BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Gazing at Otsutsuki Isshiki, who had almost vanished at the limits of their sight, the Seventh Hokage and the two with him stared blankly at the scene.
Thwack!
"Ouch!" Boruto yelped, clutching his head in pain.
"Placing your life at the mercy of the enemy is the most foolish thing to do," Shadow Clone Ichimei said, clearly dissatisfied. "What did I teach you back then? Did it all go in one ear and out the other? Or did you feed it to the pigs?"
"Little Dad! What took you so long?!" Boruto exclaimed, overjoyed upon seeing him, and launched himself forward in a fierce bear hug.
"Don't get your snot on me," Shadow Clone Ichimei said, pulling him off with a look of distaste.
"Little Dad, can you defeat Otsutsuki Isshiki?" Boruto asked, wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes.
"Haven't fought him yet, so I don't know," Shadow Clone Ichimei shook his head. "Do you want me to send you all out of here?"
"Could you send Boruto out first? Sasuke and I will stay here; perhaps we can be of some help," the Seventh Hokage said, clutching his abdomen where his wound was still mending.
"But I..." Boruto began to protest.
Shadow Clone Ichimei nodded, placed his left hand on Boruto's shoulder, and instantly transported him back to Konoha.
"I never expected that the me from another world would be this strong," the Seventh Hokage marveled, gazing at his other self standing in the desolate dimension.
"Don't you think he greatly resembles Uchiha Obito during the Fourth Great Shinobi War?" Uchiha Sasuke asked. Seemingly feeling his explanation wasn't clear enough, he added, "I'm referring to his current form; it's very similar to Uchiha Obito after he became the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki."
The Seventh Hokage nodded slightly. "It is indeed very similar." A pale complexion similar to an Otsutsuki's, six Truth-Seeking Orbs revolving behind him, and black patterns arranged symmetrically around his body. If it weren't for the fact that he didn't have horns like an Otsutsuki's growing from his forehead, the Seventh Hokage would have almost mistaken him for another Otsutsuki.
"Can you form Truth-Seeking Orbs now?" Uchiha Sasuke asked.
The Seventh Hokage shook his head. He had formed Truth-Seeking Orbs before, but only with the Sage of Six Paths' assistance; they weren't truly his own. The Fourth Great Shinobi War and the subsequent battle at the Final Valley—those successive major battles had caused him to exhaust those Truth-Seeking Orbs. "My mastery of Yin Release is insufficient."
Uchiha Sasuke nodded slightly. His issue was similar, though for him, it was an insufficient mastery of Yang Release.
BOOM!
Otsutsuki Isshiki's high-speed movement tore through the air, creating a visible shockwave.
Naruto stood quietly in place. A Truth-Seeking Orb floated out from behind him, expanding into a hemispherical shield before him.
Clink! Clink! Clink!
Several black receivers suddenly materialized before the shield.
"Who are you?" Otsutsuki Isshiki's eyes narrowed upon seeing his Truth-Seeking Orbs.
"Just a passerby." Naruto gestured, and a Truth-Seeking Orb transformed into a long sword. His figure blurred and vanished.
Otsutsuki Isshiki's expression changed slightly. Instinctively, he summoned a cube from Daikokuten to block his rear.
BOOM!
The cube was sent flying, crashing into Isshiki.
Shrinking the cube that was pinning him and recalling it to Daikokuten, Otsutsuki Isshiki straightened up. His expression no longer held its earlier casual ease.
"Allow me to witness the power of the Otsutsuki clan." Naruto adopted a stance, and his figure vanished once more.
"Inferior creature, who do you think you are? Daring to witness the power of an Otsutsuki." Seemingly enraged by his words, Otsutsuki Isshiki's figure also blurred into an afterimage.
"Kanshin-ryu: Homing Nest!" The fragile alternate dimension, under Naruto's web-like, intersecting slashes, tore open one spatial rift after another. Otsutsuki Isshiki, wielding a staff formed from Yin-Yang Release, counterattacked.
