187: God's "cleansing", the hunting of the trinity

What Nara Shikaku meant by “mutual annihilation” soon received a more intuitive and bloody explanation.

The stalemate in the sky did not last long.

Or rather, for “gods,” this type of long-range firepower coverage using a fleet was inherently an inefficient, mortal mode of warfare.

When they realized that the repair speed of their law barriers couldn't even keep up with the tearing speed in the face of the opponent's unreasonable gravity singularities and precise sniping, the three core members on the flagship finally lost their last shred of patience.

Conventional attacks were ineffective.

Therefore, it was time for a “cleanup.”

On the flagship, the three figures, who had always exuded terrifying pressure, moved.

They did not descend the gangplank, nor did they use any vehicles.

They merely transformed into three streaks of light—one pure gold, one eerily dark blue, and one supremely pure white—flashing away from the flagship.

The next instant, they had already appeared on the battlefield.

Ignoring space, ignoring distance.

The moment they descended, the pressure exerted by the entire world on the Ninja Allied Forces suddenly increased by more than tenfold!

It was a pure, absolute suppression of lower-dimensional beings by higher-dimensional life forms, far exceeding that of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.

Tsunade’s leg bones emitted a brittle crack under the unbearable weight, and she was pressed firmly to the ground, unable to move even an inch.

This was not Chakra; it was not aura.

This was a disparity in “existence” itself.

Just as humans don't care how many ants they step on.

The descent of these three Ōtsutsuki leaders was, in itself, a “cleanup” targeting this world.

Among them, the pure golden streak of light had a clear target, heading straight for Asura - Modified, who was freely traversing the battlefield, continuously sniping the barrier nodes.

As the light dissipated, it revealed a burly Ōtsutsuki clansman, whose entire body seemed to be forged from gold and covered in red patterns. He was a kinsman of the single-horned clansman who had wielded the fishing rod earlier, but his aura was a hundred times stronger.

He made no unnecessary movements; his entire skeletal and muscular system erupted with a series of explosive sounds, and he transformed into a living, ultimate red weapon.

Power, power pure to the extreme!

He unleashed a punch, and the space in front of him visibly collapsed, its might easily capable of shattering a meteorite falling from the sky!

He had locked onto Asura - Modified!

On the other side, the dark blue streak of light appeared even more bizarre.

He showed no signs of physical attack; he merely floated in mid-air, with his hands spread open. Countless “lines of causality,” invisible to the naked eye but perceptible on a fundamental level, extended from his palms, like an invisible Heaven's Net, Earth's Web, enveloping Owl · Stealth, who was conducting silent hunts in the air.

This was not restraint.

This was “definition”!

Once entangled by these threads, Owl · Stealth’s next movement, next dodge, and even the trajectory of its next wing flap would be “predetermined.” The final outcome would be locked down from the root, then annihilated.

This was a nearly unsolvable form of foresight and manipulation.

As for the third, the most arrogant, pure white figure, he didn't even glance at any of Tang Yan’s puppets.

He floated above the remnants of the Ninja Allied Forces, like a god looking down on dust.

He slowly opened his palm.

In his palm, an energy sphere, purer and darker than the one previously condensed by the single-horned clansman, began to emerge.

He intended to absorb these “bugs” that kept making noise, along with the unsightly land beneath their feet, as a snack to replenish his divine power.

A tripartite hunt, from three dimensions, unfolded simultaneously.

Power, Law, Energy.

Flawless.

“Heh.”

At the top of Naihe Bridge, Tang Yan let out a soft chuckle.

He remained in his original spot, without even changing his posture, merely issuing more precise commands via mental link.

The perfect one-on-three micro-management began now.

“Asura - Modified, switch.”

The moment the command was issued, facing the golden iron fist capable of shattering stars, Asura - Modified’s floating armaments, which had been conducting long-range sniping, suddenly returned to its main body!

Its signature six arms, amidst a grating sound of mechanical transformation, instantly turned into six rapidly rotating, gleaming, massive blades!

High-speed rotary blade mode!

Boom—!!!

The golden fist and the crimson blade storm fiercely collided!

No skill, no flashiness.

Pure power and ultimate cutting exploded into a fireball comparable to the sun in mid-air, and the terrifying shockwave once again carved a bottomless gully into the ground below.

Sparks illuminated half the sky!

“Owl · Stealth, protocol change.”

Facing the lines of causality capable of locking down “fate,” Owl · Stealth’s crimson night-vision crystal goggles flashed with a waterfall-like stream of data.

Night Hunt Protocol - Modified, activated!

Its entire body, every single alloy blade feather, began to vibrate at an ultra-high frequency, and the optical camouflage coating on its surface began to madly refract all surrounding light.

The next second, something bizarre happened.

Under the lock of the lines of causality, Owl · Stealth’s figure suddenly became blurry.

Then, one became two, two became four, and four became hundreds and thousands!

Innumerable identical Owl · Stealths appeared in every corner of the sky.

Each of them looked so real, each was performing different flight movements, and each seemed to be an independent “possibility.”

The invisible net of causality instantly fell into a logical paradox.

It could lock onto one definite “effect,” but it could not simultaneously lock onto a thousand contradictory “possibilities”!

Causality was disrupted.

And the most fatal threat came from above the Ninja Allied Forces.

The black energy sphere in the pure white figure’s palm had already expanded to a size capable of devouring a mountain range, and the laws of “absorption” and “annihilation” contained within it made Tsunade and the others below tremble even in their souls.

They couldn't even scream; they could only watch death descend.

However, Tang Yan’s command also arrived.

“Pharmacist Qin, purify.”

The target of the command was the most harmless-looking, child-shaped medical puppet that had been staying in the back.

The medicine box on Pharmacist Qin’s back opened, and a seemingly unremarkable, grayish-white “mist” wafted out.

That was the “Holy Healing Cloud” previously used for mass healing.

It did not rush towards the sky but slowly diffused, like ordinary mist.

The pure white Ōtsutsuki leader paid no attention to this inconspicuous “gray mist.”

In his perception, such a thing wasn't even worthy of scratching his itch.

He was about to swing his palm down and enjoy the pleasure of absorbing energy.

But just then, the gray mist touched the air above his palm.

Then, the Holy Healing Cloud transformed into a “Soul Plague.”

Countless nanobots, smaller than cells and completely invisible to the naked eye, were instantly activated. They did not attack the Ōtsutsuki’s main body but attached themselves to his black energy sphere, which was about to go out of control!

Zzz… Zzzzz…

A strange change occurred.

The energy sphere, which contained the power to destroy the world, was like an ice cube splashed with concentrated sulfuric acid; its surface began to show countless tiny pits, and its energy structure was rapidly devoured, decomposed, and disintegrated at an incredible speed!

In just one second.

The energy sphere, capable of turning a hundred-mile radius into nothingness, turned into a wisp of smoke in the Ōtsutsuki leader’s palm, disappearing without a trace.

The pure white figure froze.

The eternal, god-like arrogance on his face cracked for the first time.

He slowly lowered his head, looking at his empty palm, then at the gray mist that had completed its mission and was slowly dissipating.

His divine power…

It was actually contaminated and disintegrated by this inconspicuous “dust”?

For the first time, he shifted his gaze from Tang Yan at the top of Naihe Bridge.

Then, he fixed his gaze, firmly, on the medical puppet on the ground, which was only the size of a six-year-old child and looked harmless to humans and animals.

His eyes were filled with incomprehensible, absurd… incredulity.