Chapitre 157: Ch.157 Fierce Battle on the Moon!
Just as Uchiha Shinji dashed out of the temple, he was greeted by the sight of countless Tenseigan puppets, all converging toward him in formation.
"Damn it!"
He cursed under his breath, not slowing down. With a flash of movement, he leaped onto the floating rocks and sped toward the Ōtsutsuki clan's castle.
Neji followed closely, exiting the temple only to witness the same overwhelming swarm of Tenseigan puppets in the sky. He gasped in shock and quickly kept pace with Shinji.
Earlier, he had been confused about why Shinji was fleeing so urgently.
Now, he understood!
It wasn't just the sky. The Ōtsutsuki castle had also released a massive number of Tenseigan puppets, all rushing toward them along the floating stone path.
Seeing the incoming swarm from both the sky and ahead, Neji shouted, "What do we do, Uchiha-sama?"
Shinji coldly responded, "We fight our way through!"
The entire area, including the castle and floating mountains, was encased in a protective barrier. To escape, they would either have to break the barrier or retreat through the passage they had used to infiltrate the area.
The barrier was clearly powered by the giant Tenseigan.
In the original timeline, Toneri Ōtsutsuki once told Hinata that as long as they remained within the barrier, even if the moon crashed into the Earth and wiped out the surface, they would still be safe.
This demonstrated how incredibly strong the barrier was.
Thus, their only chance of survival was to retreat through the passage they had used to enter!
Before long, the two sides clashed on the floating stone path.
Boom boom boom!
The high-level Tenseigan puppets from the castle raised their hands, firing chakra energy blasts similar to light waves.
In an instant, the floating stone path was filled with flying energy beams and continuous explosions!
Shinji knew their only chance to escape depended on time.
If the Ōtsutsuki clan members controlling the giant Tenseigan caught on and used its power against them, their chances of survival would plummet.
They couldn't afford to be entangled by these Tenseigan puppets.
While dodging the incoming chakra blasts, Shinji's eyes swept the battlefield, formulating a plan.
"Susanoo!"
His eyes sharpened as he activated Susanoo again, this time summoning its armored half-body form without holding back on his dojutsu.
With a surge of power, he commanded Susanoo to grab the floating stones around them and hurl them toward the oncoming Tenseigan puppets.
Boom boom boom!
Huge boulders, five to six meters in diameter, shot through the air like cannonballs, instantly suppressing the Tenseigan puppets on the other side of the stone path, throwing everything into chaos.
Seizing the moment, Shinji dashed forward, using Susanoo's defense to withstand several chakra blasts from the Tenseigan puppets, with Neji closely following.
As they reached the Ōtsutsuki castle, Shinji didn't forget to observe its overall defense mechanisms despite their frantic escape.
Although the swarm of Tenseigan puppets in the sky rushed toward them, Shinji and Neji were on the verge of slipping into the castle's interior, making this particular group less of a concern.
Meanwhile, the Tenseigan puppets on the stone path had either been smashed to pieces by the boulders Susanoo hurled or punched away by its massive fists. The few remaining puppets were disoriented, flying around like headless flies.
Looking farther into the distance.
The floating stone mountains in the air were dotted with shining lights—likely more Tenseigan puppets preparing for battle. With his sharp eyes, Shinji even noticed turrets extending from the towers.
"It seems the castle's full defense system activates once the giant Tenseigan is disturbed…"
As this thought crossed Shinji's mind, he wasted no time, diving into the passage they had used to infiltrate.
Boom!
With another punch from Susanoo, Shinji shattered several Tenseigan puppets blocking their way and continued racing toward the castle's lower levels through the passage.
Along the way, more Tenseigan puppets attempted to intercept them.
But against Susanoo, these puppets could only delay them slightly, doing no real damage.
Watching the mighty Tenseigan puppets being effortlessly destroyed by Susanoo, Neji, trailing closely behind Shinji, was awestruck. "So… so strong!"
