Facing Urashiki's fully revealed Crane Form, and that overwhelming, evil, terrifying Chakra, a fervent interest, like discovering a treasure, also stirred on Menma's face.
He had never hidden his collecting hobby for powerful strength, unique Dojutsu, and even those 'eyes' that carried the essence of Otsutsuki power.
The last time he had accidentally entered that parallel Space-Time with a slightly different timeline through the Ryumyaku, the greatest gain wasn't just thwarting certain conspiracies, but the tangible 'spoils of war'.
Even after reincarnating, the Isshiki of that Space-Time ultimately hadn't escaped his hunt.
That Kokugan containing the Dojutsu of [Sukunahikona] and [Daikokuten], along with the pair of Rinnegan 'traded' from Nagato, had become some of the most precious parts of his private collection.
For that, he had compensated the Nagato of that Space-Time with a pair of Three-Tomoe Sharingan he could control.
Plus, the unique [Golden Tenseigan] he had evolved by absorbing the [Giant Tenseigan] from two Space-Times,
Menma's collection room had already become quite substantial.
But it was still far from enough.
At this moment, the brilliant Golden Rinnegan on Urashiki's forehead rekindled the intense desire for possession deep within Menma's heart.
Different from ordinary Byakugan or Rinnegan, this [Golden Rinnegan], formed by devouring his own organs and the Chakra mutation of the fish basket treasure, containing rules of power, held a unique appeal for him.
If he could analyze, even absorb, this power, it might bring unexpected benefits to his ongoing [Otsutsuki Research Project] and his own evolutionary path.
"Not a bad eye." Menma's greedy gaze fell on the Golden Rinnegan on Urashiki's forehead.
Menma's undisguised 'stare' enraged Urashiki. He let out a sharp shriek, like a crane's cry, spread his arms, which transformed into a pair of white wings, and gave a mighty flap!
Swish—!
The ear-piercing sonic boom had barely sounded when Urashiki's bizarre body had already vanished from its spot!
Leaving behind only a gradually dissipating white afterimage.
"So fast!" Boruto on the rooftop ruins below, his pupils suddenly widened.
In his dynamic vision, during the previous high-speed offense and defense between Menma, Urashiki, and Jigen, he could still barely see some blurry shadows and judge the general trend of movements.
But this dash by Urashiki after transforming into Crane Form, in his field of vision, Urashiki simply 'disappeared', and then the next instant, almost without any time interval, appeared before Menma!
This speed had completely exceeded the limits of his visual perception, even giving him the illusion that time had been stolen.
"Tch!" Jiraiya clicked his tongue, the wrinkles on his face deeply furrowed from extreme gravity.
With his eyesight and rich combat experience, he could only barely see an elongated white line cutting through the air, completely unable to see the specific details of Urashiki's movements.
This speed had already surpassed the Fourth Raikage, currently recognized as the fastest in the Ninja World!
The purple light of Adult Sasuke's Rinnegan flowed, firmly locking onto Urashiki's trajectory.
The Rinnegan granted him insight beyond ordinary people, but it could only capture a series of intermittent afterimages produced by high-speed movement.
However, facing this surprise attack that nearly exceeded the limits of vision, Menma in the air did not make any large evasive movements. Just a moment before the white figure reached him, he slightly turned his body, lowered his center of gravity, drew back his right arm, and then, like a cannonball, punched out!
On his fist, the dark red Tailed Beast's Chakra was highly compressed, forming an extremely condensed, blood-red fist gauntlet!
Boom!
The moment fist and palm collided!
A tremendous roar pierced the air, forming clearly visible rings of white air waves that violently spread outward, scraping off another layer of the already crumbling stand ruins below.
The arrogant smile on Urashiki's face, covered with black horizontal stripes and ferocious beyond words, instantly froze, replaced by a daze mixed with shock and disbelief.
With this palm strike, condensed with all the power of his Crane Form body, he was confident could split a continent!
Even if it couldn't kill the opponent in one blow, it could severely wound him!
Or at least force him back and seize the initiative.
Yet, this seemingly ordinary punch from the opponent had steadily absorbed all of his impact force!
The recoil force at the point where fist and palm met made his entire arm somewhat numb, and his metacarpal bones throbbed with pain.
