Uchiha Kokuya also sensed someone else arriving, but he didn't have time to pay attention to them. His focus was entirely on Fumori Masaki, whose strength was unexpectedly formidable, forcing him to be cautious.
Before the cracks on Susanoo could fully recover with the influx of chakra, a massive impact came from above, knocking the still-rising Susanoo back to the ground. It was the same jutsu Fumori Masaki had used when he first appeared, which he called "Pseudo-Shinra Tensei."
Susanoo's cracks worsened again, bringing it to the brink of collapse. At that moment, a figure crashed into it, shattering it to pieces.
Fumori Masaki directly charged into Susanoo and aimed a sword strike at Uchiha Kokuya. But just as it was about to hit Uchiha Kokuya, his movement suddenly paused. He then changed the trajectory of his sword, creating a series of arcs. As the sword light flashed, Uchiha Kokuya's figure appeared not far away.
Uchiha Kokuya looked a bit disheveled. He had just used a genjutsu to perform a substitution, but the moment Fumori Masaki was about to strike, he immediately located Uchiha Kokuya's true position and redirected his sword.
Uchiha Kokuya was forced to continuously use his genjutsu for substitutions. After multiple substitutions, he distanced himself from Fumori Masaki and signaled the souls to swarm him.
Fumori Masaki chose not to destroy these souls but instead used natural energy to push them away, preventing them from approaching him. After realizing Uchiha Kokuya's ability, he seemed to become gentler towards these souls.
After creating distance, Uchiha Kokuya quickly regulated his breathing to recover the chakra he had excessively consumed in a short time. While recovering, he looked at the person who had appeared nearby.
When he saw that person was Uchiha Kagami, Uchiha Kokuya was slightly surprised. However, in his eyes, the other party posed no significant threat. Their previous battle with Susanoo should have drastically shortened the usage time of Uchiha Kagami's Mangekyo Sharingan, as he could tell from his own Mangekyo Sharingan. But he now possessed a Mangekyo Sharingan with eternal light, giving him a significant advantage over the other party.
Therefore, Uchiha Kokuya's main focus remained on Fumori Masaki, who could truly threaten him in terms of combat power. Uchiha Kagami only needed a passing glance.
"Why didn't you just strike directly?" Uchiha Kokuya panted slightly. "If you hadn't made any unnecessary movements, you might have actually hit me."
"If the Mangekyo Sharingan's genjutsu could be broken so easily, it wouldn't be called the Sage's Eye," Fumori Masaki said, holding the Wind Cutter and looking at Uchiha Kokuya. "I didn't expect that even my speed couldn't keep up with your genjutsu's activation speed."
"As you said, if it could be broken so easily, it wouldn't be called the Mangekyo Sharingan," Uchiha Kokuya chuckled and said, "Unless you exhaust all the souls I've stored, you won't be able to catch me. So? Don't worry about those people, just go all out. Plan on completely eradicating me, otherwise, you won't be able to kill me!"
Uchiha Kokuya believed that although his genjutsu came at the cost of sacrificing souls, since he could collect and use other people's souls, he had ample room for its use. And as long as the conditions were met, it was almost unbreakable, not much different from the legendary Izanagi—of course, only in appearance. In essence, it was still vastly different from Izanagi, which could reverse reality and illusion.
Even so, Uchiha Kokuya felt that Fumori Masaki wouldn't find a way to break it. The only method might be to destroy all the souls he had collected, leaving Uchiha Kokuya with no more material for substitution, only then could Uchiha Kokuya truly die.
However, would someone like Fumori Masaki have the heart to destroy all the souls he had collected? He certainly had the ability, it was just a matter of whether he had the ruthlessness. Uchiha Kokuya believed that Fumori Masaki was not a naive person. If there was truly no other way, he would definitely choose to do so, but he would inevitably suffer from pangs of conscience—Fumori Masaki was not a heartless, unprincipled person after all.
Uchiha Kokuya thought this was fine. As long as it was a way to make Fumori Masaki suffer, he would try it, even if it meant losing his trump card. Besides, he had other trump cards.
