The gate to the alternate dimension opened, linking to Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's personal space.
Moments later, Shūichi led Shisui and Obito into the otherworldly realm.
---
The Ten-Tails' Lair
Ōtsutsuki Isshiki raised his head, his tone calm yet tinged with disdain.
"Quick action, I see."
He glanced down at Nagato, who now bore the Kāma mark.
"Not the most ideal vessel, but at this point, I have no choice."
Faced with the threat of Shūichi, Isshiki knew he had no option but to remove all restrictions on himself.
Since Jigen's body could no longer sustain his power, Nagato became the next best option.
As long as Isshiki could eliminate Shūichi Hoshita—the strongest in the shinobi world—he could immediately reincarnate into Nagato's body and continue his quest for a perfect vessel.
Without Shūichi in the way, there would be no need for caution. Finding a new host would also become much easier.
Moreover, Shūichi might even serve as an excellent sacrifice for the Ten-Tails, transforming it into the God Tree.
Turning, Isshiki stepped out of the base and disappeared through a portal.
---
Meanwhile.
Not long after entering the alternate dimension, Shūichi's brows slightly furrowed.
"He's here!"
Shisui instantly activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, while Obito, whose Mangekyō Sharingan was already active, sensed the disturbance.
"A spatial fluctuation... Just as I expected, conventional methods, or even sensory techniques like good-evil detection or Sage Mode, are useless against him—just like with Kaguya Ōtsutsuki."
Shūichi smirked slightly.
"But that doesn't mean we're entirely out of options."
His golden Rinne-Sharingan blazed with flames.
Using the Sharingan's insight, Thermal Vision, and the microscopic precision of his Medical Eye abilities, Shūichi locked onto Isshiki's movements.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Without warning, a repelling force erupted, catching Isshiki off guard and hurling him through the air.
Boom!
The ground caved in as Shūichi's figure vanished from his initial position.
---
"So fast!"
Isshiki, stunned, found Shūichi directly in front of him.
Even Isshiki was forced to admit that Shūichi's raw physical speed surpassed his own.
Shūichi reached out with a single hand, attempting to crush Isshiki in his grip.
Isshiki narrowly accelerated, slipping through Shūichi's fingers, but the next instant, a sharp sonic boom rang out. With a flick of Shūichi's finger, Isshiki was struck like a cannonball and sent flying at an even greater speed.
Recovering mid-air, Isshiki wiped the blood from his lips, his gaze fixed on Shūichi.
"I see now… Your body possesses something akin to the Ten-Tails. Your constitution is truly unique."
"Good. That confirms it—you'll make an ideal sacrifice for the Ten-Tails!"
Shūichi chuckled.
"Funny. I was just about to say the same about you."
"Though personally, I'd prefer to refine you into a pill instead."
Rage flickered in Isshiki's heart. To think that this man dared to treat him as mere food.
"Unforgivable!" Isshiki growled.
"Then let's see your true strength!"
At those words, his body transformed. A horn emerged from his head, and an immense power surged outward.
---
Watching from a distance, Obito's eyes widened in shock.
"So, this is his true form... As I thought, he's even stronger than Kaguya Ōtsutsuki!"
Shisui, equally stunned, gripped his sword tightly.
"Such overwhelming power. It's on par with Shūichi—or maybe even greater!"
Despite their apprehension, neither of them despaired.
After all, even Kaguya, who was stronger, had been defeated before.
If they worked together, they could surely defeat Ōtsutsuki Isshiki!
---
Shūichi's calm voice echoed across the battlefield.
"Perfect. I've been wanting to see your real strength, too."
"Besides… I must admit, I'm very fond of your eye techniques."
As his words faded, Shūichi vanished from sight.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In the blink of an eye, Shūichi and Isshiki clashed, their fists meeting with bone-shattering force, sending shockwaves rippling through the air.
However, despite Shūichi's immense abilities, he found himself slightly outmatched in taijutsu.
Isshiki's raw physical power surpassed Shūichi's, his body nothing short of monstrous.
Even so, with his exceptional combat skills, insight, and experience, Shūichi managed to keep the disparity to a minimum.
Observing from the sidelines, Shisui drew his blade, his body cloaked in a fiery chakra aura.
"Obito, I'm going in first!"
As he charged forward, chakra rings exploded around him, propelling him toward the fray at an astonishing speed.
Obito's eyes narrowed as he muttered in surprise.
