Amidst Natsuro's wild laughter, Black Zetsu's widened eyes were bloodshot with rage.
He couldn't accept this outcome. How could he accept that everything he had worked for all these years had been used by the man before him?
Even Kaguya Ōtsutsuki furrowed her brows at this moment, but Black Zetsu suddenly shouted,
"Mother! Kill him! You must kill him!!" Then he paused, as if realizing something critical.
"Natsuro Shindōkawa! Your plan is impressive — flawless even. I never saw it coming.... But there's one fatal flaw in it!" Black Zetsu broke into a twisted smile.
"And that flaw is, as long as you die here, then everything you've done will amount to nothing but the pathetic performance of a clown, a cosmic joke!"
Yet Natsuro didn't even seem to hear him. He just kept laughing. That laughter filled Black Zetsu's gaze with fury and frustration.
When Natsuro finally stopped laughing, he completely ignored Black Zetsu. He raised a finger and pointed straight at Kaguya, shouting:
"Come, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki! Let's finish this, the final battle!"
"Kamidogawa Natsuro, I shall remember your name... and my ultimate victory," Kaguya replied coldly.
The blood-red Rinne Sharingan on her forehead flared open. In the next instant, a massive amount of chakra surged into her palm, and she unleashed it in a sweeping motion.
In a single moment, countless glowing fists like meteor showers came hammering down toward Natsuro!
These were fists empowered by Sage-level might — overwhelming, unrelenting, and perfectly balanced between offense and defense!
"Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack!!"
"Haha! Perfect timing!"
Faced with the sky-covering barrage of fists, Natsuro's eyes lit up with excitement. Laughing loudly, he didn't even try to dodge, he charged straight into the oncoming attack!
"Hmph! Courting death!" Black Zetsu sneered. He could tell that Natsuro's raw power was no match for his mother's, the only reason Natsuro had lasted this long was due to his tricky abilities.
And now Natsuro was throwing away that advantage? To Black Zetsu, it made no sense. Still…
He couldn't shake off a trace of worry, what if Natsuro had yet another trick up his sleeve? This man had performed too many miracles already.
But…
Natsuro's entire body was now crackling with lightning. Power surged into his fists, every ounce of strength, every bit of control over chakra he had mastered to this day.
Unmatched brute force, his mastery over chakra control would leave even Tsunade humbled. Lightning-enhanced physical strength, his body had adapted to withstand the most intense levels of electrical stimulation, something not even the Raikage's Lightning Chakra Mode could achieve!
A radiant light began to condense on his arm, forming into a dazzling, dragon-shaped gauntlet!
And with his Six Paths-level physique added to that mix…This wasn't just a punch to shatter mountains, this was a strike meant to obliterate everything in its path!
Natsuro stared into the white glowing fists before him, eyes burning with anticipation. Then he threw his own fist forward — no dodging, just raw collision!
"BOOM!!"
Only two fists had clashed, yet the air exploded with the sound of a shockwave.
A savage wind burst outward, slicing through everything like blades.The Eighty Gods Vacuum fist was shattered, after all, it was a pure energy construct. On a one-to-one basis, it couldn't withstand Natsuro's raw physical might fused with his chakra mastery.
But that was just one fist, the sky above was filled with hundreds more.
Natsuro didn't stop. He kept swinging!
"Kuh…!"
As he smashed through a few more, he felt blood rising in his throat, the backlash from the force was too great. But he swallowed it down, ignoring the trembling in his arm, and grinned.
No trace of fear. He raised his fist again and clashed with the next.
"BOOM!!"
More shockwaves. Again and again. He couldn't keep up forever.
Eventually, the brilliant white dragon-shaped gauntlet on his arm shattered, and one of Kaguya's fists landed clean.
Natsuro's body was sent flying backward. The pain was so intense that he couldn't even use Flying Thunder God in that moment, he crashed hard into the ground.
"BOOM!!"
But Kaguya gave him no time to breathe. More fists rained down like meteors, pounding the spot where Natsuro had landed. Dust and explosions filled the air.
Still, Kaguya soon paused. She frowned and looked toward another direction.
She sensed it, Natsuro had already used a space-time technique to escape elsewhere. Even Yomotsu Hirasaka required some time to activate… but Flying Thunder God?
It allowed him to instantly move to another location.
"Cough, cough!" Standing beside one of his marked kunai, Natsuro finally couldn't hold back and coughed up blood. But there was not a hint of discouragement in him, instead, his eyes shone with intense light.
"Again!"
This time, he actively charged toward Kaguya.
Kaguya couldn't understand why Natsuro would continue such a reckless, pointless assault. But she could tell from his blood and wounds, her Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack was working.
It had gained the upper hand. And if something works…
Then keep using it. With that thought, she raised her palm again.
"Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack!"
Once again, countless glowing fists materialized in the sky and flew toward Natsuro.
And again, he raised his fist and collided head-on!
"BOOM!"
Same result. Natsuro was blown away, then barely used Flying Thunder God to escape follow-up attacks.
He was in rough shape now, his whole body battered, injuries severe.
But he didn't stop. His eyes still burned with fervor. He looked at Kaguya, bloodied and broken, and grinned.
"Keep going!"
Then he charged again, like a warrior with no fear of death.
Black Zetsu found it bizarre. The Natsuro he remembered would never throw himself into such a losing battle. But for the moment, he couldn't stop Kaguya's attacks.
