"My horn... how dare you... how dare you destroy my horn!!!" Urashiki's voice became sharp and twisted with anger.
This pair of horns was not only a symbol of the Crane Form but also a symbol of his noble identity as Otsutsuki Urashiki!
The breaking of the horn was even more unbearable to him than the wound on his chest.
"You dirty lower creature! I'll tear you to pieces!!" Urashiki completely lost his mind. He raised his left hand, the black Yin-Yang Release Chakra in his palm madly gushed out, instantly condensing and shaping into a pitch-black Chakra Harpoon, about two meters long, with three sharp prongs at the front!
"Just die!!" Urashiki aimed the harpoon at Menma and viciously threw it!
The black harpoon tore through the air, emitting a piteous howl, its speed so fast it left only a black afterimage. Where it passed, even light seemed to be swallowed.
Menma, facing this anger-fueled strike, did not dodge.
He formed a virtual grip with his right hand, also condensing and shaping a Chakra Rod in his palm.
On the rod's body, a restrained, deep Yin-Yang Release aura faintly emanated.
He watched the incoming harpoon, flicked his wrist, and the Chakra Rod precisely pointed at the central shaft of the black harpoon.
Ding—!
A crisp sound rang out.
The black harpoon's forward momentum abruptly stopped, steadily resisted by the Chakra Rod.
Two similar natures of Yin-Yang Release power fiercely collided, emitting a 'zzzz' sound, then exploding into a chaotic mess of Chakra energy turbulence.
Swish!
The black harpoon was flicked high into the air, shooting diagonally towards the sky, finally disappearing into the clouds.
And the Chakra Rod was still steadily held in Menma's hand.
Seeing this, Urashiki was even more furious.
He held back no longer. He raised his right hand, palm aimed at Menma. The Golden Rinnegan on his forehead suddenly lit up with a dazzling light!
Vast purple Chakra, like water from a breached dam, gushed from his palm, rapidly condensing and compressing in the air, transforming into several irregularly shaped purple Chakra light spheres, their edges constantly twisting and changing.
These light spheres slowly rotated around Urashiki's palm, containing extremely unstable Chakra energy within, as if they could explode at any moment.
"Taste this! Ant!" Urashiki grinned viciously, fiercely pushing his right hand forward!
Swish swish swish—!
Several purple Chakra light spheres, dragging long, pale purple tails, howled towards Menma from different angles, on different trajectories!
They did not fly in straight lines but traced strange arcs in the air, some even suddenly accelerating or changing direction, sealing off all of Menma's possible evasion space.
Menma still stood in place, merely casually throwing the dark red Chakra Rod in his hand forward.
The moment the Chakra Rod left his hand, it seemed to possess spirit, splitting into two in the air, two into four, four into eight...
In the blink of an eye, it transformed into dozens of identical Chakra Rods, like a swarm of bees, meeting those approaching purple light spheres.
Boom boom boom boom—!!
The Chakra Rods and the purple light spheres violently collided in the air, erupting in a series of deafening explosions!
Purple and black lights intertwined and annihilated, forming rolling clouds of smoke, instantly enveloping half the sky, also temporarily swallowing the figures of Menma and Urashiki.
However, before the smoke of the explosions had even cleared, several black streams of light, like arrows loosed from a bow, pierced through the thick smoke, shooting towards Urashiki with even greater speed!
They were the Chakra Rods differentiated by Menma. After dispersing the purple light spheres, their momentum undiminished, they accelerated using the explosion's impact force!
Urashiki's face, covered in black horizontal stripes, suddenly changed.
He hadn't expected the opponent not only to easily deflect his attack but also to counterattack, and that the speed of these Chakra Rods far exceeded his expectations.
In haste, he suddenly pushed both hands forward, the Golden Rinnegan on his forehead glaring!
"Shinra Tensei!"
An irresistible, powerful repulsive force, with Urashiki as the center, erupted violently!
The air seemed compressed, violently pushing in all directions!
The few Chakra Rods shooting towards him bore the brunt, being bounced back by the powerful repulsive force.
The repulsive force continued to spread, forcefully pushing away the surrounding smoke, dust, gravel, and even some lighter debris from the ruins below, clearing a clean area.
Urashiki panted slightly. Continuously using powerful moves, even in Crane Form, was an enormous drain on him.
But as he looked at the smoke gradually clearing, and Menma still floating in the air, unhurried and at ease, the fury and a kind of faint unease in his heart grew stronger.
'How much Chakra... did this guy have?!'
Urashiki could feel that from the start of the battle until now, the opponent's aura had barely diminished at all. That dark red Chakra Cloak remained as solid, surging, and bottomless as ever.
This was completely against all logic!
Even for an Otsutsuki, under such high-intensity confrontation, Chakra would show obvious fluctuations.
'Could it be... that the amount of Chakra he had devoured was even greater than I imagined?'
What Urashiki didn't know was that what was sealed inside Menma's body was not merely the Nine-Tails, but the Dark Nine-Tails… which had devoured the Chakra of the other eight Tailed Beasts in the [Limited Tsukuyomi World], and after coming to this world, had successively devoured two Juvenile Ten-Tails!
Although the current Dark Nine-Tails was not a complete God Tree Ten-Tails, its Chakra volume had long since surpassed the combined total of all the other Tailed Beasts, reaching a terrifying amount close to that of the God Tree.
