"You... how could you..."
Akeshiki faced away from Aomi, his heart instantly torn apart by a tremendous force, a tidal wave of pain violently sweeping through his consciousness.
As an almost godlike Otsutsuki, physical pain didn't affect him.
But the problem is...
Aomi's arm, which had burrowed into his body, was madly absorbing the life force within Otsutsuki Akeshiki, damaging his essence!
This feeling of impending death for Akeshiki, who longed for eternal life and to become a god, was a fear beyond all else!
[From the confrontation target, Otsutsuki Akeshiki: You have obtained the Dojutsu·Shiva's Dance!]
"Shiva's Dance": Consumes eye power to form a curse. The cursed target will have their strength drained by a percentage, and when drained to a certain extent, a curse mark will be engraved on them.
The cursed target enters a vulnerable state, greatly reducing the intensity of their attacks against you.
Under this extreme emotional stimulus.
Akeshiki, exhausted his remaining value.
"Still want to struggle? Scatter with the wind, invader of the Otsutsuki Clan..." A flash of black light flickered in Aomi's eyes, and a curse power identical to Otsutsuki Akeshiki's burst from his palm, saturating his body.
The curse swiftly drained the power from Akeshiki's body, the heavily wounded yet still robust and lifeful body withering at a pace visible to the naked eye.
"I... I haven't become a god yet, I haven't taken the position of the Clan Leader in the Otsutsuki Clan, I haven't ascended to godhood yet!"
In that moment, Akeshiki's mind was flooded with the scenes of his life.
Since awakening his Dojutsu in youth, with the ability to meditate and predict the resources and opportunities he required, he had a smooth journey, rarely encountering significant obstacles...
Even when facing troublesome opponents, he could escape using this ability.
After devouring enough Chakra Fruit, he once again awakened the unmatched in single combat Shiva's Dance, advancing to an auxiliary position in the Otsutsuki Clan, yet on the path to becoming Clan Leader, he encountered that man...
Spiritual Technique!
Damn Spiritual Technique, this bastard with his supreme talent sits idly in the Clan Leader's seat, indulging in comfort, without any effort to breakthrough bottlenecks, just muddling through!
Akeshiki fantasized countless times about dethroning Spiritual Technique and challenging him one-on-one but never succeeded...
Every time, after defeating him, Spiritual Technique smiled and said, "Becoming a god is nothing but an illusory bubble, don't be so concerned..."
Akeshiki desperately wanted to refute him, but the defeated have no right to speak.
Spiritual Technique's Dojutsu "Vishnu of the Minute Realm" could isolate his curse and foresight power... effectively negating his advantages from the source, and the power level had reached its zenith, Akeshiki and Spiritual Technique could only compete at their talent's highest limit.
Regrettably!
Even at the extreme, there was a clear distinction in strength.
Spiritual Technique's power was significantly superior to his!
"In this life, it seems I have no chance to surpass you, you damned thing..."
Akeshiki's originally dim eyes cleared momentarily, as his life's final thoughts echoed.
Akeshiki gritted his teeth, vigorously grasping Aomi's arm passing through his chest, the entirety of his body adorned with the Otsutsuki Clan's black Wedge Seals, dark, ominous eyes on his arms flashed dangerously...
"For the future of the Otsutsuki Clan, for the godhood path in the cosmos, a dangerous existence like you cannot be allowed to live on!"
Madness filled Akeshiki's eyes as he roared to the sky, "Let's vanish from this cosmos together!"
At this moment.
The black patterns and countless ominous eyes on Akeshiki's body instantly surged with a terrifying power; the Chakra Fruits he had consumed became the source of his self-destructive power!
He intended to die along with Aomi!
A terrifying being like Aomi must not be allowed to grow further... Given more time, Akeshiki dared not even imagine the heights Aomi could reach!
How could the stagnant Spiritual Technique possibly protect the Otsutsuki Clan from this demon after so many years of no progress?
"Evade, Aomi!!" Senju Tobirama screamed desperately.
The exhausted people of the Ninja World, just emerging from the joy of turning the situation to their favor, suddenly felt their hearts sink.
Was this to be mutual destruction?
Aomi attempted to struggle free from Akeshiki's grasp, a glimmer flashed in his eyes, as if there wasn't enough time to avoid...
In the next moment, Akeshiki self-destructed!
A terrifying black maelstrom, with destructive power, swallowed the space where Akeshiki and Aomi stood, in an instant, the entire space was blasted to bits and even the stable order of time was destroyed!
Spiritual Technique, standing by, watched with a nameless expression, feeling a void in his heart.
Though he had always been a spectator in the fight between Akeshiki and Aomi, using Akeshiki to test Aomi and uncover potential threats...
However, when this friend of thousands of years self-destructed and died.
A sense of solitude washed over Spiritual Technique's heart at that moment.
"Perhaps, this is the loneliness one must experience on the path to becoming a god... the familiar faces of the past dying one by one, whether becoming tools, or stepping stones, or just naturally fading away..."
Spiritual Technique gazed at Akeshiki's self-destruction's immense power, shaking his head.