Because... he couldn't figure out why Natsuro was doing this.
Right now, Kaguya clearly had the upper hand. Even if Natsuro escaped with Flying Thunder God, every collision was wounding him further.Eventually, soon, he wouldn't survive even a few more hits.
So unless Black Zetsu could figure out the reason behind it, he couldn't justify telling Kaguya to stop.
He stared as Natsuro was once again knocked into the ground. His mind raced, trying to understand the purpose behind this madness, but he simply couldn't.
What he could see was…
Natsuro could barely stand. His hair and face were covered in blood and dust. His once-pristine divine robes were now tattered rags.He looked utterly wrecked.
But why, even now, even in this state, why was he still smiling like a madman?!
Black Zetsu didn't understand. Kaguya didn't either.
But Kaguya could sense it, one or two more hits, and this troublesome enemy would finally be dead.
So...
"EIGHTY GODS VACUUM ATTACK!!"
Kaguya gave Natsuro no time to catch his breath, once again swinging her hand to unleash an attack.
But this time, Natsuro didn't rush headlong into the oncoming blows as he had before. He stared at the incoming fists filling the sky, and his smile grew even brighter.
He could feel the power surging inside him. Finally, in that moment, he used his opponent's strength to take the final step and complete the ultimate fusion.
Right then and there, Natsuro genuinely felt grateful to Kaguya for her generosity, for continually using the very Kekkei Mōra ability he had so desperately pursued!
In fact, ever since he'd been able to manifest Truth-Seeking Orbs outside his body, Natsuro had technically qualified to begin fusing Kekkei Mōra within himself. But it required time, after all, chakra fusion inside the body was entirely different from fusing it externally.
More importantly, the risk was on a completely different level.
If external fusion of the seven chakra natures failed and caused an explosion, he could simply throw it away.But if fusion failed inside the body, even with Six Paths-level resilience, the consequences could be catastrophic.
Yet the heavens had given Natsuro no time to slowly explore Kekkei Mōra.
So he endured Kaguya's Rabbit Hair Needle. And now, at the risk of being obliterated by the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack, he used his own body to experience the physical force of Kekkei Mōra firsthand.
Thankfully — no, inevitably, he succeeded.
Because he had always believed he could.
And now, he had done it.
Natsuro took a deep breath, then threw a punch toward the barrage of fists descending from the sky.
As he did, he shouted, "Eighty… Gods Vacuum Attack!!"
In the very next instant, countless energy fists surged upward, perfectly mirroring Kaguya's own technique, and clashed with the ones raining down from above!
Kaguya's punches swiftly overpowered and shattered the ones coming from below, crashing into the ground. But…
"Impossible!!!"
Both Kaguya and Black Zetsu widened their eyes in shock. It wasn't the outcome of the clash that startled them, it was the fact that Natsuro could even use the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack at all!
They turned their eyes toward another direction, Natsuro had already teleported away using Flying Thunder God.
There he stood, one hand holding his head, his smile brighter than ever. His eyes gleamed with fierce confidence as he laughed and locked eyes with Kaguya.
"Looks like I win."
"Why can you use the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack?!" Kaguya asked, visibly shaken.
"That technique is mine, a taijutsu created from my own body and the Byakugan! How could you possibly use it?!"
"Heh," Natsuro chuckled.
"My version of the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack is, of course, incomplete. Without the Byakugan, it only retains its offensive capabilities, it loses its defensive and all-encompassing properties."
He had deciphered the entire technique, but he could only replicate the offensive part of it.
Still, that wasn't the reason for his elation.
"Mother! That's not the point!" Black Zetsu had finally realized what was going on. He stared at Natsuro and said bitterly, "You're insane! You actually gambled with your life!"
"Thanks for the compliment," Natsuro replied with a shrug, "But it looks like I won the bet." as he spoke, radiant Yang chakra poured out from his body, rapidly healing his wounds.
Kaguya still looked slightly puzzled, so Black Zetsu began explaining.
"Mother, he wasn't trying to learn the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack. What he was truly after… was Kekkei Mōra!" Black Zetsu's voice trembled.
Because he understood in order to even use the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack, one must possess Kekkei Mōra. And to master its full form, the true offensive-defensive version, one needed the Byakugan.
But Natsuro clearly hadn't aimed to perfect it. He had already reached his true goal.
Black Zetsu couldn't help but click his tongue.
Considering the state Natsuro had been in just moments ago, if he'd taken just a few more hits, he might've died.
Even during the earlier clashes, if he had faltered even slightly and been hit more times, it would have killed him outright.
And yet… he went through with it anyway. And before he was beaten to death by the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack, he succeeded in mastering Kekkei Mōra.
Even Black Zetsu felt a deep sense of disbelief, and a profound sense of awe.
So reckless… so insane.
"Kekkei Mōra?" Kaguya finally seemed to understand. She frowned slightly, was that something one even needed to learn?
As an Ōtsutsuki, Kekkei Mōra was practically an innate ability, something she had been born with.
Kaguya was aware that Natsuro had inherited the power of the Sage of Six Paths. So she had assumed he was naturally capable of using Kekkei Mōra as well. When Black Zetsu finished speaking, it took her a moment to even react.
Now, she looked seriously at Natsuro, her Byakugan seemingly piercing into his very soul.
And then… she saw something that even she found impossible to believe.
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