Elsewhere, after flying until he could no longer sense Naruto's presence at all, Isshiki finally opened a swirling spatial portal.
When he stepped out of the portal, his body had returned to its normal size.
"Failure… but not completely without gain."
Walking over to his 'throne', Isshiki reached up and touched the corner of his mouth.
Naruto's punch had genuinely hurt him.
Unlike the Fourth Raikage, who relied on Chakra to enhance his strength, Isshiki could clearly feel that the punch he had taken was pure physical brute force.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been unable to sense any chakra at all.
"Hmm? What's this…"
Just as he raised his hand, his eyes, belonging to the Otsutsuki Clan, perceived something ordinary people couldn't see.
It was the Starfield Mark that had been imprinted on him at some unknown time.
'Not good!'
Though unclear what this mark did, Isshiki instinctively sensed danger.
He first tried to use the Otsutsuki Clan's mastery over Chakra to erase the mark.
But it was useless.
"Damn it, this body isn't good enough…"
Although Jigen's body was in [State Two] of the Kama, it still had an essential difference from a genuine Otsutsuki body.
Therefore, let alone the enhanced Amenotorifune, he probably couldn't even remove a Flying Thunder God mark in his current state.
In that case—
A trace of ruthlessness flashed in Isshiki's eyes. Forming his left hand into a blade, he unhesitatingly sliced his right arm off at the shoulder.
Holding the severed arm, he opened a spatial portal to an unknown location, tossed the arm inside, and headed toward the experimental base without looking back.
'This place was likely already compromised… that guy might show up any moment.'
Based on Isshiki's current assessment of Naruto's strength, he shouldn't have needed to take such extreme measures, like a lizard shedding its tail.
From what he had personally sensed, the Naruto who appeared earlier was merely somewhat stronger in physical strength.
The actual power displayed might even be inferior to Kaguya.
But the pathetic truth was that, without resurrecting, fighting with Jigen's body might make him even weaker.
To ensure absolute safety, the cautious Isshiki chose to temporarily avoid direct confrontation.
After all, from what he could see, once he completed his resurrection, Naruto would be of no concern.
With this in mind, he pushed open the laboratory door.
Hearing the door open, Amado, who had been conducting experiments, immediately rushed out alertly.
Attached to his elbow was a tuning fork-like device… a [Scientific Ninja Tool] he had developed. Though still in the experimental stage, it could already emit powerful sonic waves and reflect some Ninjutsu.
Sanzu Amado was not a Ninja, but he had undergone considerable body modifications to allow him to utilize Chakra for experiments and self-defense.
Cautiously holding up the tuning fork as he emerged, he saw Isshiki.
"Jigen-sama? You are…?"
Amado was greatly surprised.
On one hand, given Jigen-sama's habits, he generally did not frequently visit the laboratory this often in a short period.
On the other hand, Amado was startled by Isshiki's current appearance.
This was the first time he had seen Isshiki enter Kama's State Two, and with the severed arm…
With his limited imagination, it was difficult to deduce what kind of opponent could have driven this lord to such a state of dishevelment.
After all, in his view, the Ninjas he knew were on an entirely different level from this lord.
"Come. Take your experimental data and come with me."
Isshiki's words were concise, tinged with more urgency than before.
Though faint, Amado keenly detected it.
"But the test subjects…"
Data was easy to take away, but how could he take away the living test subjects?
And out of selfish reasons, Amado was actually quite reluctant to abandon those test subjects.
They were not only crucial to Jigen's resurrection plan but also to his own 'clone cultivation' plan.
Yes.
Under Isshiki's very nose, Amado, using the funds and test subjects Isshiki provided, was simultaneously attempting to help him cultivate a suitable 'vessel' while also experimenting to clone his own daughter.
He was indeed a gambler betting against fate, but he wouldn't put all his chips on just one person.
Seeing Amado hesitate, a flicker of displeasure crossed Isshiki's eyes, along with a faint murderous intent.
