In the underground chamber, Urashiki was struggling under the combined assault of Taiichi and the other three.
While they hadn't landed any decisive blows yet, every hit still hurt like hell.
A flash of ruthless determination crossed Urashiki's eyes. He suddenly leapt back, creating distance, and quickly formed a strange hand seal.
"I'll show you what real power looks like!"
With a low roar, his pure white eyes transformed. In their place appeared a pair of eerie red Six Tomoe Rinnegan.
"What the—?! That's a Sharingan… no, how does it have six tomoe? And those patterns around it?"
Kakashi cried out in shock. He had never seen eyes like these before, yet they bore an uncanny resemblance to the Sharingan.
Yamato and Naruto felt an overwhelming pressure descend upon them, as if something was crushing them at the level of their very existence. Even breathing became difficult.
Only Taiichi's expression grew extremely grave. He didn't know what these eyes were capable of, but if they were anything like the Mangekyō, they definitely possessed unique dojutsu.
Before anyone could react, Urashiki's eyes changed again. The red Six Tomoe Rinnegan shifted into blue Rinnegan.
His entire presence became deeper and more unfathomable, as if he had become a completely different person.
Instead of attacking, he looked at the four people closing in with a mocking smile.
This time, he handled their attacks with far greater ease and nonchalance, as if he possessed a god's-eye view of every movement they made.
"Haha. In front of these eyes, all of your attacks are meaningless," he said coldly.
The moment the words left his mouth, Taiichi's danger sense screamed.
Without hesitation, he used Flying Thunder God again and appeared dozens of meters away beside a marked boulder.
At the exact moment he vanished, a red hook flashed through the space he had just occupied.
But Yamato wasn't so lucky.
While dodging, he had also tried to bind Urashiki with Wood Release. The instant he flickered away, his body suddenly locked up.
A red fishing hook had been waiting exactly where he reappeared—as if it knew he would be there.
"Urgh!"
Yamato let out a muffled grunt. His body froze instantly. Red light flashed, and chakra was violently ripped out of him through the hook.
His face turned deathly pale at a visible rate. After a few unsteady steps, he collapsed, completely out of the fight.
"Captain Yamato!" Naruto's eyes looked ready to burst from their sockets.
Kakashi was equally furious and alarmed, but more than anything, he was now deeply wary of that bizarre ability.
Haa… haa…
Urashiki panted heavily after successfully taking one opponent out of the fight. Sweat beaded on his forehead. Activating his time-rewind ability placed an enormous burden on his already heavily injured body. He probably couldn't use it many more times.
Still, a triumphant, vicious grin spread across his face.
"Do you see now? In the face of time's power, your struggles are meaningless! Who's next?"
"Damn you!" Naruto roared and tried to charge, but Kakashi grabbed him and held him back with all his strength.
Taiichi's gaze turned ice-cold. Yamato going down had instantly worsened their situation. He took a deep breath and formed a series of hand seals at high speed.
Yin Seal: Release!
In an instant, the diamond-shaped mark on his forehead spread like a living thing, transforming into intricate black patterns that covered his forehead and both sides of his face.
A far more massive and refined torrent of chakra exploded outward.
"Oh? You still had something left in reserve?" Urashiki's eyes narrowed, but then his grin grew even more manic. "Then let's see how long you can last!"
The battle escalated once again.
With the Yin Seal released, Taiichi's total chakra reserves skyrocketed. He stopped holding back. Combining Body Flicker with Flying Thunder God, his speed left afterimages in his wake. He rained down monstrously powerful punches and various ninjutsu like a violent storm.
Kakashi and Naruto could now only provide support from the sidelines. They managed to pull the unconscious Yamato out of the danger zone during the chaos—otherwise, he would have been caught in the crossfire.
Urashiki also went all out. He kept switching between his red and blue Rinnegan. Through the intense fighting, Taiichi gradually figured out the abilities of both eyes.
The red eye could open space-time portals—essentially a different form of Flying Thunder God.
The blue eye wasn't true future sight like Urashiki had claimed. It was more like localized time rewind, but the duration was limited and the cost was high. Urashiki had already stopped using it frequently.
The red fishing rod danced so fast it formed an impenetrable wall. The two of them collided, separated, and collided again at high speed through the ruins.
Every clash sent deafening shockwaves and blinding flashes of energy through the already devastated underground space, tearing it apart even further.
Kakashi and Naruto fought desperately to support from the outside, but their attacks had little effect on a fully powered Urashiki. They also had to constantly watch out for the deadly hook that could appear at any moment.
Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!
Urashiki was roaring internally.
This human named Taiichi was a complete monster. His chakra seemed endless.
Every time Urashiki thought he had finally drained him dry, Taiichi's aura would mysteriously recover to full strength in an instant.
Fighting an opponent who couldn't be killed or exhausted filled Urashiki with unprecedented frustration and despair.
His proud time-rewind ability couldn't be used repeatedly in his injured state, yet his opponent fought like a perpetual motion machine.
"I can't keep going like this!"
A flash of extreme madness and resolve appeared in Urashiki's eyes.