"Is that all?" Menma slightly tilted his head, his gaze passing through the colliding fist and palm, looking at the stunned Urashiki opposite, a dismissive sound.
"How is this possible?!" A beast-like growl came from Urashiki's throat.
He couldn't understand how a 'lower creature' could contend with him, an Otsutsuki warrior who had devoured part of his own origin and achieved sublimation, in pure power and speed?
Under the combination of shock and anger, Urashiki's combat instinct was fully activated.
The white crane wing formed by his left arm suddenly contracted inward, its edges instantly hardened, viciously slashing at Menma's neck!
This strike was swift as thunder, and carried a sharpness that seemed to tear space.
Menma seemed already prepared. He didn't retract his right fist, which had punched out, but merely flicked his wrist, turning the fist into a palm, fingers like hooks. Instead of retreating, he advanced, firmly grasping Urashiki's right wrist. The powerful grip made Urashiki's wrist emit a 'creaking' groan.
At the same time, he raised his left arm, his forearm blocking horizontally, dark red Chakra condensing on the outer arm.
Clang—!
The white wing slashed onto the dark red Chakra on Menma's left arm, but erupted into an ear-piercing sound of metal clashing!
Fragments of the white wing flew in all directions.
The Chakra on Menma's left arm merely rippled violently, steadily receiving this strike.
"You! Damn lower creature!"
Urashiki completely lost it.
Close-quarters entanglement was his strength. In Crane Form, his speed, power, and reaction had all explosively increased. His wings, claws, even the giant horn on his head… his entire body could be a weapon.
Now, with one wrist grasped by Menma, instead of trying to break free, he used the momentum to twist his body, his right leg's pitch-black sharp claw, carrying a tearing shriek, directly gouging at Menma's lower abdomen!
Simultaneously, his grasped right arm suddenly pulled back, trying to throw Menma off balance. The Golden Rinnegan on his forehead flashed, as if some power was brewing.
Menma's right hand, grasping Urashiki's wrist, suddenly exerted force, pressing downward, while his body, like a swimming fish, leaned slightly forward following Urashiki's pulling force. This not only dissipated the pulling force but also cleverly dodged the downward-gouging claw.
His left arm followed through to push outward, deflecting Urashiki's white wing. The freed left hand formed fingers like a sword, the fingertips pointing straight at Urashiki's exposed chest and abdomen.
That was precisely the indentation where he had punched earlier!
Alarm bells rang in Urashiki's heart. The Golden Rinnegan on his forehead blazed with light!
The [Time Rewind] ability was activated again!
The time flow around his body showed an extremely brief disorder, his body presenting an uncoordinated, tiny 'double image', as if trying to rewind to half a second ago, avoiding this finger strike.
However, the moment he activated his ability, the vortex-like Mangekyo Sharingan in Menma's left eye also turned!
Dojutsu: Ame-no-Minakanushi!
Again, that formless interfering power.
Although it couldn't completely sever the connection between Urashiki and his Rinnegan like it would with an ordinary Ninja, nor could it completely offset the Otsutsuki's resistance to time, this instantaneous Dojutsu interference was enough to cause an insignificant, yet fatal... stutter in Urashiki's already heavily consuming Time Rewind!
That stutter of a few hundredths of a second!
Menma's fingertip, condensed with highly concentrated Dark Chakra, without hindrance, pointed at the indentation on Urashiki's chest.
Pfft!
A soft sound, like piercing leather.
A point of profound black light disappeared into Urashiki's body.
Urashiki's body suddenly stiffened, his golden pupils momentarily dimmed, and an expression of stricken horror appeared on his face.
He could clearly feel that the moment the black light entered his body, it madly devoured the Chakra condensed to repair his body at his wound, and spread along his Chakra meridians towards his heart and head. Wherever it passed, a strange, eroded sense of nothingness came!
"Argh—!!" Urashiki let out a painful and furious roar, no longer caring about techniques or rules. His grasped right arm, along with his left white wing, wildly swung, his leg claws kicking out in succession, like a raging storm, enveloping Menma!
He now had only one thought in his mind: force back this strange and terrifying enemy! Create distance!
