596. Ibaraki Otsutsuki

Sigh…

'The water within the Otsutsuki clan runs so deep!' Izuna signs in the heart.

'No wonder the Otsutsuki clan is such a behemoth and can fight a long war against the Tentai Yōkai clan and resist the invasion of the Abyss.' Izuna also understands a few more things.

However, with the rise in Madara's aura, the palpitation in Izuna's heart also increases.

'Where the fuck is Seiryū when I need him the most? No, this won't do; I have to stall for more time. I can't fight against these two on my own.'

He glances at Ibaraki.

"Uchiha, Senju, and Uzumaki clans are the descendants of Hagoromo. The Hyuga clan and moon branch are the descendants of Homura. Does that mean the Kaguya clan members are a descendant of…" Izuna turns to Ibaraki, his meaning clear.

"Hehe… Not just the Kaguya clan!"

Suddenly, a change occurs on the battlefield. Izuna feels his blood boil. He almost loses control of the blood in his body as it attempts to escape from his body.

SHIING…

An illusion of two large bloody eyes appears behind Izuna.

"Those eyes…"

Izuna's expression turns ugly.

"Ketsuryūgan!"

Ibaraki finally opens his closed eyes, revealing two bloody eyes with glowing bright red sclera, dark red irises, and white pupils shaped as horizontal rectangles.

"The Dojutsu of the Chinoike clan!" Izuna mumbles.

"The Kaguya clan and the Chinoike clans are the remnants of the failed experiments that I did with Ibaraki's blood. Unfortunately, the outcome was quite unstable and lacked the necessary power." Black Zetsu laments at his failure.

While Izuna is conversing with Black Zetsu to stall time, the blood-red aura around Ibaraki deepens.

GROAR…

With a powerful roar, a burst of blood-red aura emits from his body.

Bang… bang… bang…

Izuna's clones are sent flying by Ibaraki's sudden outburst.

"His power and speed have almost tripled." Izuna notices the anomaly.

Whoosh…

Ibaraki moves at a speed akin to teleportation. He arrives in front of one of Izuna's clones and clenches his fists. A thick, blood aura shrouds his fists.

Bang…

Ibaraki's fist blows a hole through the clone's chest before the latter can react.

"Such fast speed and reflexes." Izuna's eyes narrow.

The clone's body turns white, and it crumbles into ashes and dissipates.

Izuna's eyes narrow at the sight.

'That wasn't a normal clone. It was a combination of Limbo and Shadow clone jutsu. Not only is this clone immune to physical and Ninjutsu attacks, but it can even return to the Limbo dimension to recover from any injuries. However, his strange power insta-killed my clone. It was a complete annihilation, which means I have permanently lost that clone for good.

Just what is the origin of this strange power? Is it an ability of Shibai Otsutsuki's blood? Or is it something else entirely?' Izuna speculates.

Whoosh… Slash…

Izuna's second clone teleports behind Ibaraki with a black sword. He aims the blade at the crack between Ibaraki's bone armor. The blade ignores Ibaraki's physical defense and slices through the latter's skin.

Ding…

The blade gets deflected by a layer of blood-red aura. Purple flames erupt from the blade and engulf Ibaraki's body.

'This blade possesses a special ability to bypass all physical and spiritual defenses. It's a perfect weapon for assassinations. And the flames it releases is a type of metaphysical concept of decay.'

The white bone armor on Ibaraki's body turns brown and falls off from his body. It vanishes into thin air before it can make contact with the ground. The flames slowly burn Ibaraki's skin and flesh, revealing his bones.

Shiing…

The red glow in Ibaraki's eyes turns brighter. Blood aura seeps out of his body and cleanses the purple flames in an instant.

"It can even erase the concept of decay?!" Izuna's eyes widen in shock.

The blood-red aura envelops Ibaraki's body like a cocoon. It restores his body to its former state within a matter of seconds.

ROAR…

Ibaraki releases an angry howl and swings a bone blade towards Izuna's clone.

The clone hastily dodges back, afraid of the fate of the previous clone.

