Outside Hoshigakure, Jigen's face darkened.
If he had done the same task, it would have taken just one hour, yet that insufferable human kid had taken a full three days!
"I shouldn't have expected anything from these mortals!" Jigen slightly shook his head.
Of course, he had withdrawn from Kāma form back on the first day.
Maintaining that form required a constant drain of energy. If he had kept it up, he would have exhausted himself before that human even emerged!
Fortunately, that human brat was finally coming out!
At the entrance of Hoshigakure, Lord Seiki accepted the meteorite solemnly presented by The Third Star Shadow.
"Lord Seiki, we are truly, deeply grateful!" The Third Star Shadow sincerely expressed his thanks.
Behind him, everyone warmly said their farewells.
"Lord Seiki, thank you!"
"Please remember to visit us again in the future!"
"Thank you all, I'll remember you!" Lord Seiki waved his hand and turned to leave.
No one left, watching him go in silence, as if expressing their gratitude through their gaze.
Only when even Lord Seiki's back figure disappeared from sight did The Third Star Shadow sigh deeply, "Fortunately we have someone as powerful and kind-hearted as Lord Seiki in our era, otherwise who knows what fate would await our small ninja villages!"
"Alright, go back now! All of you return and cultivate diligently, don't betray the goodwill of Lord Seiki!"
...
At Lord Seiki's travel speed, he soon left Hoshigakure far behind and entered a tranquil forest.
However, he still felt somewhat puzzled.
"He deliberately slowed the healing process to give Aizen enough time to observe, but even after three days, he hadn't noticed the slightest anomaly. Could he have been wrong?"
Just as he was secretly doubting himself, suddenly his sixth sense screamed a warning, giving him the feeling of being watched like a thorn at his back!
"Someone is attacking from behind!" Although unsure how his opponent had done it, Lord Seiki instinctively wanted to use the Flying Thunder God Technique.
However, the Flying Thunder God Technique, which had never failed him before, suddenly ceased to function at this critical moment!
All his technique markers lost connection!
"What? It's actually spatial sealing!" Lord Seiki's expression changed slightly. Even he hadn't expected the hidden enemy could achieve this level!
Realizing the Flying Thunder God Technique had failed, Lord Seiki quickly covered himself with Ice Release, then activated his blood energy, layering it with "Armored Haki" beneath the ice.
Behind him, Jigen, who had used Sukunahikona to shrink himself to the size of dust, noticed Lord Seiki's actions and felt somewhat surprised as well.
This technique of his could hardly be detected even by full-blooded otsutsuki, yet this human had managed to do so!
"Unfortunately, it's already too late!" Jigen returned to his original size, and the accumulated terrifying power surged toward Lord Seiki like a flood bursting through a dam.
With one punch, even solidified space rippled slightly.
The fist struck Lord Seiki's back. With a thunderous boom, the ice shattered instantly. Lord Seiki spat out a spray of blood mist, and shot rapidly into the ground.
The thick layers of earth collapsed and cracked in succession, as if the force might reach the planet's core itself.
Underground, Seiki continued plummeting downward.
"Good thing only half my bones are shattered and my spine snapped. No major issue!" Seiki calculated coldly inside, completely unconcerned about his undignified freefall through the earth's layers.
Then, he tried reaching out to Aizen.
The spatial coordinates were completely cut off, like messages lost in the void.
"Of course, spatial sealing isn't something that layers of earth can block!" Seiki sighed inwardly. "These Otsutsuki (an ancient alien race) techniques are truly amazing. I underestimated them!"
He had already instructed Aizen to prepare nearby so he could teleport through space at the first sign of danger.
But he hadn't expected this hidden Otsutsuki to be capable of this—locking down the entire space-time continuum around him!
"Still, I'm not without options!"
These thoughts flashed through Seiki's mind in an instant. Within microseconds of being blasted away, he had already made his decision.
Far away, hidden in the shadows, Aizen's body suddenly rippled and twisted, seemingly blending into the space itself before disappearing from this world.
In the next moment, his body reappeared within the Dream World.
For other practitioners, the Dream World is a realm that houses consciousness and thoughts; a physical body cannot enter.
Even the Pure Land (the sacred realm of enlightenment), which served as the blueprint for the Dream World, was merely a vessel for souls. Its master, Hagoromo (the Sage of the Six Paths), could only enter in soul form.
But Aizen was different. The shell that formed his body was Dragon Pulse Chakra itself, nearly the same source as the natural energy constructing the Dream World!
Crossing through the Dream Network to attack someone was practically instinctive for him!
In an instant, Aizen had already exited the Dream World and fused with Seiki!
Seiki's eyes gleamed brightly, and his injuries began healing at an extremely rapid rate.
He had forged his body using yao-monster methods, and his physique was already no less powerful than that of the Otsutsuki. With the current Six Paths domain added in, these minor injuries were practically negligible.
"But still, it's not enough!"
Although it was only a fleeting glimpse, he could clearly sense that his opponent's power surpassed their combined strength.
If their fusion from three years ago had placed them at the bottom tier of the Six Paths level, then now they should be at a mid-tier level. However, the power the opponent displayed was close to the top tier.
Under normal circumstances, this gap wouldn't be a big issue—just as he had thought before, if he couldn't win, he could always run.
But the problem was, this opponent had locked down both space and time!
And he didn't even know how long this space-time block would last!
It was clear the enemy had come with the firm intent to kill him.
More importantly, the enemy's ability to hide their presence was terrifying—shrinking themselves down to the size of dust. If not for his sixth sense exposing them, he would have been in real danger this time!
"An enemy this terrifying—even if I can't kill him, I must make him fear me permanently!"
Seiki's entire body blazed with surging vitality, as endless waves of power surged from every corner of his being.
[Eight Gates]—The Gates of Life, Rest, Injury, Barrier, View, Shock, Death—all flared wide open!
At this moment, on the surface.
It had only been half a second since his sudden attack. Jigen calmly looked at the abyss deep beneath the earth created by his single strike. "Heh, it's been too long since I last took action. Seems I accidentally hit a bit too hard and actually killed Seiki!"
He shook his head. "But no matter — just revive him again."
As he flew downward, preparing to retrieve Seiki's corpse, suddenly, a spot of red light flickered in the darkness.
"What is this…?"
Before he could react, a punch faster than the speed of sound smashed into him, distorting his entire face.
However, in that very moment of impact, he caught sight of the red light's true form — it was actually a churning storm of vaporized blood, a blazing surge of energy burning fiercely!
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