At the center of the arena, two figures wreathed in black Chakra clashed fiercely with two others clad in Uchiha garb.
Shockwaves from the colliding Chakra made the surrounding black rock quiver.
Kise and Tokito, elite of the Ōtsutsuki, battled Kakashi and Obito.
Because the four had been standing close together, spatial force had transported them simultaneously to the arena's heart, forming a spontaneous one-on-one match-up.
Obito's Mangekyo Sharingan spun rapidly, scarlet light locking onto Kise before him. A pale violet aura flickered around him—sign of Kamui activating.
His plan was simple: suck Kise into the Kamui dimension to trap him, then turn to help Kakashi against Tokito.
But the instant the Kamui portal cracked open and a twist of space appeared, Tokito opposite him gave a cold laugh. A contemptuous smile appeared on his lips as he gathered condensed black spatial energy in his palm.
Kamui? Mere parlor tricks.
With the innate arrogance of the Ōtsutsuki, Tokito gave a light push.
The black spatial energy came alive, slipping precisely through the gap of the opening Kamui portal.
"The essence of space is not for inferior creatures like you to pry into. We Ōtsutsuki are the true Dominators of space."
Hands behind his back, black Chakra swirling lazily around him, Tokito regarded Obito with disdain, as if watching a clown overestimating himself.
Inside the Kamui dimension, the hairs on Obito's nape bristled. A lethal sense of crisis shot up his spine. By pure instinct, he hurled himself aside.
The black spatial energy scraped past his shoulder guard, ripping a long gash in his coat with a hiss. It slammed into the dimension's rock wall, blasting out a bottomless black crater. Rubble and spatial shards rained down.
Obito steadied himself, heart still racing, cold sweat trailing down his temple.
Tokito's control over spatial energy was terrifyingly precise.
Before he could regroup for a counter, he caught sight of Kise gliding in like a ghost. Kise's chakra rod, forged from black Chakra, chopped straight for his face.
Kakashi!
Obito barked, raising his hand to gather Chakra, buying himself a breath.
"Don't worry. I've got this." Kakashi's voice was calm, as though he'd foreseen everything.
He pushed off the ground and shot forward, golden Chakra blazing around him. Within the glow flowed rich God Tree energy—the mark of Six Paths Level Chakra.
His Kunai wrapped in the golden Chakra, he snapped his fingers.
A casual slash, timed to the very gap in Kise's strike.
Clang!
Metal screeched. Gold and black Chakra met, spraying sparks across the air.
Scattered energy fragments struck the black stone floor, scorching tiny craters into its surface.
Kakashi didn't linger. The moment his strike landed, he borrowed the momentum to spring back, putting half a meter between himself and Tokito.
His brows drew together slightly. The Rinnegan spun rapidly, taking in every detail of Tokito's Chakra flow, breathing rhythm, even the twitch of each muscle.
Years of battle experience told him in an instant: this Ōtsutsuki had terrifying close-range burst power, but his Chakra circulation was a fraction too sluggish.
That tiny lag was a fatal flaw.
'A thousand Ninjutsu at my fingertips, reinforced by Six-Paths Chakra... Time to show you what that means.'
Kakashi formed the thought while his fingers began to weave seals, so fast they left only flickering golden after-images.
Rather than meet force with force, he used the refined nature of Six-Paths Chakra to fuse several low-cost techniques into one seamless combination.
Six Paths: Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!
Kakashi exhaled. A searing wave of flame erupted from his mouth, becoming a roaring sea of fire that swept toward Tokito. Where the fire passed, black stone glowed red and the air filled with the acrid stench of scorched rock.
Tokito hastily shaped a black Chakra shield in front of him. But the instant his defense took form, Kakashi's second jutsu was already upon him.
Six Paths: Wind Release: Sickle Weasel!
Invisible wind blades followed the path of the inferno. Instead of being swallowed by the flames, they rode the updraft, their power multiplying several times over.
A crisp crack rang out and Tokito's Chakra shield split open.
Before he could react, Kakashi flickered to his flank. A Kunai in his hand blazed with a golden Chakra edge.
Six Paths: Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!
Golden lightning raced along the ground, coiling around Tokito's ankles and slowing him by half a second. In that half-second, the golden Chakra edge fell like lightning.
The assault was fierce yet precise, each strike slipping through the gaps in his opponent's guard.
Tokito staggered back again and again. Cracks webbed across his black shield, hissing and sparking beneath the alternating jutsu. The barrier was on the verge of shattering.
Shock and fury roiled inside him. An ordinary-looking Ninja had woven multi-element techniques into a flawless dance. Every move predicted his counter.
This level of tactical intellect and experience pressed him like nothing before.
Across the arena, the four-way clash still raged, the crackle of colliding Chakra and the roar of jutsu mingling in the air.
To Shun, it looked like children playing house. He lounged on a throne at the edge of the arena, fingertip drumming idly on the armrest.
His gaze swept the battlefield with indifference, the outcome held no interest for him.
Within the arena he had created, everything was under his control.
"Father!"
"Father!"
A chorus of bright voices rang out as Shun's children rushed toward him. Eyes shining, they stared at the fight below, eager to jump in.
"Let us fight too!"
