Equal Treatment (Thanks to Bookworm's Treasure for the tip)

At that moment, "Minamoto Takuya," who had been watching from the sidelines, let out a soft chuckle, breaking the brief dead silence. "Heh, never thought you'd use Talk no Jutsu too."

His tone carried a hint of amusement and teasing.

Without turning around, Minamoto Takuya replied calmly, "Whether it's Talk no Jutsu, or whether I can use it, don't you already know? Besides..."

Only then did he turn slightly to look at the projection containing all his memories. "Didn't you fail to evade that explosion as well?"

"Minamoto Takuya" lazily stretched, his joints cracking faintly. His voice sounded somewhat listless. "I didn't evade it, no. But... it's getting a little boring."

Minamoto Takuya understood.

The profound connection born from the same soul meant that communication between them had long surpassed ordinary language.

A single thought, a single glance, and each other's intentions became as clear as transparent flowing water.

When both sides already knew what the other was about to say and meant to express, conventional conversation instead became redundant and dull.

As for why he had chosen to take the blast head-on rather than evade it?

It was absolute confidence in his own strength!

Though the other party's self-destruction appeared vast and overwhelming, whether it was "Gaara" or the two memory constructs controlling that power, they were far too weak in Minamoto Takuya's eyes.

Although the explosion contained an astonishing amount of energy, its inept controllers had dispersed it too widely. Like water flung in every direction, its impact had been spread across the entirety of Turtle Island.

After being diluted like that, its power was simply insufficient to break through all his defenses and kill him.

If Minamoto Takuya himself had self-destructed?

He would have compressed that destructive force with absolute precision, containing it within the smallest possible