[Fan Value: -6,000,000 Points. Balance Cleared.]
The massive reserve Light Inksworth had been saving on his System interface was instantly wiped out. He had originally intended to keep it as an emergency deposit, but he didn't expect to be forced to use it so soon.
[Congratulations to the Host! Rewards obtained: Full set of Ninjutsu and Taijutsu from the Third Hokage, Time Machine Fragment x1, Sonic Skill: Wind Blade Foot, Hatake Kakashi Skill: Three Tomoe Sharingan.]
'All useful equipment,' Light thought rapidly.
He didn't even have time to fully read the System interface, because at that exact millisecond, the blinding red beam of cosmic plasma pierced through the settling dust, shooting toward him with apocalyptic force.
His skin blistered from the ambient heat radiating off the beam. There was no doubt in his mind: if that beam hit him directly, his Regeneration wouldn't save him. He would be instantly incinerated.
"Shunpo!"
Light moved subconsciously. Tapping into the Flash Step, his body blurred into a streak of light. He flashed through the air in a rapid, erratic zigzag, moving faster than the naked eye could track, leaving behind solid afterimages.
Whoosh—!
The heat ray effortlessly penetrated the afterimages, sailing past him and detonating harmlessly in the outer atmosphere.
Flying backward at high speed to create distance, Light felt a sudden, icy chill in his right eye. In the blink of an eye, his iris turned a blood-red hue. Three black, comma-shaped tomoe materialized around the pupil, spinning rapidly. A profound sense of clarity and heightened perception washed over him. The world seemed to slow down.
'Even with these new skills, I still can't let my guard down!' Light's brain worked in overdrive, scanning his newly acquired abilities to find the perfect counterattack.
But Thanos didn't give him a second to breathe.
The Mad Titan shot upward like a cannonball, the sheer kinetic force of his leap creating a spiraling tornado that collapsed the sand beneath his feet into a massive crater.
"Boy!" Thanos bellowed.
A casserole-sized purple fist came crashing down toward Light's face from the side. The speed was so incomprehensible that even with the Sharingan's precognition, Light only had enough time to cross his arms in front of his chest.
BOOM!!
Light was swatted out of the sky like a falling meteor, slamming violently into the desert floor. The impact created a shockwave that threw up a tsunami of yellow sand. A bottomless, spiderwebbing fissure ripped through the crust, spreading for hundreds of meters as the very tectonic plates groaned in protest.
"It is finished," Thanos said, slowly descending from the sky.
He looked down condescendingly at the bottomless crack. He flexed his left hand; the burn wound from Light's earlier attack was already beginning to close. His terrifying resilience would have him fully healed in minutes.
This Earthling was one of the very few creatures in the cosmos that had forced Thanos to use his cosmic heat rays and exert actual effort. Thanos had never expected an inhabitant of that backwater planet to be capable of drawing his blood.
It was incredible.
Thinking of this, Thanos looked up toward the distant stars, wondering just how mysterious the azure planet of Earth truly was. A trace of solemnity flashed in his deep eyes.
"Hey. I told you it was too early to start celebrating."
Suddenly, an overwhelming, suffocating aura erupted from the dark abyss of the canyon. Thanos snapped his head back down, a deep chill creeping up his spine. It felt as if a violent, primordial beast had just pressed its claws against his throat.
Light Inksworth slowly floated up from the depths of the crack.
His clothes were torn to shreds. His face was contorted into a mask of pure, unadulterated ferocity. His right eye glowed with a sinister, brilliant red light.
Riiiiiiip.
With a sickening sound, Light's muscles swelled violently, tearing the remains of his shirt. Massive, vascular bumps protruded from his arms. He no longer looked like a muscular human; he looked like a rampaging demon.
A violent pressure shot up into the clouds. The yellow sandstorm halted, replaced by a heavy, depressive atmosphere that locked down the entire battlefield.
[Entering Ashura Mode. Host will remain conscious for three minutes. Exceeding this time limit will result in complete loss of control.]
