Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh~
In the dense forest, a continuous series of air-cutting sounds echoed as over a dozen Konoha ninja, clad in their standard uniforms, successively arrived outside the secret cave in the Land of Rivers.
"This is…" Looking at the utterly devastated battlefield in front of the cave, Asuma Sarutobi, who was leading the group, instantly wore an expression of extreme shock. In particular, the deep, sword-carved trench in front of the cave, stretching for several tens of meters, made everyone's scalp tingle. Could this level of destruction truly be caused by the power of a ninja?
"Captain, what kind of power could have caused this?" a Konoha ninja beside Asuma asked, his voice trembling slightly. The sheer destructive force unleashed by Suijin's Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, empowered by the Giant Tenseigan, had completely surpassed the common understanding of ninjutsu in the ninja world.
"I don't know," Asuma replied, his expression grave as he slowly shook his head. However, the image of the brilliant pillar of light he had seen shooting towards the sky from a great distance earlier immediately flashed through his mind. From afar, it had looked like a colossal sword, perhaps several thousand meters in length! The very thought of such a thing made Asuma's heart tremble with a mixture of awe and trepidation.
The ninja world, it seemed, was becoming increasingly filled with terrifying, incomprehensible powers. Compared to such overwhelming might, what did their status as elite Jonin even amount to?
Just as Asuma was reeling from these shocking thoughts, another series of air-cutting sounds echoed from the distance. Several Sunagakure ninja had arrived on the scene. The Land of Rivers was situated at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, and it was common for ninja from both Konoha and Sunagakure to operate within its territory.
Asuma recognized the leader of the Suna ninja. It was Matsushita Masato, a Jonin from Sunagakure. Seeing Asuma, Matsushita Masato wasn't surprised. He stepped forward and greeted him, "Asuma, you arrived a step ahead of us." As he spoke, Matsushita Masato's gaze shifted to the ravaged battlefield.
Just like Asuma and his team, upon seeing the devastating traces left on the battlefield, Matsushita Masato and the other Sunagakure ninja all stared with wide-eyed astonishment, their mouths agape. A heavy silence fell over the scene. Both the Konoha and Sunagakure contingents were momentarily stunned into speechlessness by the sheer scale of destruction.
After a long while, everyone finally began to recover from their shock. Asuma nodded to Matsushita Masato and said, "Let's split up and search. See if we can find any clues." Matsushita Masato didn't reply verbally, merely nodding in agreement.
Immediately, the two groups began to search the battlefield separately, hoping to find some lingering traces or clues about what had transpired.
During the search, Asuma suddenly let out a soft, surprised sound. He leaped over to an area littered with shattered wood and picked up a piece, a look of bewildered uncertainty in his eyes. As the son of the Third Hokage, Asuma was privy to more of the village's secrets than ordinary ninja. He recognized at a glance that the shattered wood before him was likely the result of Wood Style ninjutsu. And judging from the scattered fragments underfoot, the original wooden construct must have been absolutely colossal.
At this thought, Asuma couldn't help but recall the legends of the First Hokage and the descriptions of the Wood Style ninjutsu he had wielded, as recorded in the village's secret archives. The scale of the Wood Style traces left here… it was probably not far off from what the legendary "God of Shinobi" himself had been capable of. And for such a powerful Wood Style ninjutsu to have been shattered into this state by a single blow… how incredibly strong must the attacker have been? Could it be that that person was the one who had unleashed that heaven-piercing sword of light?
A torrent of questions flooded Asuma's mind, leaving him feeling somewhat numb from the successive shocks. After standing rooted to the spot for several tens of seconds, Asuma finally took out a storage scroll from his pouch, gathered some of the wooden fragments from the ground, and sealed them within it. Currently, there was another ninja in the village capable of using Wood Style—Yamato, who belonged to the Hokage's direct ANBU guard. Asuma planned to have Yamato confirm whether these fragments were indeed the product of Wood Style. If it truly was Wood Style, then the implications for Konoha would be immense.
On the other side, Matsushita Masato and several Sunagakure ninja were also standing dumbfounded beside the shattered remains of a thick, black wall. At this moment, Matsushita Masato held a black rod in his hand. After careful examination, he couldn't identify what material it was made from at all. Lifting his head again, he surveyed the black fortress wall, seemingly composed of countless such black rods, and the clean, sharp break that had cleaved it in two, as well as the massive sword trench gouged into the earth. Matsushita Masato simply couldn't find the words to describe his current feelings.
A battle of gods! This was the only phrase that came to the minds of all the Sunagakure ninja present. Faced with this kind of power, what difference was there between them and mere ants? What meaning did the years of arduous training they had endured to master their own abilities even hold?
Just as everyone was grappling with these unsettling doubts, another Sunagakure ninja rushed over from the distance. He arrived beside Matsushita Masato and reported urgently, "Captain, we also found traces of their battle outside Yoshiwara Town! There was a blue giant, a hundred meters tall, wielding a giant sword! Its appearance strongly resembles the legendary Susanoo!"
"A blue giant wielding a giant sword… Susanoo… It's the Divine Court!" Hearing this, Matsushita Masato's pupils constricted sharply. In the ninja world, the only known individual capable of manifesting a Susanoo of such a scale and power seemed to be that Uchiha member from the Divine Court. Although Konoha Village's Shisui Uchiha had also awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, he definitely couldn't achieve this level of mastery.
"Notify Asuma and his team! We're going over to take a look!" After a moment of stunned shock, Matsushita Masato ordered the reporting ninja.
Soon, Matsushita Masato and Asuma, each leading their respective subordinates, hurried towards Yoshiwara Town, several tens of kilometers away.
On the battlefield several kilometers from Yoshiwara Town, Tatsuya arrived beside Isshiki Otsutsuki, reaching out and placing his hand on the remaining half of Isshiki's ravaged body. The moment Tatsuya's right hand made contact with Isshiki Otsutsuki's body, a savage, triumphant grin appeared on the remaining half of Isshiki's lips.
In an instant, a large number of black, tomoe-like markings began to spread from Isshiki Otsutsuki's body, surging along Tatsuya's right arm and towards his own body. With only half of his body remaining and having expended a massive amount of his life force, Isshiki Otsutsuki was making one final, desperate gamble. He wanted to seize Tatsuya's body, to make him the new host for his Kāma seal.
However, the savage grin on Isshiki Otsutsuki's face quickly froze, while a cold, mocking smile appeared on Tatsuya's lips opposite him. As the black markings spread onto Tatsuya's body, they surprisingly began to slowly disappear, as if being absorbed. They were being assimilated by Tatsuya's body.
At the same time, a series of notifications began to continuously sound within Tatsuya's mind from his bio-chip: "New data signature detected. Commencing absorption."
Isshiki Otsutsuki had intended to replicate himself, to digitize his own being and parasitize Tatsuya's body. He hadn't expected to encounter Tatsuya, who possessed the advanced bio-chip. His vast memories and self-awareness, the very essence of his being, were rapidly absorbed the moment they entered Tatsuya's body.
Simultaneously, the remaining half of Isshiki Otsutsuki's body began to show signs of petrification, cracks spreading across its surface. More than ten seconds later, all the black markings that had spread onto Tatsuya's body had completely vanished. And Isshiki Otsutsuki, lying on the ground, had completely lost all signs of life.
Tatsuya gently clenched his right fist.
CRUMBLE!
The remaining half of Isshiki Otsutsuki's body directly disintegrated into countless motes of ash in the air.