Around Sōkyū Hatake's body, space began to distort ever so slightly! Like invisible pebbles dropped into a still lake, ripples spread silently, interweaving and merging.
"From now on, I won't hold back anymore."
His voice sounded as though it came from somewhere far away, carrying an ethereal echo that did not belong to the mortal world.
"Let me show you what it means! The true form of the Thunder God."
His body slowly rose! He was not flying; the space beneath his feet was lifting him of its own accord. He hovered about ten meters above the ground, looking down at Ōtsutsuki Isshiki below, like a true deity gazing down upon its subjects.
Around him, those transparent spatial ripples began to rotate and interweave in an extremely complex pattern, gradually forming the immense phantom of a crown made of distorted space above his head.
His hands hung naturally at his sides, almost invisible threads of lightning as fine as hair dancing at his fingertips! Yet every thread contained enough power to tear through dimensional barriers.
"Are you ready?" Sōkyū Hatake's voice held a calmness like the pronouncement of a verdict. "The real battle starts now."
At that moment, Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's expression finally changed ever so slightly! It was an expression that mingled wonder, wariness, and... a trace of undisguisable excitement.
"You really... haven't disappointed me," he said softly, then abruptly raised his head. "Come on! Let me see just how long your divine form can last!"
A torrent of purple energy erupted from his body once more as he charged upward at Sōkyū Hatake, who hovered in the air!
The two figures clashed fiercely above the desert!
Every collision sent a ring of energy shock waves spreading outward, plowing through the already shattered sands below once again.
Purple root tendrils