At high noon, the scorching sun blazed over the desert, so intense that even the sand seed on the verge of lting.
Arima and Isshiki stood facing one another, the pressure between them steadily rising.
In an instant, the sand between them was whipped into a frenzy by their surging chakra, obscuring their line of sight.
Isshiki's voice ca mockingly from across the gusts, "Before I ca here, I made a quick trip to Kusagakure. Picked up a few decent subordinates from there.
So of them seem to hold grudges against you… I believe they've gone to intercept your little squad."
Arima frowned, confused. "With your power, you don't need to resort to cheap tricks. I doubt anyone in the shinobi world right now can stop you. So why test through others?"
Isshiki replied indifferently, "Maybe I've been dormant for too long. Let's just say I was acting on a whim.
As for the outco… I hope your subordinates manage to show sothing worthwhile."
As he spoke, dense, dark-blue markings spread across Isshiki's body.
At the sa ti, the chakra erupting from him surged to more than ten tis what it had been, an amount that surpassed even Arima's Sage Mode reserves.
Not to be outdone, Arima pressed his palms together, entering Sage Mode. A mysterious sage pattern erged on his face.
Isshiki, now holding a black staff in his right hand, watched Arima's transformation with interest.
"The Sage Mode, inheritance of the Six Paths," he mused. "Even after so long in a different dinsion, this world still has a few tricks to stir my curiosity."
In Sage Mode, Arima's perception sharpened drastically.
He suddenly realized sothing: the black staff in Isshiki's hand, the ones he himself created with his Rinnegan, and the item he had obtained a decade ago from that pitch-black being, all shared the sa essence.
They were products of Yin-Yang Release.
And the best way to counter Yin-Yang Release… was with Senjutsu.
Without hesitation, Arima flung several shuriken toward Isshiki, then rapidly ford hand seals. In an instant, black lightning surged in his right hand.
Using the shuriken as anchors, he launched the lightning straight at Isshiki.
Isshiki retreated at lightning speed. Even with his strength, being struck by Senjutsu-enhanced black lightning would be a heavy blow.
The first wave of black lightning missed, but Arima had anticipated this.
He shifted his right hand slightly, and the lightning abruptly changed direction, homing in on the flying shuriken and continuing to pursue Isshiki.
Seeing the shuriken were a nuisance, Isshiki casually scattered a volley of black stakes, knocking them out of the air. The remaining stakes continued flying toward Arima.
Arima, already in Mangekyo Sharingan mode, instantly identified the stakes, small and dark, like miniature black rods, as another application of Yin-Yang Release.
He quickly ford seals and cast Earth Style: Mud Wall.
A massive earthen barrier rose between them, far thicker than the Multi Earth-Style Wall used in the past by joint ninja forces.
But then sothing unexpected happened.
The tiny black stakes suddenly expanded, each transforming into towering black pillars, thick enough for dozens of people to encircle hand in hand.
They slamd into the wall, obliterating it with ease and hurtling toward Arima with terrifying force.
Arima chose not to confront them head-on.
With Flying Thunder God Technique, he teleported to safety. The black pillars smashed into the sand, missing their mark, but raising a massive sandstorm and shaking the earth violently.
Arima frowned. 'How did those nail-sized stakes suddenly beco colossal?'
Turning his gaze back to Isshiki, he noticed the change in the man's eyes.
Isshiki's left eye resembled the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan, likely granting insight and x-ray vision.
But his right eye was sothing stranger. A wheel-shaped design with eight radiating spokes at its center.
Arima speculated the stakes' size manipulation must be a power of that right eye.
Before he could analyze further, Isshiki struck again.
He vanished from Arima's sight in an instant. Arima felt a chill down his spine, an enemy at his back. He dropped and rolled instinctively.
The black staff skimd past his scalp. Had he hesitated even a second longer, it would have struck him squarely.
He hadn't activated Rinnegan mode, if that strike had landed, the battle would've been over.
Cold sweat drenched his back. That one strike from Isshiki had nearly ended everything. Arima stood, wiping his forehead, eyes locked on Isshiki, rapidly revising his next move.
He realized Isshiki's technique involved spatial manipulation, similar to the Flying Thunder God, but far more elusive and efficient, requiring no hand seals or pre-marked locations.