"Is that… Blaze Release?"
"He's mastered a second Kekkei Genkai. Truly remarkable."
---
As soon as Uchiha Shisui entered the battlefield, the tide turned instantly.
The three figures—Shūichi, Shisui, and Isshiki—moved at such blinding speeds that Uchiha Obito could not lock onto them.
Suddenly, countless black rods rained down with piercing whooshes.
Shūichi swiftly teleported with Shisui, appearing beside Obito.
But just as they regrouped, massive black cubes descended from the sky.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The cubes crashed down relentlessly, forcing the three to evade continuously.
Isshiki seized the moment, focusing his assault on Shisui.
Shisui dodged two black rods that had been shrunken to near invisibility, but Isshiki shattered his short blade with a punch and sent him flying with a powerful kick.
Poof!
Shisui's body burst into smoke.
"A clone?" Isshiki sneered.
"Damnable ninja techniques!"
He realized Shisui had likely gone to rescue someone.
But unless Nagato was killed, his vessel status couldn't be changed.
Isshiki didn't bother to stop him—if he could eliminate Shūichi Hoshita, everything else would fall into place.
---
Boom!
Isshiki shot through the air, hurtling toward Shūichi with lethal intent.
Shūichi stood his ground, allowing Isshiki's punch to land directly on him.
"Hmm?"
Something felt off—this was the same sensation Isshiki experienced when attacking Obito earlier.
Poof!
Shūichi landed a devastating punch to Isshiki's head from the side, sending him flying.
"Eternal Celestial Stance!"
The Shūichi Isshiki hit wasn't his true body—his real self had already moved to the future.
As Isshiki scrambled back to his feet, Shūichi closed the distance once again.
The two clashed in rapid taijutsu exchanges. After several rounds, Isshiki landed another strike, but once again, his attack hit nothing but air.
---
Boom!
Shūichi's next strike missed as well. Isshiki had shrunken his body, evading the blow. A barrage of black rods appeared once again.
Electric currents crackled around Shūichi as he activated an electromagnetic field, repelling all the rods.
Isshiki retreated and unleashed another wave of black cubes, trying to suppress Shūichi.
But at the same time, Obito's Kamui locked onto Isshiki, forcing him to move at high speed to avoid being dragged into the Kamui dimension.
"I'll deal with him first!"
Isshiki made his decision. He had already analyzed Kamui's mechanics—once Obito was eliminated, nothing would interfere with his fight against Shūichi.
---
Meanwhile, Shūichi dodged two descending cubes before suddenly halting, an overwhelming power erupting from his body.
Flame Breathing!
Thunder Breathing!
...
Natural Breathing!
All eight breathing techniques activated simultaneously. The air currents converged into a dragon-like form, catching the falling black cubes and flinging them away.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The black cubes were hurled into the distance.
The next moment, Shūichi appeared behind Isshiki, who was just about to use a space-time jutsu to enter the Kamui dimension. Grabbing him, Shūichi yanked him out.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Shūichi smashed Isshiki into the ground repeatedly, creating deep craters with each impact.
"Damn you!"
Enraged, Isshiki broke free from Shūichi's grip, summoning another barrage of black rods.
Shūichi effortlessly dodged, grabbing one rod midair while ignoring the others that struck his body and scattered harmlessly. He charged straight at Isshiki.
Clang!
Isshiki conjured a long staff, intercepting Shūichi's attack with the black rod.
Suddenly, bolts of electricity erupted from Shūichi's body, forming a massive electromagnetic field that engulfed both himself and Isshiki.
Isshiki tried to shrink and absorb the electromagnetic energy.
However, during the process, his movements slowed significantly.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Shūichi's fists rained down on Isshiki, blood spraying with each strike.
"Damn it!"
Isshiki roared in fury, his face distorted from the relentless blows. He abandoned absorbing the field and launched a desperate counterattack.
But the electromagnetic field disrupted his movements, leaving him at a severe disadvantage.
Isshiki, regaining his composure, swiftly shrank his body and retreated.
However, Shūichi pursued relentlessly, his electromagnetic field enveloping Isshiki with every step. As Shūichi's punches and palms lashed out, the sheer force caused the air to explode. Even when Isshiki shrank his body, he couldn't completely evade the strikes.
At this moment, Isshiki found himself utterly on the defensive, relying solely on his durable body to withstand Shūichi's furious onslaught.
"You can't possibly maintain this state for long, can you?" Isshiki taunted through gritted teeth.
