Chapter 308
Naruto Time Control
Urashiki was trapped in a relentless time loop, unable to evade Yeruashi's onslaught. The opponent's speed was simply too high, and every strike carried enough power to end him in a single blow. Urashiki resorted to a variety of abilities, but none could withstand the bite of Yeruashi's Sword of Reincarnation.
Facing certain death at every turn, he could only rely on Time Rewind to reset the world by a few seconds.
Yet even with that power, he couldn't escape unscathed.
On the other side of the clash...
Although Yeruashi didn't fully grasp the mechanics of what was happening, he could clearly sense that the flow of time was behaving strangely.
It was a sensation difficult to put into words. It felt as if the world around him was shifting invisibly, as if the gossamer thread of time was being yanked back over and over by an unseen force.
Upon sensing this, Yeruashi visibly relaxed.
If he could perceive the backward flow of time, then even a total temporal freeze likely wouldn't be enough to lock his consciousness.
He could think of only one reason for this immunity—the Illusory Clock that had merged with his very soul.
It seemed that with its help, he was capable of perceiving even the slightest fluctuations in time.
The invisible battle raged on.
Though Urashiki managed to dodge certain death using Time Rewind, wounds continued to open across his body. He was losing ground.
As the injuries accumulated, Urashiki's expression grew increasingly dark. He realized that Time Rewind alone wouldn't save him; if this continued, Yeruashi would eventually find the opening to end it all.
Finally.
After another temporal reset, Urashiki let out a frantic, half-mad roar. He shoved his red fishing rod and the red gourd hanging from his belt into his mouth, devouring them. Then, with a sickening crunch, he tore the Rinnegan from his own eye sockets and swallowed them as well.
"I'll kill you... I'll kill you! I'm going to kill you!"
"You dared to wound me... Unforgivable..."
Urashiki erupted with a massive pulse of chakra, his body radiating a golden brilliance. White wings unfurled from his back, and a vertical crack split his forehead, revealing a golden Rinnegan. His entire form underwent a radical transformation.
Realizing that Time Rewind and his other tricks were futile, Urashiki had decided to cast them all aside in exchange for raw, unadulterated speed and power!
"..."
Yeruashi watched the transformation with an indifferent gaze.
Still, he couldn't help but be slightly surprised by the power Urashiki was displaying. In his memories, even a version of Naruto who had only recently mastered the Rasengan could fight this form. But the reality before him was different—he could feel a vast well of chakra that surpassed any Tailed Beast and was second only to the Ten-Tails itself!
Combined with the ability to absorb chakra, Yeruashi estimated that the Ten-Tails would be little more than a snack for Urashiki. It was the relationship between a tiger and a buffalo; despite the difference in size, the buffalo remained nothing but prey. Such was the nature of the Otsutsuki Clan's relationship with the Ten-Tails.
'I can't quite fathom this...'
Yeruashi shook his head helplessly and tightened his grip on the Sword of Reincarnation. The blade began to pulse with a blinding, monochromatic glow of black and white.
He had already deciphered Urashiki's capabilities. It was time to end this fight.
The surrounding dark void seemed to tremble under the terrifying, uncontrolled pulse of chakra emanating from the transformed Urashiki.
The celestial being let out a savage roar and brought his hands together. A strange black matter coalesced between his palms, taking the shape of a staff.
Urashiki gripped the weapon tight and closed the distance in a flash, launching a devastating strike. The power behind the blow was immense, seemingly capable of crushing anything in its path.
Faced with this desperate assault, Yeruashi simply raised the Sword of Reincarnation.
With that single movement, his calm and relaxed demeanor vanished, replaced by a gaze that was sharp and intensely focused.
Swoosh!!
Yeruashi's arm snapped upward, swinging the Sword of Reincarnation in a wide arc.
The black and white light enveloping the blade expanded instantly to the horizon, bisecting the very fabric of the dimension.
As the sword passed through the air, the world itself seemed to split, turning half-black and half-white in the wake of the swing.
Crack!!!
Space itself began to shatter beneath Yeruashi's blade.
This wasn't a mere portal opened by a technique like Yomotsu Hirasaka. This was a strike delivered with the full weight of the Sword of Reincarnation!
Yeruashi had managed to distort space during his battle with Madara. Now, having attained the Rinne Tenseigan and ascended to the third stage of the Six Paths level, his strongest attacks were capable of shearing through reality itself!
This was...
A True Spatial Slash!
...
Kirigakure.
When Yeruashi had vanished into the portal to pursue Urashiki, the Kiri shinobi who had been fighting the celestial were left trembling. They looked at one another, their eyes filled with raw terror and disbelief.
'I told you that you were no match for Yeruashi...'
Mei wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and sighed, her eyes fixed on the spot where the Silver Flash had disappeared.
Nevertheless, she couldn't suppress a flicker of anxiety. From their brief exchange, she knew that Urashiki wasn't a shinobi of their world.
To her, he was an enigma—mysterious and incomprehensible.
And in the world of ninja, the unknown always meant danger.
If Urashiki wasn't alone, Yeruashi could be walking right into an ambush...
As Mei scanned the sky with worry, her expression suddenly shifted to one of shock.
Tiny, barely visible cracks began to spiderweb across the sky above Kirigakure, as if the heavens themselves were a mirror about to break. In the blink of an eye, the fractures spread across the entire firmament!
"This is..."
Mei's jaw dropped.
It looked hauntingly similar to the effect of Yeruashi's earlier attack on Urashiki. This wasn't air distortion caused by a chakra pulse; it was the distortion and literal destruction of space itself!
Swoosh!!!
In the next heartbeat, the fabric of space was torn asunder.
Light flooded out from the spatial rift, drowning the world and dividing it into two distinct halves of black and white.
Amidst this monochromatic brilliance, a shape tumbled out of the rift and slammed into the earth just outside the village.
Thud!!
All of Kirigakure shook as if a massive meteorite had struck the ground.
It was the mangled, broken body of Urashiki Otsutsuki.
As the black-and-white light faded, Yeruashi's figure drifted out from the spatial rift.
Sensing that Urashiki's chakra and life force had been completely extinguished, Yeruashi dispelled the Sword of Reincarnation from his hand.
Seeing him appear, Mei finally let out a long, shaky breath of relief.
'Of course he won...'
In that moment, as she gazed at Yeruashi, countless thoughts raced through her mind.
'We'll have two children... a boy and a girl...'
'The boy will be named Tsinkong Hatake, and the girl will be Tsinhao Hatake...'