Time ticked by.
The battle had clearly improved after Naruto and Sasuke switched opponents, but continuing like this was definitely not a good thing.
Although the fight had become more competitive after the change, the core problem remained unchanged.
Naruto and Sasuke lacked the ability to finish the fight.
They couldn't defeat their opponents in a single decisive attack, nor could they incapacitate them. If the battle dragged on, Naruto and Sasuke would be the ones to collapse first.
But Naruto and Sasuke didn't care about their stamina anymore.
They had already reached their limits.
Every step they took, every punch they threw, and every technique they unleashed was pushing their bodies beyond what they could endure.
They had only one goal.
Hold on until their sister returned.
That determination burned fiercely within their hearts, like an unquenchable flame.
Even the usually composed Otsutsuki Reishi began to feel a trace of apprehension.
He wasn't afraid of strong opponents.
He feared madmen.
His opponents were powerful, but Reishi was confident in his own strength. No matter how strong Naruto and Sasuke became, he believed he was still superior.
But fighting someone who refused to give up was an entirely different matter.
Madmen were troublesome because they were unpredictable.
According to Reishi's calculations, Naruto and Sasuke should have collapsed long ago.
Yet they were still standing.
Still attacking.
Still resisting.
Still refusing to fall.
Ōtsutsuki Reishi clicked his tongue, his calm expression finally twisting into irritation.
"Fine."
"I'm done playing."
Reishi raised one hand high.
Then
BOOM!
He slammed it downward.
Naruto and Sasuke, who had been moving at incredible speed, suddenly froze.
That familiar feeling…
Gravity.
Both of them simultaneously turned their heads toward the direction of the Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei.
The massive asteroid containing Ōtsutsuki Mai Shiki was still floating in the sky.
She hadn't escaped.
Yet the gravity surrounding Naruto and Sasuke was unmistakably hers.
"No way…"
Sasuke gritted his teeth and stared at Reishi.
Reishi's current movements were exactly the same as those Mai Shiki had used when activating her Gravity Divine Technique.
Beside him, Shiki immediately wore an annoyed expression.
"I was just getting into it. Why are you suddenly getting serious?"
"I have a bad feeling."
Reishi's expression became solemn.
"I can't play with these two anymore."
Shiki shrugged.
"Whatever you say."
But Reishi's eyes remained fixed on Naruto and Sasuke.
His Divine Technique was [Omnipotence].
It allowed him to utilize the Divine Techniques possessed by other members of his clan, reproducing their effects and limitations.
That terrifying ability was the foundation of Reishi's confidence.
Although he had come here alongside Shiki and Mai Shiki, his strength was fundamentally on another level.
And because Reishi was so confident in his own strength, he hated the possibility of defeat even more.
His palm pressed downward.
The gravity intensified.
"100 times."
BOOM!!!
The ground beneath Naruto and Sasuke collapsed.
Their knees trembled violently.
Sasuke's teeth clenched.
Then his Rinnegan flashed.
Amenotejikara!
Space twisted.
Sasuke instantly swapped positions with Reishi.
Reishi appeared where Sasuke had previously been standing.
He didn't panic.
Instead, a knowing smile appeared on his face.
"I knew you'd do that."
At the same time, he released the gravity technique and activated another Divine Technique.
Corrosive Blood.
A stream of crimson-black blood shot toward Naruto.
Naruto's pupils contracted.
"Damn!"
Fortunately, under Chinatsu's guidance, Naruto had already learned the Flying Thunder God Technique.
At the last possible moment
Flash!
Naruto disappeared.
The corrosive blood tore through the space where he had been standing and crashed into the ground.
The earth immediately began dissolving.
Reishi clicked his tongue.
"Tsk. He's really good at running."
He lifted one foot.
Then
BOOM!
He stomped down.
An intense wave of freezing energy erupted from beneath the earth.
Ice spread outward at terrifying speed, instantly freezing Naruto and Sasuke's feet.
"!"
Both of them tried to break free.
But before they could
Reishi was already standing beside them.
His speed was terrifying.
He raised both hands.
One pointed toward Naruto.
The other pointed toward Sasuke.
Corrosive blood slowly gathered around his fingertips, condensing into sharp projectiles.
The blood that could corrode anything was now aimed directly at their heads.
Naruto's expression changed.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
They attempted to activate their techniques.
Flying Thunder God!
Nothing happened.
Amenotejikara!
Nothing.
Their expressions changed completely.
The freezing technique wasn't ordinary Ice Release.
It was another Divine Technique.
It didn't merely freeze objects.
It froze space itself.
As long as space remained frozen, neither Flying Thunder God nor Amenotejikara could function.
Naruto and Sasuke were completely immobilized.
They could only watch as the corrosive blood slowly condensed before their eyes.
Their lives had entered a final countdown.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.
0
"It's over."
Reishi's voice fell.
The corrosive blood transformed into deadly projectiles and shot toward Naruto and Sasuke's heads.
Everything seemed to be ending.
Yet neither Naruto nor Sasuke closed their eyes.
They stared directly at the approaching attacks.
They had already accepted the possibility of death.
But just as the corrosive blood was about to reach them
CRACK!
The ice beneath their feet suddenly shattered.
Naruto and Sasuke froze for half a second.
Then instinct took over.
"Flying Thunder God Technique!"
"Amenotejikara!"
WHOOSH!
The two disappeared from their positions.
The corrosive blood pierced empty air.
Silence descended over the battlefield.
Even Naruto and Sasuke, having narrowly escaped death, were stunned.
They looked at each other.
Then
"Sister?"
Sasuke's voice trembled.
Naruto's eyes widened.
"Sister!"
The first word was uncertainty.
The second was pure shock.
Shiki also looked confused.
He turned toward Reishi.
"Reishi, how did you break free of your own freeze?"
Reishi's eyebrows furrowed.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
"I didn't break free."
"My freeze suddenly shattered."
His expression became increasingly serious.
"It must have been affected by an external force."
His freezing Divine Technique wasn't ordinary ice.
It froze space itself.
Interfering with it was incredibly difficult.
Yet someone had just done exactly that.
Reishi slowly looked around.
Who could interfere with his Divine Technique?
Naruto and Sasuke suddenly realized the answer.
Their eyes lit up.
Their sister was back.
Shiki frowned.
"What's going on?"
He took a step forward.
But the moment his foot touched the ground
The battlefield changed.
BOOM!
The earth beneath him suddenly vanished.
"What?!"
Shiki's expression changed.
His body plummeted downward.
He immediately attempted to stabilize himself in midair.
But before he could
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Countless enormous air fists suddenly materialized above him.
They hammered down one after another like massive hammers driving a nail into the ground.
Shiki was forcibly driven downward.
Below him was a vast ocean.
But it wasn't an ordinary ocean.
It was a sea of highly corrosive acid.
Shiki's expression finally changed.
"What is this?!"
Then he looked upward.
Hovering above the battlefield was a white figure.
Long white hair.
Pale skin.
An unmistakable pair of Byakugan.
The woman looked down at him calmly.
Shiki's pupils contracted.
He instantly recognized her.
One of the targets the Ōtsutsuki clan had been searching for.
The person responsible for everything that had happened in this world.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
And this time
She had personally entered the battlefield.