Just as Ronin's sealing technique was about to fully take effect, golden patterns gradually appeared on the silver ingot. At the same time, a gap slowly cracked open in it.
Looking through that opening into the silver ingot, one could even see the tangled structure inside.
Inside the Gold and Silver Ingot, there was a mechanical structure, but at the same time, there was also a tree.
A tree with lush branches and leaves, like a money tree.
The sealing formula spreading across the Gold and Silver Ingot was moving along the internal machinery toward the tree.
But before the sealing formula could spread onto the tree, the part where the tree connected to the machinery suddenly loosened.
The next second, the cracked silver sphere directly fell away from the tree, and dazzling golden light bloomed from the tree itself.
The golden light that had previously shot down from high in the sky now burst directly from the tree and rushed toward Ronin and Odo, who had been exposed after the silver ingot fell away.
Everything happened too quickly.
But Ronin still reacted in an instant.
Amenotokotachi activated immediately, enveloping the entire exposed tree within it.
This kind of attack lockdown consumed a tremendous amount of Ronin's power, but its effect was also extremely obvious. The golden light blooming from the tree was frozen inside the imprisoned space in an instant.
Ronin pulled back, putting distance between himself and the tree while also avoiding the range of the golden light attack.
Under Ronin's control, Odo made the same movement.
After all, both of them were currently high in the sky. Without Ronin's control, Odo's movements would be greatly restricted.
And while dodging away, Ronin also canceled Amenotokotachi.
Golden light erupted and shot out extremely far, but it failed to harm anyone.
Instead, Ronin noticed that after the golden light erupted, a new metallic luster began slowly appearing around the roots of the tree.
Amid the flickering metallic sheen, a new spherical shell was being conjured.
But now that Ronin had already seen the core of the Gold and Silver Ingot, how could he allow it to recover?
So he aimed Amaterasu directly at the tree and covered it with black flames.
Capturing this thing alive would not be easy, so it was better to destroy it outright.
That was Ronin's true thought at this moment. After all, through contact with it, he had also discovered that if he had not been able to use Amenotokotachi, the golden light blooming from the tree the instant the shell fell away would have been enough to pierce through and kill every being that got close to the Gold and Silver Ingot.
It really was a dangerous thing.
But after Amaterasu was activated, Ronin's expression did not improve.
Because at the same time Amaterasu appeared, the tree had already been wrapped again by a sphere covered in both gold and silver patterns.
Under the burning of Amaterasu's black flames, the golden color on the sphere rapidly faded.
Judging from its appearance, the Gold and Silver Ingot wanted to repeat its old trick and absorb the attack energy falling onto it.
Ronin did not care at all.
Because he did not believe the Gold and Silver Ingot could consume Amaterasu.
He even felt some anticipation, wondering whether this absorption of Amaterasu would allow the black flames to bypass the Gold and Silver Ingot's outer shell and burn inside.
But his idea was quickly shattered.
The black flames did not decrease because of the silver ingot's absorption, but the tree inside did not catch fire from absorbing the black flames either.
Because after confirming that it could not deal with the black flames, the Gold and Silver Ingot once again used the trick of shedding its shell.
The silver ingot shell covering it fell away again.
And this time, as the shell fell off, it took all the Amaterasu flames with it.
"I can try."
Just as Ronin's expression turned somewhat grim, Odo's voice came from the side.
"As long as you can send me near that tree, I'm confident I can use my ability to control it."
Odo was extremely confident.
While the silver ingot sphere existed, his ability could not reach the tree at all, so he naturally could not complete the control.
But when the silver ingot shell shattered and the energy-like tree inside was exposed, Odo knew his chance had come.
It was just that by himself, he could not possibly complete the control of the Gold and Silver Ingot. So he needed Ronin to create an opportunity for him.
"Good," Ronin answered simply.
The sealing technique could not invade the inside of the Gold and Silver Ingot. That method of shedding its shell was practically the most shameless move Ronin had ever seen. Especially when combined with the silver ingot's energy absorption method, it pushed its defensive effect to the limit.
The only reason Ronin could keep suppressing the Gold and Silver Ingot was because of the special effects of his own abilities.
Now that Odo had confidently proposed a strategy, Ronin, who was temporarily at a loss against the Gold and Silver Ingot, naturally chose to trust him.
After all, Odo was also betting his life in this battle.
As for whether Odo would turn against him after truly completing control of the Gold and Silver Ingot, Ronin was not worried at all.
Because he had already left the Caged Bird Seal on Odo.
One could say that Odo's life and death were completely within a single thought from him.
Ronin moved.
After the silver ingot shell broke away, the tree had already begun generating a new shell.
If he wanted Odo to touch the tree inside, he had to break open its outer shell once more.
And the simplest way to break that shell was to use Amaterasu.
However, judging from the speed at which the Gold and Silver Ingot generated its shell, Ronin had only a single instant to send Odo to the tree.
The new shell had already formed, but just as the tree was wrapped inside it, Amaterasu flames descended again.
This time, the Gold and Silver Ingot's choice was not the energy-absorbing silver state, but the brilliant golden state.
But no matter what ability the opponent possessed in its gold ingot state, Amaterasu's flames still burned it.
As golden light bloomed, the Gold and Silver Ingot's only choice was to shed its shell again.
And at the exact moment its shell peeled away and golden light was about to bloom from the tree, Ronin activated Amenotokotachi again.
"Go. I'll save you!"
The instant Ronin froze the space where the tree was, he also threw Odo directly toward the tree.
However, he knew very clearly that even if Odo could touch the tree, he would not be able to escape the fate of being pierced by the golden light.
But as long as his heart was not pierced, Ronin had a way to keep Odo alive and bring him back.
Odo knew his choice was already one with only a slim chance of survival.
So the moment he was thrown out, he adjusted his angle and pressed close to the tree, making the golden light that erupted from it concentrate on the side of his abdomen.
Then, with both hands, he pushed through the golden light and reached toward the tree.
At that instant, Ronin canceled Amenotokotachi, giving Odo a true chance to make contact.
But it also caused Odo's body to be pierced through by the golden light in an instant.
The concentrated laser took only a moment to completely riddle Odo's abdomen into a mangled, sieve-like mess.
Yet not the slightest pain appeared on Odo's face.
There was only the proud curve of his lips, and his eyes, filled with excitement, looked toward Ronin.
He had succeeded!
The moment his hands touched the tree while being pierced by the golden light, he knew his ability had worked perfectly.
Now, this tree was no longer a Gold and Silver Ingot.
It was his War Ancient Tree.