"This has become troublesome…"
Kakashi Hatake looked at the facial markings on Rei Kaguya's face, which were very similar to Kabuto Yakushi's, and took a deep breath.
He began using Lightning Release chakra to stimulate his body's cells, ensuring that whether the two sides fought or negotiated next, he could immediately keep up with Rei Kaguya's speed and would not be restrained from the start.
Sensing Kakashi's small movements as he activated his body's cells, Rei Kaguya shrugged lightly and asked in a teasing tone,
"There is no need to be so nervous, Kakashi Hatake… At least for you, Kirigakure should no longer count as an enemy, right?"
"I do not remember ever saying that, Rei Kaguya." Kakashi Hatake cautiously examined the surroundings and replied in a low voice.
"Come on. If Konoha and Kirigakure were still in a state where they wanted nothing to do with each other in your future, you would not have had the opportunity to investigate, based on just a name, the fact that the Rei Kaguya on your side died of illness at an early age."
Hearing Rei Kaguya's rebuttal, Kakashi was not too surprised. He simply adjusted his stance and said as if talking to himself,
"The sensory ability of Sage Mode, huh? It seems the intelligence you heard while hiding nearby was not ordinary at all…"
"Then you should know very clearly what I want to ask."
Rei Kaguya raised three fingers. With every question, he folded one down.
"What is the eternal dream that plunged the entire world into it? Was your final opponent that Uchiha who secretly controlled the Third Mizukage, or the Uchiha who can phase through attacks and use Wood Release?"
"What if I intend not to answer?" Kakashi Hatake's voice grew even deeper.
"Then we fight first."
Rei Kaguya bared his teeth in a grin, a few more traces of madness and heat appearing in his eyes.
"Is there not a saying in the shinobi world? True experts only need one exchange to sense each other's thoughts. If we fight properly with the goal of capturing each other alive, we should both gain a little more understanding of each other, right?"
Crack—
As soon as his voice fell, Kakashi's figure turned into a streak of purple lightning and vanished from Rei Kaguya's sight.
And within the danger perception greatly enhanced by Sage Mode, a danger capable of truly injuring him was attacking from all directions at once.
"Sage Art: Inorganic Dance!"
His hands formed seals.
A vast amount of senjutsu chakra surged out, quickly activating the surrounding earth and ruined buildings, combining them with Dance of the Seedling Fern.
As the purple lightning flashed through the place where he had been standing before, trying to pierce through his right chest, Rei Kaguya's figure sank downward and directly vanished into the ruins that had already come alive.
Then, the ruins of nearly half the town rolled up like ocean waves, attacking Kakashi Hatake, whose strike had missed.
Interlocking pale bone spears, the collapsed ruins of the small town thrown into upheaval, and Rei Kaguya, who could appear from any angle at any time to launch an attack, formed this counterattack together.
With Kakashi's eyesight after losing the Sharingan, it was naturally impossible for him to find a blind spot in this environment where he would not be attacked.
But in the same way, after being freed from the Sharingan's unrestricted chakra drain, he had also gained the reserves to use powerful ninjutsu far more extravagantly.
"Purple Lightning: Wild Dance!"
Lightning-natured chakra imbued with special properties spread out in every direction with the former Number One Technician of Konoha as the center.
What was astonishing was that the purple lightning not only possessed the piercing property inherited from Chidori, it also had a sharpness similar to Wind Release chakra and an all-pervading characteristic similar to Water Release chakra.
Wherever the lightning passed, even earth and ruins activated by senjutsu chakra were easily pierced and cut apart.
Only hardened bones enhanced by senjutsu could slightly resist it.
Not only that, the purple lightning displayed an extremely powerful paralysis effect. Even with Rei Kaguya's current physique, if he were struck head-on, there was a possibility that his body would stiffen.
For conventional ninjutsu, this could already be considered an S-rank super secret technique.
It even had the potential to rival Kirin, which symbolized the pinnacle of Lightning Release.
Unfortunately, this was still an era of eyes and physiques.
Without the top-tier eye as his cheat, Kakashi Hatake's upper limit was ultimately confined to the domain of mortals.
"Sage Art: Severing Void!"
The Sage Art that had once completely offset the explosion of the Six-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball was once again used by Rei Kaguya.
Like a massive invisible wall, it easily caused all the Purple Lightning Kakashi released to shatter against it.
"That is—!?"
