The gigantic Rasenshuriken stretched and compressed at the same time, its spinning blades collapsing into a radiant aurora-like beam as it shot toward the Ōtsutsuki Shiki.
Ōtsutsuki Shiki stared at the incoming attack, a flicker of fear flashing across his face. His body warped, turning into something like a living singularity, a void of overwhelming gravity that devoured everything in its path.
But Naruto had already locked onto him.
A surge of purple light burst from Ōtsutsuki Shiki's body, swallowing the attack whole. For a brief moment, it seemed as if the Rasenshuriken had vanished.
Then it detonated.
The compressed energy erupted outward, tearing through the void and engulfing him completely. The explosion raged across space for several minutes, violent chakra storms twisting and collapsing everything nearby.
When the light finally faded, a figure slowly emerged.
Crimson blood dripped down Ōtsutsuki Shiki's body. His pale skin was charred black, his armor shattered into fragments. Parts of his body were so badly damaged that bone was visible beneath torn flesh.
The sight stunned countless observers across the universe. Naruto had actually forced an Ōtsutsuki to this state.
"Hahahahaha…"
Mad laughter echoed through space, distorting even the surrounding laws as his voice carried across the void.
Ōtsutsuki Shiki raised his head, his expression unhinged.
"Is this your strongest technique? If this is all you have, you cannot kill me!"
His laughter grew louder, almost hysterical, as his wounds began to heal at a terrifying speed. Flesh regenerated, burns vanished, and even the exposed bone was covered once more.
In moments, he had fully recovered.
Naruto's gaze hardened. He had underestimated Ōtsutsuki Shiki. But something did not add up. The version Sasuke had encountered in another timeline had not displayed this level of power.
There was no time to dwell on it.
Ōtsutsuki Shiki erupted with chakra, instantly closing the distance and launching a counterattack.
Their clash turned into streaks of light.
Each exchange shattered space itself, their blows tearing open void-like distortions that resembled black holes. These distortions formed and collapsed in rapid succession, unable to withstand the pressure of their power.
"Do you really think that was everything I had?" Naruto said coldly.
"Then watch carefully."
He clenched his fist.
Seven-colored chakra surged from beneath his feet, rising like a pillar that connected heaven and earth.
Boom!
The Chakra Great Path trembled.
"Yin-Yang Five Elements Reincarnation: Great Destruction!"
Naruto drew upon the fundamental laws of the universe itself. In that instant, the world seemed to tilt toward collapse as boundless energy descended.
Even the watching shinobi could no longer follow the battle clearly.
"Don't underestimate me!"
Ōtsutsuki Shiki roared.
His Rinnegan flared, releasing a beam of light as blood tears streamed down his face.
His eyes were not ordinary.
Purple, gold, and blue intertwined within his Rinnegan, forming a rare and abnormal evolution. Among the Ōtsutsuki, most Rinnegan manifested in purple, while rarer variants appeared in gold or blue. Some possessed both the Tenseigan and Rinnegan, the result of bloodlines merging across generations.
Ōtsutsuki Shiki was an anomaly.
His power was the fusion of multiple Rinnegan lineages, granting him terrifying strength far beyond the norm.
Divine light burst from his eyes.
"Amaterasu: Great Black Dragon Heaven!"
The two attacks collided.
The impact sent both Naruto and Ōtsutsuki Shiki flying in opposite directions, their bodies tearing through space like meteors.
Ōtsutsuki Shiki crashed through a planet before finally stopping near a drifting asteroid. The clash of their techniques spanned hundreds of millions of miles, creating a massive zone of destruction.
At the center of that zone, their energies reached a strange equilibrium.
They did not dissipate.
Instead, they churned violently, and the laws of the Chakra Great Path began to materialize within the storm, forming visible patterns of energy.
For weaker demigod-level shinobi, this place would become a sacred ground for comprehending the laws once the storm stabilized.
For now, it remained a deadly domain.
Naruto transformed into a streak of light once more, appearing instantly before Ōtsutsuki Shiki.
His fist shot forward.
The asteroid behind Ōtsutsuki Shiki shattered into dust as the punch drove straight into his chest.
Blood sprayed from Ōtsutsuki Shiki's mouth, but his reaction was immediate. He seized Naruto's arm, locking him in place.
With his free hand, he condensed chakra and struck Naruto directly.
The force sent Naruto flying.
In the next moment, both of them surged forward again, colliding once more in a storm of overwhelming power.
"You cannot defeat me!"
Ōtsutsuki Shiki's roar echoed directly inside Naruto's mind, carrying overwhelming pressure.
Naruto remained unmoved. "You will never know unless you try."
He surged forward and slammed his forehead into Ōtsutsuki Shiki's, sending him flying once more.
Their battle continued without pause. They clashed again and again, their bodies colliding like meteors as waves of chakra spread in every direction.
Time passed.
A full day and night went by.
By now, both of them had consumed a massive amount of chakra. Even for beings at their level, such prolonged combat was not without cost.
Yet Ōtsutsuki Shiki showed no sign of panic.
Even if he could not suppress Naruto, Naruto could not truly eliminate him either.
His existence was on a higher level. That alone gave him a natural advantage in chakra reserves.
Naruto, on the other hand, relied on his near-immortal body to endure.
In the end, the outcome would be decided by stamina.
"If this continues, I will be the only one left standing," Ōtsutsuki Shiki said with a smug expression.
"Your recovery speed is impressive, but your total chakra cannot compare to mine. I will not give you any time to recover."
Naruto simply looked at him, his expression calm.
"Is that so?"
He took a slow breath.
"It is time."
"Three Days Sealing Technique!"
A vast surge of chakra erupted from Naruto's body. He had been waiting for this exact moment.
Ōtsutsuki Shiki was weakened.
This was the best opportunity.
If there was ever a time for this technique to succeed, it was now.
Ōtsutsuki Shiki immediately sensed the danger. His Rinnegan activated at full force, and blood tears streamed down his face once again, a clear sign of extreme strain.
"You think you can seal me?"
Naruto's gaze sharpened.
"You have no chance."
"Great Severing Technique!"
The moment Ōtsutsuki Shiki began to form his jutsu, Naruto cut it off at the source. The chakra flow was forcibly disrupted, collapsing the technique before it could take shape.
For an instant, Ōtsutsuki Shiki was left completely exposed.
The sealing technique descended.
A massive barrier formed across space, enclosing him from all directions. It rapidly contracted, compressing the surrounding space itself and binding his body in place.
"No!"
Ōtsutsuki Shiki's voice turned desperate.
The pressure tightened.
The seal continued to shrink, leaving him with less and less room to resist.
He struggled violently, but his chakra was already heavily depleted. His resistance grew weaker with each passing moment.
Naruto did not hesitate.
He unleashed several more attacks in succession.
Bound by the seal, Ōtsutsuki Shiki could not evade or defend.
Each strike landed cleanly.
His face grew paler.
More wounds appeared across his body.
The struggle faded.
At last, despair filled his eyes.