"Is that so?" Fumori Masaki's voice paused. "I think you might be misunderstanding something. I never intended to destroy those souls."
"Oh? Then what will you do?"
"I will liberate those souls," Fumori Masaki said calmly.
"Liberate?" Uchiha Kokuya sounded as if he had heard a joke. "What ability do you have to liberate those souls? It's true that you possess Sage Power, and can even rival a Perfect Susanoo, which greatly surprises me. However, even Sage Power cannot accomplish certain special things. This is a special ability of the Mangekyo Sharingan."
"Yes, to deal with the Mangekyo Sharingan, it is indeed only by using the Mangekyo Sharingan. Only Uchiha can restrain Uchiha," Fumori Masaki nodded slightly and said.
Upon hearing this, Uchiha Kokuya frowned slightly. He seemed to have understood something from the other party's words. He quickly turned his head to look at Uchiha Kagami, whom he had previously dismissed.
Uchiha Kagami's eyes were blood-red, and the Mangekyo pattern within them spun rapidly, dazzling to the eye. Immediately after, Uchiha Kokuya saw a translucent figure appear before him.
Almost in an instant, Uchiha Kokuya recognized what it was: the legendary Shinigami of the Pure Land! The Shinigami rumored to wander the Pure Land, devouring wicked souls! Of course, this was not the Shinigami's true form, but an image projected through Uchiha Kagami's Mangekyo Sharingan.
Due to Uchiha Kagami's past experience of crossing the threshold between life and death, after he awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan, his ability was to replicate and simulate what he had seen and heard in the Underworld. The uniqueness of the Mangekyo Sharingan made such an incredible feat possible.
Therefore, Uchiha Kagami's Mangekyo Sharingan could use the power of the Underworld. Even if it was just a projection of the Mangekyo Sharingan, its might was beyond what mortals could imagine. Even descendants of the Six Paths were still mere flesh and blood in this world.
Even Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, both of whom had elevated their Sage's Eye and Sage's Body to a level very close to their previous lives, still could not be called true Sages. Even Indra and Asura could not be called Sages; they were, at most, demigods. Only Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, who came from afar, and the Six Paths brothers, born from Ōtsutsuki Kaguya herself through the blessings of others, were truly non-human beings.
Facing the Shinigami phantom summoned by Uchiha Kagami, Uchiha Kokuya found himself surprisingly defenseless at this moment. He didn't have time to summon Susanoo—and he didn't know if Susanoo could even block it—he felt as if he had been plunged into an icy spring, his body stiffening.
Uchiha Kokuya quickly used his genjutsu, continuously summoning soul substitutions, but what was horrifying was that all those souls were swallowed by the Shinigami phantom. Uchiha Kokuya didn't even need to actively perform the substitution; the souls collected within his Mangekyo Sharingan were pulled out by the Shinigami phantom and entered its body.
Uchiha Kagami's Shinigami phantom was different from the true Shinigami. The swallowed souls would not be unable to reincarnate forever, but would instead be sent to the Pure Land. In other words, his Shinigami phantom was less of a soul-devouring entity and more of a transit station for collecting souls.
—Six Paths of Samsara, cleansing the past, gaining new life.
These words involuntarily surfaced in Uchiha Kagami's mind. From Fumori Masaki's previous actions, he understood the essence of Uchiha Kokuya's ability. While feeling angry, he also realized that his own genjutsu was the counter-method. Although it was just a guess, it now seemed to be true.
Uchiha Kokuya's ability was to plunder and collect other people's souls, while Uchiha Kagami's ability, based on the Underworld, served to facilitate the reincarnation of souls! It was as if by some destined fate, Uchiha Kagami's and Uchiha Kokuya's abilities were diametrically opposed.
Uchiha Kokuya only now understood Uchiha Kagami's Mangekyo Sharingan ability. Because Uchiha Kagami used it sparingly, and those without spiritual vision couldn't see it, its activation was remarkably swift and eerie, so much so that he had never received any similar intelligence. He was caught completely off guard.
"This, this…" Uchiha Kokuya could barely believe that the souls he had plundered were being pulled away by the Shinigami phantom just like that.
