Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

The Shinden Saga – Arc 3: The Dragon Sage

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Chapter 140 – Moshirikara & Okuninushi

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This isn't the first time it happens to them. Just like when they defeated Sojobo or Momoshiki together, Naruto and Sasuke are side by side in an alien world, face to face with an enemy that only their combined effort can rival.

Naruto, familiar with this setting, looks around to see what world was chosen as the battleground this time.

"So why here?" he asks the dragon sage, who brought everyone to this place.

"It is the most innate place I could transport us to." Yamitsuki replies. "Had I not done so, your attacks would have damaged your own home."

Hearing this calm answer, Naruto squints an eye. This sounds… kindly thought. He certainly wouldn't have liked to accidentally wreck his house just by following Sasuke's excitement, especially not while Hinata and Hima were inside.

"So it's not just your favorite training ground?" he ironically answers. "You don't seem in the mood for a fight."

"…" the god of knowledge inhales before calmly speaking again. "Having to fight you two does not trouble me, nor does it disturb my preferences for the future. Might I even say that I am quite excited to finally get to spare with you, even though I do not usually partake in recreational warfare… I however doubt you should share this enthusiasm."

"What does that mean?" Sasuke asks, still on his guard.

"Unlike your awaiting meeting with the Tenshin, a battle with me is not inevitable." Yamitsuki explains. "If you feel ready to take me on despite what you have been told about my person, you might as well spare that energy for your judges. I am repeating myself now, but they are not as gentle as I am. You would prefer to be ready when they arrive."

"I know about them. The Tenshin." Sasuke declares, to Naruto's surprise. "A group of assholes who deliver revenge for those who died and resurrect them. Nothing more than a pathetic attempt to prevent your kind's extinction."

Yamitsuki, hearing this vile comment, squints and shows visible embarrassment on his face, which makes the Uchiha smile. It seems like he used his time on Takama wisely and could obtain valuable and dangerous knowledge.

"Sasuke, what do you mean?" Naruto confusingly asks, noticing the reaction of the dragon sage.

"There's like… 20 of you left, isn't that right?" Sasuke provokes the celestial ruler and answers Naruto's interrogations at the same time with a vicious smile. "It's only a few targets to eliminate to wipe your clan off the universe forever."

The Ryu-Shinsen looks down and sighs, pretending to be disappointed by the Rinnegan user's attitude.

"Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, you said that you have heard of me, so you will surely understand my point." he declares. "I will not enforce this advice, but in all humility, I recommend that you avoid a fight with me. You would likely stand a better chance to win against the Tenshin."

Naruto audibly gasps in reaction to this statement. How can he pretend to speak in humility while sounding so arrogant? Next to him, Sasuke points his sword to the enemy and coldly stares at him, with anger in his eyes.

"My choice was made the day I met Momoshiki." the Uchiha answers, reminding himself of his mission to save his first born son and avenge Kobo. "By killing every last one of you, I'll make the universe, and myself, a favor."

"… Such hatred in your heart…" Yamitsuki comments with unsuspected compassion in his tone. "Despite the efforts of the Hokage and your family, Uchiha Sasuke, you have never truly changed. You still are, and will always be nothing but a spirit of vengeance."

Taking this insult personally, Sasuke doesn't wait longer to engage. He leaps forward and physically vanishes, reappearing centimeters away from the dragon sage. Naruto, as asked, follows his friend's lead and jumps in action as well. He extends his arm into a Biju chakra limb to punch Yamitsuki but stops when he notices something odd.

He sees Sasuke throwing his blade down on the enemy, but phasing through, doing no damage at all. To him, it looks like when he was fighting Obito Uchiha with Kakashi, Bushier brow-sensei and Octopops, but he feels like there's something more to it. Sasuke wouldn't jump so carelessly into battle if he didn't feel confident about it.

