"You! You! You!"
Having become the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki, Isshiki Ōtsutsuki stared at the golden pillar of light shooting straight into the sky before him.
The pride and smugness born from his surging power were utterly swept away by the waves of aura crashing into him.
He stood dumbfounded, his black staff pointed at Imu within the radiance, yet he could not force out a single complete sentence.
Strong—unfathomably strong!
Such overwhelming presence filled Isshiki Ōtsutsuki with unease.
However, unlike Sakazuki, whose gap with Imu was simply too vast,
Isshiki Ōtsutsuki could sense the level Imu had reached.
But that was precisely what he found most unbelievable.
"You! You actually possess strength comparable to the upper ranks?!"
Isshiki Ōtsutsuki's voice trembled, but Imu still heard every word clearly.
Comparable to the upper ranks of the Ōtsutsuki?
It sounded like recognition of his strength, but from another perspective, it was not necessarily a good thing.
What Isshiki Ōtsutsuki meant was that someone as strong as Imu was merely on par with one of the higher-ups in their civilization.
And there could not possibly be only one higher-up, could there?
Thus, Imu's mood grew heavier after hearing those words.
"No! That's impossible! You're merely a lowly human!"
Suddenly, Isshiki Ōtsutsuki's eyes twisted with madness as he let out a hysterical roar.
"In this world—no, in the entire universe—there can be no living being capable of matching the upper ranks of the Ōtsutsuki!"
He believed Imu was merely putting on a bluff.
His aura looked terrifying, but his actual combat power could not possibly surpass Isshiki's current strength.
"Die for me!!!"
Isshiki Ōtsutsuki hesitated no longer and swung the Truth-Seeking Ball black staff in his hand with all his strength.
At the same time, the four Truth-Seeking Balls behind him flew over at high