Lifting his head, Funan gave a playful smile.
"So, Hagoromo-sama—you finally decided to make a move. I thought you were just going to stand there and watch me beat your brother to a pulp."
"Hmph!"
The Sage of Six Paths let out a cold snort and said indifferently, "I was merely allowing Hamura to become more familiar with your strength. As long as I'm watching, you can forget about harming him. It's nothing but a dream."
Funan curled his lip and replied, "Look at your brother's face. Don't you feel a bit sour saying that?"
Hagoromo reflexively looked up.
He saw Hamura flying back with a gloomy expression.
His once-handsome face was now bruised and swollen.
Hagoromo was stunned.
He suddenly turned his head and glared at Funan.
That bastard definitely did it on purpose.
Funan flashed a toothy grin.
You guessed it—I was doing it on purpose. What? Got a problem? Go ahead, bite me!
"Hamura, calm down. He's deliberately provoking you," Hagoromo said sternly. "Come join me in attacking. I'll take the lead—you support me from the side."
"Fine," Hamura replied darkly.
Even if you didn't say it, that's what I was going to do anyway.
With my small frame, you expect me to take the lead? You think I'm stupid?
"Kill!"
Hagoromo roared and charged forward.
He raised his sword and swung.
[Clang!]
Funan raised his own blade to counter.
When the swords clashed, Hagoromo was actually the one sent flying.
"What? Impossible…" he muttered in shock.
Hamura, who had just been charging in, was also stunned.
The two of them were stunned—but Funan certainly wasn't.
He raised his arm and slashed toward Hamura.
[Boom!]
The ground split open with a massive rift, as if the entire earth had been cleaved apart.
Hamura leapt up at the last moment to dodge.
But—
He had clearly forgotten one thing: Funan's Susanoo had six arms.
[Boom!]
Another dull thud rang out.
The remaining five arms struck all at once, sending Hamura flying.
"Hahaha! Kill!"
Funan burst out laughing and charged forward with great strides.
This time, he was single-handedly suppressing the two brothers of the Six Paths.
Hagoromo's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
What the hell is going on?!
Just a moment ago, they had been fighting evenly—at most, Funan had a slight upper hand. How did things suddenly flip?
Damn it!
Now that Hamura was here, instead of gaining the advantage, they were being suppressed even harder?
Are you kidding me?
This makes no sense!
Hagoromo was completely baffled.
If he did know where Funan's power came from, he would've exploded in fury.
Why?
Because Funan had been continuously drawing Kaguya's power from the Kamui dimension.
And at their level, even temporary, borrowed power was enough to unleash overwhelming might.
Funan's strikes grew fiercer with every second.
"Big Brother, are you messing with me?" Hamura growled in frustration. "You called me here to deal with this kind of monster—what exactly am I supposed to do? Am I just here to die with you?"
If I had known this monster was this powerful, would I have come?
Hagoromo's face twitched. Gritting his teeth, he replied, "Don't panic. He must have used some secret technique to boost his strength. This kind of power-up won't last long. Just wait—he'll weaken soon."
Yeah, right. I didn't know he'd be this damn strong either.
If I had known, would I have kept fighting him this long?
And quit pretending you're innocent. Weren't you secretly watching us just now?
Back then, Funan wasn't this strong. That's why you showed up. If you'd known he was this strong from the start, you definitely wouldn't have come either.
[Boom!]
Even as Hagoromo finished speaking, Funan landed several more strikes. Though Hagoromo managed to block them, the sheer force behind the blows sent him staggering backward.
Finally, under the combined slash of Funan's twin swords, he was sent flying.
"Arghhhh!!"
Hamura roared and sprang up, rushing to confront Funan face to face. Surrounding him were dozens of swirling Truth-Seeking Orbs.
[BOOM!!!]
All of them crashed down onto Funan's Susanoo at once.
Funan was pushed back.
Deep grooves were carved into the ground beneath his feet.
But—
Even as he was being forced back, Funan slashed toward Hamura.
[Whoosh!]
Hamura quickly dodged and successfully evaded the strike—but Funan's sword, after missing, suddenly altered its trajectory. The slash turned into a swipe.
[Smack!]
With a soft thwack, Hamura was sent flying.
[Zzzzz!]
Funan stared coldly at the tumbling Hamura as a blood-red magatama materialized in his palm.
