A round war fan, under the swing of Uchiha Madara, let out a whooshing wind sound, like the howl of a ghost, slashing toward Kars's neck from behind.
He still could not understand beings like Stand users.
Why could humans, without any training at all, control such a strange power called a Stand?
Even for Madara, if he wanted to master a ninjutsu, he had to read it a few times and practice it several times at the training ground before he could be considered skilled.
But Uchiha Madara kept Ryosuke's reminder firmly in mind, killing the Stand user is the best way to deal with the Stand.
The cold wind coming from behind his neck made Kars slightly tilt his head and glance at Uchiha Madara.
"Didn't Ryosuke tell you not to get close to me so casually?"
A dazzling stream of light suddenly shot out from Kars's arm. Looking closely, countless thin blades, sharp like shark teeth, were rapidly moving along the edge of the knife.
Flow Method: Light·Brilliant Sliding Blade.
Kars did not care at all about the war fan chopping toward his neck. The blade at his arm slashed toward Madara's body.
He waited for Uchiha Madara to defend or dodge. As long as he changed his move even slightly, Kars could seize the chance, gain the upper hand, and take down the strongest among the four.
However, Madara did not defend, nor did he dodge.
"Are you crazy?"
Kars did not expect that at the very start of the battle, Madara would choose to exchange injuries with him.
But exchange damage with an Ultimate Life Form?
And besides…
"Your speed is too slow."
Kars sneered and swung his blade.
Before the war fan could fall, he would cut Uchiha Madara in half first.
The blade passed through Madara's body without the slightest resistance.
That was natural.
Kars's Flow Method was the Brilliant Sliding Blade, powerful enough to shatter an incoming armor piercing bullet and easily tear apart walls and steel. For it, cutting through a human body was no harder than slicing a piece of tofu.
No.
Even if it was easy, how could there be not even the slightest feeling of contact?
It was as if… He had cut through air.
Whoosh!
Kars's blade passed through Madara's body, and at that same moment, the war fan, which had been half a beat "slow," suddenly accelerated and precisely chopped onto Kars's neck.
Slash!
Kars's head flew high into the air.
The contempt in his eyes was gone, replaced by shock, as he truly looked at Uchiha Madara for the first time, this man who had always seemed unremarkable under Ryosuke's brilliance.
Madara's expression remained cold.
'This shocked you?'
Basic operation.
When Ryosuke was teaching during the journey, he had specially introduced several core opponents in the JOJO timeline.
Although Madara always looked like he was half listening and distracted, he had remembered everything Ryosuke said.
"Kars, Ultimate Life Form, body capable of endless regeneration, extremely strong in close combat."
Whether human or Ultimate Life Form, they would always have a certain confidence in the field they were best at.
So Madara did not use ninjutsu or Susanoo at first. He chose close combat to use Kamui's intangibility for a first encounter kill effect, catching the enemy off guard.
And after catching him off guard...
Kamui activated again, but this time to take out a huge scroll.
Since he knew that Kars was an immortal monster who could regenerate even from a single drop of blood, Uchiha Madara's tactical choice was sealing jutsu.
The scroll unfolded, and vast Sage Art chakra surged out, "Sealing Jutsu: Sage Art!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Large and small red torii gates fell from the sky, piercing into Kars's headless body and nailing it firmly to the ground.
As an Ultimate Life Form, Kars found that his connection to his body had become intermittent.
Of course, he could abandon his original body and generate a new one.
But that process required a little time, even if it was extremely short.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots rang out.
Hot Pants finally had the chance to raise the long rifle she got from the Ninja World Research Institute. Three bullets shot toward Kars's forehead. At the same time, there was also Jonathan Joestar's Sword of Courage.
Kars did not care about the bullets or the long sword. With his control over flesh and blood, as long as he was careful about the previous sealing jutsu, it was enough. The key now was...
His gaze fell on Josuke Higashikata rushing toward Yasuho Hirose.
More accurately, it fell on the train ticket in Josuke's hand.
As long as he snatched it away or simply destroyed it, Josuke and his group would be kicked off the train of luck. Then Wonder of U would be able to work normally.
