"Damn it! What am I supposed to do now..."
At the bottom of the sea, Urashiki Otsutsuki's mind raced as he desperately searched for a way out of his predicament.
Conventional methods of escape were out of the question.
Even with the Origami Replacement Technique and Yomotsu Hirasaka at his disposal, there was no way he could escape from a Kekkei Mōra-level powerhouse.
After all, strictly speaking, his current strength had not even reached the level of the Six Paths.
The gap between them was simply too vast.
Urashiki's only consolation was that the unfamiliar man did not seem particularly skilled at tracking. Even now, the man had yet to pinpoint his exact location.
That gave him a little more time to think and prepare.
Of course, Urashiki did not believe he was safe.
Even at the bottom of the sea, he could still occasionally sense a chilling gaze that made every hair on his body stand on end.
As one fled and the other pursued, time slowly passed.
Suddenly, Urashiki sensed an aura unique to the Otsutsuki Clan.
Almost instinctively, he began moving toward its source.
Before long, he stopped over a section of the seabed covered in thick mud.
With a casual sweep of his hand, he cleared away the heavy layer of silt and picked up an object resembling a turtle.
"This is..."
"Karasuki?!"
After examining it carefully, Urashiki's eyes widened in shock.
As a member of the Otsutsuki Clan's main family, he was naturally familiar with the clan's treasured tools.
That was especially true of the Karasuki before him.
Even among the Otsutsuki Clan's treasures, it ranked among the very finest.
It possessed the power to travel through time and space, opening a temporal tunnel that allowed its user to return to the past.
"This treasured tool disappeared thousands of years ago. I never imagined it would be here."
"In that case, Isshiki Otsutsuki or Kaguya Otsutsuki must have stolen Karasuki..."
Urashiki silently analyzed the situation.
After recognizing Karasuki, his earlier panic completely disappeared.
With this treasured tool in his possession, no matter how powerful that unfamiliar man was, he would never be able to capture him.
All Urashiki had to do was use Karasuki to travel to a time before the man had grown strong. He could then erase him with ease.
At the very least, he no longer needed to worry about losing his life.
Yet within those brief moments, that terrifying pressure locked onto him once again.
This time, Urashiki did not continue running.
Before traveling through time, he needed to uncover the true identity of the mysterious man pursuing him.
Perhaps sensing that Urashiki had stopped moving, a faint sound of surprise echoed through the void.
The unfamiliar man Urashiki had encountered earlier appeared before him immediately afterward.
"Why did you stop running?"
The man smiled as he looked at Urashiki, his eyes carefully scanning him from head to toe.
"Who are you?" Urashiki asked.
At such close range, the man's oppressive aura was even more terrifying. The final trace of doubt in Urashiki's heart vanished completely.
The man before him truly was a Kekkei Mōra-level being!
"I am the Emperor of the Divine Kingdom and the sole ruler of the shinobi world."
Yuzuru Uchiha spoke calmly. Glancing at the disturbed mud beneath Urashiki's feet, he asked with barely concealed excitement, "You found something, didn't you?"
As Yuzuru approached, Urashiki spoke in a deep voice.
"The Emperor of the Divine Kingdom..."
"Your name is Yuzuru Uchiha, correct?"
When Urashiki had first arrived in the shinobi world, he had familiarized himself with some of its basic information.
Naturally, he knew about Yuzuru, the reigning Emperor.
"Hand over what you just found. Perhaps I'll spare your life."
Yuzuru stared at Urashiki and slowly took two steps forward.
Urashiki merely sneered.
"Do you really think your victory is guaranteed?"
"The mighty abilities of the Otsutsuki Clan aren't something a native like you could possibly comprehend."
"Believe it or not, even though your level is higher than mine, you could still die by my hand."
After hearing those words, Yuzuru finally confirmed his suspicions.
Had Urashiki not found Karasuki, he would never have dared to make such bold threats in front of him.
"To think you found it so quickly. You really are a lucky bastard."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing. I merely realized that there's no longer any reason to keep you alive."
Urashiki's pupils contracted violently.
"You... You know about Karasuki!"
"You were using me to find it from the very beginning, weren't you?"
Yuzuru gave him an approving look and chuckled.
"Compared to the Otsutsuki I encountered before, you aren't completely stupid."
Urashiki clenched his fists, and all the joy he had felt moments earlier vanished.
Yuzuru seemed even more difficult to deal with than he had imagined.
"Die!"
Urashiki suddenly attacked, releasing all the chakra stored inside his Chakra Gourd in a single instant.
Yuzuru merely raised one finger and spoke calmly.
"Silence."
The instant his voice fell, a force field woven from attractive and repulsive forces enveloped Urashiki completely.
Every explosion erupted inside that confined force field, distorting even the surrounding space.
Outside the barrier, however, not even a muffled boom could be heard.
Caught at the center of the explosion, Urashiki activated Yomotsu Hirasaka and vanished from the seabed. Even so, the terrifying impact still forced him to cough up a mouthful of blood.
Before he could recover, Yuzuru appeared beside him.
'Damn it! I need to put some distance between us.'
The moment Yuzuru appeared, anxiety surged through Urashiki.
Karasuki's ability did not transport its user instantaneously. Instead, it opened a temporal tunnel.
The tunnel would only close after its user entered it.
Although it closed quickly, that brief moment was more than enough for a Kekkei Mōra-level powerhouse.
Unless Urashiki created some distance between them, Yuzuru would be able to follow him into the temporal tunnel like a shadow.
Seeing Yuzuru already standing before him, Urashiki knew it was time to risk everything.
He drew upon every ounce of power in his body and transformed into a bird-like humanoid with two wings and a pair of talons.
Urashiki then shouted, "Amenosubaruboshinomikoto: Ryūgū!"
A gigantic oarfish materialized in midair and lunged at Yuzuru with its jaws wide open.
Yuzuru destroyed it with a single punch.
In the next instant, he appeared directly in front of Urashiki.
"The difference between us is as vast as the heavens and the earth. No matter how much you struggle, it's useless."
Seeing Yuzuru's utterly calm expression, Urashiki roared furiously, "Don't underestimate me! I will kill you!"
"Time Freeze!"