"Plenty of people have wanted to kill me," Natsuro said, staring calmly at the now-enraged Urashiki Ōtsutsuki. "But I'm still alive."
Previously, even though Urashiki was his enemy, he had at least been composed... even polite, always speaking with respectful language.
But now? The current Urashiki clearly had no intention of being respectful anymore.
"Bastard! Die!!" Urashiki roared, aiming his palm at Natsuro.
"Amenosubaruboshinomikoto - Gyokkō!"
With Urashiki's furious shout, countless crescent-shaped purple energy waves shot toward Natsuro like scythes of light.
Seeing the barrage of purple crescents, Natsuro narrowed his eyes. So this is a typical 'prince tactic', suppressing me from afar to avoid close combat?
That alone confirmed one thing: even after transforming, Urashiki still couldn't match him in close-quarters combat.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be keeping his distance like this… though perhaps he was just pretending?
Natsuro didn't let his guard down and quickly formed hand signs.
"Sage Art ~ Wind Style: Vacuum Barrage!"
A flurry of wind blades shot out to intercept the purple crescent waves. At the same time, Natsuro prepared to use Flying Thunder God to reposition.
But in reality, Natsuro realized he was overthinking it. Regular Vacuum Waves might not match Urashiki's Amenosubaruboshinomikoto: Gyokkō, but all of Natsuro's techniques were Sage-enhanced.
Even so, the power of the wind blades significantly dropped after colliding with the purple attacks, and the remaining waves were easily scattered by the next salvo from Urashiki.
Natsuro kept firing his Vacuum Barrage. Urashiki, too, continued launching Amenosubaruboshinomikoto: Gyokkō.
If someone who didn't know better were watching, they might think this was a battle from Dragon Ball, two people floating in the sky, spamming energy blasts at each other in classic "prince vs. prince" style.
The space between them lit up with constant explosions as light waves and wind blades clashed.
Anyone witnessing it would be dumbfounded. After all, most shinobi couldn't even fly, and here these two were, tossing around chakra like it was unlimited.
Eventually, Urashiki realized… he really couldn't outlast Natsuro. With a frustrated look, he finally stopped.
"You done?" Natsuro asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's all?"
Urashiki's anger flared again, but he still didn't charge in.
"If you're not attacking anymore, then I'm coming." Natsuro sounded disappointed. So this is an Ōtsutsuki? Way weaker than I imagined.
Urashiki tensed. A black chakra rod formed in his hand, but before he could move, Natsuro was already in front of him.
Without hesitation, Natsuro swung his leg and landed a clean kick to Urashiki's stomach.
"Guhh!!" Urashiki was sent flying, spitting blood.
That actually landed? Natsuro blinked. It seemed that after transforming, Urashiki had lost his time-reversal ability.
That only made things duller, he had really wanted to experience more of that time technique. But now? That was off the table.
So he vanished again, reappearing midair next to the still-flying Urashiki and delivering another kick.
With another scream, Urashiki was sent flying in a different direction. Natsuro appeared beside him again.
Back and forth, it was like playing kickball with Urashiki.
After several volleys, Natsuro finally appeared above him, clasped his hands together, and slammed them downward.
Urashiki crashed into the earth like a meteor, causing an explosive impact that shook the area.
Looking down into the crater, Natsuro asked, "So this transformation of yours… just makes your skin thicker?"
If it had been earlier, he was sure Urashiki would be dead by now. But somehow, despite being half-dead, he was still alive.
"Cough… cough…" Urashiki shakily rose to his feet and looked up at Natsuro in the sky. At that moment, it finally hit him: The Flying Thunder God mark… it must be on my body!
That's how he was able to attack so freely and without warning.
But… when did he mark me?
Urashiki didn't want to think anymore. His mind was overtaken by pain. He was already on the brink of death. Wondering about the details no longer mattered.
Urashiki slowly floated back into the sky. Natsuro let him, the mark had been planted earlier, during that punch before Urashiki transformed. As long as he touched someone, he could apply the mark.
Compared to Six Paths Obito, Urashiki was worse. At least Obito had removed the mark after transforming. Urashiki didn't.
Now, Urashiki hung in the air, head drooped. Suddenly, his chakra flared violently.
"Pulling out a final move, huh?" Natsuro observed. He could stop it, but didn't need to. Might as well see what Urashiki's last struggle looked like.
Purple chakra surged around Urashiki. In his palm, a four-pointed star-shaped chakra symbol formed. Behind him, a massive black-purple ribbonfish-like creature manifested.
From its mouth, a colossal purple-red chakra sphere slowly began to form.
"Amenosubaruboshinomikoto: Ryūgū!!" Urashiki shouted.
