Watching all the Otsutsuki members fully recover their condition and uniformly close their eyes, Ryun could not help but widen his own eyes, his face wearing an expression of utter disbelief.
Time had returned to the moment the two sides met. Ryun's left eye had also reverted to its original state, and even the sage chakra he had just consumed was fully restored. If not for his memories remaining, Ryun would have thought what just happened was merely an illusion.
Time-based ocular jutsu. This was the ultimate power even true gods craved to possess. Ryun had witnessed its might for the first time.
Otsutsuki Karashi raised a hand and swept it through the air, employing a spatial ability to decisively retreat ten thousand li with everyone in tow, putting a somewhat safe distance between them and Ryun.
"Hmph..." Otsutsuki Mitoshi clutched her left eye, which was continuously seeping blood, her face contorted in pain.
"Mitoshi..." Otsutsuki Karashi reached out to support her, his face full of concern.
"I'm fine. It's just that my left eye cannot be used again for a short time." Otsutsuki Mitoshi gritted her teeth to explain.
She had already pushed her eye beyond its limits. Each second of time reversal consumed an immense amount of ocular power and chakra. The ultimate ocular jutsu that could overturn everything was not without restrictions.
"You rest first. We will deal with him next." Otsutsuki Karura said with a grave expression, looking towards the man in the extreme distance.
"We cannot look at him with our eyes." Otsutsuki Kagutsuchi cried out in alarm.
"Our Byakugan possess panoramic vision. Fighting with closed eyes is like tying our own hands. His left eye's ocular jutsu also seems to be usable only once. When he blinds others, he also blinds himself. We have the advantage in numbers. As long as we all avoid looking at him simultaneously, it should be fine."
Otsutsuki Kagutsuchi began to calmly analyze the intelligence on Ryun.
"But only his left eye is sealed. If we are hit by his ability, both of our eyes will go blind. Trading one for two, or even for four. Are we not at too great a disadvantage." Someone voiced a doubt.
"We have more people. Trading one or two people for one Nine Tomoe Rinnegan, how can that be considered a disadvantage."
The group began to noisily discuss countermeasures, while the man atop the distant mountain peak moved.
"Kamui."
Ryun did not want to give them time to devise tactics. As he glared with his left eye, the space where the Otsutsuki group stood suddenly underwent terrifying distortion.
The next moment, Otsutsuki Karashi once again employed his spatial ocular jutsu, withdrawing with everyone. Ryun charged out from the spatial vortex only to find his target gone once more.
His speed was faster than when normally employing the Flying Thunder God Technique. Unfortunately, Otsutsuki Karashi's speed was even faster than his, or rather, the other's comprehension of space was even more profound than his own.
Seeing that these people were dead set on retreating again and again, Ryun found himself momentarily unable to do anything about them.
"What. Weren't you here to capture me. Why do you now act as if scared out of your wits, retreating again and again. Are we fighting or not."
Ryun's face wore a mocking expression, though in his heart he was filled with helplessness. If his speed could surpass Otsutsuki Karashi's, then he wouldn't bother wasting words with these people now.
Provocation was always a last resort.
"Fight. Why wouldn't we fight. I hope you can remain this arrogant."
Otsutsuki Kagutsuchi gave a forceful response.
"Trash. If you're fighting, then hurry up. Fourteen people against one, and you still need to study your opponent thoroughly before daring to fight. Sharing the title of Esteemed One with you all is truly my disgrace." Ryun hurled another insult.
"Bastard." Otsutsuki Kagutsuchi gritted his teeth and cursed, yet he lacked the courage to even meet Ryun's gaze. He had already experienced this man's prowess.
If no one first exhausted the ability of Ryun's left eye, then Otsutsuki Kagutsuchi truly did not want to be the first to stick his neck out. Because his flames heavily relied on his eyes. Without eyes, he wouldn't even possess strength at the divine realm level.
"Enough. We fight first, discuss later."
