Uchiha Yato took a deep breath and focused.
Through the Black Rods of the Outer Path, he channeled his spiritual pressure into Sakibe Kyōga's corpse.
The fleeing, dispersing reishi abruptly froze, like cars stopping at a traffic light, then fell back into order.
The 12th Division had developed all manner of Hōgyoku that produced different effects when supplied with spiritual pressure, but the young captain knew perfectly well that the precision with which the Black Rods of the Six Paths controlled a corpse far exceeded any Hōgyoku.
Manipulating every nerve, controlling every inch of flesh, contracting and extending every tendon—the Black Rods of the Outer Path achieved [complete control] on a microscopic level!
It was as though a piece of Uchiha Yato had been cut off and stuffed into Sakibe Kyōga's corpse.
At a certain moment, Sakibe Kyōga's eyes slowly opened.
The murky brown eyes in their sockets were gone, replaced by a pair of cold, deep-purple Rinnegan!
The handsome young captain was reflected in the depths of those Rinnegan.
"So this is what I look like to other people—hmm, this appearance alone does the Uchiha Clan name justice."
As Yato studied his original body from this fresh perspective, he controlled the corpse and made it stand amid the sea of flames.
Sakibe Kyōga's corpse threw punch after punch, darting about and leaping.
After a beautiful spinning kick, the corpse suddenly stopped and opened its mouth. In the old man's deep, rough voice, it softly chanted at an unhurried pace, "O sovereign! Mask of flesh and blood, all creation, fluttering wings, you who bear the name of man! Scorching heat and strife, surge southward across the sea, march onward—Hadō Thirty-One: Red Flame Cannon!"
Boom!
A crimson fireball plunged into the sea of flames, unleashing a searing tornado that made the