Indeed, with this first strike, Sasuke just wanted to confirm what he's heard. His sword really passes right through the dragon sage like a ghost. According to what Kakashi told him, it is not Kamui, so Limbo must be more similar. Madara's clones were intangible to any attack, but there was one thing that could touch them. Rikudo chakra.

Just as he thinks about it, Yamitsuki leaps out of range to avoid Naruto's chakra arm who instead just catches Sasuke and tosses him back towards the enemy. This reaction from the Dragon Sage doesn't invalidate Sasuke's theory. With this in mind, he lets the chakra of his left eye, along with the natural energy it absorbed, flow through his body and blade.

Onyx Raikiri Katana

As a result, he covers his sword with Rikudo sage lightning and strikes again. He forces Yamitsuki to step back and stay on his defense as he dodges all the deadly swings of the dark blade. Behind Sasuke, Naruto leaps over the fighters and throws a Biju Rasen Shuriken at the Dragon Sage while he's busy. The god of nature and knowledge finally decides to make a move.

Taiton – Ryukokyu (Dragon Breath)

With this superior version of Wind style, Yamitsuki blows out a tornado that culminates around him, pushes Sasuke away and catches the Rasen Shuriken in its stream. The whirlwind redirects Naruto's attack toward the sky where it flies away before exploding in the high atmosphere, intoxicating the clouds and making the sky turn dark and red.

Naruto lands next to Sasuke who gets back on his feet and immediately jumps into action again. They now strike together while the Ryu Shinsen resists the offensive by avoiding and blocking their hits with multiple skills and elements, but never his body. As they do so, going faster and stronger, Sasuke explains himself to Naruto.

"Most attacks will phase through him, Naruto." he says. "Kakashi could confirm that it's not like Kamui, but nothing they tried worked. Yet there must be something that can touch him. Can you sense his chakra?"

"Yeah!" Naruto answers. "I think nobody else can. But I sense him. He's comparable to Momoshiki's after he evolved."

"I can't feel it, but my Rinnegan sees it." Sasuke explains. "Exactly like back then, with Madara's clones. We're both using Rikudo Senjutsu, and he's been dodging our attacks since then. If it's like Limbo we're the only people who can take him down."

Hearing this comment, Yamitsuki shrugs his shoulders and, noticing that they've gotten fast enough to equal his current speed, decides to stop avoiding their hits just a moment, right as they prepare their signature moves to hit him together.

Onyx Raikiri / Rasengan

Yamitsuki stands still just to let them see that even their Rikudo powered attacks phase through like anything else. Unable to reach him, the two jutsu collide together and cause a massive chakra explosion that wipes the whole area away. Sasuke transports himself with Naruto out and away from this cataclysm just before the Ryu Shinsen, unaffected, could force them out with his first strike.

Confused about what they just found out, Sasuke stands still to think. Naruto waits for his friend to keep going and looks as the chaos settles and reveals the Dragon Sage, still unharmed. Seeing their inaction, he takes a moment to explain himself.

"I apologize for the misleading behavior." he says. "I was only willing to see your bodily wonders, and so was trying to compare my speed to yours. You are remarkably fast. I understand why the efforts and crimes of Momoshiki were vain against you… Yet, as you see, your energy is obviously not efficient against me. If it was sensible to Shinjutsu or Rikudo Senjutsu as you call it, Moshirikara would not be any special. Any powerful member of the celestial race has Shinjutsu."

"Bro, what do we do?" Naruto confusingly asks Sasuke who tries to think and not succumb to frustration.

"… Every jutsu has a weakness…" the Uchiha repeats to himself the words of his older brother. "Moshirikara, you said…?" he adds, noticing the jutsu's name mentioned by its user. "This jutsu can't be perfect. If it has no vulnerability, … Then there must be a time limit!"

After coming to this conclusion, based on what he knows of Limbo and Kamui, the Uchiha raises his only hand and makes a hand sign that Naruto immediately recognizes.