"Looks a bit like a Tailed Beast Bomb," Natsuro muttered, his expression growing a little more serious. He began considering his options.
Sage Art: Super Giant Rasengan? Nah, it probably not strong enough.
Lightning Release: Kirin? Without storm support, also no good.
He had one jutsu that would definitely work, but it felt like overkill.
That jutsu was the Explosive Truth-Seeking Orb. Using something that powerful against this Urashiki felt like swatting a mosquito with a cannon. Sure, it would kill him, but way too wasteful.
Suddenly, Natsuro's eyes lit up as he thought of something.
He pulled out a Flying Thunder God kunai and held it in his hand. He wasn't planning to dodge, he needed the kunai for what came next.
"Die! Die! Go to hell!!" Urashiki had stopped caring about what jutsu Natsuro might use. Whether he dodged or ran, Urashiki had poured everything into this one final shot.
With a furious roar, the massive ribbonfish monster bellowed. The giant purple-red chakra sphere launched toward Natsuro. The oppressive chakra it emitted was overwhelming.
Even Natsuro had to admit, if that thing hit him directly, he'd either die or be seriously injured.
As the sphere approached, he calmly raised both hands. The kunai hovered horizontally between them.
In front of him, space began to distort, forming a black rune in the shape of an asterisk (米), rapidly expanding until it covered the entire path of the incoming sphere.
When the chakra sphere touched the black rune, it passed through, as if entering a portal, and disappeared.
"Flying Thunder God: Guided Thunder Technique!"
The kunai in Natsuro's hand seemed to glow. Everyone knew that Minato's upgraded Flying Thunder God technique required a marked location to teleport to.
And Natsuro's marks were everywhere, across nations, even on sea rocks.
But those weren't his destination.
The target he chose was right in front of him, the Flying Thunder God mark on Urashiki himself.
And Urashiki couldn't see it, his view was blocked by the massive chakra sphere. Thinking the attack had succeeded, he burst into crazed laughter.
He didn't care if Natsuro had been careless or not. The fact that he'd finally landed a hit made him feel euphoric.
Even though the laughter caused immense pain across his body, he didn't stop.
And then…
A massive chakra sphere suddenly appeared right in front of Urashiki's face.
He froze.
This… is Amenosubaruboshinomikoto: Ryūgū?! But how…?
There was no time to think.
Because the chakra sphere was marked with Flying Thunder God, it had been teleported directly to Urashiki's body.
There was nowhere to run. No way to escape.
In the next instant, Urashiki's figure was engulfed by the purple-black sphere, followed by a massive explosion. The light from the blast was so intense, even Natsuro squinted.
This move really was like a copy of the Tailed Beast Bomb, aside from its poor accuracy, it had no other flaws. Its power was undeniable.
But with that…
It was finally over.
Natsuro stretched his arms lazily. To him, it had just been a light workout, he hadn't even used his Instantaneous Steps yet.
Truthfully, if Urashiki had possessed a similar speed, his time-reversal could've been a counter to Instantaneous Steps.
Because the time within Instantaneous Steps was barely a few seconds, if Urashiki rewound just slightly, it would reduce Natsuro's advantage, and even help him save energy.
But… that didn't happen.
Unfortunately for Urashiki, he would never get the chance to do that. If Natsuro were to activate Instantaneous Step, based on his estimation of Urashiki's strength, Urashiki wouldn't even have time to activate his time-reversal ability before being hit by a jutsu executed at Instantaneous Step.
And clearly, Urashiki's time-reversal didn't work on himself. That meant he could've ended the fight instantly.
Of course, Instantaneous Steps couldn't be combined with monstrous strength or lightning-style stimulation. The pressure it exerted on the body was already at its maximum, adding anything else would be suicidal. A single punch might obliterate the enemy, but Natsuro's own arm would probably be destroyed too…
So, Instantaneous Step was best suited for ninjutsu, not taijutsu. After all, force is mutual, and at that kind of speed, even without monstrous strength, the damage was already immense. Natsuro didn't dare casually use physical attacks while in that state.
He wasn't like that one yellow guy who could just turn into lightning…
As Natsuro mused to himself, the light from the explosion finally faded.
He slowly walked over, and realized he might've overdone it. His original plan was to leave behind a full corpse for research into the Ōtsutsuki physiology, but thanks to a spur-of-the-moment idea, there wasn't even a bone left.
What had crossed his mind was that scene of the Fourth Hokage redirecting a Tailed Beast Bomb with the Flying Thunder God, and since Amenosubaruboshinomikoto: Ryūgū looked so similar, he thought he'd give it a try.
The result? Urashiki's body obliterated.
"If all the Ōtsutsuki are like this… then they're really nothing to fear," Natsuro murmured, though he knew full well that couldn't be the case.
