GSiN: Ch. 207

Black spikes closed in on Ryouma from all directions. In the blink of an eye, the space around him was transformed into a thorn-filled death zone.

Earlier, while Jigen was speaking, he had taken advantage of the upwind position to silently scatter these extremely tiny spikes around Ryouma. All he needed to do afterward was use Sukunahikona to restore them to their original size, thereby creating the perfect conditions for an instant kill upon first contact. This move had almost no startup at all, so much so that even the most exceptional sensory ninjas would be unable to detect it. For enemies whose eyesight was lacking, it was essentially an ability that meant certain death the moment it was seen.

What he didn't know was that the chakra-sensing ability Ryouma had displayed since his debut was merely a byproduct of the Rikugan. When it came purely to observation and analytical ability of the surrounding environment, only the Tenseigan might barely qualify to contend with him.

In the instant chakra was converted, the Flying Thunder God Technique activated in response. The coordinate Ryouma chose was precisely the Flying Thunder God mark that Shukaku had secretly attached beneath Jigen's foot. Without the slightest disturbance, his figure flashed behind Jigen.

At the same time, he used his Ratio Technique.

Within the diamond-shaped Yin Seal on his forehead, the Nine-Tails' chakra roiled violently. He formed a sharp, golden fox claw in his right hand. Wrapped in piercing cold light, it slashed viciously toward the critical point on Jigen's body.

The sound of metal crashing against metal rang out.

Five perfectly aligned black rods abruptly appeared behind him, arranged in parallel, blocking Ryouma's attack.

The first attack missed, and Ryouma reacted instantly, changing tactics. His right wrist snapped with explosive force, using the momentum to drive Jigen backward. Then, following through, he flung his arm. Three kunai tore through the air toward the retreating Jigen.

At the same time, his hands formed seals at lightning speed.

In the span of a single breath, the three Flying Thunder God kunai multiplied into countless copies. Within a hundred-meter radius around Jigen, the area was instantly engulfed. Wherever the wind-chakra-enhanced kunai struck, earth and stone exploded upward.

Billowing clouds of dust rose, nearly blotting out the sky. Jigen used the recoil from the kunai impacts to twist his waist and turn around, forming a black staff in his hand. He swung the staff so densely it formed an impenetrable barrier, batting away the incoming rain of shuriken one by one as crisp, continuous clashes rang out.

Not only that, he even spared the attention to control the tiny black spikes he had left in their original positions, causing them to rapidly revert to their original size. Dozens of black spikes suddenly appeared out of thin air, instantly skewering Ryouma's body from head to toe. But in the very next second, the Ryouma pierced through by black spikes suddenly dispersed like a mirage, transforming into a puff of smoke and vanishing into the air, leaving behind only a few swaying black spikes.

"A clone?" Jigen muttered to himself, his gaze sweeping across every corner that might conceal a Flying Thunder God mark.

At the moment when all his focus was devoted to searching for those markings, a figure tore through the smoke.

Ryouma launched himself forward. Nine golden chakra tails condensed behind his back, whipping through the air as they slashed toward Jigen from every direction. With no time to think about why his opponent always appeared behind him, Jigen repeated his old trick, enlarging the rods hidden within the seams of his clothing at the points where the attacks were about to land.

Bang!

Blinding sparks erupted where the fox tails collided with the black rods.

Ryouma's Rikugan analyzed the black rods in real-time. Drawing upon the memories transmitted back after the earlier shadow clone was pierced, he came to understand this version of Jigen's black rods. Their true nature differed slightly from the black rods created by Madara, but not by much. More importantly, his Ratio Technique could perceive the structural weaknesses in their composition.

The fox tails adjusted their angle mid-strike, targeting those precise weak points. Under Jigen's slightly astonished gaze, those supposedly unbreakable black rods were cleaved through.

Having finally broken through his opponent's defenses, Ryouma didn't hesitate. He surged forward, Haki flooding through his arms and fists. His right fist drove toward Jigen's ribs. At the same time, two golden fox claws manifested from his chakra cloak, slashing from opposite angles.

At the brink of life and death, the markings covering Jigen's body spread rapidly. The flesh atop his head writhed as a vicious horn burst forth.

Kāma Stage Two, activated.

In this state, the power of Isshiki was released far more completely within Jigen. The most immediate manifestation was the Kāma marks on his body, rapidly devouring the hardened fox claws.

Ryouma's punch, however, connected solidly with Jigen's torso. The impact sent shockwaves rippling through the air, but Jigen's enhanced durability in Kāma Stage Two absorbed most of the force.

Ryouma sighed inwardly. Even though he knew this surprise assault had already failed, he still wanted to gamble once more. He proactively dispersed the golden fox claws, his hands moving in a blur as two Flying Thunder God kunai appeared in his palms.

However, before he could make a move, Sukunahikona was activated, shrinking the two kunai to nearly imperceptible size. With no other choice, he flashed away, using the Flying Thunder God to put distance between himself and Jigen.

The battlefield fell into a brief silence.

In the few short seconds of exchange just now, neither side had gained the upper hand.

"I never gave you the chance to touch my body, so how did you manage to leave a mark on me?"

Naturally, Ryouma had no intention of answering Jigen's question honestly. "Just a few tricks of a ninja. They can't possibly compare to the techniques of Ōtsutsuki."

The moment those words were spoken, the heart of Isshiki, hidden within Jigen's body and controlling his actions, skipped violently. The calm, composed expression he had maintained since the start of the battle finally cracked.

"Where did you learn this information?!"

"What information? Didn't the Ōtsutsuki clan visit the shinobi world a thousand years ago? I just happen to like studying history, and just happen to know about your existence."

Ryouma spoke utter nonsense with a straight face, not a single honest word leaving his mouth. Jigen stared intently at him. Naturally, he didn't believe this hole-ridden story.