Shūichi smirked. "And you know nothing of my power, Otsutsuki!"
Grabbing Isshiki by the head, Shūichi ground his face into the dirt with brute force before shouting, "Obito!"
Obito, who had been teleported nearby, activated Kamui, locking onto Isshiki.
Panicked, Isshiki tried to shrink his body again, but Shūichi suddenly deactivated his Natural Breathing technique. His Rinne Sharingan flared with power as he unleashed a powerful ocular technique.
Kotoamatsukami!
Isshiki froze for a brief moment, but he quickly recovered and shrank his body just in time.
Despite this, the brief pause allowed Obito—empowered by his Curse Mark—to tear off one of Isshiki's arms.
Even the formidable body of Isshiki Otsutsuki couldn't withstand the power of space-time ninjutsu.
As Isshiki shrank and attempted to retreat, Shūichi's electromagnetic field surged back to life.
This wasn't the natural electromagnetic field created by Thunder Breathing, but an advanced field produced by Electromagnetic Release.
Isshiki was caught in a dilemma.
If he shrank and absorbed the electromagnetic field, his mobility would decrease drastically, leaving him vulnerable to Obito's space-time techniques, which posed a fatal threat.
If he chose not to absorb the field, his movements would still be impaired, albeit less severely.
Isshiki quickly chose the latter, opting to escape the field's range.
However,
Floating behind Shūichi, Truth-Seeking Orbs began to glow with crackling electricity before launching at breakneck speed.
Boom!
One of the accelerated orbs struck Isshiki's now fully restored body, blasting apart half of his upper torso.
Though Isshiki managed to escape Obito's Kamui lock-on, the electromagnetic disturbance caused by Shūichi's cannon reduced the field's impact, allowing him to move more freely.
Despite his injuries, Isshiki attempted to flee, opening a portal to escape.
"Not so fast!"
Obito's eyes flared with determination as he used Kamui to distort and collapse Isshiki's portal.
Isshiki's escape failed.
A second Truth-Seeking Orb shot toward him.
Raising his only remaining hand, Isshiki shrank the orb and absorbed it, but Shūichi teleported right in front of him using the Flying Thunder God technique just as the orb disappeared.
Kotoamatsukami!
Isshiki's body froze again, and in that instant, Shūichi drove his hand through Isshiki's remaining side, leaving a gaping hole.
"You…" Isshiki's eyes widened in disbelief as he attempted to shrink his body again but found himself unable to.
This monster… he's grabbed my soul!
Damn that Rinnegan!
"I've been thinking about how to deal with you for a long time," Shūichi said calmly, his tone almost mocking.
He had indeed spent a great deal of time strategizing against Isshiki. Conventional means wouldn't work against someone who could shrink and absorb nearly anything—including jutsu, energy, and even physical objects.
Not even Shūichi's own Kotoamatsukami could exert lasting control over Isshiki, and Kekei Mora sealing technique he master fell short.
In the end, the solution was clear—taijutsu.
But even then, Isshiki's seemingly indestructible nature posed a challenge.
That left one final option—his soul.
The Rinnegan's unique ability to manipulate souls became Shūichi's trump card.
---
Even as half his body was destroyed, Isshiki fought back with all his might, trying to wrench his soul free.
"I refuse to lose to someone like you!" Isshiki roared, his voice filled with defiance.
But Obito had already locked onto him.
"This head is mine!" Obito declared. Kamui!
Suddenly, the resistance in Shūichi's hand vanished as he successfully ripped Isshiki's soul from his body.
At the same time, Obito used Kamui to sever Isshiki's head from his body, twisting it off in one clean motion.
---
"Shūichi, where are you planning to seal his soul?" Obito asked.
"For now, it'll have to be in my memory," Shūichi replied with a nod.
"The Six Paths tools can't hold him, and if he escapes, he'll just resurrect through Nagato's body. Sealing him within my memory carries risks, but they're manageable. Besides, I can always sacrifice him to the Ten-Tails later."
Obito agreed. "Looks like that's our best option for now."
Shūichi immediately activated his sealing technique, locking Isshiki's struggling soul within his own memory.
---
Afterward, Shūichi turned his gaze to Isshiki's headless corpse, while Obito released the severed head.
Shūichi used the Truth-Seeking Orbs to encase Isshiki's body. "Let's go—time to regroup with Shisui!"
(End of Chapter)