Chibaku Tensei

The ground around them shakes and breaks. It decomposes into massive pieces of land and levitates to start forming a couple dozen of giant meteors in the sky. At the same time, the shattered land also gathers at full speed toward the Dragon Sage and buries him. Naruto, seeing this spectacle, understands his friend's plan. Going all out to overwhelm the enemy's ability until it reaches its time limit.

Ready to join in on this plan, he catches sight of the Dragon Sage stepping out through the meteor that took shape around him without damaging its structure. To stop him from having any rest, Naruto prepares to unleash an all out offensive.

Tajuu Kage Bunshin

Without any needed hand sign, he creates over 10 thousand clones that all rush toward Yamitsuki together as he looks at them with visible interest. The original stays behind and lays his hand on the ground to trouble the enemy before his army strikes.

Doton – Sendai Kiretsu

On what remains of the soil, a country long slit opens like a monstrous mouth with pointy teeth. This massive beast of nature rises before abruptly closing itself around the Ryu Shinsen, swallowing him. Once again, Yamitsuki phases through and calmly flies up to exit this planetary trap. At the surface he's immediately greeted by the clones' offensive.

Cho Odama Biju Rasen Taren Shuriken

Hundreds of massive Biju Rasen Shuriken, each big enough to instantly erase an entire city, fall on him one after the other. This explosive show goes on for many long minutes, not leaving rest to everything on this side of the planet's surface. From Sasuke's point of view, floating with his meteors in his Kanzentai Susanoo kilometers above the scene in the troubled sky, every single hill, tree or empty space of air is overtaken and erased by Naruto's destructive offensive. In the end, the consequences of this long chaos is comparable to the effect of Momoshiki's planetary Sentandama.

Behind the Susanoo, the original Naruto arrives in Kurama's Biju mode, taking his distance from his own doing. The duo stays alert, making sure that the enemy doesn't take advantage of this cataclysm to sneak on them. After a while, Sasuke notices the Dragon Sage's chakra emerging from the settling blast. Naruto, who senses it slowly coming closer, triggers the anger of Kurama.

The demon fox, levitating next to Sasuke's meteors, shakes the winds with a growl and raises his elongated tails like fingers to grasp onto the asters surrounding him. With 5 tails on the left and 4 on the right he catches 2 meteors that he tosses with all his strength toward the ground to crash into the planet and onto the celestial ruler. Sasuke, seeing this, does his part to make this crash much more deadly than it could possibly have been.

Amaterasu

With both his left and right eye, he sets the two falling planetoids on black fire that combusts them and turns them into two black stars that melt all the matter in their way. These two black suns hit the planet and keep the chaos going. A column of black flames rises to the sky and breaks out of the planet's atmosphere, only to suddenly shrink until totally disappearing.

Down where the flames gather before disappearing, the Uchiha sees Yamitsuki fly higher while entirely absorbing all the fire. Such limitless absorption seems unreal to Sasuke. Not even Momoshiki with his unique orange pair of Rinnegan could absorb that much Rikudo Senjutsu without any risk. Troubled by this, he directly sends all his remaining meteors down on the enemy at once. 22 more planetoids fall to collide onto Yamitsuki who still phases through.

Frustrated to see his opponent pass by, still not at his limit while they are getting out of ideas, Sasuke clenches his fists and teeth. He suddenly lets his chakra out to mix with the natural energy in the air and shapes it into a storm. As simply as that, Sasuke starts a terrible black thunder rain. He raises his Susanoo's sword and connects it to the weather with a flash of lightning through which he bends these black bolts to his will.

Onyx Kirin Shinsei

To keep the enemy busy for as long as he can, hoping to make him reach his time limit at some point, Sasuke repeatedly sends deadly bolts of black Kirin to fall onto the Dragon Sage. Naruto, seeing the lightning dragons endlessly fall down, all to the exact same spot, is blinded by a dark flash that engulfs all other light. This mix of natural energy, Sasuke's own Inton, and Raiton is oddly reminiscent of Sojobo and Tsubai's Meiton.