Menma released his hand grasping Urashiki's wrist. His figure weaved and swayed through this chaotic yet madly dense attack.
His hands turned into palms, either blocking, striking, or entangling, deflecting all of Urashiki's attacks one by one.
His movements didn't look fast, even carrying a kind of fluid calmness, but he could always avoid the most fatal attacks by a hair's breadth, or dissipate the greatest force in the most ingenious way.
In Boruto's eyes below, he could only see two blurry lights, one white and one dark red, madly flashing and colliding within an extremely small area. Each collision erupted into dazzling sparks and dull, loud sounds. The air was constantly torn, emitting waves of shrieks.
In just a few seconds, the two had exchanged no less than dozens of rounds, at a speed so fast he could not distinguish the specific movements at all.
But in the eyes of top-tier Ninjas like Jiraiya and Adult Sasuke, the battle situation was much clearer.
Urashiki's attacks in Crane Form were undeniably fierce, with speed, power, and strangeness far surpassing before. Those sharp claws, palms, and the swings of his white wings could easily tear apart a Jonin's defenses.
Yet Menma was like a leaf tossed in a raging storm, appearing perilous, yet in reality, at ease, completely composed.
His every movement, every block, every counter, was precise, simple, efficient to the extreme, as if he had already predicted all of Urashiki's attack trajectories.
The ten Chakra Tails were used to an almost supernatural degree, integrating offense and defense, eliminating Urashiki's fierce offensive momentum without a trace.
"This... is simply artful combat." Jiraiya murmured, his inner shock beyond words.
He had experienced countless battles in his life and had seen various Taijutsu masters. But to control such terrifying vast Chakra with such exquisite detail, to combine Taijutsu with Tailed Beast's power so seamlessly, and to maintain absolute calm and composure amidst a storm of attacks… he had never heard of it!
This was not just a gap in strength, but a crushing in combat realm.
"His combat experience... is terrifyingly rich."
"And, his control over Chakra... is also very terrifying..." Adult Sasuke said in a low voice, the purple light of his Rinnegan flashing, trying to analyze every movement of Menma, only to find himself somewhat unable to keep up with the seemingly simple rhythm of offense and defense.
What shocked him even more was that Menma did not seem to be using his full strength, but more like testing... adapting to the power and fighting style of Urashiki's new form.
"Die! Die! Just die! You damn native monkey!! Ant of a low-level planet!!" The more Urashiki fought, the more alarmed and frenzied he became, constantly erupting with profanities.
His pride in his speed was defused by the opponent's prediction and skill. His furious power was dissipated by the opponent's use of softness to overcome hardness or borrowing force. His time ability was interfered with by the opponent's annoying Mangekyo Dojutsu.
Frustration, anger, and a hint of gradually growing, even he himself unwilling to admit, fear, transformed into the most venomous curses, roaring from his inhuman throat, echoing across the sky.
Yet, his insane insults only highlighted Menma's ease.
Menma didn't even respond with a word. His gaze even carried a hint of faint pleasure.
The moment Urashiki, in an all-out pounce, was sidestepped by Menma, his sharp claw scraping past the Chakra Cloak, leaving a trail of sparks, Menma seized that fleeting opening.
His right fist, which had been constantly blocking, suddenly shot out!
On the fist's edge, dark red Chakra was highly concentrated.
"Break!"
A light shout, accompanied by a crisp sound of shattering.
As the saying goes, when insulting someone, first insult their mother... when fighting, first hit their face.
Menma's fist solidly slammed into the white giant horn on Urashiki's right forehead, spreading like a bird's wing!
Crack—!
The sound of breaking rang out.
That extremely hard giant horn, like a white feather wing, was forcibly broken in half by this punch!
The small half of the broken horn spun and flew out, tracing an arc through the air, smashing into the ruins below, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Gyaah—!" Urashiki let out a heart-wrenching scream. His entire body, hit by the vast, immense force contained in this punch, was sent flying backward dozens of meters, tumbling several times in the air before barely steadying himself.
He clutched the root of his broken right horn, his golden eyes violently contracting from the extreme pain and rage, staring intently at Menma. The venom in that gaze almost condensed into substance.
After all, the horn is a symbol of identity for every Otsutsuki.