Naruto and Sasuke's Great Battle, Isshiki

[Sukunahikona]

Otsutsuki Isshiki's golden, wheel-patterned right eye flared, instantly shrinking the Big Ball Rasengan in Naruto's hands.

"Damn it!"

Naruto's eyes widened, flickering with fury and frustration as his chest heaved violently.

Otsutsuki Isshiki rose and kicked toward Naruto, his speed like lightning, leaving Naruto with no way to dodge.

[Flying Thunder God Technique]

Naruto's body vanished in an instant. Isshiki's kick struck empty air, instantly unleashing a terrifying air cannon that exploded against a distant rock formation.

The ten-meter-tall boulder was reduced to countless pebbles on the spot.

Finally, Naruto's body reappeared atop a massive black cube.

At that moment, Otsutsuki Isshiki followed, confronting Naruto and suppressing him with taijutsu and Black Receivers.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The two figures clashed at high speed.

Now that Naruto had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, he used it to keep Otsutsuki Isshiki entangled, narrowly dodging Isshiki's lethal blows at every critical moment.

Meanwhile, Second Pillar launched sneak attacks from the other side.

Facing Isshiki's overwhelming power, the two managed to hold their own against him for another half hour.

"If this keeps up, it's going to be bad! Even with space-time ninjutsu to dodge fatal attacks, if this drags on, he'll kill us sooner or later. Isn't Boruto ready yet?"

Naruto, forced into a half-crouch on the ground, called out to Second Pillar.

"Not yet. A cross-dimensional summoning requires Chen Tian to sense Boruto's chakra first. A technique like this is too difficult to pull off!"

Second Pillar's expression was grim.

"Still chatting?"

"Second Pillar, your Rinnegan is a ticking time bomb. Let me destroy it for you!"

As Otsutsuki Isshiki's voice rang out, Second Pillar immediately sensed danger.

But before he could react, a ten-centimeter-long Black Receiver suddenly materialized and plunged into Second Pillar's Rinnegan.

"Ah!"

Second Pillar let out a pained cry, clutching his ruined eye in agony as his right Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan flared to life.

[Amaterasu]

Black flames erupted over Otsutsuki Isshiki's body.

"You're next, Hokage!"

Otsutsuki Isshiki said calmly, absorbing the Amaterasu flames burning on him.

[Daikokuten]

Several fifty-meter-tall black cubes descended from the sky, crashing toward Naruto and Second Pillar.

At the very last second, both men dodged the black cubes.

Rumble!

The ground groaned with deafening roars, the immense force shaking the earth like an earthquake.

"Bang!"

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Countless figures collided rapidly in the sky.

Having lost his Rinnegan, Second Pillar's power plummeted, leaving him with little strength left to fight.

Second Pillar looked up with a bitter smile, his right Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan watching as Naruto was pummeled by Isshiki in the sky.

"I never expected to lose the Rinnegan in the end. But, it's fine! My combat capability hasn't dropped as much as I feared."

Recalling that he had already successfully mastered the Rinnegan's ninjutsu, Second Pillar prepared to recover a bit of chakra before rushing back to assist Naruto.

"Ah!"

Naruto was kicked in the stomach by Isshiki, coughing up a mouthful of blood as the Rasengan in his hand shrunk once again.

"This farce ends here!"

Otsutsuki Isshiki said indifferently, preparing to take the Black Receiver in his hand and plunge it into Naruto's body.

Suddenly, Naruto and Sasuke swapped positions in an instant.

Second Pillar, his entire body crackling with lightning, drove his sword directly into Otsutsuki Isshiki's stomach.

"Impossible. Your Rinnegan is gone. How can you still use space-time ninjutsu?"

Otsutsuki Isshiki looked at the heavily wounded Second Pillar with an expression of disbelief.

"Heh, it's simple!"

"I've mastered the space-time ninjutsu of the Rinnegan."

Second Pillar sneered.

"I see!"

As the words fell, the golden, wheel-patterned eye on the right side of Otsutsuki Isshiki's face flared with golden light.

Five or six Black Receivers descended from the sky, piercing directly into Second Pillar's body.

"Urgh!"

Second Pillar furrowed his brows fiercely and gritted his teeth. Even for him, the pain of having his body impaled by the Black Receivers was enough to force a cry of agony from his lips.

"It seems that destroying the Rinnegan alone is not enough. I must kill you to resolve everything once and for all."

Otsutsuki Isshiki's gaze was calm and peaceful, devoid of the slightest ripple, as if everything remained within his control. He did not hold Second Pillar in any regard at all.

The wound where Sasuke had stabbed him began to heal rapidly.

Just as Otsutsuki Isshiki intended to deliver the killing blow to Second Pillar, a terrifying surge of chakra suddenly drew his attention.

Seeing that victory was slipping away, Naruto and the Nine-Tails decided in the mental space to unleash their final trump card, activating a brand-new form at the cost of their lives—the "Baryon Mode."

Naruto's appearance shifted into a fusion of "Nine-Tails and Sage Mode." This form, named for the principle of solar nuclear fusion, manifested with nine golden fox tails appearing behind him, his body enveloped in crimson chakra, and his hair spiking upward to form two horn-like shapes, accompanied by eye markings resembling those of the Nine-Tails.

[Daikokuten]

Several fifty-meter-tall black cubic blocks plummeted from the sky, crashing toward Naruto in his Baryon Mode.

"What!"

Second Pillar stared at Naruto's new form in shock.

At this moment, Naruto did not even dodge; he simply used the tails behind him to prop up the black cubes.

"Interesting!"

A hint of seriousness finally entered Otsutsuki Isshiki's eyes.

Naruto used his tails to hurl the massive black cubes back toward Otsutsuki Isshiki, but they were shrunk before they could even get close to him.

The golden eye on Otsutsuki Isshiki's right side flared once more. Countless two-meter-long Black Receivers launched an assault on Naruto, but he deflected them all with ease.

"Bang!"

"Clang!"

Naruto casually grabbed a Black Receiver and swiftly shattered the others flying toward him, blocking all attacks in the blink of an eye. The broken Black Receivers on the ground began to slowly vanish.

"Come on, partner!"

Naruto held one arm behind his back and gestured toward Otsutsuki Isshiki with the other, his hand moving with the light, agile grace of a dancing butterfly.

"Are you looking down on me?"

Seeing the provocative gesture, Otsutsuki Isshiki's expression darkened, and he began to launch an active assault against Naruto.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Otsutsuki Isshiki's body was sent flying back with even greater speed than before. He slammed heavily into the ground several times before finally coming to a slow stop.

Otsutsuki Isshiki stood up abruptly, drawing a sharp breath as an expression of utter astonishment crossed his face.

"Naruto's power... it is far greater than it has ever been."

Second Pillar, looking somewhat disheveled, pulled the Black Receivers from his body. Blood flowed from five wounds in his chest and stomach, though before long, these injuries began to slowly knit together.