Ryosuke, who had just been teleported over, was in terrible condition.
No one expected that Toneri would randomly descend upon a city and use killing as a way to challenge Ryosuke.
Because something like this… was completely meaningless.
From a purely rational perspective, Ryosuke could've gathered manpower and flown over slowly.
A truly cunning opponent would descend on the Research Institute or Kirigakure, that would be the optimal choice. That way, no matter the result of the war, Ryosuke's side would suffer massive personnel and property losses.
It seemed the only explanation was... Toneri understood Ryosuke extremely well, knowing he would never allow civilians to die, and would definitely come alone using the Heaven-Sending Technique.
But… Was that really the case?
Of course not.
Toneri's attention toward Ryosuke wasn't even half of what he paid to Naruto.
He simply felt this way was more convenient.
Ryosuke?
Just a mortal.
Especially when Toneri saw Ryosuke's condition, he became even more certain of his earlier conclusion, the technique Ryosuke used was a high-speed teleportation method, moving objects at near-light-speed, putting immense strain on the body.
The wounds Ryosuke had just barely healed tore open again under this speed.
Strands of purple light, the symbol of the Dragon Vein, drifted out, gathering around him, mixing with golden Ripple light, as though he were draped in flowing purple-gold ribbons.
It looked dazzling, but to a true powerhouse, it was simply instability in his ability to control his own energy.
Ryosuke was slightly out of breath. To save the two kids earlier, he had consumed a use of Time Stop.
But whether it was the reopened wounds or the fatigue in his body, none of it affected Ryosuke's fighting will.
In his black-and-white pupils burned a volcanic killing intent, spreading along his gaze, like a blade stabbing straight toward the space between Toneri's eyebrows.
"Heh!"
Toneri let out a cold laugh, baring his teeth as he looked down at Ryosuke, feeling the unstable fluctuations of his power.
"You can't even endure long-distance teleportation?"
"The so-called strongest in the shinobi world… so that's all you amount to."
Toneri turned his head, glancing at the gazes coming from the corner of the city.
These lowly humans had, moments ago, been swallowed by despair.
Yet the instant Ryosuke arrived, in those pairs of gray-white eyes, a glimmer of dazzling hope appeared.
"Once I butcher you, these filthy commoners…"
"Should finally understand what 'fear' means!"
Before the sound even finished, Toneri suddenly vanished from the air, his speed far surpassing the limits of Ryosuke's dynamic vision.
The next instant, he appeared behind Ryosuke, a spinning whip kick whipping toward Ryosuke's head.
Judging from the posture, he intended to explode Ryosuke's skull with this single blow.
Toneri's tactical choice wasn't wrong.
Because of the Dragon Vein energy's influence, Ryosuke's body couldn't move freely, he couldn't use Ripple defense, and his physical body was far more fragile than usual. A blow exploding his head might truly injure him severely.
However… Toneri had stepped into Star Platinum's attack range.
"ORA!"
Ryosuke's fury, under Star Platinum's roar, surged forth with that blazing, star-like fist. It swung out with a howl and smashed straight into Toneri's shin as it whipped past.
It had been so many years.
Ryosuke couldn't remember how long it had been since someone had voluntarily stepped into Star Platinum's range, choosing to fight him with taijutsu.
And Star Platinum's fist had never disappointed him.
Crack!
The sound of bones shattering rang out.
Toneri's eyes widened.
"How… is this… possible…"
As a member of the Otsutsuki clan, his physical durability far surpassed humans. Not to mention that Toneri had already set up defensive barriers and chakra shields on his body.
Just one punch... smashed through all of Toneri's defense.
Ryosuke responded only with an icy, expressionless stare.
Buzz!
A sharp wind whistle rang out.
Toneri looked down and saw a high-speed rotating iron ball in Ryosuke's hand. A pink humanoid cat had just withdrawn its fingers from the iron ball.
"Golden Spin: First Bomb!"
