Chapter 291: Did Isshiki Lose?
"Is this all you've got?"
Hyuga Fuji shook his head in disappointment. "If the Rinnegan and your eye techniques are only this powerful, you might as well hand them over to me."
Isshiki's eyes flickered when he noticed Hyuga Fuji's gaze lingering on his black eyes and Rinnegan. His expression quickly turned cold again as he surged with renewed power, charging straight at Hyuga Fuji.
Combining his eye techniques with taijutsu, the two engaged in a fierce battle, each move aimed to kill. Their fight spanned a radius of ten kilometers, their figures appearing and vanishing across mountains, rivers, skies, and land.
The air echoed with sharp shockwaves as they moved at incredible speeds, each attack releasing immense force. The shockwaves rippled outward as if they were tangible, devastating their surroundings.
The environment crumbled before them—towering mountains and steep cliffs shattered like tofu, scattering into clouds of dust.
Every clash between them seemed to ignite a bomb in the air. Trees were uprooted, and deep fissures split the ground.
Dust and debris filled the air, obscuring visibility, yet the two continued to fight with relentless intensity, unaffected by external factors.
In the midst of this violent confrontation, the surrounding landscape was utterly transformed. Shockwaves reverberated through the air, and their silhouettes flickered within the clouds of dust, each reappearance accompanied by bursts of explosive energy.
Their speed was so great that ordinary people couldn't track their movements.
Let alone spectate, most people struggled to even protect themselves. The aftershocks from the shockwaves felt as if an invisible force was tearing them apart, with blood seeping from their orifices. The compressed air around them shook their internal organs, making it almost impossible to endure.
To survive, ordinary ninjas had to flee the battlefield. Even at a distance, the residual shockwaves left them staggering, threatening to overwhelm them at any moment.
But of course, this didn't include Onoki.
His battle with Mu had unknowingly come to a halt—or rather, after exposing a weakness due to his back pain, the fight had become unnecessary.
Onoki had to admit that when it came to pure strength, he still couldn't surpass his teacher.
Fortunately, this was a battlefield, not a one-on-one duel. With two Dust Release clones noticing his predicament and coming to his aid, Mu refrained from pressing the attack, instead keeping the three of them firmly restrained.
As a result, Onoki had a front-row seat to Hyuga Fuji and Isshiki's battle.
Seeing that neither side was gaining a decisive upper hand, Onoki breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Mu. "Even Uchiha Madara couldn't defeat Isshiki. Saying Hyuga Fuji can beat him might be a bit premature—"
Boom!
A deafening explosion cut him off as Isshiki was sent flying by a tremendous force. His body streaked across the ground like a meteor, carving a deep trench before landing near Onoki.
Onoki: "..."
He felt his face burn with embarrassment.
Mu glanced at Onoki with an odd expression, as if discovering his latent talent for jinxing.
Nearby, Isshiki ignored Onoki's complicated expression. Struggling to his feet, he gazed at the white-robed figure in the sky, his eyes downcast.
Hyuga Fuji's sudden surge in power had caught him off guard.
But that wasn't Hyuga Fuji's own strength. Something else was augmenting his power!
Recalling reports about the Moon incident, Isshiki formed a hypothesis.
The Otsutsuki clan on the Moon had been wiped out, and that massive Tenseigan must have fallen into Hyuga Fuji's hands!
For Hyuga Fuji to use such a trump card now meant he believed he had Isshiki figured out, further lowering his guard.
A fleeting look of joy flashed in Isshiki's eyes, quickly suppressed.
No—he knew ninjas all too well. Unless he appeared completely powerless, Hyuga Fuji wouldn't lower his vigilance.
And he needed sufficient bait to lure Hyuga Fuji closer.
Glancing at the Rinnegan in his palm, Isshiki recalled Hyuga Fuji's earlier covetous gaze and allowed a subtle smirk to tug at his lips.
The next moment, Isshiki looked skyward with a twisted expression, his voice a mix of rage and cunning as he roared with both genuine fury and calculated acting.
"Hyuga Fuji! You, a mere inferior being, dare to compare yourself to me?"
Acting as if he'd lost his mind, Isshiki stomped the ground and recklessly charged toward the sky, his aura flaring wildly.
While his strength surged once more, his uncoordinated, chaotic attacks left him increasingly vulnerable, facing one peril after another.
"So, the Otsutsuki clan is no different—whether branch or main family."
With a sharp whistle, Hyuga Fuji accelerated to his maximum speed. His figure blurred into a streak of lightning, instantly crossing the space between them.
The golden sword in his hand gleamed brilliantly, as if concentrating the energy of the heavens and earth. It churned the river and stirred the atmosphere, descending with unstoppable force toward Isshiki's chest.
"Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"
In that instant, Isshiki felt an unprecedented sense of danger. His pupils contracted sharply, and his body instinctively prepared to shift dimensions to evade.
But remembering his objective, Isshiki hesitated for a fraction of a second, deliberately slowing his reaction to avoid a fatal blow.
He had concealed one of his eye techniques and space-time abilities for this very moment. A minor injury was a small price to pay if his plan succeeded. Once he succeeded, nothing in the ninja world could stop him!
Drip.
A cold, sticky liquid landed on Onoki's cheek, making his heart sink. Slowly, he looked up, and what he saw made his pupils constrict.
Under the blinding sunlight, a dazzling golden sword pierced through Isshiki's chest, its radiant blade seemingly forged of pure light.
The once-dominant figure who had stood on par with Uchiha Madara now dangled helplessly, impaled like a bird with broken wings.
Blood gushed from Isshiki's wound, turning into a fine mist under the sunlight and staining half the sky red.
With a flick of Hyuga Fuji's hand, Isshiki's body was sent flying like a severed kite, trailing droplets of blood as it plunged into the turbulent river below.
Boom!
The impact of his body hitting the river's surface sent waves crashing upward.
Onoki stared blankly, shaking his head in disbelief. "This can't be... Even Uchiha Madara lost to Jigen. How could..."
His voice trembled, and doubt clouded his mind.
Not just Onoki—every Iwagakure ninja witnessing the scene felt despair creeping into their hearts.
The battle between the two had been so vividly displayed that everyone understood their power was far beyond anything they could contend with. Now that Hyuga Fuji had emerged victorious, the fate of Iwagakure seemed sealed.
(End of Chapter)