Seeking vision, Naruto looks at Sasuke and sees him tire himself at the task. To save him from his own rage and stubbornness, he yells his name. Through the roars of his thunder rain, Sasuke slightly hears the voice of his partner and accepts his call to reason. After 7 lightning bridges, he breathes in and goes ahead for one last strike.

But just as the last bolt takes form and strikes, a light gray shape emerges from the black light residual where the previous attacks struck. It is an ethereal dragon with shining red eyes that flutters toward the heavens. When it collides with the Kirin, it entirely engulfs the onyx lightning into its mouth and contains it. Sasuke, seeing this beast, finds it very much alike to one of his eyes' powers.

"That must be his Susanoo." he suggests to himself, remembering what Ayaka Otsutsuki told him. This ability is not relevant to most of their kind so they don't learn it, but it seems natural that someone with the reputation of Yamitsuki Otsutsuki has all the possible powers that his Tenjo Sharingan can give. This shape of Susanoo seems consistent with Tokubei Otsutsuki's version that is also different from the Uchiha's traditional masked and winged armor. However, this improvised theory from Sasuke is quickly proven wrong as the Dragon Sage reveals his armor from out of the thunder.

Under the ethereal dragon, two massive silver wings emerge and flap to carry a perfect body of Susanoo to the same height as Naruto and Sasuke in the sky. It is, in appearance, almost identical to Sasuke's. The few differences are its shining silver color, the mask shape covering its mouth and the pairs of horns that are identical to the user's. The dragon that they saw at first appears to be just the blade of a sword held in the avatar's right hand.

Sasuke and Naruto are both mesmerized by the majestic figure that appeared before them. So much that they froze in place and stopped their relentless offensive that was meant to unveil the time limit of the enemy. Acknowledging this moment of peace, the Ryu Shinsen speaks.

"I do not know about any time limit that would trim the effect of Moshirikara. It likely exists, but never ever have I been troubled by such a concept. In other words, I may have such a time limit, however you are nowhere near making me discover it."

Naruto and Sasuke's Biju Mode and Susanoo look at each other in confusion, starting to doubt their ability to overcome this battle. This unnerves them. What they sensed from this enemy since earlier reassured them. It seemed crushing but is not so far away from Naobi Otsutsuki or Momoshiki. But this ability, Moshirikara, is too powerful.

Yet they don't give up. They know that they felt this desperate about an ability before. Naruto has overcome Obito's Kamui. Sasuke saw Kabuto's Edo Tensei be broken. And together, they elucidated Madara's Limbo and Kaguya's Mugen Tsukuyomi. There is no jutsu that they can't surpass. They will keep trying and thinking. And they will find its weakness. Yamitsuki, sensing the emotions of the Hokage, lightly smiles as he stares at the golden fox. He quickly gets serious again to talk to Sasuke.

"Now I may have to disappoint you. You surely, at least so do I hope, do not expect me to have no more than one such power. In fact, neither Moshirikara nor Kandakoro, that you have witnessed so far, are the original abilities of my Dojutsu."

After this declaration, the silver Susanoo raises its left hand to release what it absorbed.

Takami Musubi

From the palm of this hand emerges the torrent of black flames from earlier, but in a much larger cloud with a light shade of deep purple that Sasuke notices. This stance and this power, to send back an absorbed jutsu, he recognizes it. It is the ability of Momoshiki's Rinnegan. This triggers his anger once again, as it brings back memories of the first time he saw it being used.

Briefly overtaken by emotions, the Uchiha spreads the arms of Susanoo wide open and channels the power of his left eye through it.

Susanoo – Shinra Tensei

The purple avatar releases a repulsion wave that pushes through the cloud of black flames flying toward him and dissipates them around Naruto and him. To avoid them doing any more harm, he uses his right eye's power.

