The only method was probably to completely stab those Rinnegan blind.
But that was easy to say and not easy to do. Any normal person would guard their weakness carefully. How could they possibly let someone blind them that easily?
"Lacking real combat experience."
Uchiha Itachi solemnly wrote down his evaluation of the two Otsutsuki's combat ability on a blank sheet of paper. Although they seemed difficult to fight, most of that came from their own raw stats, the overwhelming advantage they had over ordinary ninja in the Shinobi World.
For example, there was the matter of Uzumaki Boruto stabbing the Rinnegan blind. If it had been Itachi, he would never have given the opponent that kind of opening.
Thinking back to the video, those Otsutsuki looked down on the profession of ninja, people who trained bitterly and painstakingly. They had no need to train hard. They only needed to continuously plunder Chakra Fruit, and their strength would keep rising. Naturally, they had no reason to cultivate properly.
Much less polish the fundamentals that were considered basic for ninja.
At this moment, he understood a little more why the future Uzumaki Naruto would not let Uzumaki Boruto use Scientific Ninja Tools. Without tempering, if someone started off by relying on Scientific Ninja Tools, the result would be no different from the Otsutsuki Clan.
If any random Genin could rely on Scientific Ninja Tools to possess destructive power equivalent to a Jonin, how many people would still be willing to train hard?
A so-called strong person raised that way, forget opponents at the same level, might even capsize in a ditch against someone weaker than themselves.
For example, if Itachi possessed Otsutsuki Momoshiki's strength, there was no way Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke would have turned the tables so easily.
How much of his strength had he actually displayed?
Half?
"Aside from that, these Otsutsuki don't know Ninjutsu."
Uchiha Itachi noticed something. Whether it was Otsutsuki Kinshiki or Otsutsuki Momoshiki, neither of them seemed to know the conventional Ninjutsu of the Shinobi World. That was strange.
Logically speaking, the Otsutsuki Clan should have been the main lineage of Ninjutsu. The ancestor of Ninshu, the Sage of Six Paths, was also an Otsutsuki.
The various Ninjutsu passed down through the Shinobi World, tracing back to their mythical origin, had also come from Ninshu. Yet the Otsutsuki Clan, the source of Chakra, did not know Ninjutsu?
"Is it because all of them have Rinnegan that can absorb Ninjutsu, so developing those Ninjutsu became meaningless?"
Uchiha Itachi narrowed his eyes. For now, he could not think of a reasonable explanation. This was the only one that came to mind.
The degree to which the Rinnegan countered Ninjutsu was too terrifying. The Six Paths of Pain from before could still be considered to have weaknesses. After all, they were divided into six people, and absorbing Ninjutsu was not that simple or easy for them.
But the same issue posed no difficulty at all for Otsutsuki Momoshiki. He could absorb attacks instantly and even reflect them back.
"I just don't know whether this ability to absorb and release attacks with amplified power exists in every pair of Rinnegan, or if it's unique to him."
Uchiha Itachi calculated silently. He did not know whether it was because Nagato's development of the Rinnegan was flawed and had not reached its limit, or whether every pair of Rinnegan was actually like the Mangekyo Sharingan, each possessing completely different abilities.
Those were two entirely different concepts.
If this was an ability all Rinnegan possessed, then from now on, when dealing with the Otsutsuki Clan, they could declare that everything except Taijutsu should simply be abandoned. Among the three major systems, Ninjutsu would be absorbed, and Genjutsu was basically useless against dojutsu Kekkei Genkai.
Just like when Kurenai, supposedly an outstanding Genjutsu user, used Genjutsu on him and had it reflected back instantly. Dojutsu Kekkei Genkai simply countered Genjutsu far too hard. Even the Byakugan, which was not exactly specialized in Genjutsu, had extremely strong resistance.
Even more frightening was that Ninjutsu would be released back several times stronger, perhaps even ten times stronger.
The only method left was Taijutsu.
And in that regard, Itachi had even fewer options. His Taijutsu could only be called respectable. It had reached the level a ninja of his rank ought to have, but he was not a Taijutsu specialist.
"Sasuke, though, has unlimited possibilities in the future."
Uchiha Itachi thought of the future middle-aged Uchiha Sasuke's string of movements. His Taijutsu was far stronger than Itachi's.
Between the two brothers, Uchiha Itachi was better at Genjutsu, while Uchiha Sasuke was better at Taijutsu and Ninjutsu.
That much could be seen from the fact that he was able to contend with Otsutsuki Momoshiki.
At this moment, he began to understand why Kaede Kitahara had placed all his hopes on Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto. Faced with enemies like that, perhaps only those two, who already had the chance to grow to that level, could deal with them.
Perhaps they would also have to add the future Uzumaki Boruto, and his own eldest niece, Uchiha Sarada?
At most, maybe one more, the mentioned Uzumaki Himawari?
Did the future really have to be handed over to the younger generation?
"My future self?"
Uchiha Sasuke thought of that future version of himself in the video. He was very calm, quiet, and often did not say much.
That was different from the current him deliberately acting silent, cold, and unapproachable. That was true steadiness, the peace that came after reaching a certain point.
It was a state he could not imagine at all.
