eyes twisted abruptly; in merely the blink of an eye, when his vision cleared once more, that luxurious palace dome had already vanished without a trace!
Replaced by a piece of desolate open ground, above his head being an oppressive firmament.
"That damn space-time ability again?!" Toneri's father's heart was as if falling into an ice cellar, a chill instantly permeating his four limbs and hundred vessels.
In his fear, he rapidly retreated at high speed, pulling open a distance from Takuno.
Inside the palace, he had long witnessed the opponent executing this bizarre and unpredictable ability multiple times, but no matter how many times he observed it, the principle of this instantaneous movement still acted as if enveloped in a dense fog, unable to be peered into for even a single fraction!
It seemed to be without any restrictions, able to appear or disappear as he pleased at any arbitrary point within his line of sight...
But now, they were located in this wilderness far away from the palace's line of sight, yet the opponent could actually still instantly transfer? To the point where he could even move together with him, an enemy?!
At this moment, Toneri's father's heart slowly sank down; if he did not understand clearly the principle of the opponent's space-time ninjutsu, then his wanting to kill the opponent would be no different from an idiot talking about dreams.
Takuno was entirely unaware of the crashing waves churning inside Toneri's father's heart.
He merely shook casually the fist that had just parried; in the next second, he exerted force beneath his feet, his physical form violently rising up once more without any omen, actually rushing toward the opponent in the most primitive manner—pure Taijutsu speed!
Although Toneri's father was astounded that the opponent was begrudging to even use an ability at this moment, to him, this was undoubtedly an opportunity!
He gritted his teeth, ignoring the splitting pain of his body bordering on collapse, frantically squeezing that remaining golden Tenseigan power within his body once more, injecting the majestic chakra in its entirety into his right arm.
At this moment, he completely ignored whether his arm could support this stream of power, carrying a resolution of jade and stone burning together to similarly welcome and strike upward with a fierce straight punch!
"BOOM!!!"
This time's collision was like two mountain ranges crashing together with a roar!
A deafening explosive roar tore through the air, the wild energy shockwave taking the collision between their fists as the center to violently explode open in a spherical shape!
The solid earth was instantly torn apart, forming a massive circular deep pit, spiderweb-like fissures spreading frantically.
The disparity in strength displayed itself to the absolute limit at this moment!
The contest of strength between fist and fist merely deadlocked for less than a single breath, to the point of not even reaching a single second!
A stream of completely incomprehensible, terrifying colossal force brutally crushed the chakra barrier condensed by Toneri's father, surging and pouring in along his arm!
"Uh... ah!"
Accompanied by a muffled groan, Toneri's father's body acted like a kite with a broken string, being fiercely swatted and flying outward by this unmatchable force, drawing a pathetic arc in the sky.
In the process of flying backward, his eyes were wide open, his pupils filled with extreme shock and incomprehensible blankness.
He... he had deployed the power of the golden Tenseigan!
His arm had completely exploded apart at this moment; this was not caused by the opponent, but was the result of him forcibly activating a power he could not endure.
But it was precisely this kind of power...
The opponent... the opponent had not even executed a single respectable ninjutsu!
Relying merely on pure physical strength?!
How could this be possible?! This enemy—how could he be powerful to such a despair-inducing extent?!
Toneri's father lay upon the ground, his chaotic thoughts making him unwilling to get up.
Takuno's steps were steady, every single step acting as if treading upon Toneri's father's disordered heartbeat as he slowly approached closely.
His voice was calm, yet carried an unquestionable penetrative force.
"Are you confused as to why, even after exhausting your full strength to borrow the power of the golden Tenseigan, you are still not my match?"
"Wh... why?!" Toneri's father breathed rapidly, his chest rising and falling violently, his eyes mixing intense unwillingness with a confusion too dense to dissolve.
He urgently needed an answer.
"The answer is very simple." Takuno stopped his steps and said, "The root lies in the heaven-and-earth difference in the essence of our constitutions.
"Speaking solely of the multiple of power amplification, the addition you obtained after activating the Tenseigan Chakra Mode indeed reigns supreme above my Sage Mode at this moment.
"However, as the basic 'container' bearing this power, the gap between you and me is a difference of gold and mud!
"That seemingly higher addition of yours, before such a disparate baseline chasm, is merely a cup of water to a cart of firewood, fundamentally incapable of compensating for the gap between us."
Takuno's physical constitution had obtained a shocking, leap-style elevation after successfully assimilating Hashirama cells.