Kagutsuchi

He turns off the black flames of Enton that he originally created and, still enraged by his memories of Momoshiki, lets out a war cry as he vacuums all the natural energy in range with his Rinnegan and prepares to release it with all of it that remains inside him, in one ultimate attack.

The Dragon Sage's Susanoo covered its face with its crossed arms to block the Shinra Tensei. When it lowers its hands, Yamitsuki sees a quite impressive sight. Sasuke has assembled all his natural energy into a gigantic bow of black lightning held in his Susanoo's hands. Naruto, behind him, is captivated by this stance and jutsu that he is the only one to have seen being used before. It inspires him to go over the edge as well. As the armor overflows with electricity, it gathers and condenses itself all together into one absolute arrow of natural energy.

"Here! Phase through this!" Sasuke yells before firing this ultimate arrow.

Rikudo – Indra no Ya

Sasuke, with this attack, intends to cause an endless cataclysm with the arrow's collision with the silver Susanoo. The resulting storm will have the enemy trapped for as long as needed. Surely long enough to make him finally reach his time limit. However, what he couldn't expect and didn't even consider possible, is that the effect of Moshirikara applies just as well to Yamitsuki's ethereal avatar. In a quite deceiving scene, Sasuke sees his ultimate black arrow fly through an immobile silver Susanoo.

"It seems you were deceived by your prior knowledge." the Dragon Sage comments as the arrow flies through the air and out of the atmosphere. "Kamui or Limbo are too simple for a being such as me to rely on them. Moshirikara is much more powerful. It is not limited to the physical body of the user. Few are the living who can still pierce through its space."

After these words, Yamitsuki turns around and, like Sasuke, follows the hypersonic arrow as it leaves the atmosphere and heads toward the moon of this planet just as it rises. This moon is not the containment of a Juubi, but took form from residuals of this Earth. It is not inferior in size to the moon of the ninja world, but is largely denser. Yet, it doesn't prevent it from being entirely blown to pieces by the onyx arrow.

Yamitsuki is impressed but also saddened by this senseless destruction. Sasuke, seeing the result of his own rage, sighs, upset that this couldn't land as expected. Despite the blackened broken sky distracting them, Yamitsuki and Sasuke's attention is drawn to the battlefield again as a remarkable amount of divine chakra is being gathered. It is Naruto who, inspired by Sasuke's Indra no Ya, also decides to push himself over past limits.

With two clones of his Biju Avatar, he merges and gives shape to his 6-armed, 3-faced Asura form of Kurama. To avoid wasting any second, this demonic yet divine creature raises its arms and uses two Gudodama to instantly transform them into 2 colossal revolving Biju chakra orbs.

Rikudo – Cho Odama Biju Rasen Ren Shuriken

He throws these two orbs to Yamitsuki, which to Sasuke seems pointless at first since they just found out his Susanoo is also intangible. However, after seeing the trajectory of both orbs, he quickly understands the genius behind Naruto's move. Both orbs move in ellipses that will collide in the enemy. The real attack will be the aftermath of the shock between the two divine orbs.

However, as Yamitsuki must know, this will only work if the two orbs meet. If he stops one of them, the effort will be in vain. Seeing the potential danger come, the Dragon Sage's avatar flies back to take his distance and raises his dragon blade. In the mouth of the ethereal monster, an intense mix of mystic energies is gathered and takes shape as an orb. Naruto recognizes this. It is the exact same jutsu as the one Katashiki's dragon used to pierce through Mount Sojo.

Ryudama

The dragon blade shoots this gathering as an orb that meets the trajectory of one of the two shuriken balls and stops it in a destructive crash. Naruto's 3-faced fox and Sasuke's Susanoo hurry to fly higher and away to stay safe from the resulting explosion. In the aftermath, Sasuke stays focused on the Dragon Sage to see if he lets the second orb simply phase through him. To his surprise, this doesn't seem to be the celestial ruler's intention. In the left hand of his silver armor, he summons a mystical weapon.