[Passive physical traits doubled. Agility enhanced to Level 6. Monstrous Power enhanced to Level 4. Toughness enhanced to Level 8.]
[Active skills augmented by varying degrees.]
The System's mechanized voice echoed rapidly in Light's mind.
Right now, there was only one word echoing in Light's brain: 'Fight!'
Light glared at Thanos. In his right eye, the three black tomoe spun clockwise, blurring together before connecting into a razor-sharp, boomerang-like pinwheel.
[Three Tomoe Sharingan evolved into Mangekyō Sharingan. Active Skill Unlocked: Kamui.]
Hovering in the air, Light licked his dry lips. He stared at the genuinely surprised Titan and roared, "Multi-Shadow Clone Technique!"
Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!
Five plumes of white smoke erupted. Five perfect copies of Light shot out of the smoke, using Shunpo to instantly surround Thanos in a pentagon formation. They rapidly wove hand signs.
"Water Style!"
"Earth Style!"
"Wind Style!"
"Fire Style!"
"Lightning Style!"
"Five-Style: Massive Combo Jutsu!"
Explosive flames, roaring thunder, tumbling rock and mud, raging floods, and slicing hurricane winds all poured down simultaneously toward Thanos in the center.
Seeing the apocalyptic barrage, Thanos braced his legs to evade.
"Bakudō No. 61: Six Rods of Light!" the original Light shouted.
Six shining, golden beams of hard-light slammed into Thanos's midsection, paralyzing the Titan completely.
RUMBLE!
The massive stream of five intersecting elements slammed directly into the immobilized Thanos. The conflicting energies instantly detonated, creating a massive, inverted dome of destruction that drilled violently into the planet's surface. The ground sank continuously, forming a fifty-meter-wide crater filled with elemental chaos.
The attack was more than twice as powerful as the Third Hokage's original version, fueled by the terrifying physical enhancements of the Ashura Mode.
The yellow sand was entirely burned away, exposing the blackened bedrock.
But Light wasn't finished. Taking advantage of the momentum, he pushed off the air itself, moving at double his previous maximum speed. Layers of sonic booms stacked behind him as he blitzed into the crater.
Caught off guard and slightly scarred by the elemental barrage, Thanos hadn't managed to break free from the Kido binding in time to block.
Whoosh!
"Shunpo!"
"Leaf Strong Whirlwind!"
"Wind Blade Foot!"
Light materialized directly under Thanos. He swung his leg upward in a devastating, sonic-charged crescent kick, smashing directly into the Titan's massive, grooved chin. In the slowed-down perception of the Mangekyō Sharingan, Light watched Thanos's eyes widen in shock at the sudden burst of speed.
The kick connected with earth-shattering force. Thanos's massive jaw snapped upward, violently contorting his face. A dozen teeth shattered and splashed out of his mouth. The sheer kinetic impact lifted the thousand-ton Titan off the ground.
As Thanos flew backward in a daze, like an arrow released from a bow, the five Shadow Clones rushed forward, thrusting their palms out.
"Hadō No. 73: Twin Lotus Blue Fire, Crash Down!"
Explosive, blue spiritual flames erupted from all directions. The scorching, soul-burning heat instantly dried out the atmosphere, completely engulfing Thanos in a sphere of blue fire.
Thanos's Eternal physiology gave him immense resistance to physical heat, but Kido burned the spiritual pressure itself. The pain penetrated straight to his bones.
"ARGHH!" Thanos roared in agony. "Boy! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"
Thanos's entire body erupted in a blinding red cosmic aura, the shockwave instantly extinguishing the blue flames. His eyes burned with absolute, murderous rage. He was being pushed to the brink by an Earthling.
This was absolutely unacceptable! He was Thanos, the supreme overlord of the universe!
"DIE!"
Thanos thrust both hands forward. Countless ions and cosmic particles rioted in the air, gathering rapidly between his clenched fists. A terrifying red halo expanded around his hands before he violently punched forward.
