Rengoku's heart jolted. He hurriedly opened his eyes, only to see that a pitch black sphere had appeared out of nowhere not far in front of him.
This eerie black sphere was like a bottomless black hole, madly absorbing everything around it.
The sand and dust swirling through the air, shattered rocks, everything was irresistibly being pulled toward it.
'Hm? This… this isn't Chibaku Tensei, is it?'
Rengoku's gaze turned grave. His hands quickly formed seals.
"Spirit Transformation Technique!"
In an instant, his entire body began to glow with a layer of pure white light that only spiritual bodies could perceive.
Relying on the special vision granted by the Spirit Transformation Technique, Rengoku finally saw the figure hidden in midair.
As expected, it was Otsutsuki Hagoromo.
And the rampaging Chibaku Tensei was, without a doubt, his doing.
Rengoku swept his arm, instantly canceling Susanoo.
His figure flashed like lightning as he shot toward Chibaku Tensei at astonishing speed.
At this moment, a trace of confusion appeared on Hagoromo's face.
By all logic, how could Rengoku be so easily trapped by the sealing technique he had cast?
While he was still pondering this, Rengoku vanished like a ghost in the blink of an eye.
In the very next second, Rengoku appeared in front of Hagoromo without any warning at all.
Clutching the long blade in his hand, he slashed down at Otsutsuki Hagoromo without the slightest hesitation.
Under normal circumstances, Rengoku should have been completely unable to touch a spiritual body like Hagoromo.
Yet for some reason, the moment Rengoku swung his blade, a chill suddenly rose in Hagoromo's heart.
Even with doubt in his mind, instinct still made him drift backward at once.
But it was already too late. Rengoku's slash still struck heavily against the leg on which Hagoromo was sitting cross legged.
What was shocking was that the place struck instantly turned illusory.
Hagoromo was stunned pale with shock. He had never imagined that Rengoku could actually harm him while he was in a spiritual state.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Hagoromo let out a low shout, and a powerful repulsive force suddenly surged forth in front of Rengoku.
At this moment, Rengoku was controlling his body while in a spiritual state, so his agility was naturally far inferior to when he stood on solid ground.
Caught off guard by the sudden repulsive force, Rengoku was blasted away like a cannonball.
His body flew backward through the air at high speed, tracing a long arc.
And the direction he was sent flying toward happened to be where the Dragon Vein lay.
Watching Rengoku recede into the distance, Hagoromo let out a slight sigh of relief.
But just then, Rengoku's lips curled upward in midair, revealing a cold sneer.
"Activate!"
As the word left Rengoku's mouth, his hands rapidly formed seals, and countless runes appeared in the void.
At the same time, the clone on the ground moved in perfect sync, slamming its palm heavily into the earth.
In that instant, dense black lines surged up between heaven and earth without any warning.
These lines intertwined and wrapped around each other, forming a massive oval shaped cage in the blink of an eye.
Hagoromo, still locked in fierce combat, did not even have time to react before he was trapped inside the cage.
Not only that, the surging Dragon Vein power that had erupted earlier was also completely confined within the cage, as if bound by some mysterious force.
This was the unique formation of the shrine maiden.
The Netherworld Formation of the Marching Void Sky!
Once this formation was activated, even someone as powerful as Otsutsuki Hagoromo would find it difficult to escape.
When Hagoromo realized he had been sealed inside the formation, his expression instantly darkened.
Immediately afterward, his body began to gradually turn semi transparent, as if it were losing substance.
There was no doubt about it. This meant that the energy within him was being suppressed.
"Hahaha! Old man, let's see where you can run now."
Rengoku laughed triumphantly.
He raised the cold gleaming long blade in his hand and shot toward Hagoromo like a bolt of lightning.
Faced with Rengoku's fierce advance, Hagoromo did not panic in the slightest.
He quickly scanned his surroundings, trying to find a flaw in the formation.
However, to his shock, the formation before him was completely unfamiliar.
Its complexity far exceeded his understanding, to the point that he could not decipher its operating principles at all.
More importantly, after careful observation, Hagoromo realized something even more alarming.
This formation seemed to have nothing whatsoever to do with the chakra system they were familiar with.
Left with no other choice, Hagoromo snorted coldly and once again used his signature ability, "Shinra Tensei!"
With his low shout, a powerful repulsive force erupted from his body and slammed straight toward Rengoku.
But Rengoku, who had been prepared, was not blasted away. He merely slid back to the ground.
Returning courtesy for courtesy, Rengoku raised one hand and said coldly, "Bansho Ten'in!"
In an instant, an equally powerful attractive force was born out of thin air.
Caught completely off guard, Hagoromo clearly had not expected Rengoku to be able to use abilities belonging to the Rinnegan.
Before he could react, his body was forcibly dragged toward Rengoku.
———
On the other side of the battlefield, the many onlookers widened their eyes, yet all they could see was Rengoku's figure darting up and down like a phantom.
Hagoromo had completely vanished into thin air, making it impossible to catch even a trace of him.
Fortunately, Kurama Yakumo was standing beside them. Through her detailed explanations, everyone gradually came to understand how the fierce battle was unfolding.
At the same time, the Sunagakure ninja who had been nearby took advantage of the chaos and fled one after another.
However, not everyone left this dangerous place.
Although the others from Sunagakure had already escaped, Rasa was still nearby.
For Rasa, this operation allowed no room for failure.
Because once it failed, not only would his position as Kazekage be lost, he would also likely face punishment.
Even with danger lurking everywhere and the situation extremely perilous, Rasa still gritted his teeth and stayed.
After being dragged toward the ground by the powerful force, Hagoromo quickly adjusted his posture and stabilized himself not far from Rengoku.
Next, he swung the Six Paths staff in his hand heavily down toward the ground.
In an instant, a pale purple wave of energy roared up from beneath the earth like a giant dragon.
Clearly, this powerful energy was a portion of the force drawn from the Dragon Vein deep underground.
Facing the onrushing pale purple energy wave, Rengoku showed no fear at all.
He instantly flipped his palm and slammed it hard against the ground.
With a thunderous boom, the seemingly ferocious pale purple energy wave was forcibly suppressed back down.
Immediately afterward, Rengoku rapidly formed seals and entered the Spirit Transformation state.
In the next moment, a massive blazing fireball appeared in his mouth.
This was no ordinary fireball, but a Great Fireball Technique infused with powerful soul energy.
Rengoku took a deep breath, then opened his mouth and expelled it violently.
The fireball, carrying terrifying soul energy, shot toward Hagoromo like a shell fired from a cannon, bearing overwhelming momentum.
The flames traced a brilliant arc through the air, as if they were about to ignite the entire space.
Hagoromo raised a hand, but instead of using repulsive force to knock it away, he grasped the fireball and absorbed it directly into his body.
'The Preta Path?'
'As expected, all Rinnegan abilities are useful.'
Rengoku snorted coldly, leapt into the air, and prepared to engage Hagoromo in close combat.
Hagoromo glanced at the rampaging Dragon Vein and the earlier Chibaku Tensei.
Then he suddenly brought both hands together.
A tremendous suction force surged toward Rengoku.
Rengoku had originally planned to dodge into the Boundless Realm for a moment.
But then he realized that Hagoromo's target was not him at all.
It was the Dragon Vein.
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