After briefly arranging tactics, the fourteen people all dispersed, surrounding Ryun. Most of them closed their eyes, with only a small minority keeping their eyes open.
"Two people with open eyes. Is this an attempt to lure me into using 'Eternal Night'." Ryun observed this scene, his brow involuntarily furrowing.
"Prison of the Abyss."
Otsutsuki Karura glared with his eyes, and Ryun suddenly felt as if crushed by a giant mountain. More than half of his body was violently slammed into the earth.
"Gravity." Ryun felt his body heavy as a mountain, struggling to even move a finger. It was akin to being within Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's gravity space.
Sensing Ryun was hit, Otsutsuki Kagutsuchi decisively opened his eyes to look at the human-shaped imprint on the ground. Instantly, divine flames erupted. The earth was burned into molten lava in the blink of an eye.
The divine flames Otsutsuki Kagutsuchi released at this moment were distinctly different from the ones he had breathed from his mouth before. The temperature was immeasurably higher, and the heat of the flames continued to skyrocket without pause, showing signs of potentially burning through the very planet.
Sss...
The Truth-Seeking Ball shield behind Ryun lasted less than a second before being on the verge of being burned through by the divine flames.
"Sage Art. Earth Release. Light-Weight Rock Technique."
Ryun employed the secret technique of Iwagakure. He drastically reduced his body's weight, then transformed into a vortex and vanished from the underground.
Sensing spatial fluctuations, Otsutsuki Karashi looked towards an empty spot in space. In an instant, he teleported there and decisively slashed with his blade towards the space before him.
A metallic clang rang out. Ryun's figure materialized from space, having used the Ame-no-Murakumo Sword to block Otsutsuki Karashi's katana at the last possible moment.
While locked in stalemate with Ryun, Otsutsuki Karashi kept his eyes closed. These people seemed intent on closing their eyes immediately after using their ocular jutsu abilities.
A succession of ocular jutsu were hurled at Ryun one after another. They no longer feared Ryun employing Eternal Night. At worst, they could trade two or three people for his left eye.
"Hmph. You think I only have one ocular jutsu."
Ryun snorted inwardly. After defending against an attack from a Six Paths level powerhouse, and seizing the moment when Otsutsuki Kagutsuchi's eyes fell upon him, Ryun decisively used his right eye's 'Eternal Daylight'.
"Ah."
Blinding light capable of attacking consciousness and spirit suddenly erupted. Otsutsuki Kagutsuchi's eyes instantly felt as if pierced by countless steel needles. His spirit suffered heavy damage, forcing an involuntary scream from him.
He instinctively clutched his agonized eyes, forced to interrupt even the half-executed ocular jutsu. The cage of divine flames manifesting around Ryun vanished the next moment.
Sensing the extreme, super-high temperatures around him, Ryun instinctively distanced himself. These flames, which could not be absorbed, were extremely dangerous. He truly did not want to touch even a speck of them. These were not the useless 'Amaterasu' flames that couldn't even burn a person to death.
Following Otsutsuki Kagutsuthi becoming the first casualty, the second and third Otsutsuki members whose spirits were injured by 'Eternal Daylight' soon appeared.
The nine tomoe in Ryun's right eye trembled faintly. His 'Eternal Daylight' ocular jutsu could be maintained for an extended duration. Whoever dared open their Byakugan in his presence, even without making direct eye contact, would similarly suffer severe spiritual damage.
"Use your ocular jutsu and then close your eyes. Think the Byakugan is safe as long as you don't make direct eye contact." Ryun sneered contemptuously.
Both his eyes could counter the Byakugan and Rinnegan. The Otsutsuki group's petty cleverness was useless against him. His abilities suppressed the Otsutsuki clan perfectly. To fight him with open eyes meant either first enduring a hit from 'Eternal Night' or first withstanding a blast of 'Eternal Daylight'.
In his view, the Byakugan clan were the easiest opponents to fight.
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