At first glance, it seemed as though Carl had already been smashed into minced flesh by the massive black cube. But Jigen was not naïve enough to believe that was truly the case.
He had already concluded that Carl was an Ōtsutsuki sent to capture him. And Jigen himself was an elite even among the Ōtsutsuki clan—someone dispatched to hunt him down could never be so easily killed.
Sure enough, only moments later, a twisted, illusory shadow slowly drifted out from above the cube. It solidified bit by bit, and Carl's figure appeared in Jigen's line of sight, completely unscathed.
Seeing this, Jigen's heart tightened.
Was this a spacetime-type divine art? Or some kind of reality-altering technique? Having been separated from the Ōtsutsuki clan for far too long, he could no longer clearly grasp Carl's ability system. But since Carl had been sent specifically to capture him, he must know Jigen's powers very well.
That realization placed Jigen—unable to return to his peak condition—into an extremely dangerous situation.
With that thought in mind, Jigen did not rush to attack again. He hovered in place, looking down at Carl in the deep crater below.
Carl glanced at the black cube beneath his feet. Raising a finger, he enveloped it in a deep purple field.
The very next second, the black cube burst out of the ground and floated into midair.
Carl pointed his finger toward Jigen. The black cube—originally summoned by Jigen himself—shot sideways through the air, flying straight at Jigen.
Jigen's pupils shrank. He realized that his control over the cube was completely inferior to that eerie purple field. Wrapped within it, the cube moved at terrifying speed, reaching him in an instant.
There was no time to think.
Jigen gritted his teeth and thrust both arms forward, colliding head-on with the incoming black cube.
In the Second-Stage Kāma state, Jigen's power had been greatly amplified. In this condition, he possessed strength capable of shattering Sasuke's complete Susanoo with a single blow.
Yet the moment his hands made contact with the cube, his sleeves exploded apart, revealing arms with veins bulging violently.
Cold sweat surfaced on Jigen's forehead as he muttered in a low voice,
"Gravity…? He can change the direction of gravity!"
Whoosh!
Carl instantly appeared on the opposite side of Jigen. He raised his hand and pressed it against the black cube. A layer of black, fluid-like substance spread from his palm, coating the cube's surface and giving it a metallic sheen, while deep crimson lightning crackled across it.
A horrifying force surged into Jigen's arms. The next second, his arms gave out entirely, and his body was smashed backward, flying all the way to the edge of the forest. Along the way, towering trees were uprooted and slammed flat against the ground.
By now, Jigen's clothes had been shredded by the impacts. After finally stopping himself, he tore off the tattered monk's robe from his body. He swung out with a sweeping kick, which Carl blocked effortlessly with a single arm.
The two immediately engaged in close-quarters combat.
Every clash of fists and kicks erupted with thunderous booms. Shockwaves tore up the ground, and boulders the size of small hills were tossed around like toys. Rocks flew everywhere, dust filled the air, and within the chaos, only two black silhouettes could be seen flashing in and out of view.
...
Not far from the battlefield, Kirigakure had already sensed something amiss. The entire village trembled violently, as if an earthquake were underway, immediately alarming the village's upper leadership.
Now serving as the Fifth Mizukage, Terumī Mei swiftly gathered her subordinates and rushed toward the source of the disturbance.
When they neared the primeval forest where Carl and Jigen were fighting, everyone—including Mizukage Terumī Mei—came to a halt. All of them stared blankly at the devastated forest ahead, now utterly ruined by battle, as well as the dense cluster of bizarre black cubes suspended high in the sky.
Listening to the deafening collision sounds, Terumī Mei dared not advance recklessly. She ordered Ao to first scout the situation using his Byakugan.
Ao immediately activated his Byakugan and looked into the distance. However, what appeared in his vision was nothing but a gray blur—his Byakugan's extreme range was blocked by an invisible barrier.
Seeing nothing, Ao could only deactivate his Byakugan and report the situation to Terumī Mei. She pressed her red lips together, weighing whether to proceed.
Suddenly, a scene unfolded that the Kirigakure shinobi would never forget for the rest of their lives.
Kirigakure was located within a region surrounded by mountains—and at that very moment, amid a deafening rumble, an entire mountain rose straight up from the ground right before their eyes.
"T-This… what is happening?! Am I dreaming?!"
Terumī Mei's voice trembled uncontrollably. What she was witnessing had completely surpassed her understanding.
She was familiar with techniques that allowed objects to float—for example, Iwagakure's Tsuchikage Ōnoki and his Ultralight-Weight Rock Technique—but even he could never lift an entire mountain range. The amount of chakra required simply wasn't something a human could possess.
But the shocking events were far from over.
The next instant, the levitating mountain slammed forward at extreme speed toward a distant direction.
If Ao's Byakugan had still been usable, he would have seen that in the sky ahead of the mountain—tiny like an ant—hovered a single figure.
It was Jigen.
Facing the incoming mountain, Jigen's eyes sharpened. The black markings on his face began to flow, and the power of the Ōtsutsuki poured forth from his gaunt body. Countless black cubes gathered together under his control, forming an enormous block only slightly smaller than the mountain itself.
Under the horrified gazes of the Kirigakure shinobi, two colossal masses that blotted out the sky collided head-on.
The resulting shockwave was so immense that even the clouds above were completely blown away.
The outcome of the collision was clear—the mountain shattered into fragments. The massive cube was reduced to nearly half its original size, yet after destroying the mountain, it continued forward without slowing, charging straight toward Carl on the opposite side.
Carl calmly raised a hand and firmly halted the cube in midair with his palm.
In contrast, Jigen's condition looked far worse.
Although he seemed to have gained the upper hand in that exchange, he was now drenched in sweat. His already pale skin had turned deathly white, and his entire appearance resembled that of a walking corpse.
Using the power of Kāma at such intensity had clearly pushed his body to its limit. He steadied his chaotic breathing, his expression heavy with seriousness.
This can't go on.
After this prolonged exchange, Jigen had already realized that relying on the Second-Stage Kāma alone was impossible if he wanted to defeat Carl.
He had to find a way to escape.
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+85 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg