The surging sea of fire, like a torrent, reversed its course across the sky.
Extreme heat penetrated everything in its path, and distorted air tore through the clouds, spreading out for tens of kilometers with the temperature of the sun's core under this immense evaporation, covering everything within sight with a rippling sea of energy.
Looking down from above, the thick atmosphere seemed to have been split open by this endless high temperature, creating a rift that stretched across the horizon, as deep as a canyon.
Ōtsutsuki Shibai, directly in front of this strike, was instantly engulfed by the radiant flames the moment the Zanka no Tachi fell.
Neither the Shinra Tensei covering his body nor any defense constructed by his Rinnegan could withstand this attack from seven years ago.
In just a fleeting moment, he turned into scattered black mist.
After a long while, Sawara Kiri stood in the sky, gazing at the distant, still burning sea of fire, and lowered the blade in his hand.
The Black Blade Akishui, which had borne the brunt of that strike, melted into a gaseous form the moment he swung it, continuously swirling around his arm and dissipating, only to be blocked by the defensive layer constructed by the Limitless, like black smoke.
However, Sawara Kiri still frowned.
'Too light.'
As a seasoned veteran, he naturally had his own unique standard for judging combat power.
He had originally thought that Ōtsutsuki Shibai would be forced to reveal his remaining trump cards by that move, but he had suddenly disappeared.
This couldn't help but make him feel a sense of unease.
However, no matter how his Six Eyes swept through the sea of fire, he could only see flames covered by endless Chakra, completely unable to discern anything within.
'Even if it's Ōtsutsuki Shibai, he probably wouldn't be unscathed after taking a full-power blow from the Old Man Yama, right?'
Sawara Kiri thought to himself.
What's more, he had added something extra to this strike.
"What?!"
Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly heard a startled shout from afar.
Sawara Kiri turned his head and saw an Ōtsutsuki he had never seen before standing blankly on a mountaintop, looking at the sea of fire that covered the entire sky in the distance with an expression of disbelief, as if he had witnessed an incredible scene.
However, Sawara Kiri did recognize the person accompanying him.
"Kakuzu-sensei?"
Sawara Kiri turned his head, looking at the two with interest.
The moment they heard this voice, a thought simultaneously rose in the minds of Ōtsutsuki Isshiki and Kakuzu:
'It's over! We came too early!'
However, just as this thought arose in their minds, They heard a hoarse chuckle suddenly come from within the sea of fire:
"No, you've come at precisely the right time."
The moment this voice came, Sawara Kiri suddenly turned his head behind him.
With a boom, a violent sound pierced his eardrums, striking out abruptly through tens of kilometers of air, like a heavy hammer, smashing towards Sawara Kiri with extreme ferocity and viciousness.
With just one strike, the spatial barrier formed by the Limitless on Sawara Kiri's body burst into large ripples and cracks, and he himself was uncontrollably shot towards the ground, crashing into the charred crater in the center of the Advent of a World of Flowering Trees.
Everyone who had just breathed a sigh of relief in the distance was stunned, looking in astonishment at the figure standing in the center of the sea of fire.
Ōtsutsuki Shibai's charred, powdery form gradually gathered towards the center like spreading black mist, his steps passing through layers of flames, advancing step by step towards Sawara Kiri, the emotion in his voice seeming to increase, carrying a hint of sarcastic laughter:
"Is this the trump card you hid until the very end, Sawara Kiri?"
"If so, it's truly disappointing."
"Shibai-sama!"
The moment he heard this familiar voice, Ōtsutsuki Isshiki seemed to lose all his bones, immediately prostrating himself on the ground, not even daring to lift his head.
The dark mist, seemingly slow but actually swift, crossed the surging fire in just three or two steps, appearing high in the sky, its form reflecting in everyone's eyes.
Uchiha Hikari looked up, her beautiful eyes wide.
Ōtsutsuki Shibai's entire body was now nothing but a fragmented skeleton, literally skin and bones, with all the surrounding black mist gathered around this skeleton, only the three eyeballs embedded in his skull remaining perfectly intact, clearly having preserved these three eyes at the cost of his entire body.
As he spoke, all the surrounding black mist converged towards the charred skeletal body, piecing together like fledglings returning to their nest.
From the legs, to the waist and abdomen, then to the chest, and finally to the cheeks and white hair.
