Shihōin Naraku's body seemed to have been nailed in midair in an instant.
Seventeen chakra black rods pierced his body in a dense cluster, skewering him like a specimen pinned to a display stand.
Yet strangely, not a single drop of blood flowed from those wounds.
Where the black rods pierced him, there were no torn muscles or broken bones, nor any flowing blood.
Elementalization!
As flames ignited across Naraku's body, the wounds rapidly filled in.
Naraku's expression did not change in the slightest at having his body pierced. He did not even furrow his brow.
Although the black rods densely pierced his body, his movements were not hindered at all.
He passed through the black rods that should have pinned him firmly in place as easily as stepping through a curtain of water. The holes in his body healed on their own in an extremely short time, and even his clothes were completely restored.
Ōtsutsuki Isshiki had not expected those black rods to actually kill Naraku.
He had only hoped to delay him for even an instant, buying himself room to breathe and readjust the distance between them.
But Naraku did not give him even that instant. The moment he passed through the forest of black rods, Kurikara's blade was already bearing down on Isshiki's chest.
"Where do you think you're running?"
Isshiki hastily dodged left. The blade grazed his shoulder, cutting a wound deep enough to expose bone through his tough skin.
Blood sprayed out, splattering the gray-white ground in a shocking swath of scarlet.
Isshiki grunted, pushing off once more to leap backward.
But before he could fully regain his footing, Naraku's second strike had already arrived.
This was a diagonal downward cut, the blade descending with the force of cleaving heaven and earth apart.
Isshiki rolled