A golden-haired prince stepped forward, fighting spirit blazing in his eyes. He clenched fists and fixed them on the battlefield.
"These Ōtsutsuki don't look so tough. You always said how strong they are, let me test their so-called mighty gods myself."
The other children chimed in, rolling up sleeves, eyes sparkling with anticipation.
Hamamaru, Shiryu, and Sasuke stood to one side, calm and silent. They had walked countless battlefields and crossed blades with the Ōtsutsuki many times. The present skirmish stirred no excitement in them. They merely watched the arena's energy fluctuations, ready to intervene if something unexpected happened.
But Manaka, Seishin, Karin, Shion, Mirai, Ikki, Seiya, Shaka, Yagami and more than a dozen young princes and princesses burned with enthusiasm.
Youthful faces lit with excitement, each longed to charge in and trade blows with the Ōtsutsuki.
"Father, only twenty-nine Ōtsutsuki remain. Five of the High Council Members are sealed, leaving just twenty-four who can fight."
Manaka said softly, her clear voice steady despite the anticipation in her eyes.
"Counting Naruto and Sasuke, we number more than forty. They won't be enough to go around. Let us fight in teams and see who's strongest."
Shun looked at his eager children, a faint smile tugging at his lips, eyes indulgent. "No rush."
He paused, then continued slowly, "Within the arena, I've laid down the Rebirth array and Infinite Restoration. Whether you die or are gravely wounded, I can revive or restore you in an instant. No harm will be permanent."
"You can fight with everything you've got, you won't run out of opponents."
Light blazed brighter in the children's eyes.
"Better yet, you may each choose your own opponent." Shun added, tone laced with indulgence.
"Great!"
The children cheered, unable to hold back any longer, and raced toward the stands to pick their favorites.
Their gazes swept over the twenty-four sealed Ōtsutsuki, eyes gleaming with eagerness.
From time to time they murmured—some had their eye on a towering Ōtsutsuki, sure that his sturdy frame would make a perfect sparring partner. Others preferred the ones with restrained Chakra, convinced those excelled at secret techniques and promised a tougher challenge.
Watching the children bounce about in excitement, Shun shook his head in resignation.
A moment later, his eyes flashed. Pale-gold pupils replaced the original black, revealing his personal dōjutsu—Divine Eye.
Countless complex runes whirled through the iris, locking onto the Shinjutsu being used in the arena by Tokito and Kise.
The glyphs copied and decoded at lightning speed, recording every principle and activation method of the Shinjutsu.
Divine Eye allowed Shun to duplicate any secret technique or Shinjutsu flawlessly for his own use, without the slightest side effect.
When his gaze swept across the center of the arena, it paused for an instant, the corner of his lips lifting in an almost imperceptible curve.
Even he couldn't help being impressed by the precision and predictive flow of Kakashi's Ninjutsu combinations. That level of battle experience and intellect ranked at the very pinnacle of the Ninja World.
At the heart of the arena, Kakashi's assault grew ever smoother. His footwork shifted unpredictably, sometimes darting forward, sometimes circling back—each step landing just outside Tokito's counter-attack range.
The instant Tokito tried to gather Chakra for a secret technique, Kakashi switched jutsu.
Six Paths: Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!
A water dragon summoned from nowhere roared toward Tokito, shattering his casting.
Seizing the moment his opponent staggered, Kakashi's fingers blurred through seals even faster.
Six Paths Combination Ninjutsu: Wind-Fire-Lightning Triad!
A giant fireball, slicing wind, and lightning erupted together, the three energies weaving into a tri-colored torrent that thundered toward Tokito.
The golden Chakra blade in his hand flared at the same instant, extending into a blazing sword several meters long. Hidden behind the energy storm, it slashed silently toward Tokito's exposed opening.
The entire sequence flowed without a single gap. It was a tailor-made solution born of decades of battle experience and extraordinary tactical intellect.
Boom!
The energy torrent smashed into Tokito's Chakra shield, shattering it instantly. The massive impact sent him reeling, blood churning.
As Tokito fought to steady himself, the golden blade streaked in like lightning and grazed his arm.
Shhhk!
A wound deep to the bone opened, black blood spurting out.
Where the dark droplets struck the obsidian ground, they hissed, black smoke curling upward.
"Impossible!"
Tokito staggered back in shock and rage, clutching his bleeding arm, terror filling his eyes.
"You're just an ordinary ninja, how can you weave so many jutsu into something this terrifying? It defies reason!"
He had thought his Ōtsutsuki bloodline would let him crush this ninja effortlessly.
Instead, reality had dealt him a crushing blow. The man's experience and intellect bridged the bloodline gap, and with Six Paths Chakra, he pushed Ninjutsu to its absolute peak.
Kakashi said nothing, only advanced with steady resolve, the Six Paths Chakra around him thickening.
His breathing was calm, and heartbeat even. Gaining the upper hand had not relaxed him in the least.
Years on the battlefield had taught him that the more advantageous the moment, the colder one must stay to avoid giving the enemy an opening.
His fingers began forming seals again while his mind sifted through combinations best suited to the next exchange.
Powered by Six Paths Chakra, he needn't worry about depletion and could freely bring to bear the thousand jutsu he had mastered.