And as the Dark Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki, Menma in this form had also obtained power similar to that of the Sage of Six Paths, the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki from a thousand years ago!
To distinguish it, Menma had named this state… [Dark Six Paths Chakra Mode]!
In this mode, his total Chakra volume, recovery rate, and precise control over Chakra all reached an unimaginable, terrifying level.
Against Jigen, who was not in his complete form and was limited by his vessel, or Urashiki, an Otsutsuki warrior who needed to devour his own origin to exert his full power, Menma held an overwhelming advantage in terms of Chakra 'quantity' and 'endurance'.
"Damn it... damn it!!" Urashiki looked at Menma's seemingly eternally at-ease posture, and his last shred of sanity was finally devoured by anger and fear at his inability to control the situation.
He couldn't accept that the Crane Form he had paid such a heavy price to obtain was still unable to suppress this 'lower creature'!
His dignity as an Otsutsuki warrior was being ruthlessly trampled by such a 'native'!
"You forced me to do this!!" Urashiki let out a hoarse roar to the sky. The light in the Golden Rinnegan on his forehead suddenly surged.
He raised his hands high, palms facing each other. The remaining Chakra within his body, like water from a breached dam, madly gushed out!
"Amenosubaruboshinomikoto: Ryugu!!!"
With his hysterical shout, vast purple Chakra spurted out from between his palms, rapidly gathering and shaping above his head!
That vast Chakra rolled and condensed, first forming an irregular purple energy mass. Then, the energy mass rapidly elongated and deformed. Clear scale patterns appeared on its surface. Its head became ferocious, and on its sides, purple light wings like streamers extended...
Within a few short seconds, a behemoth over a kilometer in length, composed entirely of deep purple-black Chakra, resembling a deep-sea oarfish, coiled into existence above the arena!
It opened its giant mouth, inside which was an even deeper darkness, as if connected to a black hole that could devour everything.
Its massive body meandered, each swing bringing terrifying air currents, scattering the already chaotic ruins below once again.
Just by existing here, the pressure it emitted made space itself stagnate!
In the distance, Jigen, who had already retreated a considerable distance, watched Urashiki unleash this ultimate move, a hint of faint anticipation also flickered in his cold gaze.
The power of this move, even in Isshiki's prime, required serious attention.
'Could this guy withstand it?'
"What... what is that monster?!" Boruto stared at the purple-black giant oarfish in the sky that nearly blotted out the sun, his face pale, his voice trembling.
Just looking at it from afar, the terrifying Chakra aura emanating from the oarfish made it hard for him to breathe, his heart as if tightly gripped by an invisible hand.
"Retreat! Quick! Get out of here! As far away as possible!" Jiraiya's expression drastically changed, and he almost shouted.
He had experienced the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars, and had seen the terror of a Tailed Beast Bomb, but this giant oarfish composed of pure Chakra before him gave him an unprecedented sense of crisis.
This was absolutely not a technique they could safely watch from this distance!
Adult Sasuke said nothing, his Rinnegan fixedly staring at the dark purple light constantly condensing and compressing deep within the oarfish's mouth.
He could feel that a mass of Chakra energy, enough to wipe the entire Konoha Village off the map, was rapidly gathering there!
This couldn't help but remind him of the super-large Tailed Beast Bomb fired by the Ten-Tails during the Fourth Great Ninja War!
He grabbed the back collar of Boruto, who was still somewhat stunned, and said urgently to Jiraiya: "Go!"
The two hesitated no longer, their figures transforming into two afterimages, racing at maximum speed in the direction opposite the arena, that is, towards the area further behind the Hokage Rock!
They had to get out of the core range of the explosion as quickly as possible!
Meanwhile, in the stand area on the east side of the arena, covered by towering trees, Yukimi, Yusuke, and Neji simultaneously heard Menma's voice in their minds.
It was an order transmitted directly through the [Chakra Network] built on the basis of Hikari's [Engraved Tsukuyomi].
"Immediately retreat, full speed, and rendezvous at the safe point behind the Hokage Rock."
Yukimi's body shook slightly. Without a moment's hesitation, she immediately shouted to Yusuke and Neji beside her: "Quick retreat! Use maximum speed!"
Yusuke looked up at the suffocating purple-black oarfish in the sky, his expression also grave.
Neji had already activated his Byakugan, clearly 'seeing' the clump of dark purple Chakra Ball constantly expanding, emitting destructive fluctuations inside the oarfish's mouth. Cold sweat seeped from his forehead.
Yukimi took one last look at the three on high alert opposite, Kakashi, Guy, and Asuma, and shouted in a clear but urgent voice: "Kakashi! If you don't want to be blasted to smithereens, get out of here now! This place is about to be gone!"
With that, she, Yusuke, and Neji no longer lingered. Each using their fastest Body Flicker Techniques, transforming into three afterimages, disappearing behind the ruined stands in a few bounds.
Kakashi looked up slightly, his eyes fixedly staring at the oarfish in the sky. His Sharingan also sensed the terrifying Chakra, comparable to a Tailed Beast Bomb, gathering.
He then looked at the direction Yukimi and the other two had fled without hesitation. The feeling of foreboding in his heart reached its peak.
"Guy! Asuma! Retreat!" He made an immediate decision, shouting sharply.
Guy's face was unprecedentedly serious. He nodded.
Asuma gritted his teeth and also turned to follow.
The three also erupted with their maximum speed, rushing away from the arena.