The thick clouds in the sky had gradually gathered, unnoticed by Jigen. Like someone indoors unconcerned about whether it's sunny or rainy outside, under normal circumstances, Jigen could shatter the entire cloud cover with a single strike.
But now, things were different. A brilliant, blinding arc of electricity surged and collapsed among the clouds, suddenly condensing into a massive white lightning Kirin.
Guided by Sasuke's chakra, the colossal white lightning Kirin shot downward. Wherever it passed, the air ionized and shattered, the roar of the thunderstorm exploding. A solid blue-white pillar of light engulfed everything, like divine punishment descending from the heavens.
Kirin struck Jigen directly. The lightning-fast attack left him no time to dodge or activate his eye jutsu!
Formed from nature's power, Sasuke's fire jutsu only accelerated the gathering of electrical energy in the clouds, with his final chakra guidance serving merely as a targeting mechanism. In short, the massive Kirin lightning pillar wasn't chakra-based, so Jigen's Kama couldn't absorb it.
"~~~!"
Jigen's pained scream echoed from the blinding light pillar, drowned out by the roaring thunderstorm.
The sight left Kawaki stunned, as if in a dream. Compared to Jigen, Sasuke, the Hokage's friend, seemed more like a god.
The terrifying lightning lasted several seconds, nearly draining most of the high-altitude clouds' energy in one strike, showing Sasuke had poured all his strength into it, fully intent on killing Jigen!
As the lightning faded, the struck area still emitted white smoke and large swirls of flickering ionized air.
As for Jigen himself, he had turned into a charred corpse!
All his defenses were meaningless against the speed and power of natural lightning. In his rushed state, he could only rely on his body to endure, but how could a near-death Jigen withstand it? Almost instantly, he was fully carbonized, reduced to a burnt corpse.
"Did it work?" Sasuke frowned suspiciously, suppressing premature celebration.
He remained cautious, not rashly approaching.
Though confident that Jigen's poor condition likely couldn't withstand the attack, Sasuke opted for caution.
He sent a shadow clone to inspect Jigen's charred corpse as a test.
At that moment…
"Ahhhh!" Kawaki suddenly collapsed to his knees, clutching his left arm, screaming in heart-wrenching pain.
It felt as if someone were using a scalpel to peel and sever every blood vessel and nerve in his left arm, inch by inch, all at once. The agony was no less than heart-tearing pain.
Soon, the red Kama tattoos on Kawaki's left arm surfaced, then melted away like tiny black sand grains peeling off… even the diamond-shaped Kama core in his palm vanished.
Kawaki fainted from the ordeal.
Seeing this, Sasuke was slightly shocked.
"The Kama on Kawaki's body disappeared?"
"Could it be that after Jigen's death, the Kama on other vessels also vanishes?"
"Does this mean Jigen is truly dead?"
Speculation aside, whether Jigen was truly dead required direct confirmation from the clone.
Suddenly, a stronger, more ferocious chakra aura erupted from the lightning's center, shrouded in white smoke.
*PU-CHI!*
In an instant, the shadow clone sent to inspect Jigen's charred corpse was pierced by dozens of black rods that appeared out of nowhere, exploding into a puff of white smoke.
"Not dead?!?!"
Sasuke instantly went on high alert, realizing Jigen must still be alive to activate that unique eye jutsu that manipulates size.
The next second, a figure slowly emerged from the white mist—the true form of Otsutsuki Isshiki finally appeared!
Indeed, the full-powered Kirin had killed Jigen, reducing him to charcoal. But it also forced Isshiki to fully activate the Kama in Jigen's body, leading to his complete resurrection!
Seeing Isshiki's now ferocious true form, Sasuke's frown deepened.
"Is this your true form?"
Sasuke had suspected Jigen was merely an Otsutsuki vessel, as true Otsutsuki like Momoshiki and Kinshiki had horns in their normal state, not requiring Kama Stage Two to manifest them. Jigen was likely just a vessel, like Kawaki, and this current form was probably the true one.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
After his full resurrection, Isshiki's mindset shifted. The immense power surging within him restored his Otsutsuki arrogance and pride.
He also regained a touch of feigned elegance and composure.
Of course, due to Jigen's vessel's imperfection, it couldn't handle the immense power post-Kama resurrection.
Like Isshiki in other worlds, this resurrected Otsutsuki Isshiki had only about two days left to live.
Since using Jigen for resurrection caused the Kama on Kawaki to vanish, it needed to be re-inscribed. Thus, Isshiki had to swiftly reclaim Kawaki to prepare his resurrection vessel again.
"Uchiha Sasuke, to push me this far."
"I, Otsutsuki Isshiki, acknowledge you!" Isshiki floated in the air, looking down at Sasuke, declaring arrogantly.
This wasn't sincere acknowledgment. It carried an instinctive sense of superiority, like a shepherd praising the strongest herding dog among a pack, still not seeing it as an equal.