[Whoosh!]
The blood-red magatama shot toward Hamura.
But Hagoromo, piloting his Susanoo, appeared just in time to block the attack. He charged forward again to clash with Funan.
"Come on, come on, come on!" Funan cackled wickedly.
The longer the fight went on, the more his power surged.
The energy within his body became increasingly refined and fluent.
After some time, a fruit within Funan finally dropped, merging into his core and feeding into the source of his strength.
[BOOM!!!]
Funan's aura exploded to a new level.
With a mighty roar, he poured power into his arms and forced Hagoromo back with overwhelming force.
Hamura kept bombarding him with Truth-Seeking Orbs.
Once Hamura's volley ended, Funan countered with six blood-red magatama in a row, sending Hamura bouncing wildly through the air.
…
In the brief time Funan had been clashing with Hagoromo and Hamura, a staggering number of soul entities had already been wiped out.
The Sage of Six Paths took note. His expression darkened slightly.
"And tell me—if my people keep this up, how many of your soul entities will be left?"
"We'll just have to wait and see," the Sage replied calmly, unfazed by the taunt.
"Keep pretending. Go ahead and keep acting composed."
"Hmph." The Sage let out a soft snort. Slowly, he formed a hand seal and said, "You're strong. Which is why I still need to summon some help. You don't mind, do you?"
Funan raised an eyebrow. "You still have reinforcements?"
"Of course." The Sage pressed his hand to the ground. "Summoning Technique!"
[Boom!]
An aged toad appeared before them both.
Funan blinked, then gave a cold chuckle. "The Great Toad Sage? Tsk… So you've decided to stand against me?"
The Great Toad Sage looked around with bleary eyes and gave a faint, bitter smile.
"Hagoromo, what is this…"
"I'm sorry, Gamamaru." Hagoromo's expression was steely. "But right now, I need your power."
Damn you.
Why don't you go to hell!
Gamamaru—the Great Toad Sage—wore a deeply pained look.
Did you even look at what kind of battle this is before calling me here?
This isn't asking for help—it's sending me to my death!
Funan watched Gamamaru with great interest. "Honored Great Toad Sage…"
"No, no, please!" the old toad quickly waved his hands. "Hokage-sama, just call me Gamamaru. That 'Great Toad Sage' title makes me nervous when you say it."
"Oh?" Funan chuckled softly. "So... are you planning to help Hagoromo?"
I don't want to help anyone!
Can't I just leave?
Gamamaru wanted to cry.
This was a death sentence.
"My, my, what's with that look on your face?" Funan said with a cheerful smile. "Gamamaru, haven't you noticed? Hagoromo did this on purpose."
"What?" Gamamaru's already squinted eyes opened just a little wider.
Funan continued, still smiling, "I'd wager he's been dissatisfied with you for a long time. After all, during that battle he had with his own mother, you stepped in, didn't you? Don't you think Hagoromo sometimes wonders, 'If not for that damn toad, maybe I wouldn't have had to fight my own mother'?"
Cold sweat began to pour uncontrollably down Gamamaru's head.
Could that be true?
Absolutely!
Otherwise, there was no way to explain why Hagoromo would summon him now.
Sure, he had some strength—but in a battle between Hagoromo and Funan? He had no business being involved.
"Gamamaru, don't listen to his nonsense!" Hagoromo said coldly. "Hurry and come help me!"
Gamamaru let out a deep, mournful sigh. He reached up to touch the 'oil' kanji inscribed at his neck—and in the next instant, a massive broadsword appeared in his hand.
"You've got to be kidding me," Funan said in surprise. "Gamamaru, you're really going to team up with Hagoromo against me? Aren't you worried that Mount Myōboku might cease to exist after this?"
Gamamaru's expression darkened. His voice dropped to a low tone. "Don't threaten me, Uchiha Funan. I'm warning you—"
[Boom! Boom!]
Two explosive bursts of smoke erupted, and two massive figures appeared before Gamamaru.
The moment he saw them, the rest of Gamamaru's sentence died in his throat.
One of them had a long, slender body and a cigarette hanging from their lips.
The other was round and emanated a calm, gentle aura.
From Ryūchi Cave: the White Snake Sage!
From Shikkotsu Forest: the Slug Sage!
The leaders of the Three Great Sage Regions—the three sages of the shinobi world—had gathered here at last.
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