Otsutsuki Urashiki struggled to open his eyes, his vision filled with a chaotic mix of blue and purple electrical light.
"You lowly, inferior creatures!" he roared.
Splurt!
Two Kusanagi blades pierced his body from either side. With a sharp crackle, the electrical light intensified.
"Aaargh!" Otsutsuki Urashiki's body convulsed, and his life signs gradually faded.
The two Sasukes withdrew their Kusanagi blades. The unsupported corpse, pulled by gravity, slumped to the ground.
Pluck!
Naruto pulled the black rod from his head. With the sealing power's restriction gone, a terrifying surge of Yang Release energy rushed to the damaged area of his brain.
"It seems Urashiki's Rinnegan ability was precognition," Kurama's voice sounded.
"Something like precognition, but if it allowed me to avoid it, it probably wasn't true future sight." Naruto weighed the black rod in his hand. If it had been true precognition, Urashiki would definitely have seen his head turn. Being pierced in the head by such an Yin-Yang Release construct, even with his Yang Release, if all his cranial nerves had been destroyed, he would have had to bid farewell to this world.
Sizzle—
White smoke rose from his head. Under the almost overflowing Yang Release energy, his wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Your eye?" Kurama's tone was slightly worried.
Naruto gently covered his left eye. It had been mostly pierced through by the black rod. Even with Yang Release healing, his left eye had completely lost its sight. "It's fine, just one eye." He didn't feel much emotional turmoil about becoming one-eyed.
Although Urashiki's combat experience was lacking, with his arsenal of powerful abilities, he was definitely the most terrifying enemy Naruto had ever faced. To fight such a formidable foe, emerge victorious, and only lose an eye was already a stroke of luck.
Rip!
He tore a strip of cloth from the corner of his garment and covered his blinded left eye. A dull, whitish eyeball was still quite horrifying to look at.
"He won't... play dead, will he?" Uchiha Sasuke asked, looking at the motionless corpse on the ground. After all, for a guy who couldn't even be killed by a Tailed Beast Bomb to die so easily at their hands, there was an inexplicable sense of unreality.
"Form transformation is the Otsutsuki clan's last resort," Future Sasuke affirmed. Strictly speaking, this was the second Otsutsuki he had cut down, so he was relatively experienced in this regard.
Swoosh!
Naruto appeared beside the two. "Is it worth researching?" he asked Future Sasuke, looking down at the corpse on the ground.
"Yes," Future Sasuke nodded. Their reverse engineering of Otsutsuki Momoshiki's cells had already yielded a lot of information about the Otsutsuki clan. If they had Urashiki's corpse for comparison, they could definitely analyze even more intelligence. Especially since Urashiki's body was almost entirely undamaged, unlike Momoshiki's, from whom they only had some fragmented cells.
"Naruto! Take the eye from his forehead!" Kurama suddenly said. "You can't let your eye stay blind forever, can you? Whose eye isn't an eye? This guy's Rinnegan might even enhance your strength!"
Naruto's expression flickered. He immediately bent down and removed the golden, nine-tomoe Rinnegan from Urashiki's forehead.
"Hm?" Seeing this, Future Sasuke instinctively wanted to reach out and stop him—after all, it was important research material—but then he remembered Naruto's left eye being blinded by Urashiki, and he stopped his movement.
Naruto stored the faintly glowing golden, nine-tomoe Rinnegan in a sealing scroll.
"Can I handle this corpse?" Uchiha Sasuke suddenly asked.
Future Sasuke turned a puzzled gaze towards him. What's with everyone wanting to become a grafter? Besides, Urashiki's most valuable parts have already been taken. Those two golden eyes are nice, but they're definitely no match for an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Thinking this, he quickly tried to dissuade him, lest he go astray.
"Itachi has already left his eyes for you. Advancing to the Eternal Mangekyo is the most correct choice. Every pair of Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan has the potential to evolve into Rinnegan."
"I know." Uchiha Sasuke nodded. Future Sasuke had informed him and Itachi about the Eternal Mangekyo's potential to evolve into Rinnegan during their very first meeting. Although not explicitly stated, it could be inferred from various peripheral details.
As he spoke, Present Sasuke's right Mangekyo Sharingan spun rapidly, and a large number of strange purple runes once again crawled over his sword blade.
Seeing this, Future Sasuke instantly understood his intention and immediately explained the ability of Present Sasuke's right Mangekyo. After all, Naruto had made the greatest sacrifice in killing Otsutsuki Urashiki; he deserved the biggest say in the division of spoils—the corpse.
"An ability to manipulate the dead?" Naruto looked at the Kusanagi blade with its strange patterns in surprise, then nodded slightly. If they could manipulate Urashiki and make him speak, the gains would far exceed researching Otsutsuki clan cells. After all, they knew nothing about the Otsutsuki clan's overall strength, values, or social structure. If they could obtain relevant information from Urashiki's mouth, it would be crucial for resisting the Otsutsuki clan in the future.
Receiving permission, Present Sasuke directly plunged his Kusanagi blade into the corpse on the ground. The manipulation technique, under his control, slowly began to spread.
Hm? Future Sasuke frowned slightly. Although he wasn't entirely clear on the specific cost of the March of the Dead, he instinctively felt something was wrong. Logically speaking, among all Mangekyo Sharingan abilities, Susanoo, which consumed the dojutsu power of both eyes simultaneously, should be the most draining. But Present Sasuke's current dojutsu consumption actually gave him the illusion that he was using Susanoo. No, this level of dojutsu consumption, unless it was a Perfect Susanoo, wouldn't be this terrifying!
"Stop, for now!" he quickly interjected. Using the Mangekyo Sharingan for such a task was not only damaging to the eyes but also to his body.
Present Sasuke paid him no heed, continuing to output dojutsu power. His crimson right eye began to dim, taking on a lifeless white hue.
After a few breaths, just as the whiteness was about to completely cover his right eye, the strange purple runes finally enveloped Urashiki's entire corpse. Present Sasuke's body swayed, as if about to fall due to excessive exertion.
Naruto, standing beside him, quickly supported him. Life-giving Yang Release chakra slowly transferred into his body through their physical contact.
"..." Since it had come to this, Future Sasuke could only sigh faintly. He really is as stubborn as a mule.
"I'm alright," Uchiha Sasuke said, covering his nearly blind right eye. The Mangekyo truly was a double-edged sword. How long had it been since he awakened it, and he was already blind in one eye? How on earth did Itachi use it for so many years?
Otsutsuki Urashiki, lying on the ground, also slowly stood up. A purple glint occasionally flashed in his golden eyes as he stared blankly at the three of them.
"What is your name?" Present Sasuke's expression changed slightly, and he quickly asked.
Otsutsuki Urashiki: "..."
Future Sasuke also felt a sense of incongruity. Unlike the sentient Torune Aburame, this Otsutsuki Urashiki seemed more like a soulless puppet. "Is it because of the Otsutsuki clan's unique nature?"
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