"Plenty of people want me dead," Fujimoto Tōma said calmly, watching Urashiki's temperament spiral out of control. "Yet here I am."
The change was obvious. The earlier Urashiki had still carried himself with mock politeness, even using honorifics.
This one was pure rage.
"Die!" Urashiki roared, thrusting his palm forward.
"Amenominaka: Soul Guard!"
Crescent-shaped arcs of violet light erupted from his hand, slashing through the air toward Tōma like a storm of warped moons.
Tōma watched without panic.
Long-range suppression. No attempt to close the distance.
So even after transforming, Urashiki still didn't want to fight him up close.
That alone told Tōma everything he needed to know.
Still, he didn't lower his guard.
"Sage Art: Wind Release – Vacuum Barrage."
Blades of compressed wind tore forward, colliding with the violet crescents. Explosions rippled through the sky as chakra crashed against chakra, the shockwaves tearing the clouds apart.
If anyone else were watching, they might've thought they'd wandered into some over-the-top fantasy battle. Two figures hovering in midair, hurling beams at each other like they had infinite chakra to burn.
Eventually, Urashiki faltered first.
His attacks slowed.
Tōma tilted his head. "That's it?"
Urashiki snarled, but still didn't charge.
"If you're done," Tōma said, bored, "then it's my turn."
Urashiki barely had time to conjure a black chakra rod before Tōma vanished.
The kick landed square in Urashiki's abdomen.
Blood sprayed as his body was sent flying.
Tōma raised an eyebrow. "Huh. It hit."
No rewind. No temporal correction.
So the transformation stripped him of that ability.
That was disappointing.
Tōma flashed again. Another kick. Then another.
Urashiki was battered through the air like a kicked ball, screams trailing behind him. Finally, Tōma appeared above him, hands clasped, and smashed downward.
Urashiki became a falling meteor.
The impact shook the ground violently, leaving behind a massive crater.
Tōma peered down. "So all this did was make your skin tougher?"
Urashiki staggered upright, barely conscious. Only then did he realize the truth.
The mark.
The Flying Thunder God seal was already on him.
When? He didn't know. His thoughts drowned in pain.
Dragging himself skyward, Urashiki gathered chakra wildly. Purple energy surged around him, violent and unstable.
"Last stand?" Tōma muttered. "Sure. Let's see it."
A massive, black-violet spectral creature formed behind Urashiki, shaped like a monstrous oarfish. Between its jaws, a gigantic sphere of crimson-purple chakra condensed.
"Amenominaka: Dragon Palace!"
It looked disturbingly similar to a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Tōma frowned slightly. Getting hit by that head-on would be a bad idea.
He weighed his options.
Too much power would be wasteful. Too little would be dangerous.
Then he smiled.
Tōma pulled out a Flying Thunder God kunai and raised it between his hands.
Black sealing symbols bloomed in the air before him, spreading outward in a cross-like pattern until they completely covered the incoming sphere.
"Flying Thunder God: Guiding Thunder."
The massive chakra sphere vanished the moment it touched the seal.
Urashiki laughed in triumph, convinced he'd won.
Then the same sphere reappeared.
Right in front of him.
The Flying Thunder God seal burned on his body.
There was nowhere to dodge.
The explosion consumed everything.
Light flooded the horizon.
When it faded, nothing remained.
Tōma stretched lazily. "Guess that worked."
He hadn't even used his true top speed.
Honestly, Urashiki had been… underwhelming.
But that didn't mean the Ōtsutsuki as a whole were.
"Better not get complacent," Tōma murmured.
Back in Konoha, Naruto, Sasuke, Boruto, and the older Sasuke were waiting.
The moment Tōma appeared, they knew.
"Is he…?" Boruto asked.
"Gone," Tōma replied. "Completely."
They stared.
"That… sounds excessive," Naruto said weakly.
Tōma shrugged. "Unintentional."
Relief washed over them.
"Then you can return to the future safely," Tōma said, looking at Boruto and the older Sasuke.
Boruto smiled. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."
Then Tōma paused.
"Wait. When you go back… which future do you return to? Yours, or ours?"
Silence.
That… was a terrifyingly good question.
Boruto paled and checked his pack. "Uh… where's Karasuki?"
"Relax," Tōma said. A small moon-colored sprite appeared on his shoulder, gently dropping the turtle-like relic. "Safe."
Karasuki immediately panicked under the sprite's stare and popped out of its shell.
"I can't answer that!" it blurted out. "This situation's unprecedented!"
Naruto scratched his head. "Well… if it doesn't work, you can stay with me."
Boruto hesitated, smiling softly, but didn't answer.
"Our families are still waiting," the older Sasuke said quietly. "We have to try."
Naruto nodded. "Yeah. You're right."
"How long until you can move them?" Tōma asked.
"Two or three days," Karasuki said quickly.
"Then use the time," Tōma replied. "Finish what you need to."
As they dispersed, the older Sasuke lingered, conflicted.
In the end, he said nothing.
Some things didn't need erasing.