Earlier, when Neji saw the swarm of puppets converging on them, he had thought their doom was sealed.
Yet, following Shinji through the castle, he realized to his astonishment that unless one's strength reached a certain level, they stood no chance against Shinji.
Many of the high-level Tenseigan puppets, whose strength Neji had estimated to be near jōnin-level, were nothing more than one-punch fodder for Shinji's mighty Susanoo.
Stopping at a fork in the passage, Shinji asked Neji, "Which way?"
Neji quickly composed himself, activating his Byakugan and scanning the area. After a moment, he pointed to the right. "Uchiha-sama, this way!"
But just as he finished speaking, he suddenly shouted, "Wait, no!"
Shinji turned back. "What's wrong?"
Neji responded, "There's not only a large group of puppets in that passage, but there also seems to be a living person mixed in with them, heading this way!"
Shinji's expression darkened.
Anyone alive in this castle could only be a member of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
What he feared most wasn't just any foe—it was the members of the Ōtsutsuki clan capable of connecting to the giant Tenseigan. The Tenseigan's power was overwhelmingly dominant, allowing it to forcibly extract chakra from anyone not of the Hamura Ōtsutsuki bloodline.
In the original timeline, Toneri Ōtsutsuki, even with his Tenseigan still in its fetal stage, used the giant Tenseigan to extract chakra from Naruto, who had just sealed Kaguya Ōtsutsuki in the Fourth Great Ninja War.
Naruto, at that point, was nearly at the peak of power in the shinobi world.
Yet after the giant Tenseigan was destroyed by Naruto and Hinata, even though Toneri awakened his own Tenseigan with the ability to cut through the moon, he still lost to Naruto.
This showed just how much the giant Tenseigan boosted Toneri's combat strength.
Despite the growing concern, the only path to escape lay ahead. Gritting his teeth, Shinji braced himself and pushed forward.
Within moments, they encountered the approaching group in the passage.
Shinji's face grew even more grim as he spotted the white-haired Ōtsutsuki clan member among the Tenseigan puppets.
The man's chakra was significantly stronger than that of the elder Shinji had encountered in the temple earlier.
Judging by Shinji's keen senses, this Ōtsutsuki clan member's chakra levels were undoubtedly Kage-level.
Fortunately, the man looked quite old, his strength seemingly past its peak.
The elderly Ōtsutsuki clan member snarled, "You filthy shinobi dare trespass in our sacred land!"
With a wave of his right hand, swish swish swish, the high-level Tenseigan puppets around him shot toward Shinji like arrows.
Shinji's gaze sharpened as he swiftly activated Susanoo, swinging its blade to slice through the oncoming puppets while simultaneously casting Izanagi-no-Mikoto at the elderly Ōtsutsuki.
Susanoo's blade released a massive slash, cleaving through the passage and obliterating the Tenseigan puppets rushing toward them.
Boom boom boom.
The sound of the collapsing passage mixed with the rising clouds of dust!
In the dust-filled corridor, Shinji's face beneath the mask turned grim.
In the future he glimpsed through Izanagi-no-Mikoto, he had barely lasted two or three minutes against the elderly Ōtsutsuki's furious assault before being defeated.
Whether it was Susanoo or Amaterasu, neither could hold up against the giant Tenseigan's power.
Huff.
On the other side, the elderly Ōtsutsuki clan member waved his hand lightly, and an invisible repulsive force instantly cleared the dust from the passage.
As the dust settled, the sight of shattered puppets and the wrecked corridor only seemed to inflame the elderly Ōtsutsuki's anger further. "You filthy intruders on the moon… I will personally erase you!"
Receiving another glimpse of his future, Shinji made up his mind and immediately activated Izanagi-no-Mikoto once more before the elder could launch his next attack.
Since his dojutsu wasn't working, this time Shinji planned to try close combat to see if he could find an opening.
In the next instant, he saw another glimpse of the future.
But this time, he lost even faster than before.