Ameno Ohabari

It is a long double edged sword, similar to a Totsuka. Its aspect and texture are identical to the Gudodama. With this new weapon, the Ryu Shinsen stops the remaining Shuriken orb, opposes its spin and manages to slice through, bisecting it. The two halves of the orb fall past him on his left and right and crash hundreds of kilometers away onto the planet's ground before exploding.

This choice of action intrigues Sasuke. Is Yamitsuki just showing off? They didn't know about this weapon until now. He could have kept it hidden, yet he decided to pull it out to stop the Rasen Shuriken rather than just letting it phase through him like Indra's arrow did earlier. Is there something to learn from this?

Seeing that his opponents stopped their offensive again after these all out efforts, still without doing the slightest damage, Yamitsuki lowers the two blades of his armor and speaks, ready for his turn to strike.

"Silencing my praises would be hypocritical." he tells them. "You are with no doubt among the most powerful individuals I have ever met. And as a pair, you may surpass any living being. There is no doubt that you would be dangerous opponents for the Tenshin. It should have been an honor for Momoshiki to be undone not by one of you, but both at the same time… However, I am not interested in an end found in an uneven battle."

After these words, he hides his two weapons away, leaving his Susanoo unarmed.

"The arsenal of skills you have shown to my eyes is certainly impressive. But could you resist it as well as I did?" he asks the two ninjas, unsettled by what it could mean. "… I believe it is now time for me to show you my skills. All that earned me this painful reputation. All that earns me the title of God of Knowledge."

Hearing these words, Sasuke looks attentively at the Otsutsuki in his armor who straightens his eye pattern and gets ready to strike. Thinking he will finally get to see the original power of these eyes, find out what the enemy has been meaning to say with his little remarks, and what the unlimited arsenal that Ayaka and Izuna warned him about is, Sasuke thought he could have expected anything. Yet, when he sees the silver Susanoo raise its arm to connect itself to the onyx thunderstorm he created, his confusion grows.

Onyx Kirin Shinsei

It is not Sasuke who gives shape to the lightning dragons in the sky, but Yamitsuki. And with the other hand of his Susanoo, he gathers Yin and Yang energy into a spinning shuriken orb, identical to one of Naruto's previous attacks.

Cho Odama Rasen Shuriken

Startled by these exact mimics of their skills, that he yet didn't absorb to send back like Momoshiki would, Naruto and Sasuke get in stance to avoid the shuriken orb sent flying toward Naruto's Asura avatar. But, using more of his nearly infinite skills, Yamitsuki doesn't let Naruto get away.

Minogame

Using the same jutsu as Urashiki Otsutsuki, he skips forward in time, leaving Naruto to be struck by the Rasen Shuriken without a chance to dodge. Hit by his own jutsu, the Hokage is carried miles away by the orb before it explodes. He is momentarily knocked out, and his avatar is left to fall down to the ground of this planet. Sasuke, startled by the time jump, sees Naruto fall and gets ready to counter.

With Ameno Tejikara, he manages to transport his Susanoo away and avoid the first Kirin falling down on him. However, he doesn't have time to see and dodge the two next dragon heads that grasp onto his wings and obliterate them, leaving the purple Susanoo to fall down to the planet's surface along with Naruto.

Naruto's Asura fox is the first to crash. Still disoriented from the projectile he received, the Hokage is distracted by the sound of Sasuke's Susanoo falling nearby. As he looks around to find his friend and his enemy, he finds himself paralyzed, feeling like someone's gaze prevents him from moving.

Daruma

Using once another ability, Yamitsuki immobilizes the target he stares at with his eyes. As he does so, he lifts the right leg of his Susanoo and opens a large gate of Yomotsu Hirasaka in which he abruptly pushes this foot. The output of that gate opens right above Naruto's Asura Biju Mode who crawls away right before being stomped on. However, this is just as the celestial ruler planned. Instead his foot lands in the ground and shakes the planet's core chakra.

