Rorin looked down from above as Jigen's body on the ground began to change.
"Looks like the reincarnation has started," Rorin muttered.
He had never expected the Spirit Bomb to kill Isshiki Ōtsutsuki in the first place. His goal had always been to force Isshiki into reincarnation.
Before long, the figure below was no longer Jigen, but Isshiki Ōtsutsuki's original form.
Pale skin, gray-white hair, a single eyebrow, and a long curved horn on his head.
"You brat… disrupting my plans comes with a price," Isshiki Ōtsutsuki said coldly, slightly raising his head and lifting his right hand.
Then Isshiki floated into the air, glanced at Rorin, and vanished like a phantom—instantly appearing right in front of him.
He kicked fiercely toward Rorin, who conjured a bone shield in front of himself.
Crack! The bone shield shattered on impact.
Rorin froze for a moment, not expecting Isshiki's strength to be this overwhelming—even his bone shield had been destroyed.
Isshiki attacked again, driving a punch into Rorin's abdomen.
Rorin grimaced in pain as his body was sent flying backward, crashing to the ground as dust billowed.
Slowly getting up, Rorin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked up at Isshiki in the sky.
Isshiki opened his right hand, activating his eye power.
Daikokuten!
Suddenly, six massive black cubes appeared in the sky, crashing down toward Rorin.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Rorin dodged the falling cubes, but because they interfered with his sensory perception, he failed to notice four black rods flying toward him from behind.
Just as they were about to pierce him—
[Host, behind you!]
The system's voice rang in his mind. At the critical moment, Rorin condensed a bone shield, blocking all four rods.
The rods fell to the ground, and Rorin let out a breath of relief.
'Thanks to you, system. Much appreciated!'
[No problem!]
In the sky, Isshiki frowned slightly, then flashed forward again, reappearing before Rorin as the two resumed their intense taijutsu clash.
But it didn't take long for Rorin to fall into a disadvantage, taking hit after hit as injuries accumulated across his body.
Isshiki began manipulating the black rods continuously, attacking Rorin and overwhelming him.
After a prolonged exchange, Rorin retreated to one side, staring at Isshiki.
"Looks like I have to use that!"
His eyes hardened, and he brought his hands together.
Sage Art: Ten Thousand Bone Prison!
Bones erupted from the ground, surrounding Isshiki from all sides, forming a dense, massive cage that trapped him within.
Isshiki glanced at the dark enclosure around him, unhurried, and began breaking through the bone prison.
"Time's running out… no choice but this!"
As his words fell, Rorin pointed his right hand at his heart.
Eight Gates: The Eighth Gate of Death—OPEN! Eight Gates!
A red vapor formed from his evaporating blood surrounded his body. His gaze was resolute as he connected with the system.
'System, I can use All-Killing Ash Bones now, right?'
[Yes, host.]
Rorin transferred the All-Killing Ash Bones from the system inventory into his body.
In an instant, it felt as if every bone in his body shattered—an overwhelming pain surged through him. But with sheer willpower, he endured it.
The pain came fast and faded just as quickly. Rorin opened his eyes.
'System, how about some long-overdue background music?'
[Sure, setting it up now!]
Rorin smiled faintly. This was a technique meant for after opening the Gate of Death.
A bow formed before him—its limbs made of bone, its string composed of red chakra.
He slowly pulled the string to its limit. Between the bow and string, three arrows made of bone wrapped in red chakra took shape.
Aiming at Isshiki inside the bone prison, he released the string.
As a familiar, thrilling background theme began to play—
Crimson Arrow!
Three red bone arrows shot toward Isshiki.
Isshiki, who had just broken free from the bone prison, paused slightly at the sight of the incoming arrows.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Ssshhh!
The arrows pierced through his body, severely injuring him and flattening the surrounding terrain.
Seeing this, Rorin drew the bow again and fired once more.
Crimson Arrow!
You attacked me with black rods earlier—this is returning the favor, Rorin thought.
He continuously fired bone arrows at Isshiki. The latter's eyes turned cold as he touched his damaged body, frowning.
"This body is reaching its limit… in that case, I'll choose him as my new vessel," Isshiki said slowly, staring at Rorin.
Despite his heavy injuries, Isshiki lunged at Rorin again, intending to mark him with a Kāma.
Rorin roughly understood his plan. At the same time, due to opening the Gate of Death, his own condition was deteriorating. He abandoned the bow and chose to end things quickly in close combat.
The two clashed again. Rorin, "carelessly," allowed Isshiki to grab his right hand.
Isshiki smiled faintly, copied his data, and swiftly implanted a Kāma onto Rorin, injecting the data into his body.
Rorin sneered, then stopped restraining his internal power and slammed Isshiki brutally into the ground.
Before losing consciousness, Isshiki's lips curled upward—everything had gone according to plan. All he needed was to wait for the next reincarnation, and he had already found an excellent vessel.
After the battle, Rorin looked down at Isshiki and slowly descended.
Walking up to him, seeing that Isshiki was temporarily unable to move, he spoke:
"You didn't expect it to end like this, did you?"
Standing still, Rorin summoned the Deprivation Device with a thought.
He aimed the nozzle at Isshiki and pressed the activation button.
After ten minutes of extraction, Rorin finally stripped away Isshiki's Ōtsutsuki bloodline. Satisfied, he nodded, then stepped forward and gouged out both of Isshiki's eyes.
Meanwhile, inside Rorin's body, Isshiki's data consciousness manifested, wandering around as if it were his own backyard—until a voice suddenly rang out.
[Oh? You slipped in here.]
[Take him down!]
"Where is this place… ahhh!" Isshiki's data consciousness echoed within Rorin's mind.
Rorin slowly raised his right hand—the black diamond-shaped mark had completely vanished.
[Host, that idiot's data has been captured, but analysis will take some time.]
'Mm, no rush. Take your time analyzing it.'
Rorin then looked at Isshiki lying on the ground.
"I've already gotten everything I wanted. Thanks!"
He slowly raised his right hand. A gray bone appeared.
All-Killing Ash Bones!
The gray bone pierced through Isshiki's body, and in an instant—he turned to ash and scattered into nothingness!
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