At this moment, the Sage of Six Paths no longer maintained the composed demeanor of an "enlightened hermit" that he had displayed upon his initial appearance. His eyes burned with fury as he glared at Sōmi, who was in the process of extracting Asura's soul.
The Sage let out a low shout, and the Sharingan on his forehead flashed with a bloody glow, causing his figure to tremble slightly.
If one had extraordinary eyesight and looked closely, they would notice that the palms of the Sage's hands now bore faint sun and moon markings.
"This guy..."
"Did he just reclaim the Yin-Yang power from Naruto?"
Sōmi's eyes flashed coldly.
He sneered inwardly. Preaching about peace and bonds, yet keeping the most powerful forces firmly under his own control?
Even the Yin-Yang power he granted to his own son was merely a loan...
In an instant—
Sōmi's hand plunged violently into Naruto's abdomen, and with a swift pull, he extracted a faint green figure of the Nine-Tails fox.
The fox howled in distress, its expression filled with fear and anxiety, as well as a hint of desperate hope. It was clear that it, too, sensed the presence of the Sage of Six Paths.
"Kurama!"
The Sage called out from afar. Among the nine Tailed Beasts, Kurama had always been his favorite. This favoritism was evident even in the distribution of the Ten-Tails' Chakra.
Then, the Sage's Rinnegan flashed with a purple light.
The space around Sōmi began to tremble subtly, as if an invisible force was attempting to forcibly "shift" the space.
"Hmm?"
"So this is the ability of his Rinnegan..."
"It does resemble Sasuke's a bit..."
"But if he thinks he can snatch something right under my nose..."
"Hmph!"
Sōmi's mind raced as he snorted coldly and uttered a single word: "Seal!"
Crack!
The space around Sōmi suddenly "manifested" with purple vein-like patterns, resembling willow branches or wisps of smoke.
These strange "plants" immediately burrowed deeply into the spatial rifts, their "roots" seemingly absorbing some invisible spatial energy to strengthen the spatial lock.
"Hmm..."
"Even my..."
The Sage's eyes flickered with a strange light, and a trace of apprehension crept into his heart as he regarded the arrogant young man before him.
Hearing the Sage's call, the Nine-Tails struggled even more fiercely, clawing and thrashing as if trying to escape Sōmi's control and return to its true master.
But unfortunately, with Sōmi's current power and mastery of sealing techniques, he would never give the Sage or the Nine-Tails any opportunity.
Suddenly, nine silver metallic chains shot out from Sōmi's abdomen. The chains were shaped like dragon heads biting their tails and radiated a faint purple glow.
The chains plunged deep into the Nine-Tails' body, eliciting a pained and anguished howl from the beast.
In the next moment—
As Sōmi formed a series of hand seals, the remaining half of the Nine-Tails was dragged by the chains and sealed directly into Sōmi's abdomen.
Thud!
As a strange purple light burst from Sōmi's abdomen, his heartbeat seemed to grow even stronger.
Sōmi could clearly feel the immense vitality spreading through his body as the sealing array refined and concentrated the Nine-Tails' Chakra before infusing it into him.
"Ah~"
Sōmi's Rinnegan flickered as he let out a sigh of extreme satisfaction.
Meanwhile, having lost its Yang Release power, the resilient blue Chakra in Naruto's heart flickered violently before extinguishing completely.
Naruto's life force dissipated in an instant.
Returning to his senses, Sōmi wasted no time. He immediately used the Shinigami Mask to extract Asura's soul and seal it within the mask, just as he had done before.
Though it seemed like a lengthy process, all of this occurred in mere moments.
For someone like Sōmi, who possessed Six Paths-level power, sealing the remaining half of the Nine-Tails was as effortless as lifting a finger.
Boom!!!
After reclaiming his Yin-Yang power, the Sage of Six Paths summoned a fully-formed Susano'o.
This sky-blue Susano'o bore some resemblance to Madara's, with its tengu-like appearance and twin giant blades hanging at its waist.
However, the sheer size of the Sage's Susano'o was astonishing. Even as Sōmi stood atop his statue, he could only look up at it. The clouds in the sky barely reached the Susano'o's chest.
The 300-meter-tall statue only came up to the Susano'o's knees.
This colossal Susano'o was likely over 1,000 meters tall!
"So, you're finally getting serious?"
"Hahaha!"
"You, who divided the Ten-Tails into nine Tailed Beasts..."
"Do you really think you're that strong?!"
Sōmi laughed wildly, then deactivated the two shadow clones he had sent out earlier to gather Natural Energy.
Ever since becoming a unique Jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails, Sōmi had kept Shukaku in a constant state of slumber, isolating it from the outside world with multiple layers of seals to prevent the Sage of Six Paths from awakening or controlling it through some unknown means.
Without Shukaku's help in refining Natural Energy, Sōmi had sent two shadow clones far away to gather it instead, long before his battles with Madara and Naruto.
Sōmi knew that unlike Madara and Naruto, the Sage of Six Paths was also a master of Senjutsu. To fight him, Sōmi couldn't rely on the same overwhelming advantage in Senjutsu Chakra.
In preparation for this battle, Sōmi had devised a strategy to temporarily "drain" the nearby Natural Energy, preventing the Sage from using it.
Whoosh!!!
Suddenly—
As the two clones gathering Natural Energy were dispelled, Sōmi's aura surged at an astonishing rate. A boundless torrent of blue energy, as vast as the ocean, flooded into Sōmi's body...
The energy was so immense that even Sōmi, as the Jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails, couldn't fully absorb it. Streams of terrifying energy overflowed from his body.
"Sage Art: Super Prison-Suppressing Wisdom King!"
Pouring all the accumulated energy into the statue beneath him, the statue's arms began pounding its massive chest. Its three heads opened their eyes wide, their expressions fierce, and let out deafening roars.
Moo!!!
Accompanied by metallic crashes and thunderous roars, the statue's body began to expand like an inflating balloon.
Before long, its height surged until it reached the chest of the Sage's colossal Susano'o.
"What?!"
"Impossible!!!"
The Sage's body trembled, and an indelible trace of shock appeared in his eyes.
Such an enormous amount of Senjutsu Chakra, condensed entirely into a single statue?
"This young man..."
The Sage of Six Paths began to doubt whether Sōmi was truly a "native." Even as a hybrid with celestial blood and unparalleled talent, the Sage himself had never achieved such mastery over Senjutsu.
Why...
In truth, this was a misconception shared by beings like the Sage of Six Paths, who believed their overwhelming power made them invincible and never considered the possibility of stronger enemies.
As a result, they stagnated, or even regressed, in their abilities over time.
Sōmi was different. From the very beginning, he understood the importance of Senjutsu.
Ever since learning Senjutsu at Ryūchi Cave, Sōmi had devoted every moment not spent studying sealing techniques to exploring the myriad applications of Senjutsu alongside Shukaku.
Previously, limited by his Chakra reserves with only Shukaku, Sōmi had been unable to unleash the full potential of Senjutsu. But now, things were different.
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