"So strong..." Uchiha Sasuke watched as Otsutsuki Isshiki gradually fell into a disadvantage, a flicker of shock in his eyes. He had witnessed Past Naruto's strength in the other world. Undoubtedly, Past Naruto was a ninja on the same level as himself and the Seventh Hokage. But Past Naruto definitely hadn't been this strong. Otsutsuki Isshiki and Otsutsuki Urashiki were on completely different levels of power.
"Unbelievable..." Otsutsuki Isshiki glanced at the wound on his left arm, which had nearly severed it. Just now, he had made only a minor mistake, yet it had been instantly capitalized on by his opponent.
This can't go on...
"Daikokuten!" His right eye's dojutsu activated. From the void, a large number of black rods materialized, raining down in all directions.
Naruto's gaze lifted slightly. A Truth-Seeking Orb rose and unfurled into a barrier above his head.
Clink! Clink! Clink!
The highly concentrated barrage even smashed several visible cracks into the Truth-Seeking Orb barrier, demonstrating the terrifying power of this attack.
Otsutsuki Isshiki, seeing the black rod barrage was ineffective, activated Daikokuten once more. A large number of giant cubes plummeted down.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"Crack~" A soft sound. The Truth-Seeking Orb barrier shattered.
A flicker of astonishment crossed Naruto's eyes. Sensing a nearby Flying Thunder God marker, his figure vanished.
A sense of danger emanated from behind him. Otsutsuki Isshiki instinctively executed a backward sweeping kick.
POW!
A terrifying shockwave blasted across the surrounding land.
"Such speed... No, it's some kind of space-time ninjutsu." Otsutsuki Isshiki's Byakugan twitched, quickly locking onto a uniquely styled kunai nearby.
"So this is the extent of an Otsutsuki's power," Naruto taunted. Yet, his own attacks became even more cautious. Since forming the Truth-Seeking Orbs, Otsutsuki Isshiki was the first to shatter them. This demonstrated Isshiki's immense power. Compared to Isshiki, Urashiki, though also an Otsutsuki, seemed like a fledgling bird fresh from the nest. In strength, experience, mindset, and even dojutsu, Isshiki surpassed Urashiki in every conceivable way.
Shlick!
Otsutsuki Isshiki traded blow for blow, forcefully carving a gash deep enough to reveal bone on Naruto.
"Ultimately, just an inferior creature," Otsutsuki Isshiki retorted with a sneer.
"Ha, hahahahaha..." Hearing the laughter, Otsutsuki Isshiki frowned slightly. "What do you mean by that?"
"Wounds... pain... Thank you for letting me savor this exhilarating feeling once more." Naruto allowed the blood to flow freely. Too long a period of ease had almost made him forget what it truly meant to fight. In his previous life, he was born to kill and died by the sword. The pursuit of battle was ingrained deep within his bones, his very soul. In his original world, his enemies had been too weak; no one could truly ignite his fighting spirit. But now... He looked at Otsutsuki Isshiki, who wielded a black staff, a flicker of bloodlust in the depths of his eyes.
This freak... Otsutsuki Isshiki's heart sank.
"This guy..." Hearing Past Naruto's words, the Seventh Hokage and Uchiha Sasuke exchanged a look, both seeing the horror mirrored in the other's eyes.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!
Under the terrifying onslaught of the two combatants, the stability of the dimension plummeted. With each blow of similar force, the resulting spatial rifts grew larger and larger.
"This alternate dimension... it's about to collapse." Uchiha Sasuke withdrew his gaze from the void and said in a solemn voice, "We should prepare to evacuate."
"What about him?" The Seventh Hokage's expression changed slightly, referring to Past Naruto.
"He also has a Rinnegan; he understands the current state of this dimension as well." Uchiha Sasuke channeled his dojutsu power, preparing to open a spatial passage. "Besides, even if we tried to dissuade him, he probably wouldn't stop fighting..."