Despite the elder's frail appearance, his taijutsu was incredibly refined, far beyond Shinji's ability to handle. In less than fifteen seconds, the elderly Ōtsutsuki had defeated him.
Suddenly, the elderly Ōtsutsuki lunged at Shinji.
Just as Shinji was about to make his move, he felt a sudden force pulling him into the air, dragging him toward the elder.
"Tch!"
Shinji clicked his tongue in frustration and immediately drove Susanoo's arms into the walls of the corridor, managing to resist the mysterious pulling force.
By now, the elderly Ōtsutsuki was right in front of him, a brilliant blue chakra orb in his hand as he slammed it into Susanoo's chest.
Swish!
In an instant, the elder's chakra orb began absorbing Susanoo, pulling the colossal avatar into it.
"Damn it!"
Without hesitation, Shinji swiftly retreated.
In the future glimpse provided by Izanagi-no-Mikoto, Shinji had seen the elder use this very move. In that vision, Shinji hesitated for only a moment, and the elder not only absorbed Susanoo but drained all of his chakra as well.
Now, the orb in the elder's hand, which had absorbed Susanoo, turned golden.
The elder glanced at his hand, seemingly surprised by the high level of Shinji's chakra. However, the flicker of doubt in his eyes quickly disappeared, replaced by anger. With a wave of his hand, he shot the stolen chakra back at Shinji.
Shinji's face darkened, forcing him to summon Susanoo again to block the golden chakra blast.
Boom!
Another massive explosion echoed through the corridor.
Neji, hiding behind Shinji, covered his ears as he struggled to observe the battle.
At this level of combat, Neji had lost the ability to intervene. He didn't even dare to move, knowing that if he left the protection of Shinji's Susanoo, he might be killed by the random bursts of chakra.
At the same time, he was shocked by the nature of the fight.
In Neji's understanding, shinobi battles were built around taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and ninja tools.
No matter how strong a shinobi was, they couldn't stray from these core elements.
Yet here, neither combatant had made a single hand seal, but every move was an advanced application of chakra manipulation.
Witnessing this, Neji realized how small and insignificant he truly was. His vaunted Gentle Fist now felt utterly mediocre.
The elderly Ōtsutsuki stared intently at Shinji and suddenly asked, "Your chakra… it's unusual. Did you steal the Gedo Statue?"
Shinji blinked, caught off guard.
Normally, he was the one passing off the blame to others, but this was the first time someone had tried to pin something on him.
"No answer?" The elder sneered, "That's fine. Once I capture you, I'll search your memories myself!"
Shinji exhaled slowly, reaching into his pouch and pulling out the small nutrient jar containing the Byakugan he had taken earlier.
The elder's expression changed, his eyes narrowing. "That… is that…?"
Shinji calmly opened the jar and took the Byakugan from within, placing them in his palm.
The elder stepped forward, shouting, "Where did you get those Byakugan?"
Neji, confused, also looked toward Shinji, not understanding why he had taken out the Byakugan.
"Ahh…"
Shinji sighed softly and activated Susanoo!
In an instant, the golden Susanoo roared, and from the third empty eye socket beneath its mask, a golden beam shot out, absorbing the Byakugan from Shinji's hand.
The elder was horrified. "W-what did you just do?"
Neji, too, was stunned. He had never imagined that Shinji's Susanoo could absorb the Byakugan like that.
Shinji had been holding back his fully evolved Susanoo to keep his abilities a secret. Revealing his ultimate form risked exposing his Mangekyō Sharingan's true capabilities.
As both a member of the Uchiha clan and the Lampbearer sworn to protect the world, keeping his power hidden had always been a priority.
But now, faced with certain death, he had no choice.
With the Byakugan integrated into his Susanoo, Shinji could now use Byakugan chakra. This meant he was immune to the giant Tenseigan's chakra extraction ability!
With newfound confidence, Shinji commanded Susanoo to swing its massive sword down, aiming directly at the elder.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone