novelraw Chapter 375 - 375 How To Kill Isshiki?
Chapter 375 - 375 How To Kill Isshiki?
Before the words even fell, Menma flicked his wrist, and several specially-made three-pronged kunai appeared between his fingers.
He swung his arm fiercely. These kunai were not thrown in a straight line, but in arcs that seemed chaotic but actually contained some tactical intent. They shot towards Jigen's left and right sides and the space above his head, blocking most of his evasion routes.
Jigen, having just suffered a sneak attack, did not dare to be negligent facing these swiftly incoming kunai. Chakra erupted under his feet, and instead of retreating, he charged towards Menma, nimbly avoiding the trajectories of all the kunai.
The moment his evasion action was complete, the surging dark red Nine-Tails' Chakra Cloak around Menma rapidly gathered and receded like a receding tide, revealing his original black tight-fitting outfit.
Simultaneously, a small dark red fox figure silently separated out from his body, blending into the shadows. Taking advantage of the moment when Jigen's attention was drawn by the kunai and Menma's main body, it deftly slipped into the altar area at a speed difficult for the naked eye to catch, quickly concealing itself among the shadows of those black Chakra Rods and chains restraining the Ten-Tails.
At this moment, all of Jigen's attention was drawn by Menma's next action.
Just as Menma deactivated the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and sent out Kokyu, Jigen had already charged to near Menma.
"Get out!" Jigen roared.
A space-time vortex with dark red glowing edges suddenly opened in front of Menma. An irresistible suction force instantly enveloped him!
Menma seemed 'caught off guard'. His figure was forcibly swallowed by the vortex, instantly vanishing from the alternate dimension!
"Hmph!" Jigen snorted coldly. Without any hesitation, he closely followed, taking a step into the not-yet-fully-closed Space-Time Vortex.
He had to personally go resolve the threat outside. He absolutely could not let this dangerous individual who knew of the Ten-Tails' existence escape!
The dark red space-time vortex rapidly contracted, ultimately disappearing completely.
This alternate dimension imprisoning the Ten-Tails once again returned to a deathly silence. Only the Ten-Tails' heavy, pained panting, and the occasional subtle sounds of chains rubbing against each other remained.
However, this silence did not last long.
Only a few seconds after Jigen left, a sudden anomaly occurred upon the altar!
"Awoo—!!!"
A fox's roar filled with excitement, greed, and endless savagery exploded in this void space!
The sound was so resounding it even made the entire altar tremble slightly!
Immediately after, a vast Chakra even darker and more tyrannical than the Ten-Tails' erupted violently from the shadows of the altar!
Dark red Chakra surged violently, rapidly condensing and expanding!
In the blink of an eye, a colossal fox, her body size not the slightest bit inferior to the imprisoned Ten-Tails, her entire body covered in dark red fur, with ten giant tails burning like hellfire madly dancing behind her, revealed her frightening complete form!
Her pair of crimson beast pupils, like two blood moons, with unconcealed craving and hunger, fixedly stared at the Ten-Tails in front, which, sensing an archenemy-like threat, had begun to struggle madly, emitting frightened roars.
"Roar—!!!" The Ten-Tails felt a mortal threat. The seven tomoes in its single eye madly spun. It exerted all its strength to struggle, trying to break free from the restraints and make a final resistance.
However, Kokyu just parted her huge mouth full of sharp teeth, revealing an almost human-like excited smile.
"Don't move, be good... let this Kokyu-sama have a good 'taste'..."
The next moment, the Dark Nine-Tails' massive body, carrying the momentum to crush everything, pounced fiercely towards the Ten-Tails at the center of the altar!
A one-sided devouring and crushing occurring within a secret alternate dimension officially began.
…
Meanwhile, on another vast, boundless, monotonously brown-colored barren earth.
The sky was an eternally unchanging dusky yellow, without sun, moon, or stars, only deathly silence and nothingness.
The air was permeated with a dry, dusty scent, as if it had never known life for millions of years.
Suddenly, this dead space was forcibly torn open!
A dark red-edged Space-Time Portal appeared out of thin air. Immediately after, a black figure was rudely 'spit out' from it.
Menma did a deft flip in the air, hovering steadily in mid-air, not showing the slightest bit of disarray.
His gaze swiftly scanned the surroundings: the cracked earth, jagged, strange rocks, and in the distance, those unique rock mountains standing like giant horns.
'So this is the alternate dimension battlefield where Jigen fought Naruto and Sasuke in Boruto.' Menma instantly made a judgment in his heart.
The rules of this space were stable, making it extremely suitable as a battlefield for high-level combatants, without affecting the outside world.
After stabilizing his figure, Menma's thoughts did not linger on the environment but swiftly turned to a problem.
How to completely kill Jigen, or rather, kill the Otsutsuki Isshiki hidden within his body.
Merely defeating the not-yet-fully-reincarnated Jigen, limited by his 'Vessel' shell, was not difficult for Menma who had already mastered the power of the Tenseigan.
But that was far from enough.
What he wanted to verify was whether his current strength could cross that boundary and truly 'kill' an Otsutsuki in their true form!
Fragments of memories about the original work flashed through his mind: After Jigen's intense battle with Naruto and Sasuke, his body was on the verge of collapse and needed time to recuperate. He was then caught off guard by Kashin Koji's assassination attempt, forced into a corner using pre-prepared natural flames that could not be absorbed by Kama, ultimately compelling Isshiki to prematurely perform an incomplete reincarnation upon Jigen.
