"This guy..."
Otsutsuki Toneri's expression shifted slightly.
After unleashing multiple attacks in succession, he was beginning to feel the strain, but what he didn't expect was that Kaede still had the strength to launch even more powerful attacks.
Kaede's chakra wasn't as densely concentrated as his own, but his stamina seemed even more formidable!
Buzz!
Otsutsuki Toneri stopped throwing punches. The Truth-Seeking Orbs behind him shot forward and merged into a large shield, positioning itself to block the oncoming barrage of golden light.
The torrential golden beams pounded relentlessly against the Truth-Seeking Orb shield, causing it to tremble violently until fine cracks began to appear on its surface.
Swish!
Almost at the exact moment the shield shattered, Toneri's body flickered and reappeared at Kaede's right side, throwing a powerful punch.
Kaede swung his sword in a reverse arc to meet it.
Boom!
The air exploded.
Realizing that long-range combat wasn't to his advantage against Kaede, Toneri decisively switched tactics to close-quarters combat.
With his advanced Byakugan, he could see nearly all of Kaede's movements and chakra flow in melee combat. And thanks to inheriting Hamura's power, taijutsu was his forte.
Clang! Clang!
Swordlight and fist shadows collided in midair, one bathed in golden radiance, the other in pale white glow. The two figures clashed again and again in the sky, locked in fierce taijutsu combat.
Below, several members of the Otsutsuki clan considered intervening, but Kaede and Toneri's speed far exceeded what they could keep up with. Without their Byakugan, they couldn't even perceive the high-speed movements of the two combatants.
Bang!
Kaede's fist smashed into Toneri's cheek, sending his head whipping sideways and knocking out a tooth.
In return, Toneri landed a punch on Kaede's shoulder, detonating the sage chakra cloak and Nine-Tails chakra in that area. Half of Kaede's shoulder was blasted into a mist of blood.
"You're finished now…"
Toneri's Six Paths power surged. The tooth that had been knocked out began to regrow. He stared coldly at Kaede, but before he could finish his sentence, his expression froze.
The blood mist from Kaede's shoulder hadn't even dispersed before it suddenly reversed mid-air, flowing back into place and rapidly reconstituting his shoulder.
"It's been a long time since someone could go head-to-head with me in taijutsu," Kaede said with a faint smile. "Don't disappoint me now."
To be honest, the lack of worthy opponents had been a bit frustrating, especially after cultivating the Sage Body. Even a fully powered Susanoo couldn't withstand a single punch from him anymore.
Maybe…this was how that bald guy felt.
Now, he finally had an opponent who could take a hit and push him to go all out. It reignited a passion he hadn't felt in a long time.
"Arrogant bastard!"
Toneri was stunned for a moment, then his face twisted with anger.
He had inherited the power of the ancestors! For Kaede to speak to him like that was an unforgivable insult.
Buzz!!
He pushed his Byakugan to its limit. Bulging veins expanded around the corners of his eyes and across his forehead, while his chakra surged violently.
His already incredible speed jumped yet another notch as he launched a furious assault on Kaede.
Kaede didn't bother dodging anymore. Gripping the Kusanagi Sword in his right hand, he condensed golden chakra into a second blade in his left. He unleashed dual-wielded strikes in rapid succession.
He abandoned all defense,
Everything was turned into offense!
"Has he lost his mind?!"
Toneri frowned, but sneered coldly and charged in without hesitation.
In an instant, Kaede took over a dozen blows. Each strike precisely targeted his chakra pathways, shutting them down with pinpoint precision.
But,
In the very next moment, those severed pathways glowed brightly again, fully restored.
Meanwhile,
Kaede's relentless offense had landed several hits. Though Toneri blocked most attacks with the Truth-Seeking Orb, two sword strikes slipped through, severing his right arm and lower leg!
Six Paths power surged,
His arm and leg reattached and regenerated instantly.
"How is this possible…"
A flicker of disbelief appeared in Toneri's eyes. Kaede's regenerative ability had already surprised him before, but now even the chakra pathways that had been destroyed by Gentle Fist were instantly restored, it was beyond comprehension.
Chakra pathways were delicate structures, far more complex than physical wounds. Once damaged, they were nearly impossible to repair fully, and even partial recovery usually resulted in impaired chakra flow.
Yet Kaede's pathways had recovered completely.
Without even the slightest irregularity!
Clang!!
Blocking another of Kaede's strikes with the Truth-Seeking Orb, Toneri suddenly backed off, retreating dozens of meters in a flash of white light.
He stared at Kaede, a grim look in his eyes.
By this point, he had confirmed it:
Kaede didn't just have more stamina than he did, his recovery ability even surpassed the power inherited from the Otsutsuki ancestors!
"…Is it because of the Nine-Tails?"
Toneri's gaze darkened as he looked at Kaede's abdomen.
He could see that the Nine-Tails was continuously supplying Kaede with chakra. While it looked like Kaede was fighting alone, it was effectively a two-man team, one fighting, the other endlessly restoring and replenishing chakra.
"You're giving up already?"
Kaede's expression was calm as he looked over at Toneri.
Toneri's eyes moved from Kaede's abdomen up to his face. After a long stare, he said coldly, "No. I've simply decided there's no point wasting any more time with you."
At this rate, the outcome would be uncertain. With his chakra rapidly depleting, there was a real risk of being outlasted by Kaede.
If that was the case…
Buzz!
A gleam flashed in Toneri's eyes as his dojutsu activated.
From the ruins of a distant palace, a blinding radiance erupted, shining like a miniature sun.
It was the collective power of the entire Otsutsuki clan's Byakugan,
The Giant Tenseigan!
"Tenseigan, huh…"
Kaede narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked toward the glowing sphere.
If he could completely absorb the dojutsu power of the Giant Tenseigan, his spiritual energy would be fully replenished. Combined with his immense chakra reserves and perfected Sage Mode, his Senjutsu would evolve into Six Paths Sage Arts, reaching the level of the Six Paths!
The only problem,
Was figuring out how to do it.
The dumbest method would be to smash it back into countless individual Byakugan, transplant and absorb them one by one, and finally merge their power.
==========
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