No matter what, Bai Yang had never expected that Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, who had just sought cooperation with him, would attack him without warning the very next moment.
His Spirit Body, projected into the Mind World, appeared before Bai Yang in the blink of an eye. A right hand like an iron clamp locked around Bai Yang's throat and slowly lifted him into the air.
At that moment, Bai Yang understood that even a "Spirit Body" could feel suffocation...
Both hands desperately pried at Isshiki's right hand, trying to force it away from his neck, while his legs weakly kicked at Isshiki's body...
"Vermin!"
Isshiki's Heterochromatic Eyes cautiously watched Bai Yang as he examined every part of Bai Yang's Spirit Body, fearing he might have some means of dragging them both down together.
But after waiting for a moment, he realized that this foreign Spirit Body truly was nothing more than vermin he could kill with a casual gesture!
Having discovered this, Isshiki instinctively concluded that Bai Yang posed no threat whatsoever, even though he was currently at the weakest point of his life.
Although Isshiki had no idea why Bai Yang's foreign Spirit Body had suddenly appeared inside him, all he needed to know was that Bai Yang was no threat to him and was a weak existence he could crush at will.
He was merely a foreign Spirit Body, as insignificant as vermin. Erasing him would take no more than a flick of the finger!
Thinking this, Isshiki tightened his grip further, making Bai Yang suffer even more as his limbs flailed and kicked wildly...
"Die, vermin!"
Isshiki had no time to waste on Bai Yang. He needed to dispose of him immediately, then slowly recuperate within his host's body...
"No—!"
Feeling Isshiki's killing intent, Bai Yang let out a hoarse cry of unwillingness. He had only just arrived in the Naruto World—how could he die so easily?!
An endless desire to survive surged within him, and obsession grew madly in his heart...
"Nothing but the impotent barking of the weak!"
Isshiki was clearly surprised that Bai Yang's Spirit Body could still endure, and that his will to live was so strong. But this was as far as it went!
Isshiki did not want to waste too much time on Bai Yang...
With that thought, Isshiki exerted force with his right hand once more!
A crack rang out as Bai Yang's neck was snapped by Isshiki.
In truth, even if a Spirit Body had its neck broken or its heart pierced, such methods of destroying the body would not kill it. They would only damage the Spirit Body.
Isshiki naturally knew this, so his right hand did not loosen around Bai Yang's neck...
"...Become nourishment for my Spirit Body!"
Isshiki spoke to Bai Yang with a savage expression. Then his Heterochromatic Eyes fixed tightly upon him, and Dōjutsu Power specifically meant for Spirit Bodies instantly flooded into Bai Yang's Spirit Body.
His Spirit Body immediately began to turn illusory, resembling colored foam.
The next moment, Isshiki gave a light squeeze with his right hand again. Bai Yang's Spirit Body burst apart like fragile foam, becoming countless specks of Spirit Body fragments that drifted around Isshiki.
Then, drawn by Isshiki's Spirit Body, those fragments surrounding him poured into it all at once.
Just as Isshiki had said, he intended to devour Bai Yang's entire Spirit Body and use it to strengthen his own...
In Isshiki's perception, Bai Yang's Spirit Body was remarkably solid, its strength in no way inferior to his own.
With such an excellent Spirit Body as a supplement, Isshiki's Spirit Body would certainly advance further. With that, it would become easier for him to enter a higher realm...
"W-What's happening?"
Bai Yang's Spirit Body fragments should have been steadily devoured and assimilated by Isshiki's Spirit Body, but something unexpected happened.
Those fragments that entered Isshiki's Spirit Body were not absorbed immediately. Instead, they began to gather and merge in a bizarre manner, unbelievably beginning to devour him from within!
"Even if I die, I'll take you down with me!"
Bai Yang's will traveled through their Spirit Bodies into Isshiki's mind, leaving Isshiki both shocked and furious!
He was shocked because even after Bai Yang's Spirit Body had shattered, remnants of his conscious obsession still remained!
He was furious because vermin like Bai Yang dared challenge the majesty of the Ōtsutsuki Clan!!!
"How could an ant swallow an elephant?"
Isshiki laughed in extreme anger. The Dōjutsu Power in his eyes surged into his body without restraint, thoroughly erasing most of Bai Yang's soul fragments and transforming them into pure soul power that flowed into Isshiki's Spirit Body.
"Then I'll swallow you... and show you!"
Bai Yang's will entered Isshiki's mind again. His remaining soul fragments began merging at an accelerated pace, devouring part of Isshiki's Spirit Body as they fused, like fighting to sustain the fight!
Isshiki believed Bai Yang could never survive beneath his Dōjutsu Power, so he fearlessly entered a tug-of-war of mutual devouring between their Spirit Bodies.
At first, Isshiki indeed held the upper hand. Eight or nine-tenths of Bai Yang's Spirit Body fragments had been wiped out, with only one or two-tenths desperately resisting!
But as time passed, Bai Yang, trapped in desperate circumstances, actually relied on his astonishing obsession and will to survive to withstand Isshiki's lethal Dōjutsu Power.
He then began to strike back.
For a time, the advantage reversed!
"Impossible!"
"This... no, impossible!"
After a long while, fear and terror rose in Isshiki's heart, because he discovered that Bai Yang's Spirit Body, which had fused within him, seemed to be growing immune to his Dōjutsu Power.
His Dōjutsu Power landing on Bai Yang was now like scratching an itch, making Isshiki even less able to stop Bai Yang from devouring his Spirit Body!
"Ōtsutsuki Isshiki... you're afraid of death too?"
Bai Yang seemed to sense Isshiki's fear and terror, and he accelerated both the fusion of his Spirit Body and the devouring of Isshiki's Spirit Body.
This sight drove Isshiki even deeper into despair, because if this continued, he truly would die!
"Wait! Wait..."
Isshiki was truly afraid. He had yet to complete his ultimate evolution in the universe, had yet to become the "god" of his dreams. He... still did not want to die!
Bai Yang's Spirit Body was incomplete at this moment, and his consciousness was supported only by his obsession with survival. Thus, he paid no attention to Isshiki's pleas and continued merging and devouring on his own!
Even if Bai Yang's Spirit Body had been whole, with normal thoughts and consciousness, he certainly would not have spared Isshiki.
After all, the surname Ōtsutsuki represented his true nature...
The farmer and the snake were not merely a story!
The more Bai Yang devoured, the faster his devouring became. This also meant that Isshiki's countdown to death grew ever shorter!
"No—!"
In the end, Isshiki let out an unwilling cry before his death. Just like the words he had used to mock Bai Yang earlier, that cry was nothing more than "the impotent barking of the weak."
Ridiculous.
Tragic.
Who could truly make sense of the relationship between hunter and prey?
The moment Isshiki died also marked Bai Yang's successful devouring of Isshiki's Spirit Body and his establishment of a connection, within this Mind World, with the body outside.
In other words, Bai Yang had officially replaced Isshiki and become the Spirit Body of this Ōtsutsuki body, accomplishing the grand feat of "Cuckoo's Nesting Strategy"!