However, even after incomplete reincarnation, Isshiki's strength had recovered to a terrifying peak level, enough to crush the combined efforts of Naruto in Six Paths Sage Mode and Sasuke with the Rinnegan.
In the end, it was Kurama sacrificing himself to activate the life-burning [Baryon Mode] for Naruto. With an explosion akin to mutual destruction, he exhausted the originally already scant remaining lifespan of Isshiki, with difficulty killing him.
'The Baryon Mode essentially is a self-destructive explosion burning Tailed Beast's Chakra, forcibly consuming the opponent's life...' Menma analyzed calmly.
'Then, without relying on such a self-destructive method, how can I achieve the goal of 'killing Isshiki'? Attack his main body shrunk and hidden in Jigen's brain directly? Or... use more powerful force to completely annihilate this 'Vessel' along with him?'
Just as Menma's thoughts raced, weighing various tactical possibilities, the space in front of him rippled again.
The dark red portal reopened. Jigen's figure stepped out, facing him from a distance.
Jigen's aura now was completely different from before!
He had clearly stopped holding back, directly entering the second stage of Kama!
The curved horn unique to Otsutsuki Isshiki on his forehead was even more ferocious and prominent. The black wedge-shaped patterns spread across his entire body like living things, emanating a heart-palpitating oppressive force.
His right hand grasped empty air. Thick black Chakra rapidly condensed, transforming into a black Chakra Rod nearly two meters long, emitting cold air, which he held like a scepter.
He raised his left hand, index finger pointing straight at Menma opposite him. His face had restored that god-like arrogance belonging to a higher lifeform looking down on ants. His voice was cold and full of confidence:
"To be able to die in this hunting ground belonging to me will be your supreme honor!"
Menma's eyes focused, not daring to be the slightest bit careless.
He knew well that Jigen in his second state had skyrocketed in strength, enough to destroy the combined defense of Naruto's Complete Nine-Tails and Sasuke's Complete Susanoo with a single strike.
And with Kokyu gone, the confidence he had to engage Jigen in battle now rested solely on the Tenseigan.
Swoosh—!
Without superfluous words, Jigen's figure instantly vanished from his spot, appearing before Menma the next moment!
The giant black Chakra Rod in his hand, carrying a space-rending shriek, with the momentum to cleave mountains and split rocks, fiercely chopped down towards Menma's head!
Menma reacted extremely fast. His right hand also condensed an equally solid chakra black rod, blocking upwards!
Clang—!
Two rods imbued with Yin-Yang Release power violently collided together!
An ear-piercing metallic clang exploded. A visible shockwave spread out in a ring shape, lifting layer upon layer of waves on the brown barren earth below!
At the point where the black rods struck, dazzling sparks flew. The powerful recoil force made both their arms tingle slightly.
With one strike unsuccessful, Jigen's attacks came like a tide!
His wrist flipped. The black rod turned into one after another black afterimages, stabbing, lifting, sweeping, chopping from all sorts of tricky angles. The offensive was like a violent storm, unending!
Menma, relying on the superhuman insight and reaction speed brought by his Mangekyo Sharingan and Byakugan, swung his black rod so densely no wind could pass through, precisely blocking away every attack.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Dense collision sounds echoed fiercely in the desolate alternate space like lit firecrackers.
The two figures moved and crossed at high speed in the air. Every collision induced subtle tremors in the surrounding space. The aftershocks of Chakra rippled continuously like waves.
Suddenly, Jigen faked a move. His figure teleported again, abruptly appearing above Menma!
His right leg covered with black patterns fiercely chopped down like a battle axe!
Menma couldn't block in time and could only endure it head-on!
Thud!
A dull sound. Menma was fiercely kicked down from the air like a meteor, heavily smashing into the brown earth below!
Boom—!
The ground was smashed into a giant crater over a hundred meters in diameter and more than ten meters deep. Spiderweb-like cracks madly spread in all directions, stirring up a sky full of dust!
However, before the dust could settle, a streak of light shot skywards like a comet shooting upwards from the bottom of the deep pit!
Menma, unharmed, burst out, his speed fast to the extreme. In an instant, he closed in on Jigen who had just landed. His right fist wrapped in dense Chakra solidly struck the other's cheek!
Thump!
Jigen was hit, his head jerking to the side. His body staggered back a few steps, a trace of bewilderment and anger flashing across his face.
"Bastard!"
He growled, stabilized his stance, and immediately launched a counterattack!
His fist covered with black patterns clashed with Menma's fist again!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The two abandoned long-range bombardment of Ninjutsu and Dojutsu, turning instead to the most primitive, most dangerous close-quarters Taijutsu combat!
Fist, foot, elbow, knee...
Every part of their bodies became lethal weapons!
Every clash contained extremely terrifying power. The sound of air explosions was incessant. The barren earth beneath their feet continuously cracked and collapsed under their fierce exchanges!
In the blink of an eye, both sides had engaged in fierce combat for dozens of rounds, going back and forth!
Though seemingly evenly matched, Menma could feel that, after losing the near-infinite Chakra continuously supporting from the Dark Nine-Tails, relying solely on his own power to forcefully clash with Jigen's Vessel, which had absorbed part of the Ten-Tails' Chakra and entered the second state, he subtly fell into a slight disadvantage.
Jigen's attacks were heavier, his speed also seemed a bit faster.