I am Invincible

Ginkaku stood in the arena, energy flowing through his body like lava. Two locks of hair on his forehead stuck up like fox ears.

All his injuries had healed. Red Light gleamed from his body as the exoskeleton on his skin trembled, radiating wave after wave of powerful energy.

As he silently recited an incantation, Shin'yu suddenly felt the Purifying Rope around his left arm rapidly heating up. He immediately let go, and the rope wriggled like a long snake before returning to Ginkaku's hand on its own.

"There's a trick like that?" Shin'yu's expression turned grave as he stared at Ginkaku in this state.

Ginkaku opened his mouth, and the Purifying Rope, Seven Star Sword, and the floating Kotodama all shrank and were sucked into his mouth.

"I didn't expect you to force out my trump card!" Ginkaku's rough voice came from behind the skull mask.

"Amaterasu!" Seizing the opportunity, Uchiha Hikari unleashed the Amaterasu she had been preparing for so long.

A mass of black fire appeared on Ginkaku's back in the blink of an eye. But with a flash of Red Light, Ginkaku vanished from the Original Spot. Amaterasu missed him and unexpectedly landed on Shin'yu instead.

Black Flames wrapped around him, making Shin'yu frown. Before he could think further, a fierce gale rose before his eyes. Ginkaku had already charged at him with a raised fist.

"So fast!" Shin'yu's gaze sharpened as Chakra naturally surged into his legs.

The crimson fist smashed down with brutal force, seeming to drain the air itself. Shin'yu's body was torn apart along with it, but Ginkaku let out a surprised sound.

"This feeling... isn't right! An afterimage!"

He abruptly looked up to see Shin'yu already leaping through the air above his head.

Red Light burst from Ginkaku's back, and a long red tail formed entirely from Tailed Beast Power emerged, whipping toward Shin'yu with a howl.

Unable to gain leverage in midair, Shin'yu clasped his hands together. The black-clad figure flickered rapidly and split into two out of thin air, narrowly avoiding the tail.

"Phantom Body Flicker Technique!"

The two Shin'yus landed at the same time. Chakra Blades wrapped in Pitch Black flames slashed down vertically. Ginkaku roared, and his red fist crashed into Shin'yu's slash with the force of thunder!

A deafening boom erupted, and the impact kicked up a violent gale. Visible shockwaves spread in every direction.

After entering this mode, Ginkaku's attacks became unpredictable. They were no longer simple Taijutsu attacks; his overwhelmingly powerful strikes were mixed with pure Nine-Tails Chakra. With six tails appearing and vanishing unpredictably, relying only on the Gate of Pain along with Uchiha Style Swordsmanship was clearly nowhere near enough to fight him.

"Fifth Gate of Limit, Open!!!"

Shin'yu gave a low shout. The blue energy around him grew even denser as air currents surged like a storm, tearing up the ground and sending fragments floating into the air. He had pushed himself to his current limit!

At this moment, a single step could carry him hundreds of meters in an instant, and In a Finger Snap, he could shatter stone and sever metal!

Using the Gate of Limit, he forcibly kept Ginkaku in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode occupied. Meanwhile, the Two Figures continued splitting—two became four, four became eight... After only a few exchanges, sixteen identical figures had completely surrounded Ginkaku.

Shin'yu did not rush to rewind and extinguish Amaterasu. He had sparred with Uchiha Hikari for five years and had been burned by Amaterasu more than ten times during that period. Through Mahoraga's adaptation, he had developed extremely high resistance.

Chakra Blades were certainly sharp, but against a monster like Ginkaku, whose Recovery ability was absurdly powerful, they were bound to fall short. Susanoo was somewhat slow and consumed too much Eye Power. If he truly wanted to hurt Ginkaku, he still had to rely on the Amaterasu burning on his body.

Just because Hikari could not hit Ginkaku did not mean he could not!

The many clones charged and pounced from every direction, blue energy carrying Black Flames as they raged and burned. In moments, patches of black fire had ignited across Ginkaku's body.

Ginkaku flew into a rage, constantly stripping away the Tailed Beast Cloak from his body to stop Amaterasu's flames. As the two fought, skeletal fragments fell all along the way. This method of sacrificing his tail to survive filled him with humiliation.

Surrounded and attacked by so many clones, even Ginkaku developed a headache. Though he used Mu's long tail to sweep through them, those clones did not disappear even when struck. Their figures only faded for an instant before attacking again.

"This can't go on! These damned flames are consuming too much Chakra!"

Ginkaku crossed his arms in front of himself. "Try This Great One's move!"

He leaped into the air, Red Light erupting from his entire body like a burning little sun. His six colored tails slammed into the ground at the same time!

"Boom!"

The ground instantly exploded, and surging airwaves swept wildly in all directions. Red energy roared like a mighty river, overturning everything and engulfing all of Shin'yu's clones in the blink of an eye!

When the dust settled, Ginkaku froze. All sixteen figures were standing in the Original Spot completely unharmed, as steady as bamboo rooted in stone, not having moved an inch.

