Chapter 396: Almost Fell for It
Although Ōtsutsuki Urashiki's mind was in chaos, he hadn't completely lost his wits.
When he heard Uchiha Dali calling his name again and even asking if he dared to answer, of course he didn't dare.
Not only did he refuse to respond, he immediately turned and fled without hesitation—he didn't even dare to linger for a moment.
His personal pocket dimension was one that only he could access. Even other masters of space-time ninjutsu wouldn't necessarily be able to locate its entrance.
And once inside, his presence should have been completely concealed.
But that was exactly the problem.
Not only had the opponent pursued him here almost instantly, he had entered without the slightest obstruction.
How in the world had this guy sensed his presence—and even broken into his dimension?
The confusion and shock in Urashiki's heart shattered his fighting spirit. He just wanted to get as far away as possible from this terrifying opponent, then calm down and figure out what was going on.
"Don't be in such a rush to leave! Wait for me—answer my question!"
Seeing Urashiki trying to escape, Uchiha Dali naturally wasn't going to let him go that easily.
Urashiki turned back and, seeing Dali giving chase again, immediately launched a fierce counterattack.
A sharp "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" sliced through the air.
A barrage of attacks filled the space like a storm—devastating and unstoppable.
Yet, not a single one could harm even a strand of Uchiha Dali's hair.
Every attack passed straight through his body.
Because right now, Uchiha Dali didn't have a physical form at all.
"You bastard…"
Urashiki gritted his teeth. Realizing the situation was bad, he turned and fled again.
The opponent's current state was neither spiritual nor some kind of partial phasing—he couldn't affect him at all.
If your attacks can't even land, how are you supposed to fight?
Of course, Urashiki wasn't just running away blindly. As he turned, he threw something at Dali—something that glimmered with a powerful aura.
Even though Uchiha Dali was currently in a spirit-projection state and practically invincible in that form, he didn't dare to take it lightly.
After all, his opponent was a member of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
So he immediately dodged the attack.
And good thing he did—because what Urashiki had thrown was one of his divine tools.
At first glance, it looked like a beggar's bowl, its rim chipped and worn.
But it possessed a tremendously powerful sealing ability.
If he'd been hit directly, it would've been over.
Even if the light emitted from it merely brushed past him, it would still pull him in and seal him away.
Uchiha Dali knew this because he clearly saw that after the bowl hit the spot where he'd been standing a moment before, it devoured that entire section of space.
Runes flared across the void, sealing that pocket of reality instantly.
He had never seen such a terrifying sealing power before.
A lingering chill crept through him—he'd been sealed once before himself, by Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's divine sealing technique.
"Damn, that thing's insane! It can even seal space itself?"
Uchiha Dali looked up in surprise at his opponent.
By then, Urashiki had already opened a space-time portal and fled through it—abandoning even his divine tool in his haste.
Naturally, Dali wasn't going to let that go to waste.
He glanced in the direction Urashiki had escaped.
No matter where he ran, he couldn't hide from Dali's pursuit now.
So, for the moment, Dali ignored Urashiki and instead turned to look at the "broken bowl."
Since the sealing ability of that thing was so powerful, of course he was intrigued.
He approached and examined it carefully.
Having just sealed a section of space, the "broken bowl" no longer held any power for the moment.
It now looked like nothing more than an ordinary bowl.
Uchiha Dali reached out and touched it.
Instantly, waves of information surged into his mind.
"So it really is called a 'Bowl'…"
"The Ōtsutsuki clan sure like giving their divine tools ridiculous names."
After learning its details, Uchiha Dali couldn't help but chuckle.
Still, despite the unimpressive name, its power was formidable.
Just as he was about to claim it for himself, the divine tool suddenly vanished.
"Oh?"
He understood at once—Urashiki had used a reverse summoning technique from the other side to retrieve it.
"Heh…"
Dali just shook his head indifferently.
He would've had to spend quite a bit of effort taming the bowl anyway, since it wasn't his and still bore Urashiki's binding seal.
Now, that trouble was gone.
"If I kill you, the technique marks on it will vanish—and without your soul imprint, it'll be an unowned artifact, huh?"
Murmuring to himself, Uchiha Dali raised his gaze forward.
His eyes pierced the void, instantly locating Urashiki's exact position.
At that moment, Urashiki had hidden himself in yet another pocket dimension, performing some sort of communication jutsu.
Clearly, he was reporting the situation to his superiors.
Uchiha Dali wasn't in any rush to chase him down.
"Luring in reinforcements before striking… might be worth trying," he thought silently.
He then retrieved another Ōtsutsuki from his Time-Space Gourd, whom he had previously sealed.
By the way, that was an ability he'd comprehended during his evolution—a divine technique containing immense rule-based power.
As long as the target fit the conditions, regardless of strength—god or mortal—they would be sealed away.
The rule was simple: if Uchiha Dali called the opponent's name and the opponent answered, they would inevitably be sealed.
This was Dali's first time testing the technique, and the results were impressive.
Especially since it completely ignored power levels and could seal an enemy instantly—it was practically invincible.
Unfortunately, its weakness was just as clear.
Once an enemy understood its principle, they could simply refuse to respond, rendering it useless.
Every ability had its pros and cons.
Still, overall, it was an exceptionally powerful technique—particularly deadly against unsuspecting foes, capable of ending a battle in an instant and killing even the strongest opponents outright.
And besides, this wasn't Dali's only way of dealing with enemies.
The Ōtsutsuki he had just taken out from the Time-Space Gourd had already lost all consciousness.
Inside the sealing space, their energy continuously drained away, while their movement and awareness were completely stripped.
Now, Uchiha Dali intended to absorb that energy—otherwise, it would go to waste.