Until finally, even his long robe was completely mended, and he stood high in the sky with an indifferent expression, overlooking all the tiny ants below like a true god, a smile on his lips.
Upon hearing Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's voice, he smiled and turned his head, looking at the figure prostrate on the ground.
"I was going to look for you."
"But it seems I don't have to."
Almost the moment he heard this voice, a strong sense of crisis suddenly arose in Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's heart.
Without any reason, he shot up from his spot like a soaring swallow, desperately darting into the distance, leaving behind circles of wave-like sonic booms.
However, Ōtsutsuki Shibai was not in a hurry; instead, he gently crooked his finger in his direction, as if teasing a child.
"Bang!"
The next moment, Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's fleeing figure suddenly froze in place, emitting a delayed explosive sound.
"Please, Shibai-sama—"
There was no time to say anything more; all the power contained within Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's body rapidly dissipated like receding tide water, continuously converging into the core 'Karma' within his body, and then flowing through this channel into Ōtsutsuki Shibai's body in the distance.
In just the time it took to utter that one sentence, his pale body, like sand scattered by the wind, lightly turned into a gray mist in the air, dissipating in the violent wind and waves.
Kakuzu stared at this scene in astonishment.
He had never imagined that the new boss he intended to serve would be so dominant, and the thought of retreating suddenly grew stronger and stronger in his heart.
However, Ōtsutsuki Shibai clearly had no leisure to consider what a mere ant might be thinking.
After absorbing the Chakra Ōtsutsuki Isshiki had accumulated for a thousand years, his slender body suddenly swelled up like a balloon, muscles piling up, but quickly restoring itself under extremely precise control.
As his three heterochromatic eyes closed, the Truth-Seeking Orbs coiling behind him suddenly began to rotate, forming a circle under the convergence of this energy.
Faintly, the depths of the dark colour even emitted a rainbow-like brilliance.
He stood high in the sky, solemn and majestic, surrounded by divine light, dispelling the abnormal weather stirred up by the endless sea of fire.
Whether it was Hashirama, Madara, or everyone else present, a strong sense of powerlessness suddenly arose in their hearts.
That was not a sudden biological instinct of fear or timidity, but a deeper, solemn and inviolable command, like a rule.
Ōtsutsuki Shibai lowered his gaze, looked at the person in the center of the giant pit, and extended his hand forward.
"Sawara Kiri."
The moment this name was called out, the entire world seemed to move.
Air, earth, dust.
Everything within sight pushed and pressed, lifting Sawara Kiri's figure into the air; gnarled branches and charred soil simultaneously gathered in mid-air, lifting him straight towards Ōtsutsuki Shibai's outstretched hand, like a captive offered by the world to a true god.
And so, pale fingers sank into Sawara Kiri's neck.
Ōtsutsuki Shibai simply looked at him with a heavy gaze.
His mere gaze dispelled all surrounding air and gravity, leaving the two of them standing simultaneously in the vacuum created by this rule.
"Does this appearance even qualify you to call yourself the strongest?"
"Ant-like power."
Just as Sawara Kiri was about to turn into a mist and become the second 2.5 Gojo Satoru, he suddenly coughed.
"Cough, cough..."
Dark red blood mixed with fragments flowed from his mouth and nose, and Sawara Kiri's hand quite laboriously grasped the wrist that was clutching his neck.
Ōtsutsuki Shibai looked at his movements, frowning slightly, as if a little puzzled.
That sudden attack had directly shattered space with space, causing severe damage to his main body; even with numerous talents aiding recovery, Sawara Kiri's current state was extremely poor.
Not only was Sawara Kiri aware of this, but Ōtsutsuki Shibai, with his three eyes, was equally aware.
The flaw he had waited so long to catch, enduring the erosion of the sea of fire, had poured most of the power of that body into it, genuinely aiming for his life.
But now, Sawara Kiri did not at all seem to be at his wit's end.
What other trump card did he have?
The moment this question arose in Ōtsutsuki Shibai's mind, he saw Sawara Kiri raise his head with difficulty, staring at him with those deep blue eyes, grinning, and giving an answer that left him somewhat perplexed:
"You don't have any other bodies, do you?"
Just as he was trying to understand its meaning, "Buzz—"
A subtle hum, like a chisel, suddenly pierced into his mind; although he was in a vacuum and should not have heard any sound, that chaotic sound, entirely composed of energy, crossed all obstacles, surging and squeezing into his terrifying range of perception.