It was as if it responded to re thought.
After just one round, Arima had been completely outmatched.
Calling to his system ntally, Arima checked his remaining virtue points, just over 200,000, the extra bit a reward from saving the Three Kage earlier.
Opening the system exchange, he noticed the cost of unlocking Kamui, the Mangekyo Sharingan technique, had doubled, from 100,000 to 200,000 points.
But he had no choice. If he didn't even the playing field in terms of space-ti jutsu, he'd be outclassed.
With a single purchase, his point balance dropped to the triple digits. But in exchange, mories of Kamui flooded into his mind.
Earlier, Isshiki had clicked his tongue, his powerful, focused strike had been narrowly dodged.
'Lucky bastard. Next ti, I'll make sure there's no escape.'
He watched as Arima stood still for a brief mont, a rare lapse in awareness.
Naturally, Isshiki wouldn't let that pass. He activated his space portal again, silently appearing in Arima's blind spot.
Simultaneously, he launched a barrage of black stakes, sealing off every possible escape route.
Just as Isshiki thought he'd secured the kill, his stakes pierced nothing but sand.
He imdiately realized Arima had been shifted into another dinsion. But to the untrained eye, it looked as if his body had turned intangible.
"New power?" Isshiki muttered to himself. "That wasn't in the intel. He must've only awakened it recently."
At that mont, Arima had been overwheld by the surge of knowledge about Kamui. But a powerful sense of danger triggered his instincts, and he activated Kamui just in ti.
The stakes whistled harmlessly through empty air. He'd narrowly dodged another lethal strike.
'Kamui's effects are imdiate, offensive and defensive in one. This ability… is incredible!' Arima thought with a sense of relief.
With Kamui, he had finally bridged the gap between him and Isshiki in the realm of space-ti jutsu.
Isshiki was visibly excited now. "Arima, your growth truly exceeds my expectations. Good. The greater your potential… the better vessel you'll make for a god."
Arima responded calmly, "Unless you defeat head-on, don't presu to have already won. This fight isn't over."
Isshiki wasn't offended. He nodded. "Looks like your new ability has given you confidence. Very well, consider the warm-up phase over.
One tip though, don't rely too much on that space-ti ocular jutsu. It won't help you against . Even in another dinsion, my attacks can reach you."
Arima's heart skipped. Isshiki had already seen through Kamui's chanics. But it wasn't surprising. After all, Isshiki's mastery of space-ti surpassed even his.
The two faced off again, the second round looming.
….
anwhile, on the outskirts of Roran, Yuna and her group, riding on a giant bird, were suddenly intercepted by over a dozen shinobi.
On the bird, mbers of Dodai's team imdiately recognized two of the enemy. Their features were too distinctive, they stood out like giants among n.
One was Kinkaku, the notorious Cloud shinobi captured and sealed during the war against Konoha, last known to be imprisoned in Hozuki Castle.
The other was Kakuzu, the one who had attacked their group not long ago. After that chaos, he'd been sealed by the Third Hokage and sent to the sa prison.
Among the enemies was another figure that drew intense scrutiny.
He wore a rain-patterned headband and a respirator over his mouth. Even in the desert heat, he wore a thick raincoat and carried a chained sickle on his back.
Everyone imdiately recognized him. Hanzo of the Salamander, the infamous leader of Agakure.
His strength was terrifying, and his ability to release deadly poison gas made him even more dangerous.
These three alone were enough to cause a headache, not to ntion the elite shinobi flanking them, all fresh and fully prepared.
On Arima's side, however, the situation was grim. The Three Kage were heavily injured, and the elite forces had lost most of their combat capability.
Only one eight-man Anbu unit, Dodai's three-man team, Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki, and six genin remained battle-ready.
In terms of combat strength, Arata and Yuna, the sibling duo, along with Kakashi and Yugito Nii, the Two-Tails' jinchuriki, were comparable to Jonin.
As for Obito and Rin, they were essentially non-combatants in this situation.
Just then, three figures appeared in the distance, speeding toward them.
Arata instantly sensed their chakra and broke into a rare smile.
His sister, Yuna, took a mont longer, but quickly realized who they were.
She stood up, waving excitedly.
"Mother! You're finally here!"
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