After learning senjutsu for three years, Deidara and Sasuke had both achieved the Perfected Qi Refining stage of cultivation. Even Might Guy, who was not adept at immortal cultivation, had attained the Late Qi Refining stage through long, arduous, and monotonous training.
(Cultivation stage does not equal combat power.)
As for Orochimaru and Namikaze Minato, they had successfully formed internal elixirs. Nanaise, who possessed the Spirit Summoning Immortal Body, made rapid progress in cultivation over these three years. Despite her young age, she had reached the terrifying Late Core Formation stage. Her cultivation speed even put immense pressure on Ryun, her own father...
These six people, plus Hidan who had not ascended to the moon, were the main team members whom Ryun highly valued and planned to take on the expedition beyond the sky to wage war against the Otsutsuki clan.
"These two guys are for you to practice on."
Ryun proactively took several steps back, handing the battlefield over to the six of them.
Otsutsuki Momoshiki and Otsutsuki Kinshiki were not worthy of Ryun taking action himself. Six against two even felt a bit like bullying to him...
"Wait, wait. We have no conflict with you all. Are you truly going to make enemies of our Otsutsuki clan." Otsutsuki Momoshiki tried to use the lack of prior grievance as a reason, attempting to talk his way out.
The enemies surrounding them all contained terrifying amounts of chakra within their bodies. Moreover, that chakra seemed significantly different from the usual blue chakra. The aura of all six clearly was not inferior to his and Kinshiki's.
If it were two against two, Otsutsuki Momoshiki wouldn't be scared at all. But now it was six against two, with a divine realm expert watching intently from the side, exerting pressure. Otsutsuki Momoshiki felt they didn't even have a ten percent chance of victory now...
Momoshiki's words made Ryun chuckle involuntarily. In the original storyline, this guy was quite arrogant when he encountered Naruto and Sasuke, right. Why, upon encountering Ryun's group, did his haughty nature completely fail to manifest?
"If you can defeat these six, I might consider letting you two go." Ryun said to Momoshiki with a smile.
"You said it yourself. I hope you, sir, will keep your word." Momoshiki hurriedly spoke, afraid Ryun would go back on it.
"Of course. I am a man of my word." Ryun crossed his arms, looking utterly nonchalant.
"Six against two feels a bit unfair. How about one-on-one duels instead." Orochimaru suggested with a smile.
"Perfect. Only single combat can truly test strength. The guy with the headband is mine. The remaining lackey is yours." Deidara proactively picked the strongest opponent.
As soon as he said this, Sasuke and Guy immediately became displeased.
"Why do you get to pick first. The skinny one is mine, the fat one is yours."
Sasuke wanted to demonstrate his strength in front of Ryun. Guy wanted to test the results of his three years of training. They both really needed a genuine opponent.
Seeing the competition was fierce, Orochimaru and Minato, as the elders, could only reluctantly give up the first pick. Nanaise, being a girl not particularly fond of fighting, also simply gave up the competition and moved to her father's side.
Hearing Deidara, Sasuke, and Guy arguing heatedly, faces red, over who got which opponent, the faces of Momoshiki and Kinshiki, their enemies, instantly darkened.
In the end, Guy, being the oldest, ultimately did not continue the argument, leaving the opportunity to the two younger ones.
"The leader is mine, the follower is yours, otherwise." Deidara originally wanted to threaten Sasuke, but the two opponents had completely lost patience and actually initiated the attack first.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh.
Numerous black rods capable of piercing through rock shot towards them. Sasuke and Deidara decisively used the Body Flicker Technique for an emergency evasion.
After the two dodged Momoshiki's long-range attack, Otsutsuki Kinshiki charged out the next moment. He proactively chose Deidara.
A massive pink axe cleaved fiercely towards Deidara's head. Forced into a corner, Deidara could only accept this opponent. After dodging the axe slash, he quickly threw two clay high-explosive bombs.
"Crack."
Boom.
Instantly, flames shot into the sky. Otsutsuki Kinshiki blocked the explosion with his axe held in front of him, but he was inevitably blasted back several steps by the shockwave.
After repelling Kinshiki, Deidara seized the chance to throw out a clay bird and jumped onto its back. He attempted to launch an air-to-ground assault on Kinshiki.
Unfortunately, Otsutsuki Kinshiki could also fly, and his flight speed was not much slower than the clay bird.
"Crack."
Sounds of aerial combat and clay explosions came from the sky.
Meanwhile, Sasuke also engaged Otsutsuki Momoshiki the next moment. The two commenced a series of intense taijutsu exchanges on the ground.
"This kid Deidara. After learning senjutsu, his strength clearly had a qualitative leap." Orochimaru couldn't help but exclaim in admiration while watching Deidara in the sky.
The clay bird infused with immortal energy flew at a speed far beyond its previous level, not just by a little. Even the explosive power of the clay had multiplied several times compared to before. Most crucially, its weakness to elemental counters was completely eliminated.
Senjutsu chakra, immortal energy, stood above all other chakra. Clay infused with senjutsu chakra was no longer afraid of lightning.
Deidara's growth rate in recent years had been astonishing. This was also why Ryun agreed to include him in the expedition team.
"Sasuke's taijutsu has also improved significantly over the years." Guy also commented on Sasuke's strength. This young man had often trained with him and frequently sought his advice on taijutsu experience and sparring exchanges.
"Sage Art. Fire Release. Great Fireball Technique." Sasuke proactively used a sage art on Momoshiki.
Ryun had said before that the Otsutsuki clan generally had the ability to absorb ninjutsu. But without having witnessed this ability firsthand, Sasuke also wanted to test it out.
"Using that kind of sage art is not a great choice." Ryun said with a light laugh. Even a high-powered Sage Art Great Fireball would be useless against Momoshiki.
As if confirming Ryun's words, Otsutsuki Momoshiki decisively raised his palm to perform 'Takami Musubi no Kami'. He completely absorbed the massive, super-high-temperature fireball coming at him, a sinister smile appearing on his face.
"A pretty good fireball. Try mine."
Lifting his hand, flames suddenly surged out. A gigantic, sky-obscuring, high-temperature fireball instantly appeared and slammed towards Sasuke, whose face was full of shock.
This fireball was over ten times larger than Sasuke's Great Fireball. Overall, it looked like a giant sun. The super-high temperature and light it emitted made it difficult to look at directly.
"Brother Sasuke." Nanaise instinctively cried out in alarm. In her view, Sasuke was making no move to defend at all.
"Just watch quietly." Ryun proactively put an arm around his daughter's shoulders, signaling her not to make a fuss.
As his words fell, Sasuke proactively raised his palm towards the gigantic fireball.
The Preta Path ability activated. The entire gigantic fireball was directly and completely absorbed by him. This scene left the watching group momentarily stunned.
A single Great Fireball being absorbed back and forth like that. It just showed that people with the Rinnegan really knew how to have fun.
But it seemed Sasuke came out ahead overall. After all, the amount of chakra used to throw out one Sage Art Great Fireball was now returned with over ten times the chakra. He probably didn't lose out.
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