He knew his heavily injured body wouldn't last much longer. Either he would be worn down to death… or he would bet everything on one final gamble.
After a particularly fierce exchange, Urashiki used Yomotsu Hirasaka to escape the immediate fight. But instead of running, he let out a piercing, agonized roar.
Under the horrified gazes of everyone present, he reached up and brutally ripped out one of his own blue Rinnegan eyes.
"AAAAAARGH—!"
The pain made his entire body convulse. Blood instantly stained half his face.
Yet his expression carried a sick, fanatical fervor. Without hesitation, he shoved the still-bleeding Rinnegan into his mouth.
Crunch… crunch…
The sickening sound of chewing echoed through the chamber.
Then he grabbed the red fishing rod at his waist and bit it in half like it was candy, swallowing it whole.
"What the hell is he doing?!" Naruto's voice cracked in horror. Even Kakashi felt his scalp go numb. He had never seen such insane self-mutilation.
After swallowing both the eye and the rod, Urashiki's body arched violently as he let out an inhuman scream of pain. His body began to transform dramatically.
His feet stretched into bird-like talons. White wing-shaped bone horns grew from the top of his head. A golden Rinnegan forced its way out from the center of his forehead, pushing through the skin.
This was Urashiki's final form—his strongest state.
"You trash… I'm going to slaughter every last one of you!"
Urashiki declared his victory as his aura exploded outward in all directions.
Taiichi stood not far away, staring at the drastically changed Urashiki with a heavy heart.
This Ōtsutsuki really has a lot of tricks. He actually transformed after eating his own eye… and his presence is at least twice as strong as before.
Naruto, however, was completely unfazed by the intimidating aura. He pointed at Urashiki's new form and immediately started mocking him.
"Haha! Big brother Taiichi, look! This guy turned into a bird man!"
Urashiki, already extremely irritable in this heightened state, completely lost it after being provoked by Naruto.
"Trash! Go to hell! Tensuhwa Ryūseimei: Goshiki!"
He thrust his right hand forward, aiming at Naruto. High-density chakra gathered as purple light flashed. Several bright energy projectiles shot toward Naruto at terrifying speed.
It happened too suddenly. Even Taiichi couldn't react in time.
By the time he turned around, Naruto had already been hit by five of the light blasts. It looked like he had been struck by a high-speed train. Blood sprayed wildly as his body flew backward like a broken rag doll and slammed deep into the distant rock wall. His condition was unknown.
A single attack had taken down the seemingly unkillable Naruto in an instant.
"Naruto!"
Taiichi's heart sank to the bottom. Even he would have struggled to deal with that technique.
He didn't dare hesitate any longer. His hands flew through seals as natural energy from the surroundings surged toward him.
Sage Mode — Activate!
Vmmmm!
Sage chakra spread outward. A faint golden light appeared in the depths of his eyes. The black patterns of the Yin Seal also took on a subtle golden hue.
His perception, reaction speed, strength, and speed all underwent a qualitative leap.
Sage Mode consumed a massive amount of energy. At this point, it had become a battle of pure reserves.
"Oh? Another one of those so-called sage arts?" Urashiki's golden eye showed a hint of surprise, but it was quickly replaced by even greater brutality. "Even so, you're still going to die!"
Two figures collided like meteors.
BOOM!
Even a simple physical clash, enhanced by chakra, sent shockwaves that made the entire underground space groan in protest. The violent force peeled away and shattered large sections of the surrounding rock walls.
Even the Dragon Veins' energy seemed unstable under such intense collision.
Kakashi, who had retreated farther away, was once again deeply shocked by the level of destruction. Is this really something humans can achieve?
At this point, he could no longer intervene in the fight. The speed at which the two were exchanging blows had already exceeded the limits of his vision.
On top of that—
He looked up at the underground space, which was on the verge of collapsing, then at the unconscious Naruto and Yamato nearby.
Kakashi made his decision without hesitation. He used Body Flicker to reach Naruto, lifted him onto his back, then grabbed Yamato as well and began retreating toward the exit as fast as he could.
In Sage Mode, Taiichi had once again gained the ability to fight Urashiki head-on.
He also noticed that after Urashiki transformed, the time-rewind, Yomotsu Hirasaka, and red fishing hook abilities he had used earlier seemed to have disappeared.
That significantly reduced how troublesome he was. While Urashiki still held the advantage in raw power and speed, Taiichi was confident as long as there wasn't an overwhelming gap.
Urashiki was also feeling confident. He no longer had to deal with multiple opponents at once. He only needed to focus on one enemy, and his strength and speed were still superior. What reason did he have to lose?
Urashiki punched Taiichi hard enough to embed him into the opposite wall, then fired a barrage of Goshiki energy blasts at the crater.
Boom! Boom! Boom! The entire section of wall was blasted thin.
Rubble flew and dust filled the air.
Urashiki stared at the wreckage—only for a massive fire dragon to come roaring in from the left and slam directly into him.
Taiichi's figure followed right behind it. Without waiting for the fire to die down, he charged straight into the flames and unleashed a brutal barrage of punches and kicks on Urashiki.
