"No! NO,!"
The blood-curdling scream twisted and distorted within the infinitely compressing spatial prison, finally turning into a piercing wail that seemed capable of rupturing eardrums.
The middle-aged Sasuke's pupils contracted to their absolute extreme.
In his eyes, that absolute cage,formed by a transparent cube,was collapsing inward in defiance of all physical laws.
This was no sealing jutsu. Nor was it mere crushing pressure.
This was the erasure of everything within, starting from the very concept of "space" itself!
The trapped Ōtsutsuki Urashiki,his body, his chakra, everything constituting his existence,was being ground into nothingness by this tiny cube, along with the very "space" he occupied!
A series of system notifications chimed in Akashi Sora's mind, but failed to stir the slightest interest in him.
His attention was wholly focused on this magnificent "execution."
Mm. The left eye's dōjutsu... flashiness and practicality are both quite good.
Just a bit taxing on the eye.
Sora rubbed his slightly sore left eye, silently rendering his assessment.
However,
Just as that spatial cube was about to compress into an infinitesimally small "singularity",
An unexpected shift occurred!
BOOM,!
A muffled detonation,pushed to its very limit,erupted from within that tiny cube!
A blinding, dazzling golden radiance forcefully tore through those layered, supposedly absolutely isolated spatial barriers!
Countless tiny spatial fragments scattered in all directions like shattered mirrors.
Raging golden chakra transformed into a pillar of light that shot into the sky, churning the clouds above into a massive vortex.
"Oh?"
Sora raised an eyebrow. The lazy, "everything under control" expression on his face finally showed a hint of surprise.
Powering up?
Can actually break through my spatial confinement? Got a little something, huh.
The golden light subsided.
A completely transformed figure floated in midair.
Ōtsutsuki Urashiki's original leisurely, aristocratic appearance was gone.
In its place was a "bird-man" clad in a golden chakra cloak, a pair of enormous wings extending from his back.
On his forehead, a golden Rinnegan, rippling with concentric rings, had appeared,its light interweaving with the white Rinnegan in both his eyes, radiating an evil, powerful aura far surpassing before.
"Lower lifeform..."
Urashiki's voice had become hoarse and twisted. Every word dripped with boundless venom and madness.
"You have... successfully... angered me!"
Yo. Even a second-stage transformation.
Sora mercilessly roasted in his heart. His expression, however, remained utterly relaxed.
"You think... this is enough to defeat me?" Urashiki roared. The golden wings on his back beat fiercely, and his entire body transformed into a streak of golden light, vanishing instantly!
Too fast!
The middle-aged Sasuke's Sharingan could only capture a blurry golden trajectory!
In the next second, Urashiki had already appeared behind Akashi Sora. One claw, wreathed in golden chakra, tore through the air with a screech, slashing viciously toward his back!
"Lord Fifth!" Shisui in the distance cried out in alarm.
However, it was as if Akashi Sora had eyes in the back of his head. He couldn't even be bothered to turn around.
His right eye,the Mangekyō pattern of three black sickle-blades,silently spun.
『Ugo no Mei · Banri Ikku』!
He merely took a single, light step forward.
That was all. One simple motion.
Urashiki's lethal strike,one he was absolutely certain of,clawed at empty air.
Akashi Sora's figure, as if teleporting, appeared ten meters away, still in that hands-in-pockets, lazy posture.
"Not bad speed." He even had the leisure to offer commentary. "Pity. Playing with speed in front of me... you're still a bit green."
"Wretch!"
Having missed his strike, Urashiki's fury intensified. He once again transformed into a golden streak, launching a storm-like barrage of attacks from every direction around Akashi Sora!
For a moment, the entire forest flickered with golden light. Sonic booms rang out incessantly.
But in the eyes of the middle-aged Sasuke and Shisui, a spectacle they would never forget in their lives unfolded,utterly bizarre.
No matter how that golden streak of light ambushed, no matter how treacherous its angles...
That young Hokage in casual clothes merely strolled leisurely within a ten-meter radius.
One step forward. One step left. Half a step back...
His movements were as relaxed as a post-dinner walk. Every footfall perfectly avoided every attack.
It was as if he wasn't dodging at all,as if space itself was cooperating with him, actively separating him from danger.
"Th-this... this is..."
The middle-aged Sasuke's lips trembled.
He could see it.
This wasn't Body Flicker. Even less so the Flying Raijin.
This was absolute dominion... over 'spatial coordinates'!
Alright. Done playing with you.
Warm-up's over.
After yet another nonchalantly evaded attack, Akashi Sora finally stopped his steps with a hint of impatience.
He lifted his head, looking at that "Golden-Winged Roc",driven to madness by his repeated failed attacks,and sighed softly.
"I was planning to keep a low profile. But since you insist on forcing my full strength..."
"Then let me show you... what true 'art' looks like."
Sora slowly raised both hands, gently bringing them together before his chest.
"Wood Style: Wood Golem Jutsu!"
RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE,!
The earth began to quake violently.
Countless thick tree roots burst from the ground, madly intertwining, coiling, surging upward!
A giant, formed entirely of wood,horned head, ferocious visage,rose slowly from the depths of the earth at a speed visible to the naked eye!
Ten meters. Fifty meters. One hundred meters!
When it fully straightened, that colossal form blotted out the sun in the sky, casting an immense shadow that covered the entire battlefield!
"W-Wood Style?!"
The middle-aged Sasuke stared at that wooden giant,even larger than his full-powered Complete Body Susanoo. His mind went completely blank.
This is... the First Hokage's power?!
However, this was only the beginning.
"Come."
Akashi Sora stood atop the Wood Golem's head, spreading his arms wide.
"Susanoo!"
Weng,!
Orange-red chakra erupted from his body, soaring into the heavens!
A suit of armor,gleaming with a metallic sheen, brimming with futuristic technological aesthetics,materialized out of thin air. Then... it draped over that colossal Wood Golem like liquid!
A ribcage breastplate covered the Wood Golem's chest.
A pair of ferocious gauntlets encased its arms.
Finally, a tengu-masked helmet settled upon its head!
Wood Style and Susanoo. Senju and Uchiha. Two powers representing the pinnacle of the shinobi world,in this moment,fused together perfectly in a way unprecedented, unheard of!
Armored Susanoo · Wood Golem!
" Gulp. "
In the distance, Boruto swallowed hard and plopped down onto the ground.
He stared at that armored giant before him,godlike, propping up heaven and earth,and completely lost all capacity for thought.
Urashiki also halted his attacks. Floating in midair, compared to that Armored Wood Golem, he was as tiny as a laughable insect.
On his face, venom and madness had disappeared. Only the purest fear,originating from the very depths of his soul,remained.
"Now then, here's the question."
A voice, magnified countless times by chakra,like a god's pronouncement,boomed out from within the Armored Wood Golem's chest.
Akashi Sora stood atop the Wood Golem's head, looking down condescendingly at that trembling "little bird." A malicious grin spread across his face.
"Would you prefer... to be sliced apart? Or swallowed whole?"