Chapter 358: Inner World Battle
"Ordinary physical attacks... ineffective?" Minato Namikaze landed a strike yet saw Urashiki recover instantly, brow slightly furrowing. "Then let's try ninjutsu effects next."
His hands rapidly formed a simple Shadow Clone seal.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
Several Minato shadow clones instantly appeared! All clones simultaneously vanished from their positions, appearing almost the same instant at different battlefield locations.
Simultaneously, Minato's main body raised his right hand. In his palm center, azure chakra spun at high speed—Rasengan instantly forming!
"Hmph, boring lower life form tactics!" Urashiki hovered midair, responding to Minato's tactical changes with disdainful cold snort, casually raising his arm.
However—
Whoosh!
Just the instant Urashiki raised his hand, Minato's figure appeared without warning directly before Urashiki, close at hand!
The distance between them was insufficient for Urashiki to completely position his arm for blocking!
"What?!" Urashiki completely didn't see how Minato moved!
During the earlier first successful Flying Thunder God kunai ambush, Minato had already left Flying Thunder God formula marks on Urashiki's "consciousness body!"
"Almighty Pu... !!"
Urashiki hastily attempted activating repulsive force to repel Minato, but Minato's attack was faster than his mind's activation!
WHAM—!!
The Rasengan containing powerful chakra and spinning cutting force solidly struck Urashiki's hastily incompletely defended chest!
"Urgh—!"
Urashiki released a pained grunt, entire person uncontrollably flying backward.
WHAM!
He heavily "fell" in the distance, chest showing a shocking massive hole with edges continuously dissipating red energy light points!
But under Minato and Nine-Tails' focused observation, that wound sufficient to instantly kill any physical life surprisingly rapidly sealed from edges—merely two or three breaths later, recovering completely.
"This...?!" Minato's eyes sharpened. During external battle, though Urashiki's recovery was strong, he absolutely didn't possess this near-"instant regeneration," "immortal" characteristic.
"Fourth Hokage!"
Just then, Nine-Tails' voice suppressing tremendous emotions thundered. Minato turned—saw Nine-Tails' beast eyes viciously, deadly staring at him.
"Just this once! I'm lending you power!" Nine-Tails' voice carried undeniable quality plus final-ultimatum-like warning. "You better guarantee... this time you can truly save Naruto! Otherwise... permanently get lost back to the Shinigami!"
Words unfinished, Nine-Tails' massive claw had already formed a seal!
"ROAR—!!"
Next instant, Minato felt that chakra pathway always maintaining his existence and connected to Nine-Tails violently surge with unimaginably vast chakra!
Golden chakra radiance erupted from within him, transforming into brilliant flowing golden chakra cloak with edges floating chakra flames!
Nine-Tails Chakra Mode! Moreover complete-body, unreserved Kurama power blessing!
"Yes! Thank you!" Minato immediately responded in deep voice. He'd actually already vaguely sensed some clues behind Urashiki's "immortal" characteristic during just-now attacks. Now he needed more powerful strength to verify his speculation and execute next-step plans.
He completely ignored Nine-Tails' "failure consequence" threat in words. Because compared to this chakra consciousness possibly dissipating from excessive consumption... losing his son, letting Naruto be replaced by the monster before him—for Minato that pain was tens of thousands of times more despairing! Even if Nine-Tails didn't hold him accountable afterward, he'd never forgive himself.
"ROAR—!!!"
On the other side, Nine-Tails released earth-shaking roars containing hatred, anxiety, and destructive desire even a hundred times stronger than when controlled by Uchiha Madara's Sharingan years ago! Because what it currently guarded was this world's most important, most special existence to it.
It violently opened giant maw, aiming at distant just-recovered, expression-gloomy Urashiki! A continuously expanding Tailed Beast Bomb rapidly condensed! Violent chakra fluctuations like substantial hurricanes swept the entire mental world's grassland—lake waters raised massive waves, grassland pressed down!
