Chapter 144: The Apostle Jade and the Divine Void Strike

“Teacher is actually one of Terra’s people!”

Itachi gazed at Uchiha Li high in the sky, his feelings a tangled mess.

If there was any clan that cared most about Terra’s emergence, it was undoubtedly the Uchiha.

After all, Terra had appeared with two Mangekyo wielders from the very beginning.

A power that should have belonged to the Uchiha Clan had surfaced within an outsider organization instead. The revelation had thrown the clan into chaos.

His father had even ordered a thorough investigation of the clan registry, trying to determine whether any Uchiha might have survived and somehow ended up living beyond the clan.

Unfortunately, despite searching again and again, they found no useful leads.

The two Mangekyo wielders within Terra seemed to have appeared out of thin air. There was simply no trace of their origins.

Itachi had never expected Terra’s people to appear here—and within the clan itself, no less. His own teacher was one of them.

That raised another question: Could Terra’s other Mangekyo wielder also be somewhere within the clan? Could it even be someone close to him?

The thought occurred to Itachi, and he instinctively swallowed.

If that were truly the case, it would mean that the Uchiha Clan possessed three pairs of Mangekyo.

Three pairs of Mangekyo were no trivial matter. They would be enough to exert a tremendous influence over the village and the outside world.

“What does Karoso mean?”

After Uchiha Li spoke the name, Otsutsuki Shouya frowned deeply.

He did not quite understand the meaning of the name, but instinct told him that it was no ordinary matter.

Uchiha Li had suddenly transformed, standing in midair as though he had simply appeared there. An inexplicable pressure weighed upon Shouya.

Especially now, as red spheres gathered in both of Uchiha Li’s hands, making Shouya’s heart pound violently.

After reciting his somewhat theatrical declaration, Uchiha Li turned his attention to the recovering Golem and swiftly launched his attack.

The Golem’s legs had already been severed by the Divine Wheel. Although they were beginning to regenerate, the process was slower than before.

Li had abandoned his Susanoo and used the Divine Wheel to cripple the Golem precisely to create this opening.

His current form was the result of further developing the power of Karoso.

Uchiha Li had named it the Apostle Form.

While in the Apostle Form, he could draw upon more and more of Karoso’s power as his strength increased.

Although he could use only a small portion of it at present, that was already enough for the current situation.

While the Golem was regenerating, Otsutsuki Shouya could do little unless he was willing to leave its protection. Until then, he was nothing more than a sitting target.

This was the perfect moment to attack.

Relying on the Divine Wheel’s ability to fly, Uchiha Li rapidly reached Shouya. Without hesitation, he hurled the techniques he had prepared.

The red spheres condensed in his hands radiated a faint violet glow.

The small orbs appeared harmless, but they were actually the result of chakra compressed to an extreme degree.

In nature and form, they closely resembled the Tailed Beast Balls condensed by the tailed beasts.

Thus, Uchiha Li had named them Apostle Orbs.

The Apostle Orbs shot directly toward Otsutsuki Shouya, locking onto him.

As Shouya watched the red spheres rush toward him, the unease in his heart grew stronger.

The Golem was still recovering and could not offer him much assistance.

Yet if he left the Golem, he would obviously fall into Uchiha Li’s trap.

“You forced me into this.”

A look of resolve flashed across Otsutsuki Shouya’s face. He raised his right hand as well.

“Do you think my clan relies on the Golem alone?”

His voice was filled with pride in his family.

And in truth, they had every reason to be proud.

Unlike the Hyuga Clan, which lived upon the earth, their bloodline inheritance remained remarkably pure. That was why they could still bear the surname Otsutsuki.

That inheritance was what truly set them apart from the Hyuga.

“Divine Sky Strike!”

With a low shout from Shouya, chakra gathered in his palm.

In an instant, a phantom fist radiating golden light appeared. It then swung toward Uchiha Li’s Apostle Orbs.

Boom!

The immense chakra concentrated within the phantom fist reached the Apostle Orbs in an instant, and the two collided.

A tremendous shockwave erupted, forming a mushroom cloud high in the sky.

The explosion of energy affected both Uchiha Li and Shouya, nearly flinging them away.

Fortunately, Uchiha Li had raised the Divine Wheel in front of himself, shielding him from the worst of the blast.

Otsutsuki Shouya was not so fortunate. With the Golem still regenerating, he had no choice but to withstand the explosion head-on.

For a moment, Shouya looked utterly battered, caught within the violent force of the blast.

His clothes were almost completely shredded, and his body was covered in charred wounds.

Even so, he ultimately managed to hold his ground.

“What a pity.”

Watching as Shouya’s Divine Sky Strike actually blocked his Apostle Orbs, Uchiha Li fell into thought.

He had once seen a Hyuga from his village use a technique called the Vacuum Palm on the battlefield.

The method of using the Divine Sky Strike was seventy or eighty percent similar to that of the Vacuum Palm, but the difference in power between them was enormous.

The Vacuum Palm merely used chakra to create something resembling an air cannon. Its power was not particularly impressive and could never have blocked his Apostle Orbs.

The Divine Sky Strike, however, involved more than simply changing the form of chakra. It also incorporated a transformation of its nature.

If he had judged correctly, the Divine Sky Strike clearly involved Yang Release, fusing physical strength into the technique.

That was why the Vacuum Palm and the Divine Sky Strike, despite being launched in similar ways, differed so greatly in power that the latter could collide with the Apostle Orbs.

Otsutsuki Shouya struggled back to his feet atop the Golem. By then, the Golem had finally completed its regeneration.

Ignoring the injuries covering his body, he once again swung both hands and unleashed the Divine Sky Strike.

“Are you willing to throw away your own life just to kill me?”

Uchiha Li immediately understood Shouya’s intentions, and his heart tightened.

In terms of sheer power, the Divine Sky Strike could not compare with his Apostle Orbs, but it had the advantage in numbers.

More importantly, the Divine Sky Strike involved more than changes in chakra’s form and nature.

It incorporated the attributes of Yang Release, along with a mysterious aura resembling sage power. Each strike possessed enough force to rival an S-rank technique.

The name Divine Sky Strike also reminded Uchiha Li of another technique.

The Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack used by Kaguya Otsutsuki.

Clearly, the Divine Sky Strike Shouya was using now was incomplete—a weakened version.

The true Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack was a technique belonging to a Kekkei Mora, and Shouya did not possess the qualifications to use it.

Even so, although the Divine Sky Strike could not compare with the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack, it was still enough to threaten him in his current state.

After summoning Susanoo, entering the Apostle Form, and using highly concentrated Apostle Orbs, his body had already reached its limit.

Both his ocular power and his chakra were nearly exhausted.

If he continued fighting under such circumstances, there was a very real possibility that both sides would suffer catastrophic losses.

That was not what Uchiha Li wanted. He had no intention of trading his life for Otsutsuki Shouya’s.

“It is time to leave. With my current strength, dealing with the combined force of the Golem and the Divine Sky Strike is indeed a little too much.”

“I can return to the moon after becoming stronger…”

Once he had decided to retreat, Uchiha Li no longer hesitated.

Dodging the attacks, he began descending rapidly toward the ground.