The Showdown

Uchiha Itachi sensed something was off and once again slashed without hesitation. A ninja blade came slashing toward him in return.

The two blades clashed, throwing off sparks.

They both retreated and faced off.

Uchiha Itachi stood motionless as a statue. The intricate, eerie pattern of his Mangekyō Sharingan seemed almost alive.

Du Yang knew exactly who he was facing. His opponent was a genius among geniuses of the Uchiha Clan, one of the strongest figures in the world of Naruto, with power surpassing that of Kage Level ninja.

But so what?

Itachi vanished like a ghost, using the Body Flicker Technique to its utmost.

In the next instant, he appeared behind Du Yang's flank, his short blade slashing toward his neck.

With just a single use of the Body Flicker Technique, he was already so fast that most ninja couldn't keep up.

And with the power of his Mangekyō Sharingan behind it, the strike was even harder to evade—and even more terrifying.

Yet Du Yang seemed to have seen it coming. He ducked sharply, and the blade skimmed past his hair.

At the same time, he thrust his right-hand ninja blade toward Itachi's ribs, moving just as astonishingly fast.

When his strike failed, Itachi immediately leaped backward.

His reflexes were lightning-fast. He formed Hand Seals and called, "Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson!"

Countless flaming Shuriken shot toward Du Yang like a sudden downpour, sealing off every possible angle of escape.

"As expected of a ninja beyond Kage Level. If I hadn't shared abilities yet, those two moves would probably have killed me."

Only then did Du Yang fully understand: Itachi really had been holding back when he fought Kakashi.

He frantically formed Hand Seals. The fast-flying Shuriken all struck his body.

But every Shuriken seemed to pass through dense white smoke, scattering in all directions and bursting into clusters of small fireballs.

"What kind of technique is that?" Itachi exclaimed, startled.

Du Yang smiled. What he had just used was one of the basic Three Body Techniques: the Transformation Technique, which even a Genin could perform.

Unlike the Clone Technique, the Transformation Technique could genuinely disguise the user as someone else, changing their height, weight, appearance, and voice. It wasn't merely the creation of a chakra illusion.

At its core, it was a temporary transformation of matter through chakra.

But at its most basic level, the Transformation Technique only created something that had form but no substance.

As a ninja's abilities improved, the Transformation Technique could develop into several advanced applications.

Rather than say that his Transformation Technique had become strange because he'd once shared abilities with Under One Person Duyang, it was more accurate to say that, due to the rules of this world, Triple Inverse Life had become an exceptionally unusual ninjutsu. The changes it could produce far exceeded the scope of any Transformation Technique.

Using the Transformation Technique itself was what activated Triple Inverse Life.

The things he transformed into weren't just visual fabrications. They were real.

In theory, he could use the Transformation Technique to become anything real, but so far, he could only transform into real things he had obtained through sharing with others.

Perhaps this was the loophole his cheat had found in the rules of the Naruto world.

A way for him to gain the abilities of people from other worlds without breaking the rules of this one.

Du Yang wasn't surprised. The Three Body Techniques might look basic, but in reality, they were prerequisites for ninjutsu involving release, transformation, and illusion.

The abilities Du Yang had gained through sharing fell into those three categories.

Uchiha Itachi couldn't understand it at all. He had no idea what had happened.

When his Shuriken touched Du Yang's body, they seemed to pass through highly compressed, controlled smoke without any resistance.

Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan contracted sharply, and astonishment flashed across his eyes once more.

His ocular power could see through most illusion-type ninjutsu.

But at that moment, he clearly saw that his opponent's body structure had fundamentally changed for an instant, temporarily "vaporizing" from flesh and blood.

This wasn't an illusion. It was clearly a ninjutsu unlike anything he'd ever seen.

Triple Inverse Life's first stage filled the body with true qi and transformed the skin and flesh into qi, granting the power of a dragon and a tiger.

The second stage transformed the muscles, bones, and internal organs into qi, creating an indestructible body. Most members of the Sanyi Sect were at this level.

The third stage required transforming the entire body into Primordial Qi. This was the technique Du Yang was now using.

The Sanyi Sect's central philosophy was "Follow the natural order and remain mortal; defy it and become an immortal." It was a method that cultivated both body and spirit. Unlike the orthodox methods of other Daoist sects, it began directly with the third stage, "refining spirit into emptiness," emphasizing the realization of "being" within "emptiness" and building a system from nothing.

Transforming into Primordial Qi inherently involved change.

Du Yang smiled. "Surprised, Itachi? The ocular power of the Mangekyō Sharingan is indeed unrivaled. But can you see through the changes of this 'Primordial Qi'?"

"Absurd."

Itachi's gaze turned cold as he formed Hand Seals.

"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

A massive fire dragon roared forth, its scorching heat powerful enough to melt rock.

Du Yang formed Hand Seals again, and a layer of pure, flowing white light seemed to cover his body.

He didn't dodge or retreat. Instead, he charged straight at the fire dragon.

The dragon slammed into him, but the enormous mass of fire-style chakra was rapidly broken down and absorbed by the "white light" covering his body, becoming purer energy that replenished him.

Primordial Qi could take in all things to nourish itself, plundering the life force of the world to replenish its own.

He broke through the flames, his speed surging as he closed in on Itachi in an instant.

He threw a punch, plain and unadorned.

Itachi raised his blade to block.

"Boom!"

Fist and blade collided, unleashing a deep, rumbling blast of energy.

The chakra coating the short blade was being violently eroded. Itachi's arm went numb, forcing him to retreat.

Shock filled his eyes. What kind of ninjutsu was this? It was extraordinary.

For the moment, neither physical attacks nor ninjutsu seemed able to do anything to Du Yang.

"Tsukuyomi."

Itachi didn't hesitate any longer. He activated the ocular technique housed within his Mangekyō Sharingan.

A blood-red space descended.

The world seemed to plunge into a realm of blood and darkness, where time and perception were distorted.

For a moment, Du Yang felt as if he were about to be trapped inside it.

But just then—

"Crack..."

The sound of shattering glass rang out on the level of consciousness. Tsukuyomi's space shook violently, then collapsed with a crash.

Yet Du Yang's will seemed to grow purer and more concentrated in his Inverse Life state, like immortal fine gold. And with four people's abilities shared, his mental strength had already become extraordinarily powerful.

Though he couldn't break free at once, he didn't collapse instantly like everyone else.

"Even Tsukuyomi can't do anything to him?"

Itachi's heart was rocked by a storm of shock.

After his opponent used that technique, even the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan's ocular techniques couldn't seem to affect him.

He knew every ninjutsu had weaknesses, and that there had to be a way to counter it.

But for the moment, even with his ocular power, he couldn't find a flaw.