A colossal, hyper-concentrated beam of red cosmic plasma erupted from his fists, bridging the gap between heaven and earth like a laser meant to split the planet in half.
Light didn't even blink. He simply locked his Mangekyō Sharingan onto the incoming beam and spoke flatly.
"Kamui."
Invisible spatial waves surged outward. A small, black singularity suddenly tore open in the fabric of reality just inches in front of Light. The surrounding space immediately began to distort and spiral around it like a black hole.
An immense gravitational pull spread outward. The world-ending beam of red cosmic energy, which had been traveling in a perfectly straight line, was caught by the spatial distortion. The beam aggressively bent off its trajectory, spiraling directly into the black hole.
VMMMM!!
The menacing red pillar of plasma, which had been atomizing the air just a second prior, was silently and completely sucked into the pocket dimension, like a moth flying into a vacuum.
"Space manipulation?!!!" Thanos's eyes widened in absolute shock, his composure finally breaking.
Space abilities were incredibly rare across the universe. The only thing Thanos thought about day and night was the Space Stone. Was this how the human had traveled to Titan?
'Thank god Kamui was enhanced by the Ashura Mode,' Light muttered internally, feeling the massive drain on his stamina.
Usually, the Mangekyō's long-range Kamui took a moment to focus and absorb large targets. It would have been impossible for him to use it directly on Thanos to snap his neck. But absorbing a straightforward energy beam was entirely manageable.
Refusing to let Thanos recover from his shock, Light vanished using Shunpo. The five clones simultaneously struck the ground.
"Earth Style: Underworld Swamp!"
"Earth Style: Earth Flow River!"
"Bakudō No. 26: Curved Light!"
"Bakudō No. 61: Six Rods of Light!"
"Flame Bombs!"
The bedrock beneath Thanos instantly softened, liquefying into a massive, bubbling swamp of mud that dragged him down with immense suction. Six golden rods materialized again, locking his waist. From the sky, several massive, burning meteors of fire rained down, superheating the air as they aimed straight for the Titan's head.
"RAAAH!"
Thanos's face contorted into a hideous scowl. Thick blue veins popped on his purple forehead. Channelling a massive flow of cosmic energy, he shattered the golden Kido rods, ripped his legs out of the mud, and threw his hands upward, projecting a massive crimson energy shield over his head.
RUMBLE!
The burning meteors bombarded the shield, sending violent ripples across the energy construct. The sheer kinetic force forced Thanos's knees to bend, kicking up thick clouds of smoke.
"Energy Ball Level 3!" Light shouted.
Three blindingly white spheres of destructive energy tore through the smoke, slamming directly into the crimson shield in rapid succession.
BOOM!!
The resulting explosion was deafening. A pillar of fire and white light soared into the sky. The shield held for a fraction of a second before a sickening crack echoed across the wasteland, and the barrier shattered. The majestic energy washed over Thanos, shaking the earth and mountains.
A deep pit, nearly a hundred meters wide, was blown into the crust.
As the thick black smoke cleared, Thanos stood in the epicenter. He had his massive arms crossed over his head in a defensive guard. He was panting heavily, his armor cracked, and his purple skin covered in deep, bleeding gashes.
But he was still standing.
'This is bad,' Light calculated, his heart sinking. 'The Ashura Mode only lasts for three minutes. Once I pass out from exhaustion, he can just slowly beat me to death.'
A flash of light rippled through the black smoke. Light had used Bakudō No. 26: Curved Light to bend the light around himself, turning completely invisible.
He moved behind the battered Titan, his hand reaching out like a viper to strike the base of Thanos's skull.
"You think the same trick will work twice?!" Thanos roared.
He spun around with terrifying speed, his massive hand shooting out to grab Light's wrist. Thanos squeezed his fingers tight, crushing the bone, before violently hurling Light face-first into the bedrock.
Thanos, having been outmaneuvered too many times, didn't hesitate. He immediately raised his heavy boot and stomped down with enough force to shatter a tank.