The bone blade slides inches away from the clone's forehead.

"His blood possesses strong defensive ability, a powerful offensive ability, a potent healing factor, and that strange aura to amplify everything. It also grants him those eyes to manipulate blood."

Shiing…

Blood-red eyes appear behind the clone and a sharp bone blade slashes towards him.

Swish…

The clone barely dodges the blade at the very last instant.

RIIP…

Ibaraki's swing tears a black rift through the space. The powerful pressure from the swing destroys a series of mountains in the distance.

'What's with this insane physical strength? Has he grown stronger than before? This power is on par with Eight Gate Gai. His causal swing can create a rift in space.' Izuna's expression changes again.

'Just what kind of monster is this? It's growing stronger as the battle goes on. And I don't have a method to kill him in an instant unless I use that attack.'

Whoosh… whoosh…

The clone swiftly distances itself from Ibaraki.

Crack… Snap… Snap…

The blood-red energy coats the bone blade and alters its shape and density.

Whoosh… whoosh… whoosh…

Ibaraki manipulates his blood to create several scarlet weapons of blood behind him.

'Blood Manipulation: Amanohabaya,'

"That's his version of the Otsutsuki technique."

Izuna recognizes the weapon creation technique as one of the signature techniques of the Otsutsuki clan.

Swish…

Ibaraki waves his hand and the weapons behind him shoot towards Izuna's clone at an incredible speed.

Bang… bang… bang…

The clone rapidly dodges the attack and avoids another barrage of bone bullets from Ibaraki.

The blood weapons turn into liquid form upon impact and alter their shape and size to different forms to attack him. A massive blood hammer smashes towards the clone's head.

Swoosh…

The clone uses 'Shinra Tensei' to push itself out of the way.

BOOM…

The hammer's strike creates a bottomless pit on impact. The entire continent falls several meters below the sea level.

The blood of the hammer transforms into several red needles and shoots outward at an extreme speed.

Clang… clang… clang…

Izuna's clone deflects the attack with his sword.

Sizzle… sizzle…

However, the corrosive property of the metal eats through the material of the blade.

"Are you kidding me? That's meteorite iron, one of the hardest metals." The clone discards the sword and pulls out a blue blade made from different materials.

Swish…

A bloody spear fly past Izuna's head. Several beads of blood from the needles gather and morph into multiple blood clones of Ibaraki. Each clone is equipped with a scarlet weapon infused with blood aura.

'Blood clone technique'

The blood clones charge toward Izuna's clone from all directions.

Hmm…

Izuna's eyes narrow at the sight.

'This guy… he seems to evolving in combat. He is even replicating my abilities? Is this the result of a single drop? That Black Zetsu dares to call it a defective product. Now I can't even imagine what havoc the Otsutsuki clan will wreak if they get possession of Shibai's complete body.'

Izuna's clone extends its palm. A black orb appears in his palm.

"Secret Senjutsu Art: Six Paths Annihilation wave,"

Boom…

A burst of black energy explodes from the clone as the center. This burst of energy travels outward and wipes out all of Ibaraki's blood clones.

Slash…

Suddenly, a scarlet spear penetrates through Izuna's chest.

Argh…

The clone's body turns white, and it slowly disintegrates into white ashes and vanishes from the world.

Ibaraki walks out of a black Yomotsu Hirasaka with the spear in its hand.

'He has even mastered the Space-time techniques!' Izuna's eyelids twitch slightly.

Thump…

Suddenly, a pulse of chakra escapes from Madara's body. The black tar-like substance seeps into his body. The transformation is completed.

A figure clad in an ornate white cloak with several obscure runes, and magatama patterns, appears. The figure has his eyes closed and there is a crown-shaped horn on his forehead. His long white hairs flutter with the wind.

"It's really him!"

A look of despair appears on Izuna's face.

Shiing…

At this instant, a violet light flickers across Izuna's right eye. Finally, his Reigan has recovered. However, there is no happiness in Izuna's eyes: only deep terror.

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