The rapid impacts scattered the last of the flames, but Taiichi was then sent flying out again by one of Urashiki's punches.
While still in midair, he used Flying Thunder God to change trajectory and avoid the follow-up energy blasts.
In that brief moment, Taiichi added another point to his physique. His stamina and chakra fully recovered. His current stats had become:
Physique: 32 (6/32)
He had already spent six attribute points during this fight. Looking at the twenty points he still had left, Taiichi felt plenty of confidence.
Unfortunately, he had already used almost every technique he had. In close combat, he could only maintain parity through skill. His ninjutsu still couldn't break through Urashiki's defenses.
His strongest Fire Release needed time to charge to reach maximum power. Against an opponent whose speed clearly surpassed his own, that window never appeared.
He looked at his current skill levels:
Fire Nature Transformation: Lv14 (1243/6000)
Chakra Control: Lv13 (3104/5000)
Taiichi gritted his teeth and dumped five skill points into Fire Nature Transformation and two into Chakra Control.
A flood of memories and strange power washed through his mind and body. It felt like he had spent a hundred years training Fire Release in some mysterious space. He had been completely reborn.
Fire Nature Transformation: Lv15 (243/7000)
Chakra Control: Lv14 (104/6000)
The skill upgrades gave Taiichi even more confidence. He charged at Urashiki again and casually launched several Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire projectiles.
Urashiki sneered at the familiar attack pattern. This trash has already used this same move seven or eight times. Doesn't he get tired of it?
He raised his fist, ready to swat the fireballs away like before—only for the much higher temperature and his wildly screaming danger sense to force him to pull his hand back at the last second.
Unfortunately, he was still too slow.
Boom! Boom!
Two explosions went off. Urashiki's right hand was blown into a bloody mess. Then pain exploded across the right side of his face as a punch sent him flying.
A flash of joy crossed Taiichi's face. That was the first time he had truly injured Urashiki.
Urashiki had now fallen into a state of pure rage mixed with a trace of fear.
Even in his strongest form, he had been wounded—only minor injuries, but still injuries.
"Filthy insect… I'm going to kill you!"
The two of them clashed again. This time, it was a true battle of equals—a pure contest of power, speed, chakra, and willpower.
Taiichi was pushing his attribute panel to its absolute limit. Whenever his stamina or chakra neared depletion, he unhesitatingly spent points to restore them.
Urashiki grew more and more shocked the longer they fought. He was gradually starting to feel like he was fighting an inexhaustible mountain of energy.
His opponent's chakra seemed endless. Every time he looked like he was about to collapse, he would come roaring back at full strength in the next moment.
Meanwhile, Urashiki's own body—already heavily injured to begin with—had been pushed far beyond its limits by forcibly devouring his own Rinnegan and sacred tool. While his final form was powerful, it was also extremely violent and unstable.
Now his strength was rapidly declining. The backlash was hitting him in waves, and his body felt like it was on the verge of completely breaking down.
"No! I refuse to accept this! I am a noble Ōtsutsuki! How could I be defeated by lower lifeforms—?!"
Urashiki let out an unwilling shriek and attacked even more frantically, though his movements were becoming increasingly sloppy.
Taiichi keenly noticed the decline in Urashiki's aura and the breakdown in his technique.
He knew the decisive moment had arrived.
Sage Art: Super Fire Style Rasengan.
He raised one hand high. A massive, two-meter-wide Rasengan glowing with brilliant golden-white fire condensed in his palm. The violent energy fluctuations caused the surrounding space to distort slightly.
"ROAR!"
Urashiki also sensed the lethal threat. He gathered every last bit of his remaining strength and crossed his arms.
Tensuhwa Ryūseimei: Ryūgū.
A pure purple dragon-shaped energy beam blasted forward. If one looked closely, they would notice it was thinner than before—lacking its usual power.
The golden-white fiery Rasengan and the purple beam of destruction collided like two comets above the Dragon Veins' core.
Vmmmm!
An indescribable explosion shook the entire space. Blinding light swallowed everything.
A violent storm of energy swept through the underground chamber. The surrounding rock walls crumbled like sandcastles. The underground space could no longer hold together and began to collapse.
The light and shockwave lasted for several seconds before gradually fading.
Through the thick smoke and dust, a single figure staggered to his feet.
It was Taiichi.
His clothes were in tatters. The Yin Seal patterns on his face had faded. The mark on his forehead had gone dim. Inside his sealing space, the once-vast chakra reserves had been reduced to almost nothing.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. His breathing was extremely weak. He had clearly reached his absolute limit.
But he was still standing.
On the opposite side, Urashiki's body lay broken like a ruined doll in a massive crater. The golden Rinnegan on his forehead had disappeared. His original eyes had returned to white, but they now held only emptiness and disbelief.
His body began to crack and disintegrate like a sand sculpture being weathered by wind. Eventually, it turned to dust and completely vanished from this space-time, leaving not even a trace of chakra behind.
Ōtsutsuki Urashiki had fallen.