Within the surging blue energy, sixteen pairs of blood-red eyes stared coldly at him.

"This... how is that possible?! Are they all massless afterimages? Then why is every attack so heavy?"

"My Body Flicker Technique has no physical form." Shin'yu's clones spoke in unison, holding their Chakra Blades level. Their movements were perfectly synchronized. "But at the same time, you could say that every clone has a physical form!"

"You must be tired of such a dull style of attack by now." Shin'yu smiled faintly as energy boiled around him, as though draping him in a dark blue-green cloak.

"Let's try something new. Tell me, can these clones use Susanoo?"

"What?" Ginkaku's mouth fell open, as though the question was difficult to answer.

"Fine, I'll answer for you." The corner of Shin'yu's mouth curled up. "The answer is: they can!"

Black Qi surged like waves as sixteen enormous skeletons manifested from the ground. Unlike the ribs and arms from before, Shin'yu had Opened Susanoo's first-stage form. Sixteen half-bodied skeletons seemed to crawl out of the abyss, forming an enormous encirclement.

The black skeletons roared in unison. Each had four arms, all covered in Black Flames!

Ginkaku's scalp tingled. He did not dare take the attacks head-on and transformed into a streak of Golden Light, weaving and darting through the battlefield.

Shin'yu stood inside Susanoo with his arms folded over his chest. Concealed by the Black Qi, Ginkaku could not see his face, nor could he see the tiny sparkling beads of sweat hanging from his brow.

The so-called Phantom Body Flicker Technique created afterimages through continuous high-speed movement, then used Illusion Technique to hide the traces left by those movements. Visually, it looked as though he had truly been surrounded by clones.

In reality, the True body only appeared at the instant it attacked.

At any given moment, Ginkaku was actually only suffering a single attack. But whenever he counterattacked, Shin'yu would use the Body Flicker Technique or Ame no Tokotachi to move back into one of the afterimages, creating the illusion that the clones could not be destroyed.

Though the move's effects were remarkable, its consumption was tremendous. It was manageable when he only had to maintain his own afterimages, but now he also had to account for Susanoo and maintain the Gate of Limit. The expenditure was on an entirely different level.

Once the Eight Gates Release Formation reached the Gate of Pain, the body would begin to suffer damage. It entered the dangerous zone of the Eight Gates Release Formation—the point where one had truly entered the Eight Gates Release Formation state.

Right now, not only was his Chakra being rapidly consumed, but he also had to endure the pain of his Muscles tearing apart at every moment. Every cell in his body ached faintly. This was Susanoo's side effect.

If not for Ame no Tokotachi, this dōjutsu, he would never dare play things this way.

"Boom! Boom! Boom—"

Countless fists descended like a violent storm. Amid a series of thunderous explosions, the ground continued to burst apart, and Ginkaku finally revealed an opening.

Though his movement was unbelievably swift, he could not hide under these nearly omnidirectional attacks. With a deafening boom, he was slapped into the ground like a red thumbtack.

To avoid remaining in contact with Amaterasu, Ginkaku immediately burrowed underground. While evading the attacks, he also rapidly searched for Shin'yu's True body.

"Damn it, why is this brat so terrifying? Where exactly is his True body?!" Ginkaku transformed into a loach as black fists continuously smashed into the ground toward him. "Right, I can use that move. Focus..."

Shin'yu, immersed in the attack, suddenly felt his eyelid twitch. A beam of Red Light burst through the ground and shot straight toward him inside Susanoo. It was so fast that he had no time to react before meeting a pair of eyes filled with violent desire.

"Found you!" Ginkaku appeared before him, his mouth stretching into an exaggerated grin.

With a wet "splat," Shin'yu's heart was pierced by a bone claw. Blood scattered through the sky as his body was hurled far away, and all sixteen towering half-bodied skeletons vanished instantly.

"Brat, This Great One's speed is unmatched!"

"Is that so? Whatever. Do as you please."

Shin'yu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and the Mangekyo in his right eye quietly turned.

A startling scene unfolded. His condition instantly returned to full. The bloodstains vanished, his flushed body became fair once more, and the Black Flames and blue energy around him were completely extinguished. Even the Eight Gates Release Formation was released along with them.

His aura was deep and steady as a mountain.

His blood energy was vigorous, restrained without being unleashed.

Ginkaku stared blankly at Shin'yu, who had recovered to peak condition in seconds, and was completely dumbfounded.

The current Shin'yu carried an imposing aura, calm and composed, practically no different from when he had first entered the battle.

Just a moment ago, he had clearly looked seriously injured and on the verge of death...

"What kind of damned Physical Body is this?!" Ginkaku lost his composure, furious and flustered. "Do you possess Tailed Beast Power too?!"

"I'm truly sorry..." Shin'yu calmly rolled his wrist, his tranquil eyes revealing a trace of indifference.

"I forgot to tell you... I am Invincible."