Prior to this, he was already capable of relying on his own robust physique to activate the sixth of the Eight Inner Gates, the "Gate of View," without any burden.
And now, benefiting from the assimilation of Hashirama cells, he had even pushed this limit to the seventh gate, the "Gate of Wonder," similarly capable of achieving activation completely without side effects!
This kind of shocking constitutional strength had already surpassed the level of Might Guy in his final form in the original work.
Takuno himself felt a deep admiration toward Might Guy's steel-like will, and also acknowledged that the opponent's physical talent was exceptionally superb, sufficient to support him in conducting extremely rigorous training.
However, under the setting of this worldview, pure physical talent ultimately found it difficult to rival powerful bloodline force.
The potential encompassed within Hashirama cells was just so "unreasonable" in its strength.
What's more, the effort Takuno himself paid into Taijutsu actually did not pale in comparison to Might Guy either; added to the powerful recovery capability brought by his bloodline, being more powerful than Might Guy was only as it should be.
Despite this, the current Takuno was still unable to set foot into the ultimate realm of the Eight Inner Gates, the Gate of Death.
Forcibly activating the Gate of Death was no different from suicide.
Although his cells were currently filled with Yang Release power just like Hashirama cells, he was still unable to actively master and utilize this stream of Yang Release force.
Therefore, relying merely on the passive nurturing effect of the Yang Release power within his body, he could not determine whether it could counteract that fatal, terrifying side effect of the Gate of Death.
Takuno also possessed a clear cognition: only when his mastery over Yang Release power reached the supreme realm of being able to "actively bestow life upon a form" would he consider attempting that legendary ultimate secret technique, the Eight Inner Gates Formation!
Hearing this, Toneri's father was a bit sluggish; so it turned out to be like this?
It was not that the power of the golden Tenseigan was inferior to the opponent, but that he was inferior to the opponent!
Immediately following, an even more shocking thought struck him in an instant.
"Wait! You... why would you know of the existence of the Tenseigan?!" He widened his eyes abruptly, "Could it be that you had targeted us long ago?!"
Takuno paused, focusing his mind to ponder for a moment, before shaking his head to deny it with a clear and definite posture.
"It is not so." His tone carried a trace of hard-to-detect luck, "To speak frankly, if not for a stroke of coincidental luck discovering your existence in Konoha, I might have already chosen to fuse the bloodline of a Hyūga clansman to achieve my goal..."
He did not omit the option of Toneri, it was just that his own power was overly weak back then, fundamentally lacking the strength to cast his gaze toward the Moon to imagine going to obtain the bloodline of that Ōtsutsuki descendant.
To the him back then, that was no different from wishful thinking.
Even after his power elevated, Toneri would naturally re-enter his scope of consideration.
However, a critical question surfaced along with it: at that time, he should have already successfully fused the Hyūga bloodline, and facing the choice between the Shikotsumyaku possessed by Kimimaro and Toneri for the final slot, his selection, with a very high probability, would not tilt toward the latter.
Because Kimimaro himself was also a rare individual with a bloodline reversion; the Shikotsumyaku inherited within his body originated precisely from the legendary Kekkei Mōra class ability, "All-Killing Ash Bones," its potential capable of being called terrifying.
Meanwhile, Toneri possessed a pure Ōtsutsuki bloodline, but his core value to Takuno lay primarily in serving as the foundation stone to cultivate the "Tenseigan."
This brought out a fundamental question: could it be that he, having fused the Hyūga bloodline, would possess zero possibility of mastering the Tenseigan?
Takuno held a negative attitude toward this.
He believed the Hyūga clan, as another direct branch of descendants of Ōtsutsuki Hamura, had its bloodline itself encompassing potential.
Taking this as a basis, through deep research, it might not be impossible to stimulate the Tenseigan power.
Therefore, if not for that single accidental encounter, he might truly not have come to the Moon.
Even if he arrived, it might have only been to observe the power of the golden Tenseigan for a bit, not necessarily needing to carry out such a thorough extermination.
What's more, even if he ultimately could not awaken the Tenseigan, he was still capable of awakening the more powerful Rinnegan; whether he could use the Tenseigan was not even a certainty.
So, all of the changes truly had to speak from that single accidental encounter.
Hearing this, Toneri's father opened his mouth, his eyes revealing a dense color of regret.
Why did he have to take Toneri to the continent at that time to visit another branch of descendants possessing the bloodline of the ancestor Ōtsutsuki Hamura?
Regrettably, there would never be medicine for regret to take in this world!