He remembered that even Toneri, once awakened with the Tenseigan, became a formidable force. Though back then, Naruto had already lost the Six Paths power and only had the power of the Sage Fox, yet still managed to defeat Toneri.
So maybe… they weren't that impressive after all.
But then he thought of Kaguya. It was hard to believe there wasn't another Kaguya-tier threat out there. And unlike Kaguya, who lacked combat experience, what if the next one was battle-hardened?
Natsuro rubbed his temples. Yeah… I still can't afford to let my guard down. Urashiki might've been the weakest of the clan for all I know...
Still, there was time. Maybe by the time that day came, he wouldn't have to worry anymore.
With that, he returned to Konoha. There, Naruto and the others had gathered, and when they saw him return, all of them lit up.
Naruto and Sasuke immediately understood, Urashiki had been taken care of. Older Sasuke also figured as much, but wanted to confirm.
Boruto, ever curious, asked directly, "Lord Hokage, did you defeat that Urashiki Ōtsutsuki?"
"It's handled. Though I accidentally turned him into ashes. Not a scrap left," Natsuro shrugged.
The group fell silent.
Not just killed, but obliterated?
"…Well then," Naturo said, turning to Older Sasuke and Boruto, "You two can return to the future in peace."
"Thanks, Lord Hokage!" Boruto said cheerfully.
Older Sasuke also nodded, glancing at Natsuro with a look of awe. He now understood, without his Six Paths power, he probably wouldn't stand a chance against this man.
From Sasuke's memories, he knew that Natsuro was near-perfect in every regard with no apparent weaknesses.
"Actually… something just occurred to me," Natsuro suddenly said, turning to look at Older Sasuke and Boruto.
"What is it?" Older Sasuke asked.
"When you return… assuming everything goes smoothly, are you going back to your world's future, or our world's future?" Natsuro asked.
The question left both of them frozen.
He… had a point.
But there was no way they could know for sure, they'd have to ask Karasuki.
"Wait, where's Karasuki?" Boruto asked, reaching for his pack, and then his expression changed.
"No worries. It's with Umbreon," Natsuro replied. In the next moment, Umbreon appeared on his shoulder, Karasuki, the artifact, dangling from its mouth.
"H-Hey! Karasuki's a sacred tool, not a turtle! Don't eat it!!" Boruto panicked.
"Relax. It won't really eat it," Natsuro said.
He took Karasuki from Umbreon's mouth, and Older Sasuke and Boruto quickly posed the earlier question.
But Karasuki had no intention of answering right away, leaving them both anxious.
Seeing this, Natsuro narrowed his eyes and patted Umbreon. The little creature hopped down beside Karasuki.
Instantly, Karasuki reacted like it had seen a natural predator. It shrank back for a second, then forced to comply, popped its head out and glanced at the four around it... and especially at Umbreon beside it.
If Karasuki were a living creature, it'd probably be sweating buckets by now.
"I've never encountered that kind of situation before," Karasuki said quickly. "I don't know the answer."
"Aww… seriously?" Boruto sighed in frustration.
"It's fine. If you really can't go back, just stay with me," Naruto said warmly. Gone was the awkwardness from earlier, after these past few days, Naruto had accepted his identity.
Boruto heard his words and saw the concern in his eyes. He paused… then smiled softly, but didn't give a reply.
"No matter what, we still have to try," Older Sasuke said. "Our families are still waiting for us in our world."
"You're right," Naruto scratched his head sheepishly. "I wasn't thinking clearly."
Sasuke also looked at Older Sasuke, clearly curious about the family he'd have in the future, but ultimately said nothing. He understood Older Sasuke wouldn't share anything about the future.
"Well then, how long until you're fully recovered and able to send them back?" Natsuro asked Karasuki.
"Another two or three days," Karasuki answered immediately. It wanted nothing more than to recover faster and escape the grip of this terrifying man. As it spoke, it glanced fearfully at Umbreon.
"Two or three days, huh? Not too long," Natsuro said, looking at the others. "If there's anything you still want to do, now's the time."
Everyone nodded. There were indeed things they hadn't finished, especially Sasuke and Older Sasuke, who had spent most of their time focused on merging their ocular powers.
Older Sasuke opened his mouth to speak… but didn't. He had originally considered erasing this period of memory, but now, that felt pointless.
This wasn't his world. This Sasuke had gained two extra powers that didn't belong to him, and that couldn't be changed.
More importantly, Older Sasuke didn't believe Natsuro hadn't already considered this. Yet he had never brought up memory deletion.
Then… just let it be, Older Sasuke thought to himself.
If you want to read more...
Check out the patreon and get 55 chapters in advance -> SaintXI
Currently on Chapter 365 - Naruto & Sasuke vs. Sage of Six Paths Obito