"Good heavens! Good heavens!"
"How is that old man Six Paths still alive?! This is bad! This is really bad!"
Inside Gaara's sealed space, the miniature Shukaku stretched both arms out and raised them above his head.
Like a crazed Palmon, he ran around while shouting at the top of his lungs.
"S-S-Six Paths old man?! Who is he, Shukaku? Were you secretly involved with some other man behind my back?!!!!"
At this moment, Gaara's mind was buzzing loudly, utterly chaotic.
He could clearly see Shukaku jumping up and down inside his mental space like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, making a huge fuss.
But the words Shukaku said only made Gaara feel confused.
Six Paths old man…
Old man?!
Was having a young boy like him not enough? Did Shukaku have to go find an old man too?
Since when had Shukaku's taste become this heavy?
"Idiot! What nonsense are you thinking?!"
Sensing Gaara's thoughts, Shukaku grew even more frantic inside the mental space.
"That old man Six Paths is the one who created us tailed beasts! He is the legendary Sage of the shinobi world! A true sage!"
The one who created the tailed beasts!
That single sentence made even the dark circles around Gaara's eyes fade slightly.
He had wondered who this Six Paths old man might be. Perhaps someone from a village, or perhaps someone from the desert.
But the one thing he had never imagined was that this person would actually be the ancestor of sages from a thousand years ago—or countless years ago!
But…
Gaara became even more confused.
"At this point, shouldn't someone from a thousand years ago be so dead that even his bones are gone? Could you have mistaken him?"
The moment he heard "mistaken," Shukaku's sandy voice instantly turned sharp.
"This great me would mistake him?! Brat, I'm telling you, this is that exact scent!"
"Although it's a bit faint… but, but, but it's definitely the old man Six Paths' power! No wonder I wasn't a match for this brat. He's cheating! How am I supposed to fight that?!"
A scent similar to the ancestor from a thousand years ago.
If that was not cheating, then what was it?
Inheritance?
After muttering inside the mental space for quite a while, Shukaku slowly lay down, trembling all over.
Then he sternly ordered Gaara, "Brat, a battle of this level isn't something we can interfere in. You—absolutely do not speak."
Gaara: "Oh."
"And! Keep honestly pouring sand into the machine. Don't think about anything else!"
Gaara: "…"
He really wanted to resist.
He really wanted to argue!
He was still underage. This was blatant child labor. Child labor, understood?
Unfortunately, Shukaku had no time to pay attention to him. He tucked his tail between his legs and curled up in the corner, trembling.
Boom!
At the same time, in the center of the battlefield, a powerful aura once again shot into the sky!
The bloodline power inside Kai that had been strengthened by Pure Byakugan was like a volcano that had been suppressed for thousands upon thousands of years, finally finding an outlet!
Crackling sounds began to come from inside his body.
Like beans being fried in a pan.
And they became denser and louder!
The markings that had originally only covered his face…
Ahem.
The mysterious patterns seemed to come alive, spreading madly across his chin and neck!
"Huff… huff!"
Feeling the intense swelling pain spreading through every limb and bone, Kai let out a muffled groan. Veins bulged across his forehead and neck one by one!
This swelling pain…
Was even more domineering than the first time he had copied the Mangekyō Sharingan!
It was as if a thousand red-hot iron rods had been stabbed into his flesh and bones, stirring back and forth nonstop!
Every movement brought terrible pain!
"Second… Second Brother, you…"
Future Sasuke sensed that something was wrong with Kai's body. He struggled to climb up.
But the Infinite Locks binding him were extremely firm, steady as a mountain!
"Big Brother!"
At the edge, Naruto anxiously stomped his feet.
But just as he was about to move, Jiraiya firmly pressed down on his shoulder.
"Naruto, don't go over there!"
His expression was extremely grave. One could faintly see sage markings gradually spreading across his face.
"Kai… nothing serious has happened to him. It's just…"
At this point, Jiraiya's voice paused.
"It's just that the energy inside his body… is transforming! If we approach now, we might interrupt him!"
And—
We might die!
Jiraiya did not say that sentence, but the solemnity in his eyes could not be hidden no matter what.
The air crackled with sharp sounds.
The pale-golden markings beneath Kai's skin also became increasingly grand, faintly giving off a thick, sticky sensation that made movement difficult.
"Hiss!"
At this moment, Urashiki, who was lying on the ground, had both—
No, all three of his eyes nearly popping out!
Finally, he let out an unbelievable cry.
"Th-this, this, this… this isn't scientific!"
"His aura… how could it be purer than mine?! No, impossible!"
"This is an illusion! It must be an illusion!"
He raised his head, trying to convince himself with the innate arrogance and nobility of the Ōtsutsuki clan. Yet his body trembled uncontrollably, and his soul kept wailing from the depths.
This was a reaction that only appeared when facing a higher-ranking Ōtsutsuki.
[Ding! Pure Byakugan has evolved. The pure Ōtsutsuki bloodline within Host's body has increased!]
[High-purity Wood Release cell analysis has been affected. Analysis speed increased… Current analysis completion: 99%… 99.1%… 99.5%…]
At the same time, inside Kai's mind and before his eyes, the system prompts flashed wildly as if they had gone insane!
Hearing them, Kai's heart stirred, and joy appeared in his eyes.
"Wood Release cells?!"
He had never expected that a single upgrade of Pure Byakugan would actually drive forward the analysis progress of his high-grade Wood Release cells!
This wave…
Was not a loss.
It was a blood profit!
After all, who could have imagined that the Ōtsutsuki bloodline purified by upgrading Pure Byakugan would become the super catalyst for the final one percent of high-purity Wood Release cell analysis?
One had to know that for this final one percent, Kai had spent this period of time not only trying repeatedly on Yamato, but even on the dead Danzo and the First Hokage countless times.
But he had never succeeded.
It was as if he had reached a bottleneck he simply could not touch.
Buzz!
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
At the same time, the instant the high-grade Wood Release cell analysis progress reached 100%—
A completely different yet equally vast and majestic life energy suddenly surged from inside his body!
It was as if some terrifying ancient beast was gradually awakening within him.
At this moment, the high-grade cells of Wood Release and the boiling Ōtsutsuki bloodline began colliding and merging fiercely.
Rumble!
This time, it was no longer a small disturbance.
It was a true earth-shaking upheaval!
Visible to the naked eye, with Kai as the center—
The scorched black land beneath his feet, which had been ravaged by future Sasuke's S-rank Lightning Release Kirin and the Raikage, then smashed into a deep pit by Urashiki—
Seemed…
To gain new life!
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