Poof!
Instead of a sickening crunch of bone, a cloud of white smoke erupted. A large, shattered boulder lay in the crater where Light had just been.
"Substitution Jutsu!"
Light materialized in the open air just two paces away. Using Shunpo, he closed the gap instantly, throwing his leg like a battleaxe.
"Wind Blade Foot! Konoha Hurricane!"
Thanos raised his thick forearms to block the heavy barrage of high-speed kicks. He tried to grab Light's leg on the counter, but Light was moving too fast. Bang! Bang! Bang! Thanos was forced to sequentially block a flurry of bladed kicks.
A cruel sneer touched the corner of Thanos's mouth. As Light threw another kick, Thanos braced himself and shoved forward. A massive wave of cosmic force traveled through the block, sending Light tumbling backward into the air.
Light frantically channeled spiritual pressure to his feet, creating platforms of solid reishi to glide backward and stabilize himself. He looked at Thanos grimly.
'Even with the passive physical doubling of the Ashura Mode, my Level 4 Monstrous Power is still at a disadvantage against his base strength,' Light analyzed.
But it didn't matter, as long as he kept up the pressure.
BANG!
Light vanished again, launching a thunderous melee assault. Armed with the Third Hokage's lifetime of Taijutsu experience, Light's combat skills were flawless. Although his raw strength was slightly weaker, his Regeneration was keeping him in the fight, and their speed was now evenly matched.
Thanos, the warlord who had conquered a thousand worlds, relied on his superb, centuries-old fighting instincts.
The two engaged in a brutal, high-speed, close-quarters brawl. Every punch and kick generated a sonic boom. The solid bedrock beneath them crumbled like tofu, creating hundreds of craters as they moved.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Moving at extreme speeds, the sky cracked with the sound of their blows. Layers of clouds were shredded by the shockwaves.
With a deafening crack of thunder, Thanos threw a wild punch, only to hear the sharp whistle of displaced air behind him. A devastating kick slammed directly into his spine. Agonizing pain flared through his nervous system, and the Mad Titan was launched forward like a cannonball.
He tumbled violently across the desert floor. When Thanos finally stabilized his footing and looked up, panting heavily, Light was standing a hundred yards away.
'A clone?' Thanos realized. The real Light had used the clones for ranged interference to set up a blind-spot strike.
Light smiled thinly. "Take a look around."
Thanos narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, four colossal, crimson pillars of spiritual energy erupted from the four corners of the battlefield, shooting high into the sky and connecting to form a massive, transparent red cube, sealing them inside.
"Four Red Yang Formation!"
"You're done, Thanos," Light smiled, genuinely relieved.
It was incredibly lucky that he had encountered Thanos before the Titan acquired any Infinity Stones. If Thanos had brought the Mind Stone scepter, Light would have been dead three moves ago. He currently had nothing in his arsenal that could defend against a localized psychic storm.
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!
The interior of the barrier was instantly packed shoulder-to-shoulder with hundreds of Light Inksworth clones. They all glared at the battered Titan.
"Get him!" Light commanded.
The swarm of clones descended upon Thanos like a tidal wave, completely burying him under a mountain of bodies.
'My stamina is draining far too fast,' Light thought, watching the dogpile from the edge of the barrier. 'I don't have enough chakra or spiritual pressure left to use any more Kido or Ninjutsu.'
He listened to the furious, muffled roars of the Mad Titan echoing from under the pile of clones.
'Well, it looks like we won't be filming Avengers: Infinity War after all,' Light joked to himself, a tired smile touching his lips. 'Let's just skip straight to the finale.'
But the very next second, his smile vanished.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
The earth violently ruptured. A cataclysmic explosion of purple cosmic energy erupted from the center of the clone pile, vaporizing them instantly. Light threw his arms up, his face turning incredibly dark as the shockwave hit him.
The "unbreakable" Four Red Yang Formation shuddered violently before shattering into a million pieces like fragile glass.
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Word count: 2745
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