Yoton – Chikaku Funka (Earth Core Eruption)

Yamitsuki remotely manipulates natural energy to cause the lower layers of this aster to emerge into countless eruptions, forming spontaneous volcanos reshaping the surface. One of these eruptions emerges right under Naruto who's still on his back. Swallowed by a series of lava columns, the 3-faced avatar is severely damaged and dismembered but holds enough to keep his original host safe.

When the eruptions end, the 2 clones with Naruto in the avatar disappeared, undoing the Asura avatar. Yamitsuki's silver samurai lands right in front of the incapacitated fox and stands still. In his armor, he stares with apparent disappointment but consideration at the Hokage.

Behind him, Sasuke's Susanoo, at least what remains of it, sneaks in and attempts to blitz in with a Susanoo Raikiri, hoping to be unseen. He manages to reach his target but, like any other offensive until now, he phases through the enemy like a ghost and fails once again. As a reaction, Yamitsuki mirrors this skill as well to strike both enemies.

Susanoo Raikiri Nagashi

He spreads lightning all around his Susanoo and electrocutes both Naruto and Sasuke. Seeing his signature jutsu being copied, Sasuke finally comes to realize what the enemy's ability is. Failing to stand his ground, his armor is paralyzed and he is almost forced unconscious. Yamitsuki's silver avatar grabs Sasuke's purple armor by the ankle and lifts it. He carries it, swings it through the air, and violently smashes him into Naruto's Biju Mode. This collision completely destroys both avatars and leaves the users, unprotected, to crash into the soil side by side.

To join them, Yamitsuki undoes his own Susanoo and gets face to face with them at ground level. They both seem beaten, barely able to stand. Sasuke, after catching his breath, restores some of his strength by absorbing natural energy and so does Naruto. Confident about his terrible theory, Sasuke shares it.

"It… sounds Impossible!" he says. "How can such an ability exist?"

"Did you figure out something?" the Hokage asks.

"Naruto… The reason this guy can reproduce all of our jutsu and can use the powers of Momoshiki and Urashiki… is because it's his eye prowess. I think his Sharingan can copy jutsu without limits."

"Precisely…" Yamitsuki adds, to complete and confirm Sasuke's theory. "Okuninushi, my original ability, makes me instantly learn any jutsu that my eyes witness. And this, regardless of any genetic or natural limit… Have you seen enough? Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke. Or are you still willing to fight?"

Naruto, not intending to give up already, still wants to find this guy's weakness, simply out of stubbornness. So he stands up and, to get back in action, by instinct, he surrounds himself and the enemy.

Kage Bunshin

"Very bad idea, Lord 7th." Yamitsuki comments as he sees hundreds of clones appear around him, and decides to demonstrate his power once more.

Kage Bunshin

He creates an army of clones equal to Naruto's. Seeing this, the Hokage doesn't flinch. All his clones let a war cry out together and jump into battle against Yamitsuki's clones. As the clones disappear, a thick mist cloud covers the area and leaves Sasuke and Naruto blinded.

"To surpass Okuninushi is only a matter of skill. I may copy your jutsu but not your experience." The Dragon Sage declares, immobile in the mist. "Hokage, are you experienced enough to outperform me at your own game?"

After this question, the mist settles as the clone's battle is over and they discover the result. Not a single doppelganger of the Hokage remains, and not a single of Yamitsuki disappeared. They are as intangible as the original, so Naruto's clones did no damage. Frustrated, the Hokage reminds himself of what he is fighting for. He will not give up on his son and best friend. If this man leaves this place, they're doomed. So he needs to fight.