'This guy, still dwelling on his own selfish schemes at a time like this.'
How could his little tricks ever fool Isshiki? He had merely turned a blind eye to them.
This was also to ensure Amado would serve him diligently.
But now was clearly not the time for him to continue causing trouble.
With this in mind, Isshiki prepared to forcefully take him away… after all, Amado couldn't openly oppose him.
If the guy dared to secretly obstruct the cultivation of the 'vessel' later, he wouldn't hesitate to find another collaborator.
However, just as Isshiki raised his hand to knock him unconscious, a spatial rift, all too familiar to Isshiki, suddenly opened in the laboratory.
A door composed of countless overlapping small black squares, completely different from his own…
Yomotsu Hirasaka!
It was that Naruto who had seized Kaguya's power!
Without waiting for Naruto to emerge from Yomotsu Hirasaka, Isshiki decisively reached out and grabbed Amado by the neck, then, amid the latter's startled cry, leaped directly into another swirling portal.
The two quickly landed in a different space. Isshiki immediately closed the swirling portal behind him.
This was a different space he used to confine another Ten-Tails, an existence similar to Amenominaka.
"Damn it, that guy is fast."
'It seemed the severed arm hadn't managed to delay him at all.'
Isshiki spat hatefully, then glared at the still-confused Amado lying on the ground.
It was this guy's dawdling that caused this. Now they couldn't even bring the experimental data.
"Jigen-sama… this… where is this? What happened?"
Isshiki, now agitated and irritated, instinctively found Amado's voice annoying.
If he didn't still need the man's services, he might have just killed him.
"That's none of your concern. You'll stay here for a while. I'll find a way to get experimental equipment in here for you later."
Waving his remaining left hand, Isshiki said impatiently.
But as he finished, he saw Amado staring at him with a strange look, pointing at his… body?
"Jigen-sama… that mark…"
'Huh!?'
Hearing 'mark', Isshiki immediately followed the direction of Amado's finger in astonishment.
Sure enough, peeking through the tear in his clothes on the side of his chest and abdomen, there were now densely packed over a dozen marks identical to the one he had just removed.
At that moment, even Isshiki felt his scalp tingle.
'When had it happened?'
'How had that guy planted these marks on him?'
'We had only been in contact once…'
But there was no time to continue thinking.
Silently, a large hand landed on his shoulder.
Simultaneously, that haunting voice sounded again.
"Nowhere left to hide now, huh…"
Bam!
In an instant, Isshiki erupting speed far exceeding this body's limits, punching Naruto square in the face.
The force was so great that the skin on the arm of this body tore from excessive muscle strain.
Yet the effect of this punch was completely different from what he had imagined.
It was like an infant punching a giant's toe… utterly incapable of moving the opponent one bit.
"Not bad, pretty fast, just lacking a bit in power."
Naruto, having taken the punch directly to the face without any injury, instead showed a smile that made Isshiki's blood run cold.
"You had quite a fun time playing with my clone earlier… now it's my turn, right?"
"Consider it post-meal exercise…"
As he spoke, a terrifying aura erupted from him, instantly shattering the ground, dispersing the clouds, and knocking out the bystander Amado.
"Don't come any closer!"
The sheer force of the wind blasted Isshiki's face, eliciting a scream that could only be described as 'terror'.
This 'loss of composure' wasn't because of Naruto's displayed Conqueror's Haki, as such pressure had less effect on the Otsutsuki Clan.
What truly filled Isshiki with fear and unease from the inside out was the 'scent' emanating from Naruto's main body.
It was that scent, countless times denser than before, like that of a natural enemy.
Just as creatures in nature instinctively fear higher-level predators and instinctively flee, so too did Isshiki, upon this first true close-quarters contact with Naruto, perceive a scent from him that could only be described as an 'Otsutsuki Natural Enemy'.
Just as the Otsutsuki Clan feeds on the energy of planets, the feeling Naruto now gave Isshiki was that of a monster that specifically preyed on Otsutsuki.