Chapter 321: That's All an Otsutsuki Amounts To?
"Die! Just die!"
A look of madness contorted Urashiki's face.
Boom!
The purple orb of light, reminiscent of a Tailed Beast Bomb, painted the entire sky a crimson hue. The sea surface churned violently, drawn upward by the sheer density of the chakra mass.
Whoosh—
As Tonbo Tobitake let out a sigh, he also felt a wave of relief. It seemed that an Otsutsuki without a "Karma" seal only amounted to this. He could finally deal with this fellow who had been weighing on his mind for so long. He had wanted to test the opponent's true strength—and this was it.
As the purple light closed in, Tonbo opened his right hand toward the sphere. At the moment of contact, while there was still a few millimeters of space between his palm and the orb, a massive network of branch-like nerves spread across the entire sphere. They appeared so quickly it looked like they had manifested out of thin air.
Thump! Thump!
"Smaller. Smaller still."
The nerves pushed the chakra absorption ability—grafted from Kisame Hoshigaki and Samehada—to its absolute limit. The purple orb shrank at a pace visible to the naked eye. As the nerves absorbed the chakra, they used that very energy to continue their geometric expansion. In the blink of an eye, the orb was reduced to the size of a glass marble.
Tonbo flicked the remaining spark of chakra away, causing a disturbance on the sea no larger than a hand grenade.
"How is this possible?"
Shock flooded Otsutsuki Urashiki's eyes. This was his signature move. Without the power of a "Karma," how could a mere human absorb his ninjutsu? He knew of the Scientific Ninja Tools in the ninja world, but they shouldn't have been able to absorb his technique to this degree.
"Alright. You've kept me worried for quite a while; now you can serve as my test subject."
Tonbo pulled out a charm, a drop of fresh blood appearing on his other hand.
Soul-Body Separation Technique.
A massive array of ritual formulas spread through the void, connecting to Urashiki via a mysterious force. Urashiki felt something tugging at his soul, threatening to tear it from his body. However, he quickly pulled it back.
"Hmph, you clearly don't understand the power of the Otsutsuki. Our physical and spiritual energies are perfectly integrated. This kind of Spiritualization Technique is useless against us," Urashiki mocked. He thought he had seen through the move. He didn't want to play with this "lower lifeform" anymore and reached up to gouge out his own eyes to trigger a transformation.
But just as his fingers touched his eyelids, he found his body wouldn't move.
"My apologies. I was just testing to see if an Otsutsuki could be solved by other means," Tonbo said, offering a mock apology. "It seems that the integration of spiritual and physical energy through training makes the connection between body and soul much tighter."
"What did you do to me?" Urashiki realized he was completely paralyzed. His chakra was vanishing; the red six-tomoe Rinnegan gradually faded back into the white state of the Byakugan. He couldn't even use his time-reversal ability. Without the ability to manipulate chakra, he couldn't even use his eyes—a fact that left him utterly bewildered.
He failed to notice that his body was already covered in a dense, branch-like network of patterns.
Tonbo walked closer, a smirk playing on his lips. "It seems the Otsutsuki are neural organisms after all. Even with your Byakugan active, you didn't notice an extra section of nerves on your body."
"What?"
"The moment I first kicked you, my ninjutsu had already infected you. I didn't think you'd fail to notice, so the rest of the fight was just me stretching my limbs and exploring your limits," Tonbo laughed.
When he had kicked Urashiki earlier, his "Foeced Execution" had already infiltrated the Otsutsuki's body. He was surprised to find that Urashiki had zero awareness of it. Thus, the subsequent battle was purely for intelligence gathering. Without that safety net, Tonbo wouldn't have been so composed; he had seen too many "reversal" scenarios to be careless.
"You..." Urashiki looked terrified. This damned lower-lifeform... how could this be?
"No more 'how could this be.' The next time we meet, it'll be in the lab. Goodbye. Spiritualization Seal."
The branch-like nerves on Urashiki's body transformed into runic formulas, forming a complete sealing array. Urashiki's expression grew vacant, and he eventually lost all consciousness.
"Nice. A perfect experimental subject. My physical evolution has a new lead."
Tonbo's face lit up with excitement. Years ago, when he met the future Sasuke, he had vowed to turn this threatening Otsutsuki into a lab rat. Now, it was done. At least until the Boruto plotline officially began, he didn't have to worry about a random Otsutsuki popping up. He wasn't worried for himself, but for his family.
He looked at Urashiki's eyes and felt a momentary internal conflict. The power of Otsutsuki eyes was truly top-tier.
"Forget it. I'm not a Senju or an Uchiha, let alone a distant relative. Without the 'All-Encompassing' power of the Sage of Six Paths, transplanting them would just make them a burden on my body, like Kakashi."
Tonbo decided against the transplant. It wasn't that he lacked the confidence to research a way to control the eyes; rather, he was confident that with the same amount of research time, he could develop ninjutsu even more powerful than the Rinnegan. Besides, sticking someone else's eyes into his own head felt a bit disgusting.
He only needed to analyze the Otsutsuki body to evolve his own human form and optimize human genes. That was how to truly get stronger without the "ick" factor. This was what he had been doing all along. He was a human—a proud human.
He sealed Urashiki's body into a scroll and surveyed the aftermath.
"Good thing the ninja world doesn't have an Environmental Protection Agency... although, a 'Ecological Ninja' system seems to be emerging. Better bail."
With his perfect subject secured, he was itching to start. But he wasn't so impatient as to start the experiment right here.
Flying Raijin Jutsu.
Two seconds later, Tonbo Tobitake vanished. The churning sea remained, its waves seemingly cheering for the hero who had saved the world.
On the mainland of the Land of Frost:
"That guy... was that Tonbo Tobitake?" White Zetsu thought, horrified by what he had just seen. Sensing the massive disturbance in the Land of Frost while Black Zetsu was helping Pain in Konoha, he had sent a clone to investigate. He hadn't expected to see something so incredible.
Tonbo, who was supposed to be in Konoha, was in the Land of Frost, fighting that powerful stranger. That level of combat power... it was on par with a Tailed Beast.
"No, I have to report this quickly—"
Slash!
Before he could move, a blade swept through his neck. As his head flew into the air, he saw a familiar figure.
"I can't let you leak that intel."
Tonbo sheathed his blade, his sensory perception blanketing the sea and the surrounding area. He spotted shadow clones mopping up other White Zetsu. As for other ninjas, none were brave enough to peek. The Land of Frost ninjas were quite cowardly. Furthermore, several shadow clones had set up barriers to block any long-range scouting jutsu or tools.
"Sage Art: Underground White Zetsu Extermination."
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