Suddenly, as if he had caught onto something crucial, his expression changed abruptly. "You're connected to that traitor, aren't you?"

"Your imagination is pretty rich."

Ryouma shrugged indifferently, a grin appearing on his face.

"To be honest, all of this was told to me by a friend of mine named Ōtsutsuki Teuchi. He came to the shinobi world later than both you and Kaguya, so it's normal that you've never heard of him."

"Enough!"

Jigen roared angrily, no longer willing to listen to this endless bullshit.

A dangerous aura radiated from his body. After the previous rounds of probing, he had already roughly figured out Ryouma's upper limits. With his current stats in Kāma Stage Two, he could completely suppress his opponent with ease.

A powerful gust of air exploded outward with him at the center. The surging chakra carried an overwhelming pressure, almost as if it were about to solidify, weighing heavily on everything around it.

Ryouma could clearly feel the killing intent locking onto him. He instinctively lowered his center of gravity, Armament Haki flowing through his entire body in preparation.

Good. This is what I need.

The Rikugan shimmered faintly as it was pushed to the limit, capturing every minute contraction of Jigen's muscle groups, trying to predict his next movement trajectory.

Just then, a soft click sounded. A piece of debris from the exhibition hall's ceiling slowly fell due to the vibration of the air currents.

Almost at the same moment, Jigen's figure vanished along with that faint sound, disappearing without a trace.

What had been deathly still a moment ago instantly turned into a violent storm. With no flashy movements whatsoever, Jigen's right fist shot straight toward Ryouma's face. Compared to before, the speed was on a completely different level.

In that split second, Ryouma managed to perceive the trajectory of Jigen's attack thanks to the Rikugan and his Observation Haki, but his body simply couldn't react in time to dodge due to the sheer terror of that speed. His Armament Haki reinforced his face and neck, but he knew it wouldn't be enough against this kind of power.

Left with no choice, he had to use the Flying Thunder God Technique. At the instant the fist was about to strike his face, space-time rippled slightly.

His figure vanished from the spot and reappeared at a safe location where he had pre-marked a seal. This was pure stat-based domination, just like how Ryouma, after activating his Nine-Tails Mode, could still beat down the Seven-Tails' host who had drunk the Hero Water.

When the gap in raw stats is too large, the weaker side has no room for maneuvering.

Fortunately, the Flying Thunder God Technique still hadn't been power-crept. Relying on his prediction of Jigen's muscle movements, Ryouma once again blinked away at the limit, narrowly dodging several black rods that Jigen flung at him.

Jigen's brows twisted tightly into a deep frown. The feeling of being toyed with by Ryouma like a bull in an arena made him extremely displeased. So he stopped deliberately controlling his chakra consumption and chose to push the output of Sukunahikona to the limit of Kāma Stage Two.

In an instant, both in the air and on the ground, those tiny black spikes that he had scattered earlier seemed to receive some kind of command and almost simultaneously reverted to their original size. The entire battlefield was immediately covered in a dense mass of black spikes.

Golden flashes flickered continuously within it. Jigen watched from the side, and the moment he found an opening, Sukunahikona was activated at full power once more.

On the battlefield, every spot that Ryouma had previously teleported to began to shrink in an eerie manner. Deep, shocking craters collapsed into the ground, as if the earth had been repeatedly bombarded by fierce artillery fire from some unseen dimension.

Ryouma suddenly felt the ground vanish beneath his feet. A powerful sensation of weightlessness struck instantly, and his body plunged uncontrollably into a deep pit.

Seeing Ryouma fall into the trap, Jigen did not hesitate and continued activating his technique.

The next moment, the earth and rocks that had been shrunk suddenly returned to their original size. The violently compressed space generated a terrifying crushing force, directly burying Ryouma alive deep underground. Immediately after, several gigantic stone spikes capable of sealing chakra were taken out by Jigen from Daikokuten. Like meteors, they fell from the sky, precisely impaling the spot where Ryouma was buried beneath the earth and stone, kicking up clouds of dust.

If possible, Jigen actually wanted to capture Ryouma alive. After all, there were far too many mysteries surrounding him. But space-time ninjutsu was simply too unfair. If he didn't fight with the intent to kill, it was impossible to land a hit.

"But that person called Teuchi... does he really exist? Or is it just..." he muttered to himself, feeling it necessary to take some time to make a trip to Konoha and investigate in secret.

However, just as he was preparing to exit Kāma Stage Two, the "grave" he had personally created to bury Ryouma suddenly emitted a powerful chakra fluctuation without any warning.

---

Underground.

Ryouma stood alone inside a narrow yet sturdy tunnel, his aura completely restrained. At this moment, his mind was in extreme focus. He activated the Ratio Technique, perceiving the fundamental structure of his own cells at the atomic level.

With the precision control granted by the Rikugan, he identified the perfect ratio, where cellular energy could be most efficiently converted and amplified. When the energy of the very first cell underwent this optimized conversion, the ensuing chain reaction ignited his entire body in less than a millisecond.

This was the most violent possible application of chakra as a form of energy, and also the pinnacle of power a carbon-based lifeform could unleash.

Golden-red light began to leak from his skin as he activated his ultimate form.

"Super Saiyan Mode 2."

---

Above ground, Jigen watched that area with vigilance.

The next second, beams of golden light tore through layers of earth and stone and burst forth.

Immediately afterward, an incomparably massive pillar of golden-red light shot straight up from the ground, soaring into the sky.

"Can't you just die quietly?"

He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked up at the beam of light in the sky, seemingly even brighter than the sun, as it rapidly expanded within his vision.

A golden-red meteor dragged a dazzling tail of flame, carrying an overwhelming sense of pressure, and crashed straight toward the earth with thunderous force.