His revenge had been carried out, and he even had a wife and child!
"Otsutsuki Momoshiki, Otsutsuki Kinshiki."
Seventh Hokage Naruto's expression was solemn. Seeing those two people, there was no doubt that they were yet another pair of powerful enemies.
Although they could not compare to the overwhelming pressure Otsutsuki Kaguya Hime had brought the two of them back then, they were still super-powerful enemies unlike anything they had seen before.
How could an enemy that required the two of them working together to defeat not be considered strong?
But those two Otsutsuki were not even the greatest threat. The truly dangerous one was Kawaki.
The enemy who forced his future son to go all out, the one whose battle with Boruto took place against the backdrop of all Konoha reduced to ruins.
Judging by age, Boruto at that stage should have reached the Six Paths Level mentioned in Kaede Kitahara's diary.
According to Kaede Kitahara's classification, that should be the same level as the Sage of Six Paths. In other words, the realm that he and Sasuke had once barely stepped into with one foot, but had ultimately failed to stand firmly in and fallen back down from.
And yet his son, even at that level, still could not defeat Kawaki. Kawaki's strength could be imagined.
Thinking of this, Naruto could not sleep at all.
There were only a few years left before these terrifying futures occurred. How was he supposed to sleep?
But Kaede Kitahara had also said he had some kind of Sage Body from the Uzumaki Clan? And that its level was not low?
Why had Naruto never heard of such a thing before? If it had been anyone else, he might not have taken it to heart, but if the person saying it was Kaede Kitahara, then everything was completely different.
At the same time, after finishing his diary, Kaede Kitahara sat on a rooftop and looked up at the moon hanging high in the sky. His mind was still caught on what he had just recorded in the diary. Although it was still far away, the existence of the Otsutsuki was like a blade to him, hanging overhead anytime and anywhere, ready to fall at any moment.
And currently, Kaede Kitahara still was not clear whether the Otsutsuki Momoshiki who might appear in the future would be the Otsutsuki Momoshiki from the Movie Version, or the Otsutsuki Momoshiki from Canon. Clearly, the two versions were at different levels of strength.
The Otsutsuki Momoshiki from the Movie Version, like all Movie Version enemies, would be weakened to a certain extent. But the Canon version of Otsutsuki Momoshiki was completely different. His strength was absolutely far more terrifying than in the Movie Version.
And afterward, it would connect to the plot involving the Otsutsuki Fisherman.
If it was the Canon version, then the Otsutsuki Fisherman would descend not long from now. That was the truly urgent matter.
Don't be fooled by how unimpressive he looked when Uchiha Sasuke brought him down with an Uchiha Pile Driver. Just like Otsutsuki Kinshiki, any Otsutsuki capable of going out to handle business had to be at least Super Kage Level by conservative estimate.
In other words, if his opponent had not been the middle-aged Uchiha Sasuke, the current Konoha really would not have anyone capable of stopping him. And if he truly managed to fish away one or two Tailed Beasts, then his strength would probably become impossible to control all at once.
At present, in the entire Shinobi World, only the Sage of Six Paths hiding in the shadows could personally take action and deal with him.
Kaede Kitahara did not know what the Sage of Six Paths had been doing all these years, but it had only been a thousand years. Judging by the Sage of Six Paths reaching Six Paths Level, there was no way he was dead.
After all, he could be considered a pure-blooded Otsutsuki, right? He was completely different from descendants like Otsutsuki Toneri, Uchiha Madara, and Uchiha Obito, who had also once stepped into Six Paths Level.
And when Kaede Kitahara said he could not be dead, he did not mean existing in some so-called soul form. Most likely, his physical body was still alive.
He simply never showed himself.
In Kaede Kitahara's understanding, the Sage of Six Paths was a little strange. He was clearly still alive and still paying attention to the Shinobi World, yet he did not appear. Instead, he went off to create that so-called Pure Land.
Suddenly, something flashed through Kaede Kitahara's mind.
He thought of Impure World Reincarnation, invented by the Second Hokage.
That Ninjutsu was too incredible. By sacrificing an offering, it could summon the souls of dead strong people back into this world. They could directly retain a considerable degree of combat power and would also possess an endless supply of Chakra.
If this model were promoted on a large scale, wouldn't it be equivalent to summoning Ghost Soldiers anytime and anywhere?
Although that way of putting it sounded a little sinister, it was not impossible.
The Sage of Six Paths had even allowed the Chakra of his two sons to continuously reincarnate among their descendants, cultivating one generation after another of experts on the level of Uchiha Madara, Senju Hashirama, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto.
Even if he only harvested one batch every hundred years, over this past thousand years, the Pure Land should have accumulated quite a few souls of top-level experts, right?
If one day, the Otsutsuki Clan's army truly descended upon the Shinobi World, they might end up discovering a huge surprise.
They might discover themselves being grabbed and beaten senseless by the experts among the native people of the Shinobi World.
After all, it was not like every single member of the Otsutsuki Clan was Six Paths Level, right?
The vast majority of them should only be at Super Kage Level. Judging from what Otsutsuki Kinshiki said, there might even be ordinary clan members at Kage Level.