All alone in front of the army of clones, he's joined by Sasuke who has the same determination. Yamitsuki sighs and lets his clones take the fight. Naruto runs first into the crowd of gods. As a first attack, he leaps over the clones and unleashes his 8 remaining Gudodama that he throws down as pillars on the crowd. With this thoughtless offensive, to Sasuke's astonishment, Naruto may have revealed crucial information.

All the clones of Yamitsuki who are in the pillar's trajectory leap away to avoid them, rather than simply phasing through. The Uchiha connects this with what he noticed earlier when Yamitsuki chose to destroy a Rasen Shuriken rather than letting it pass through. Could this be his weakness? To make sure, Sasuke raises his hand and directly aims for the original.

Bansho Tenin

With an attraction force, he manages to catch Yamitsuki and forces him to blend with his army of clones. On his way, he is about to collide with the Gudodama pillars of Naruto, but still doesn't get hit.

Sukuna Bikona

To Naruto's eyes, it seems like Yamitsuki phased through the pillars, but Sasuke's sight could see what really happened.

"That's it!" he exclaims as Yamitsuki stops his pull by immobilizing himself near him. "Naruto! Right now, he didn't phase through your pillars. He used a jutsu to quickly shrink and get back to his normal size. Isn't that right, Yamitsuki?"

Surprised by this cleverness, and feeling like this fight is finally going forward for his opponents, Yamitsuki briefly smiles. However, it all relies on Sasuke's observation. If he is eliminated, it's over. Behind him, Naruto gets his Gudodama back to him, thinking about what Sasuke figured out. The Dragon Sage leads his army of clones toward the Uchiha who carelessly runs toward the original as well.

"Naruto!" Sasuke exclaims, which his friend immediately gets as a signal.

Ameno Tejikara

Right as the clones were about to lay their deadly fangs on him, Sasuke, just a meter away from the original Yamitsuki, switches his place with one of Naruto's Gudodama that he had just activated. The orb detonates and explodes in an intense white light with a dismantling effect. Yamitsuki, seeing the light shine in his face, gets away barely in time.

Kandakoro

When the light disappears, Naruto and Sasuke see that, to their excitement, all the clones in range have vanished. They have been erased by the light. All the clones are dismissed by the summoner who appears before them out of a wormhole. The original has an injury on his left shoulder and arm, which seem to have been partially erased.

"Oh! So we got it!" Naruto exclaims.

"Yamitsuki Otsutsuki." Sasuke mockingly says, suddenly feeling pumped up again. "When you destroyed Naruto's attacks earlier, it was because of how they were made. The weakness of Moshirikara are the Gudodama. So Naruto…" he says to his friend. "You are one of the only few in the universe who can actually beat that guy."

"You have my congratulations, Naruto, Sasuke Uchiha." Yamitsuki answers. "However, let me clarify one detail. The Gudodama, their essence and reality, are the only objects that can bypass Moshirikara. But that they can touch me means in no way that it is my weakness. I am vulnerable to it, but only as much as you. Not more than you are vulnerable to my bare hands… You are probably thinking now that this fight will be less one-sided, are you?"

Naruto, confused by this statement, looks at his Gudodama and thinks to himself. He only has 7 left. If they're destroyed, they're sure to lose. He isn't good enough with those to rely on them. Sasuke, meanwhile, realizes it is time for all of them to fight honestly. And this includes the Dragon Sage.

"It's fine. Go all out." he says to Yamitsuki, unsettled by this bold proposition. "If we get any closer to winning, you'll have to cross that border anyway. So do it now."

To Sasuke, Yamitsuki's abilities are enough to make him nearly unbeatable. Yet, he knows that it isn't what made Ayaka Otsutsuki admit to being far weaker. This is because of a power that she told Sasuke about. A power that he still didn't manifest. Seeing Naruto's confusion, Sasuke clarifies his daring demand to the Dragon Sage.

"Go ahead. Use the Ryujin Kata."

.

End of Chapter 140 – Next Chapter: Ryujin Kata