Unprecedented killing intent! If Naruto truly met with accident, even dismembering this Otsutsuki wouldn't calm one trace of Nine-Tails' hatred! It had even prepared worst plans—once situation completely lost control, it would spare nothing using certain forbidden powers costing its own existence!
While Nine-Tails charged power, Minato's brain rapidly worked, calmly analyzing current situation.
According to Urashiki's just-now "confession," he currently existed as a so-called [Karma] data compressed body within Naruto's body. His power was gradually "adapting," "thawing," fusing with Naruto's body.
Minato also clearly sensed—a massive, cold, invasion-filled heterogeneous chakra aura continuously spread from mental world's "depths," concentration slowly yet persistently rising.
And just now—the instant Rasengan struck Urashiki, causing "damage" and sending him flying—that continuously rising Otsutsuki chakra concentration noticeably stagnated momentarily! Though quickly recovering growth trend, this brief interruption was crucial!
"So that's it..."
Urashiki's current state wasn't true "immortality." His consciousness body tightly connected with dispersing Otsutsuki chakra.
Each "injury" or power usage consumed or interfered with this part of "adapting"-process chakra, thereby briefly delaying "thaw" speed.
His eyes became incomparably cold, deciding to test his speculation's correctness.
"AWOOOO—!!!!!"
Just then, Nine-Tails completed charging power—Tailed Beast Bomb like meteor shot violently toward Urashiki!
"Useless! Think you can do anything to me?!" Urashiki watched the howling Tailed Beast Bomb, though expression slightly changed, still spoke stubbornly.
Body again began transforming into countless crimson energy paper cranes, planning to use the same old trick, using that "elementalization"-like ability to avoid this strike.
"Your nonsense is too much."
However, a cold voice rang out almost pressed against those scattering flying paper cranes!
Golden radiance flashed—Minato precisely appeared at the core position where paper cranes were about to regroup!
And behind him in distance—precisely one of several pre-positioned Minato shadow clone positions! One clone had already positioned itself in specific posture, hands forming seals.
Flying Thunder God Guiding Thunder!
"Wha...?!" Urashiki's dispersed consciousness sensed intense spatial fluctuations but too late!
That pitch-black Tailed Beast Bomb supposed to be dodged—at the instant about to sweep past his original position—seemingly struck an invisible spatial mirror, instantly changed trajectory, vanishing!
Next second—
Right at Urashiki's paper cranes' "exact center" about to reform, space violently tore open a crack!
That destruction-power-containing Tailed Beast Bomb returned from where it came, from Urashiki's "body interior" about-to-form center point, thunderously erupting!
"BOOM—!"
Explosion and energy annihilation! Pitch-black destruction light sphere completely swallowed that area! Blinding radiance and violent chakra turbulence swept everywhere!
"AHHHHH—!!" Urashiki's miserable painful screams came from explosion center, obviously this attack completely exceeded his expectations, solidly hitting vital point!
Radiance and smoke gradually dispersed.
That area was completely empty—not even a trace of red energy remaining.
But neither Minato nor Nine-Tails relaxed vigilance.
As expected, merely seconds later, surrounding air's permeating Otsutsuki chakra again began accelerating convergence—red light points like reverse snowflakes emerged from void, rapidly condensing...
Urashiki's somewhat illusory but eyes carrying even greater shock and fury figure again slowly manifested!
"...Looks like this is his 'confidence' source."
Minato's eyes calmly observed Urashiki's "revival" entire process, verifying most speculation.
"Cannot be 'eliminated' by conventional methods. As long as [Karma's] data and fusion process remain, he can continuously 'regenerate.' Each 'elimination' merely makes that Otsutsuki chakra adapting to Naruto's body stagnate, disorder momentarily, delaying some fusion time."
Consciousness body relies on [Karma's] data and dispersing chakra existence—conventional methods are indeed difficult to "eliminate."
But... if unable to be "eliminated"...
A familiar yet effective plan instantly clearly emerged in Minato's mind.
What about sealing techniques?
***
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