"Otsutsuki Isshiki? Is that your real name? What's your connection to Momoshiki?"
"Don't compare me to that trash Momoshiki!"
Isshiki scorned Momoshiki, who, even after absorbing Kinshiki, couldn't defeat Isshiki in his normal state. If Isshiki absorbed another Otsutsuki, he might kill Naruto and Sasuke single-handedly.
The gap in level and power, plus Momoshiki's apparent defeat by these native ninjas, made Isshiki despise him further. Comparing him to Momoshiki felt like an insult!
"Is that so? Since you're now in your true form, you can be fully killed!" Sasuke raised his sword, pointing at Isshiki, utterly fearless.
In battle, the greatest fear isn't a power gap but not seeing the enemy's HP bar!
Jigen was like an enemy without an HP bar—his true form hidden, immune to damage. But now, Isshiki's true form was exposed, revealing his HP bar!
Even a god can be killed once their HP bar is visible!
"Arrogant!"
"Since you're so eager to die, I'll send you on your way!"
Isshiki erupted in rage, no longer wasting words with Sasuke. He prepared to act, kill Sasuke, and reclaim Juubi and Kawaki!
*BOOM!*
A massive sonic boom exploded as Isshiki transformed into a black light, compressing the air layer by layer, charging forward.
His speed surpassed even Jigen's full-strength kick that shattered Susano'o before!
Covering hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye, it was so fast that even Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan couldn't track his path!
Undoubtedly, this speed, amplified dozens of times, showed Isshiki had fully restored his power!
At such extreme speed, Sasuke had no time to activate Susano'o or dodge. He could only instantly trigger Amenotejikara, swapping his real body with a distant shadow clone…
*BANG!*
His clone was obliterated by Isshiki's kick. Fortunately, Sasuke's real body dodged quickly, or that kick might have pierced and exploded him…
"Hmph!"
"Annoying Rinnegan!"
"But I've found a way to counter it!" Isshiki sneered. The seemingly unbreakable instant swap of Amenotejikara was troublesome, but not invincible.
The next second, Isshiki activated his Daikokuten eye jutsu, releasing several massive cubes from the Daikokuten dimension. They formed an octagonal formation, surrounding himself, Juubi, and Kawaki in the center.
These giant cubes blocked the opponent's senses and vision. Though Sasuke's Amenotejikara was powerful, without seeing Isshiki or sensing his position, he couldn't swap places with him…
This gave Isshiki enough time to grab Kawaki and Juubi first, then deal with Sasuke slowly.
Previously, controlling Jigen as a proxy, Isshiki couldn't recklessly use Daikokuten, as space-time eye jutsu consumed vast chakra, which Jigen's body couldn't handle.
But now, in his true form, Isshiki had no such concerns. With abundant chakra, he could freely activate Daikokuten, summoning numerous cubes.
At the same time, Sasuke, losing sight of his target, instantly grasped Isshiki's intent. He sighed—this bastard was somewhat clever, finding Amenotejikara's sole weakness.
Fortunately, Sasuke was prepared. Juubi sapling within the cube formation suddenly opened its eyes!
Clearly, Sasuke had used his Rinnegan to control Juubi, gaining its vision.
Like Nagato's Six Paths of Pain sharing vision, Isshiki, preparing to open a space-time portal to send Kawaki and Juubi back to his dimension, reappeared in Sasuke's sight.
*WHOOSH!*
Amenotejikara activated again, forcibly swapping Sasuke and Isshiki's positions. Sasuke returned to Juubi and Kawaki's side, while Isshiki was teleported outside the cube formation.
This time, Sasuke didn't drain Juubi' chakra—it was pointless now. Instead, he used his Rinnegan to open a massive space-time portal, preparing to escape.
Sasuke wasn't foolish. He could defeat a weakened Jigen, but not a full-powered Isshiki. Post-revival, Isshiki's combat strength seemed even greater than Jigen's Kama Stage Two!
How could he fight?
His only chance was to exploit Kawaki's vanished Kama, fleeing with him and Juubi to likely evade Isshiki's tracking.
Sasuke was no longer the reckless "Sunny-pillar" who could "piss three meters against the wind." He now knew when to advance or retreat, acting wisely based on the situation.
Unfortunately, while Sasuke had a plan, Isshiki had a backup. From the moment Amenotejikara thwarted him, he'd devised multiple counters.
Using Daikokuten's cube formation to block vision and senses was one. Leaving numerous shrunken micro black rods at Sasuke's swap points was another!
Now, as Isshiki waited for Sasuke to swap with him again, he could instantly activate Sukonahikona!
*SWISH!* *SWISH!* *SWISH!*
Hundreds of black rods suddenly enlarged, piercing and sealing the entire surrounding area—including Sasuke, Kawaki, and even Juubi!