RUMBLE—
A sound of collapse echoed from the void.
"Let's go!" Uchiha Sasuke's expression changed slightly. His Rinnegan twitched, and a spatial passage connecting to the main world appeared before them. He grabbed the Seventh Hokage and rushed in.
Not long after the two disappeared.
CRACK!
The purplish sky suddenly tore open, revealing a pitch-black void. Terrifying currents of space-time surged within.
CRACKLE!
Dark red lightning bolts struck down one after another.
Naruto, having just arrested his backward momentum from an attack, was instantly engulfed by a massive bolt of lightning.
"Pfft!" Seeing this, Otsutsuki Isshiki, despite coughing up blood, couldn't suppress the smile on his face.
BOOM!
In the blink of an eye, a bolt of lightning similarly struck him.
As the lightning dissipated, a pitch-black sphere slowly unfurled, revealing Naruto's figure within. With a light flick of his sword fingers, the Truth-Seeking Orbs revolving behind him transformed into a volley of arrows, shooting towards the distant enemy.
Otsutsuki Isshiki, his skin now slightly blackened, gasped for breath. He activated Daikokuten, summoning several cubes to block his front.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The arrows pierced one hole after another through the cubes, their momentum undiminished.
The harsh environment of the collapsing dimension caused the danger level of their battle to skyrocket. If struck by lightning, the momentary paralysis would become a fatal opening.
"Inferior native, come on!" By now, Otsutsuki Isshiki had also gone berserk. As his killing moves became increasingly frenzied, both combatants frantically heightened their senses to avoid being struck by lightning.
Their terrifying battle acted like a catalyst, further accelerating the collapse of the alternate dimension.
Beside the two of them, a rift suddenly tore open, and a terrifying attractive force swept out.
Naruto seized the opportunity, suddenly circling to Otsutsuki Isshiki's side, and, aligning with the direction of the rift, launched a kick.
"Trying to knock me into the space-time turbulence?" Otsutsuki Isshiki guessed his intention and grinned ferociously, grabbing Naruto's calf. "The advantage is mine! Thinking of taking me down with you? What a joke!"
Naruto's tomoe Rinnegan dojutsu activated. He transformed into several red paper cranes, reappearing a short distance away.
The terrifying aftershocks continued to batter the on the verge of collapse alternate dimension.
Several minutes later.
RUMBLE~
The alternate dimension finally reached its limit. Like a torn piece of paper, space abruptly ripped into several fragments, each drifting off in a different direction under the impact of the space-time turbulence.
On a larger fragment, the battle between the two continued.
Light filled their vision.
Familiar scenery entered their eyes. The Seventh Hokage and Uchiha Sasuke, their taut nerves finally relaxing, felt the injuries on their bodies and their mental exhaustion, like water from an opened dam, rush through them with devastating force.
"Medical team!" Sensing their chakra, Yamanaka Ino, who was in charge of the village's barrier, hurriedly arranged for personnel to head over and treat their injuries.
In less than a minute, Haruno Sakura arrived with a medical team. Arriving at the same time were various Konoha higher-ups who had received the news.
"It's alright. Just some internal injuries and a few fractures," Haruno Sakura said after a quick examination.
Hearing this, the surrounding individuals all breathed a sigh of relief. To return safely from a battle with such a formidable enemy as Otsutsuki Isshiki was already a great fortune. Relatively speaking, these injuries were nothing.
"Where are Boruto and Kawaki?" While being treated by the medical ninja, the Seventh Hokage didn't forget to ask about his son and disciple.
"Dad, we're fine," Boruto said, squeezing through the crowd with Kawaki.
"As long as you're alright..." Seeing them, the Seventh Hokage's tense expression finally relaxed.
But just then, a sudden change occurred!
Beside Kawaki, a spatial vortex abruptly appeared. A pale, heavily scarred arm reached out from it, grabbing for Kawaki.
"Kawaki, you belong to me!" Otsutsuki Isshiki roared, bursting out from the spatial vortex.
Kakashi and the others, seeing this, their faces paled drastically. Thanks to Amado's intelligence, they understood what Kawaki meant to Otsutsuki Isshiki.
The Seventh Hokage instantly entered Kurama Chakra Mode, a giant golden claw swiftly grabbing for the outstretched pale arm. Uchiha Sasuke's dojutsu activated, a skeletal Susanoo arm extending as chakra-flesh grew around it.
"Kawaki belongs to himself!" Boruto sidestepped, shielding his brother-figure.
"Momoshiki's [Vessel], you overestimate your own value." Otsutsuki Isshiki's battered body rushed out. His remaining right hand pressed down, and Boruto's head disappeared into the road, instantly losing consciousness.
For Isshiki, who was already half a step into death's door, plans and whatnot had long been cast aside. He had to reimplant Karma on Kawaki. That was his hope for another revival.
Just as his palm was about to touch Kawaki, a foot suddenly appeared on his body, stomping down heavily.
BOOM!
The terrifying shockwave sent everyone nearby flying.
"Where do you think you're running?" an utterly cold inquiry sounded above him.
"If this body were Kawaki's, instead of this useless Jigen's, I guarantee, the one dying would be you..." Otsutsuki Isshiki said, his body crumbling like weathered sand, piece by piece. Clearly, Jigen's body could no longer sustain his existence.
"Regrettably, in this world, there are no 'ifs'... Farewell." Naruto lifted his foot. Otsutsuki Isshiki's strength deserved his respect.
"Bastard!" Kawaki, still terrified, was about to rush forward and stomp Isshiki's remains into pulp, but no matter how hard he tried, his foot wouldn't descend.
"Venting on a corpse is meaningless," Naruto said, glancing at him.
"Boruto!" The Seventh Hokage's cry also snapped Kawaki back to reality. Compared to venting his emotions on a corpse, his brother who was willing to sacrifice his life for him was more deserving of his feelings.
Just then, a commotion sounded in the distance.
Naruto turned his head to look. Boruto, who had been severely injured and knocked unconscious by Isshiki's attack, had already regained consciousness. The head injury had bizarrely vanished. A horn had sprouted from his right forehead, and his right eye had transformed into a strange eye similar to a Byakugan, extremely reminiscent of a Tenseigan, yet not quite.
"I never thought you all would actually defeat Isshiki..." 'Boruto' focused his gaze on the man standing beside Isshiki's corpse, a grave look in his eyes.
"Otsutsuki Momoshiki?" Naruto slowly walked towards him. Though phrased as a question, his tone was one of absolute certainty.
"It is I." 'Boruto' gave a sinister smile, spreading his arms wide. "It feels good to be able to move freely."
"You can hear me, can't you, Boruto?!" Kawaki remembered his promise with Boruto and shouted loudly, trying to awaken his will. "Don't be controlled by that kind of person! Wake up quickly!"
"Tch..." Momoshiki sneered contemptuously.
"If you don't want to die, release Boruto's consciousness." Naruto stopped, half a step away, looking down on him.
"This body still belongs to Boruto for now. Come on, kill me," Momoshiki provoked, looking directly at him.
BOOM!
Before his voice had even faded, his body was slammed deep into the earth. His face was filled with astonishment and disbelief.