Ryosuke fired the iron ball.
If the Ripple was pure power, then the Golden Spin was pure technique taken to the extreme.
It did not require much "strength" from the user. More strength was certainly better, but as long as one had the power to throw the iron ball, the Golden Spin would flawlessly unleash the power of rotation.
Thus, whether Ryosuke was injured or not, it didn't affect the killing force of an iron ball carrying the First Bomb.
The moment he saw the iron ball flying toward him, Toneri's hair stood on end. Ignoring the cracks spreading up his shin, he raised his hand and roared, "Get lost!"
A wave of repulsive force erupted, blasting the iron ball far away.
Toneri had just let out a breath of relief, when he suddenly sensed something wrong.
"Why wasn't Ryosuke pushed back?!"
Only then did he notice that Star Platinum had vanished.
Standing beside Ryosuke now were a pink humanoid cat (Killer Queen), and a stiff-faced, dark green humanoid Stand (C-Moon).
C-Moon stuttered out two words, "Kneel… down…"
'Kneel?'
A completely mismatched phrase that left Toneri confused.
He was about to widen the distance and condense chakra for defense again. Since his close-quarters combat was suppressed, he might as well switch to long-range ninjutsu.
But the moment Toneri moved his foot, a mountain-like gravity suddenly appeared.
Toneri's eyes bulged. His already fractured left leg snapped completely, white bone piercing through the thigh. The massive gravity, combined with the injury, made him lose all control and collapse into kneeling.
At the same time, the Golden Spin iron ball that had been blasted away made a turn and flew back again.
This was Lesson 3-level Golden Spin.
Locked-on tracking.
And because it had been repelled by Toneri's repulsive force, its speed and impact were even stronger than when Ryosuke originally threw it.
"Ryo..."
Toneri had just opened his mouth... the iron ball smashed directly into his temple.
Killer Queen pressed her thumb.
Crack! BOOM!
A violent wave of chakra burst out, then was erased by the explosion.
Toneri… Was completely uninjured.
After being punched by Star Platinum and having his defenses shattered, Toneri no longer held back. He poured massive amounts of chakra into rebuilding extremely thick, highly concentrated chakra defenses.
Ryosuke glanced at the rapidly regenerating chakra barrier.
Killer Queen faded, and Star Platinum reappeared.
Ryosuke looked down at the kneeling Toneri.
Blasting through all these layers of barriers was no simple matter. And without breaking the barriers, he couldn't strike the real body. Therefore, break the barrier and the body together.
"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!"
Star Platinum's fists rained down on Toneri's head. Looking closely, one could see circles of distortion forming in the air around the fists.
This was C-Moon applying "gravity" to Star Platinum's punches, a Dice-Six-Star combo technique, Ultra-Gravity: ORA Barrage.
Toneri's chakra was draining wildly. Even as an Otsutsuki with a Tenseigan, no ordinary shinobi could endure this with chakra alone.
Toneri trembled violently. Even with the barrier between them, blood seeped from his eyes, nose, and ears.
Star Platinum's fists were too heavy.
So heavy that even the slightest vibration transmitted through the chakra shield could kill him.
At that moment, another flash of Heaven-Sending Technique thundered.
Tsunade, Onoki, Terumi Mei, A, and Killer B, the five arrived at the same time.
They were the support unit, just a few seconds late.
Before the light of teleportation fully faded, Terumi Mei said, "We need to hurry. Ryosuke's physical condition is terrible, he needs our support!"
A nodded heavily.
Whether Ryosuke lived or died, he didn't care, he just wanted to beat up an alien.
He opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly heard an extremely familiar "ORA" sound. His neck shrank reflexively as the teleportation light dissipated.
A stared blankly at Toneri, kneeling on the ground, getting brutally beaten by Star Platinum. Then he looked at Ryosuke, whose entire body burned with violet radiance.
"You just said… we're supposed to support who?"