Reiichi hadn't yet noticed the changes in his own body, but Hoshiyomi in the distance could see everything clearly. At this moment, Kaguya Reiichi seemed like an entirely different person.
The Ninefold Burial bone armor that had previously covered his body had silently vanished, replaced by a light-green chakra cloak.
Under this chakra cloak, Reiichi's strength instantly surged by a full tier. Before, he could at most be considered at the very peak of Kage-level—but now, with his Tenseigan fully awakened, he had risen to a level nearly equal to Hoshiyomi's.
One could say he was only a single step away from truly reaching the Six-Paths level. As long as he calmly consolidated his power and fully mastered the capabilities of the Tenseigan, advancing into a Six-Paths-level powerhouse within three to five years was practically guaranteed.
Seeing Reiichi's Tenseigan Chakra Mode, Hoshiyomi would be lying if he said he wasn't jealous—but what burned stronger in his heart was fighting spirit.
He wanted to see whether he, as he was now, could stand against these eyes—the eyes of the Six Paths.
On the other side, Reiichi, having just awakened his new abilities, was itching to test them. After noticing the fighting spirit in Hoshiyomi's eyes, he said nothing more. Instead, he took a fighting stance and grinned:
"Uncle, this time you'd better be careful."
What answered him was a sharp cyan-green slash of sword energy.
The razor-edged Wind Release sword energy tore toward him with a shriek strong enough to rend all things. This was no probing attack—Hoshiyomi had used his full strength.
Even with his awakened Tenseigan, Reiichi didn't dare take the strike lightly. He focused on the incoming slash, raised his right hand—but instead of using Finger Drilling Bullets this time, a green orb of light shot out as he lifted his arm.
The green orb wasn't as fast as the sword energy—but the power inside it was terrifying.
In the blink of an eye, the two attacks collided. Hoshiyomi had expected an explosion.
What appeared before him instead widened his eyes in shock.
The instant the orb met the sword energy, it absorbed all of the Wind Release chakra within it—leaving behind only the faint shell of sword energy stripped of chakra.
Without Wind Release chakra to support it, the sword energy was nothing before the green orb. It was crushed silently, unable to resist at all.
On the contrary, the green orb, after absorbing the Wind chakra, seemed to "charge up": it expanded slightly and accelerated, whistling as it shot toward Hoshiyomi.
Having witnessed the orb's chakra-absorbing ability, Hoshiyomi didn't dare take it head-on. He twisted aside to dodge.
The orb streaked past him—and a deafening explosion erupted from the Otsutsuki ruins behind him. Hoshiyomi instinctively turned and saw that a massive portion of the stone ruins had been erased, blasted flat by the green orb.
After seeing its power, even Hoshiyomi furrowed his brows. This was the troublesome thing about Six-Paths-level strength.
Whether it was Obito and Madara, or Kaguya and Hamura, Six-Paths-level beings all possessed the power known as "origin"—the fusion of Wind, Fire, Lightning, Earth, Water, Yin, and Yang chakra into the lattice known as Kekkei Mōra.
Kekkei Mōra was a power that could only be formed by mastering Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements. This system stood completely above ordinary ninjutsu and elemental chakra. Normal ninjutsu had no hope against it—they would simply be absorbed.
For ordinary shinobi, facing Kekkei Mōra was equivalent to having all their ninjutsu sealed away. They could only take hits—with almost no ability to strike back.
To damage a Six-Paths-level opponent, one could rely only on senjutsu or pure taijutsu. That was the iron rule of this world—there was no other path.
After understanding this point, Hoshiyomi stopped trying other methods and instead took a deep breath as he entered Sage Mode.
As Hoshiyomi activated Sage Mode, natural energy rapidly gathered around him on its own. In just the blink of an eye, the intricate sage markings reappeared on his forehead, while faint blue-silver motes of light shimmered across his body.
He clenched his fist to feel the surge of power, then glanced at Reiichi, who was wrapped in the green chakra cloak. After thinking for a moment, Hoshiyomi decided to open the Seventh Gate.
A burst of blue chakra erupted from his body, and his skin took on a reddish tint. But with the terrifying regenerative ability that came with Sage Mode, as long as he controlled the duration, this burden wouldn't be too much of a problem.
Feeling the overwhelming power coursing through him, Hoshiyomi judged that this should be enough to fight against the Tenseigan Chakra Mode. He hooked a finger at Reiichi and said:
"Five minutes. I can maintain this state for about five minutes. Let's finish this quickly."
From above, Kimimaro raised an eyebrow at the sight. He even opened the Seventh Gate? In this state, even I would have to put in some effort to deal with Hoshiyomi. This guy Hoshiyomi really can't be underestimated.
But this should be Hoshiyomi's current limit, right? The upcoming fight should showcase Hoshiyomi's full strength.
As Kimimaro thought this, Reiichi himself was equally shocked. He had believed that awakening the power of the Tenseigan would be enough to defeat Uncle Hoshiyomi—yet he never imagined that Hoshiyomi still had so many terrifying abilities hidden.
This only ignited Reiichi's fighting spirit even further. Without waiting for Hoshiyomi to strike, he took the initiative, charging directly toward him and firing dozens of green orbs with a sweep of his hand.
Reiichi originally thought that with so many green orbs covering the entire sky, no matter how strong Hoshiyomi was, he would have trouble avoiding them.
But to his surprise, Hoshiyomi showed not even the slightest hint of panic. His speed was so extreme that even afterimages couldn't form—he slipped through the barrage in an instant, dodging the overwhelming majority of the orbs.
Reiichi let out a gasp at the incredible speed. Still, he didn't give up. Through his Tenseigan, he could clearly see that a few orbs lay on Hoshiyomi's inevitable path—orbs that he simply could not dodge no matter what.
Hoshiyomi would have to take at least one hit.
But in the next second, Reiichi's confidence turned into sheer shock.
Because he saw Hoshiyomi simply swing his sword at one of the unavoidable orbs.
The sword energy he released didn't have any special color—but cleanly and decisively split the supposedly unavoidable orb in half.
Only after Hoshiyomi calmly slipped between the two halves did the orb finally erupt in an explosive blast—far too late to even graze him.
Reiichi sucked in a sharp breath. How is this possible!?
Upon closer inspection of the fading sword energy, Reiichi finally realized:
This sword energy wasn't made of chakra at all—it was a vacuum blade created purely through raw physical force compressing the air.
To swing a sword so powerfully that it creates a terrifying vacuum slash using only physical strength—
Was this guy even human???
...
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