Urashiki grabbed the basket of fish and stuffed it into his mouth. Then, a golden door appeared before him.
He lifted his foot, ready to step inside. But before entering, he turned his head toward Madara, a sinister smile creeping across his face.
"Human, when I come back out, I won't be as gentle as I am now. By the way, your chakra is truly delicious."
Madara raised a brow, feeling slightly disgusted by Urashiki's words.
Urashiki let out a few deranged chuckles, then turned and stepped into the door.
When Urashiki emerged, his body had inexplicably grown avian features, looking very much like a birdman.
Most striking of all was the new Rinnegan that had opened on his forehead—golden, just like the pair he already had.
He erupted into crazed laughter, his voice completely different from before, now raspy and unnerving.
Madara snorted coldly.
"Stop putting on a show!"
Urashiki's laughter cut off abruptly. He extended his hand toward Madara and spoke in a chilling tone.
"I saw how much you enjoyed using this move earlier. Perfect timing—you should try mine too!"
As he finished, a powerful repulsive force burst from his palm—Almighty Push.
Madara released his own Almighty Push. The two forces collided in midair, but Urashiki's transformed state proved stronger. Madara hurriedly drove his black rod into the ground, barely managing to steady himself.
When Madara looked up again, Urashiki had already appeared before him, swinging a talon toward his face.
With his Limbo clones still in cooldown, Madara had no choice but to block with his arm. But Urashiki's transformed strength was overwhelming—he sent Madara flying with a single strike.
Seeing this, Itachi immediately controlled Susanoo to form several crimson magatama and hurled them at Urashiki.
Urashiki sneered dismissively. He opened his mouth and swallowed the magatama whole.
Then, raising his hand, he fired a purple energy sphere at Itachi. Susanoo quickly raised the Yata Mirror to block the attack.
But before Itachi could catch his breath, Urashiki appeared right before Susanoo and delivered a crushing kick to its abdomen.
Crack!
A sharp shattering sound rang out as Susanoo dissolved into countless red light fragments and scattered into the air.
Against the mighty Ōtsutsuki, even the third stage of Susanoo wasn't enough to hold its ground.
But Itachi had already prepared for this. Just as Urashiki's hand reached for him, his body scattered into a flock of crows.
Urashiki struck nothing but air. Frustrated, he cursed angrily.
"These bizarre tricks again!"
In a frenzy, he fired off several purple energy spheres in all directions, tearing the Valley of the End into ruins.
At that moment, Madara returned to the battlefield. He pressed his hands together and growled lowly.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
A massive wooden dragon burst from the earth, charging at the rampaging Urashiki.
Urashiki destroyed it with a single punch. But the falling fragments reformed into smaller wooden dragons, wrapping tightly around his body.
With a furious roar, Urashiki unleashed another Almighty Push, blasting the wooden dragons to pieces.
Itachi seized the opening, casting Amaterasu. Black flames engulfed Urashiki and the surrounding wood, creating a sea of darkness.
...
Meanwhile, Kinshiki, looking like a human pincushion, collapsed heavily to the ground. Even so, Obito didn't miss the chance to drive in yet another black rod. Kinshiki's body trembled violently before finally going completely still.
Minato twitched at the corner of his mouth.
"Obito, you're even harsher than sensei!"
Obito shrugged.
"Minato-sensei, you literally shoved a Rasengan into his mouth just now. Don't play modest with me!"
Then he gave Kinshiki's body a casual kick and muttered.
"This guy is way weaker than Jigen was!"
Minato had never seen Jigen, so he had no frame of reference for his strength. Curious, he asked,
"Kaito went to face that Jigen, didn't he?"
"Yeah. Don't worry, sensei. That guy doesn't stand a chance against Kaito-sama!"
"But Kaito still hasn't returned yet. I can't help but be a little worried."
Obito opened his mouth to reply, but suddenly, a black portal appeared out of thin air—and Momoshiki stepped through.
Both Minato and Obito's faces changed instantly. Momoshiki's appearance screamed true-blooded Ōtsutsuki. They quickly split apart, surrounding him on both sides.
But Momoshiki didn't even glance at them. His gaze dropped coldly onto Kinshiki's body.
"To think you'd let mere humans beat you into this state. How disgraceful."
At the sound of his voice, Kinshiki's eyes snapped open. Weakly, he spoke.
"I'm sorry, Momoshiki-sama. I was useless..."
Hearing their exchange, Minato's expression grew grim. This Momoshiki clearly outranked the hulking one—and that meant an even more dangerous enemy had arrived.
Obito was thinking the exact same thing. They exchanged a quick look, then lunged at Momoshiki together.
Momoshiki didn't move. He simply spread his arms, welcoming them head-on.
The miniature Tailed Beast Bomb Minato hurled was instantly absorbed by the red Rinnegan in Momoshiki's right hand. In the next moment, an enlarged Tailed Beast Bomb launched from his left, flying straight at Obito.
Obito's pupils contracted. He quickly shifted into intangibility with Kamui. The massive bomb passed through his body and shot into the distance. After a heartbeat of silence, a towering mushroom cloud erupted skyward.
Momoshiki glanced at Obito with mild surprise.
"A space-time ability? Interesting."
Then he turned to Minato.
"But you're even more intriguing. I can feel the Ten Tails' chakra inside you!"
He raised his hand and unleashed a Universal Pull, dragging Minato toward him.
Just as Momoshiki was about to grab him, Minato vanished—only to reappear in the same spot a moment later.
He exhaled in relief, heart still racing.
"Good thing I left a Flying Thunder God marker beforehand. That Rinnegan of his is dangerous—if he catches me, it'll be trouble!"
Having failed twice in a row, Momoshiki's pride was stung. He let out a cold snort.
"Another space-time user? Hmph. No wonder you two managed to defeat Kinshiki."
Kinshiki struggled to speak.
"Momoshiki-sama, these humans are tough. Let me become your strength!"
Momoshiki's expression darkened, as if insulted. He roared in fury.
"Silence! They're just humans—I don't need..."
Before he could finish, Urashiki's agonized screams echoed across the battlefield.
Momoshiki froze for a moment, then activated his Byakugan, gazing into the distance. What he saw was Urashiki, engulfed in Amaterasu.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
"He... transformed?!"
----------------
Fanfic is finished on Patreon (516 chapters in total.)
Patreon(.)com/Jixo (for only $4.50, read this entire fanfic)