Instead of being like now, like an old man leaning on a cane, not even having the courage to step forward and stop Josuke.
Thinking of this, Kars ignored his sealed body and did not waste time regenerating. His head turned into a hawk and suddenly soared into the air.
Susanoo's magatama, Jonathan's long sword, and Hot Pants's bullets all shot toward the sky.
Kars dodged nimbly. If he really could not dodge, he would rely on his flesh to take it head on.
A bullet hit his wing, bringing up a splash of blood.
Kars did not care and dived toward Josuke.
Suddenly, his flight path tilted abnormally. When he turned his head, he saw that the wing hit by the bullet was actually rotting and mutating, growing wriggling tumors one after another.
'The bullet was poisoned?'
"But… what kind of poison can work on me?"
Kars froze for half a second and then reacted.
'Ryosuke!'
Only Ryosuke, also an Ultimate Life Form, using his own blood to specially prepare a genetic virus, could affect Kars.
Looking carefully, Kars then noticed that all the weapons below were coated with a layer of crimson.
"Damn!!!"
Wonder of U was banned.
Now it was basically four people against Kars alone.
That would be fine, but Kars's information was completely transparent to Uchiha Madara and the others, while he did not know Madara's abilities at all.
On top of that, there was Ryosuke's specially prepared genetic virus.
Kars gritted his teeth.
He had never fought such a suffocating battle.
Just like restoring his body, eliminating Ryosuke's genetic virus also required a bit of time.
But that time was enough for Josuke to save Yasuho Hirose.
Josuke did not participate in the battle. The speed of his bubble attacks was too slow. Against ordinary people it was fine, but against an enemy at Kars's level, they simply could not hit.
He rushed to Yasuho Hirose's side and took out a soft and wet condensed bubble from the waist pouch behind him. Inside the bubble was sealed a Ripple crystal.
Pop!
The bubble burst, and the Ripple crystal fell into Josuke's hand. He gently placed the crystal on Yasuho's forehead. Using the resonance effect of the Ripple, Josuke called out to Yasuho's consciousness.
The glow of the Ripple lit up Yasuho Hirose's cute face. Her eyelashes trembled slightly. She slowly opened her eyes and showed a faint smile.
"Josuke…"
When Josuke Higashikata first woke up at the Wall Eyes, the first person he saw was Yasuho Hirose. Now everything seemed reversed. Yasuho was smiling at this coincidence.
She opened her arms, wanting to give Josuke a hug.
But at that moment...
Josuke stepped back half a step.
He perfectly avoided "Yasuho" reaching for the train ticket in his palm.
He still remembered Madara's reminder.
Even though Josuke was extremely worried about Yasuho, he remained absolutely calm.
"The real Yasuho, knowing all this, would never be able to smile!"
Josuke grabbed the Ripple crystal and slammed it hard onto "Yasuho's" chest.
"Get out of her body…"
"Get out!"
The power of the Ripple surged in, and Tear Town's luck activated. The strands of blood mist wrapped around Yasuho's body were driven away.
It was Kars's blood bewitching her.
A person's spirit is very easily affected by the body. Just a small amount of chemical components can cause hallucinations and lead to all kinds of abnormal actions.
Not to mention Kars, an Ultimate Life Form of this level.
Just a drop of blood could make a person wholeheartedly serve him.
Before, Yasuho's consciousness and body were separated, so she could still struggle. Once her consciousness returned, it would be affected by the body.
Now that influence was finally dispelled.
Yasuho Hirose gasped for breath. She slightly nodded at Josuke. Without saying a word, she raised her hand and pointed into the distance, activating Paisley Park's ability.
In the next moment, the branches of the Calamity God Tree split apart to the left and right.
———
[In the Ninja World]
Inside the pitch black cockpit of the Ten Tails, Sasuke Uchiha suddenly opened his eyes. His Rinnegan and Sharingan looked toward the starry sky.
He saw it.
The gap leading to victory.
The arrow that had long been waiting pierced through the world's barrier and toward the Calamity God Tree deep in the Sea of Mist... shot out straight.