Wave-like light spread out along Sawara Kiri's figure like the hem of a garment, appearing as large expanses of deep blue coverage; in just this brief moment, it rapidly enveloped his entire being.
The hand tightly gripping his neck, the moment this energy appeared, actually caused a strong, needle-like pain in Ōtsutsuki Shibai's body, making him instinctively loosen his fingers.
Sawara Kiri, enveloped in this massive amount of energy, turned his head towards the Chakra God Tree, gazing at the dense 'fruits' on its branches.
Those were both the results that the Ōtsutsuki Clan awaited to harvest, and the seeds that Sawara Kiri had planted seven years ago.
Until today, until now, there was finally a possibility of harvest.
And so, he slowly uttered a strange word.
"Auswählen."
"Boom!"
A soaring surge of power seemed to want to break through the entire world, rushing around Sawara Kiri's figure; merely the spreading aftermath caused the ground beneath to tremble violently, the surrounding mountains continuously collapsing under this tremor, and the charred earth tearing open spiderweb-like cracks, swallowing the sea of trees Ōtsutsuki Shibai had personally shaped.
That surging power, like threads, drilled out from the 'cocoons' that were being enveloped, and along with them shot out tiny, doll-like fragments.
Shikon no Tama
Seven years had passed since Sawara Kiri shattered this jewel and distributed it throughout the world.
During this process, countless people had gained astonishing power through this jewel, even forming a unique group called 'Jewel Ninja' in the Ninja World, developing various effects that ordinary people found difficult to comprehend.
Countless times, Sawara Kiri had considered whether to reclaim all of them during the war, even if the power was slightly weaker, it would still be acceptable.
But in the end, he had always rejected the idea himself.
Everything, absolutely everything, was for this moment.
The moment of facing an unprecedentedly powerful enemy.
'What is this?!'
Ōtsutsuki Shibai, who had always maintained a solemn and dignified appearance, finally lost his composure the moment he saw this surging power; the indifferent expression on his face turned to astonishment, and his burning hand emitted waves of sharp pain as if its skin was being peeled off.
Two formations, one in the sky and one on the ground, supported themselves with Sawara Kiri as the center, and simultaneously converged towards his body.
Merely the residual energy emitted by this power was enough to make one's eyes feel as if they would be scorched.
This was power developed and gathered from the wishes of myriad people, ultimately returning to Sawara Kiri's body, wrapped in enormous usury.
If one looked towards the Chakra God Tree, one would see that many of the 'cocoons' that had originally remained swollen had all shriveled up.
Not only Chakra, but even life force and spirit were completely taken by him.
This was the power of Auswählen.
[Auswählen (SS)]
[Information localized, completed.]
[Details: Gives power without restriction, and takes everything, including life, as a price.]
[Background: The Quincy King from a thousand years ago, by giving this paid power, continuously took everything from others, transforming from a dead infant without five senses into the strongest being within the three realms, possessing Omnipotent and Omniscient power.]
[The gift of fate has long been marked with a price in the dark.]
[From Bleach]
[Cannot be upgraded.]
A power with only one function, yet rated SS-class.
Ōtsutsuki Shibai stared blankly at the scene before him.
That endless surge, under continuous absorption, was swallowed by the body so close at hand, like all rivers flowing into the sea.
Sawara Kiri stood there quietly, seemingly no different from usual.
If anything, there was only a halo above his head.
In the center of his deep blue eyes, there was also an additional ring, calmly meeting Ōtsutsuki Shibai's gaze.
All his clothing was restored accordingly, faintly appearing as flowing energy, and even the Nietono no Shana in his hand seemed to be wrapped in a layer of light film.
Just by looking at him, a strong, uncontrollable sense of dread suddenly arose in Ōtsutsuki Shibai's heart, as if every cell, every drop of blood, every organ was constantly giving him a powerful sense of danger, like seeing a natural enemy, his entire body feeling as if it would ignite.
However, a hideous smile suddenly bloomed on his usually calm face, his pupils constricted to the extreme.
"This is more like it!"
Sawara Kiri seemed not to notice the change in his expression, raising the blade in his hand and pointing it at him:
"Come."
"Let me show you the power of an ant."