Ōtsutsuki Isshiki grew taller, his shoulders broadened, his spine lengthened, and his limbs became longer and more powerful.
The thin face that had originally belonged to the monk Jigen was slowly transforming! His cheekbones rose, his eye sockets deepened, and a vertical crease like a fissure emerged at the center of his forehead, with a faint purple light swirling within it.
He was undergoing "Ascension."
From the form of his human vessel, Jigen, he was returning to the true Ōtsutsuki Isshiki! To the original form he had possessed when he descended upon this planet alongside Kaguya a thousand years ago!
"Sōkyū Hatake..." His voice had changed completely, like two voices of different frequencies layered together, creating an eerie, echoing resonance. "I should thank you. Your strength has finally given me a reason... to undo this last shackle."
In his Black Eye, purple light blazed as dazzlingly as two purple suns!
"Now! Let me show you what the true... Ōtsutsuki Isshiki is!"
The instant his words fell, his body vanished from the spot.
It was not speed, nor was it the Body Flicker Technique! It was true disappearance. As though he had transcended the constraints of the material world and entered some higher state of existence!
The next instant, Sōkyū Hatake felt a force like the explosion of the universe slam into his chest!
Bam!!!!
His body flew backward like a baseball struck with full force! He gouged a deep furrow hundreds of meters long through the sand, sending countless grains of sand and stones flying to either side as though an artillery shell had plowed through them!
By the time he finally steadied himself, the clothing over his chest had shattered, revealing a distinct fist imprint glowing purple beneath it. The skin surrounding the imprint was slightly sunken, as though