Under Jiraiya's protection, Hanabi Hyuga somewhat miserably withdrew from the small town and activated her Byakugan, wanting to see clearly the essence of the senjutsu Rei Kaguya had used to break Purple Lightning.
But when she saw that the transparent wall contained countless compressed wind blades that had been activated just like the ground beneath Rei Kaguya's feet, she finally realized why Rei Kaguya was qualified to become the divergence point of a world line.
"His current performance is still far from his limit."
Jiraiya's expression was grave as he began gathering the surrounding natural energy.
"Rei Kaguya's strongest weapon is his body, which is even tougher than a Tailed Beast's. Kakashi alone is not enough to force out more of his cards."
"I do not think your plan to join the battle is a rational decision, Jiraiya-sensei."
"Above us!"
Following Hanabi Hyuga's warning, Jiraiya suddenly raised his head.
When he saw Nagato slowly descending while riding the Eight-Span Bird, his expression could not help sinking.
"Nagato… Have you completely joined forces with Rei Kaguya?"
"Not exactly. It is just that the road I am currently walking happens to be in the same direction as his, so I am walking alongside him."
Nagato shook his head and walked to Jiraiya's side.
He casually used the power of the Preta Path to absorb the small amount of natural energy Jiraiya had just gathered, then turned to Hanabi Hyuga, who had become extremely uncomfortable because of his arrival, and revealed a thoughtful expression.
"Speaking of which, since this lady can become the heir of your Hyuga main family, the purity of her Byakugan should also be among the very best in the clan, right?"
"What are you trying to do, Nagato!?"
Jiraiya pulled Hanabi Hyuga behind him and asked vigilantly.
"Nothing. I am simply a little curious. As for the specifics, it will not be too late to ask after Rei Kaguya comes over."
Nagato took two steps back indifferently, indicating that he did not intend to capture Hanabi Hyuga.
Then he looked at the abandoned town not far away, where dust and smoke were rolling, and narrowed his eyes.
"Your Sixth Lord is about to lose."
Crack—
Sharp lightning clung to the kunai, successfully splitting the bone blade attacking his heart in two.
But the very next second, Kakashi Hatake's body bent like a shrimp.
He was launched away by Rei Kaguya's heavy flying kick, smashing through the ruins of several houses in succession before finally stopping while coughing up blood.
For Kakashi Hatake, who excelled at intelligence analysis, a shinobi like Rei Kaguya could be considered the type of opponent he hated facing the most.
His use of ninjutsu and taijutsu was both masterful and flawless.
Although he was not skilled in genjutsu, his resistance was very high.
He had Sage Mode to comprehensively improve his sensory ability and overall strength.
At the same time, his vitality was so powerful that he could ignore the vast majority of Kakashi's attacks.
Against this kind of all-around opponent with no blind spots, where even analyzing the corresponding intelligence only left one option—winning through a head-on clash—Kakashi Hatake could not help missing the Mangekyo Sharingan that had left him more than ten years ago.
If Kamui were still usable, he might still have had a chance to win through surprise.
Without it, he could only helplessly lose, like the previous Five Kage when they fought the Edo Tensei Madara Uchiha.
Although Rei Kaguya did not possess a series of ultra-large-scale offensive ninjutsu like Edo Madara's Complete Body Susanoo, Tengai Shinsei, and Deep Forest Bloom, his vitality and recovery ability were no worse than Madara Uchiha after resurrection.
Relying on himself alone, Kakashi truly could not find a way to win.
Fortunately, through the earlier exchange, he had slightly understood some of Rei Kaguya's thoughts.
Although not much.
But it was already enough for him to analyze which things could be said, and which things could remain unsaid without consequences.
"You lost the bet. You are not planning to go back on it, are you, Kakashi?"
Passing through the dust and smoke to appear before Kakashi Hatake, Rei Kaguya pulled Kakashi Hatake up by the hand and asked.
"Then your questions… cough. Are they still the same ones from before?" Kakashi Hatake used Rei Kaguya's strength to barely stand up and asked weakly.
"Those questions were only appetizers to start the conversation. There is far more intelligence I want to obtain from you."
Rei Kaguya looked at Kakashi Hatake as if looking at a treasure vault and grinned.
"For example… In your era, how did Kirigakure and the Land of Water shake off the impression of the Village of the Bloody Mist and gradually transform into a normal nation capable of friendly interaction with Konoha?"