Uchiha Kagami's face was as pale as paper. Using a regular Mangekyo Sharingan placed an immense burden on the body, and the more intense the ability, the more so. To some extent, Uchiha Kagami's ability was like a mortal borrowing the power of a god, which in myths and legends demanded a tremendous price.
Of course, no matter what, Uchiha Kagami was a descendant with Sage blood, and the Sage's Eye also bore a portion of the pressure. If it were an ordinary person, they would have probably died long ago.
Even so, Uchiha Kagami's chakra was depleting at an alarming rate, and his body felt a heavy burden. His cells were constantly aching, and he felt as if his soul was being drained—chakra was a product of the combined body and soul. When both body and soul power were exhausted, that meant death.
Fortunately, Uchiha Kagami's Mangekyo Sharingan was powerful enough, and the Shinigami phantom pulled souls very quickly. Although Uchiha Kokuya had collected a large number of souls, they were all pulled out in a short time. However, just as Uchiha Kokuya's own soul was about to be extracted, it seemed to encounter an obstacle from some powerful force.
If it had been at the very beginning of its use, Uchiha Kagami might still have been able to pull it out. But now, having already pulled out too many souls, he no longer had the strength to pull out Uchiha Kokuya's soul. Besides, since Uchiha Kokuya had lost his souls for substitution, Fumori Masaki could deal with him. Uchiha Kagami didn't need to sacrifice his life—although he could do so, it would be too foolish. Why exert himself when someone else could help deal with it?
Uchiha Kagami groaned in pain and knelt on the ground. A wind-like figure arrived beside Uchiha Kagami, supporting him. The chakra emanating from the other party seemed to possess strong vitality, making Uchiha Kagami feel a new vigor in his depleted body.
With his high-level application of natural energy, Fumori Masaki could now stimulate cell recovery almost like Jugo. Furthermore, his Sage Mode could nourish the body, heal necrotic cells, prolong life, and so on. If it could be systematically passed down in the future, it would undoubtedly greatly increase people's lifespans.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Uchiha Kagami nodded slightly. He was now weak and could only half-kneel on the ground, looking at Uchiha Kokuya. His vision was blurry. "That guy…"
"I'll deal with him now," Fumori Masaki said, looking at Uchiha Kokuya. He keenly sensed that something unusual had happened to Uchiha Kokuya after his soul was nearly pulled from his body.
Uchiha Kokuya was kneeling on the ground, hands propped on the earth, trembling all over, appearing to be in great pain. It seemed to be due to his soul almost being extracted. At the same time, the chakra aura around him became increasingly chaotic, emitting a particularly foul presence.
"Uchiha… Kagami! Kazamori… Masaki!" Uchiha Kokuya raised his head. "You hateful…" His words stopped abruptly before he could finish.
Because Fumori Masaki's sword pierced his heart. Just as Fumori Masaki was about to decapitate him, Uchiha Kokuya's body suddenly "exploded"—yes, in Fumori Masaki's view, Uchiha Kokuya's body had exploded, but it wasn't the kind of explosion that blew him to smithereens. Rather, something expanded from within Uchiha Kokuya's body, causing him to burst open.
Fumori Masaki immediately retreated, pulling Uchiha Kagami back. He then saw the thing that had expanded from Uchiha Kokuya's body grow larger and larger. In an instant, a gigantic dark purple creature appeared before Fumori Masaki. Its body size was comparable to a Perfect Susanoo, it had eight heads, and its heads resembled dragons.
"What is that thing? A Tailed Beast? No, it's something else." Uchiha Kagami subconsciously regarded it as a Tailed Beast, but he immediately realized that a Tailed Beast couldn't possibly exist within Uchiha Kokuya's body. If that was the case, then what exactly was appearing from Uchiha Kokuya?
"Orochi? No, this image seems to be—" Fumori Masaki seemed to recall something. "So your true form is this, Mōryō."
The gigantic creature that had burst forth from Uchiha Kokuya's body at this moment bore a striking resemblance in appearance to the demon Mōryō that Fumori Masaki had seen in his previous life!