Times have changed!
Counting from the day scientific ninja tools were invented, the era took a massive step forward.
Scientific ninja tools naturally had their drawbacks. For instance, the power of their "ammunition" depended entirely on the strength of the sealer, having nothing to do with the user.
Someone like Ino could casually use a Water Release to trigger an apocalyptic flood, whereas an ordinary ninja could, at best, produce a water curtain.
With drawbacks, naturally came advantages.
Convenient, fast, and capable of large-volume output, with barely any physical requirements for the user—these were the advantages!
Gekko Hayate endured the throes of pain radiating from his cells. The load on his internal organs had reached its limit, and his head was buzzing. In this state, he couldn't use ninjutsu at all. He could only grip the scientific ninja tool tightly and pull the trigger all the way down.
Countless fireballs, wind blades, and water arrows shot out. The dense barrage of ninjutsu packed the somewhat narrow portal, shredding the ravings within the spatial tunnel and destroying its energy balance. Kaguya Otsutsuki also turned around and struck out with a palm, shutting the portal completely.
Just before it closed, those eyes transmitted a signal to them: I have seen you. You are all the bait I left behind, the blood sacrifices for my return. None of you will escape.
The portal was closed.
The scorched ground, along with the withered trees and dead insects within a kilometer radius, all proved that a being with incredibly strong negative energy had stopped here.
One minute later, the Sensory Division dispatched ninja to provide support. Five minutes later, Hinata crushed the emergency contact talisman Ino had left for her. Eight minutes later, inside the Hokage Administration Building, Ino met with Princess Kaguya, whose wounds had been briefly treated. At almost the same time, Sasuke also returned to Konoha Village, bringing along his heavily injured ancestor, Uchiha Madara, also claiming to have vital intelligence.
Naturally, Ino wouldn't wear Supreme Kai attire while in Konoha Village. She hurriedly changed into her Hokage robe and rushed to her office in the administration building.
She motioned for the others to leave first, leaving only Gekko Hayate, Kaguya, Sasuke, and Madara in the room.
"What exactly happened? Didn't the Otsutsuki God supposedly discard his physical body, with his soul ascending to another so-called higher dimension? Are you sure it's him?" she asked.
Lord Madara, dressed in the Uchiha clan's blue uchiwa kimono, looked up at the portraits of the seven Hokage hanging on the office wall, his gaze lingering particularly on Senju Hashirama's photo.
Only then did he speak, "I didn't see the entity in person, nor do I know if that thing has a physical form. But he can control... no, 'control' isn't accurate. I should say he can influence my Rinnegan. I was previously honing my martial arts on a planet very far from here. But while I was sleeping, my Rinnegan activated on its own. Realizing something was wrong, I intercepted a spaceship and forced myself to stay awake the entire journey back."
Ninja were not samurai; they had no taboos about fleeing. Running away when you couldn't win was completely normal. Lord Madara had feigned death for decades; fleeing without a fight was truly no big deal to him.
Zetsu's figure emerged from Kaguya's sleeve, giving a sinister smile. "Madara, you look so pathetic."
Madara felt irritated just seeing this guy. He shot him a cold glare but said nothing.
Kaguya coughed lightly. "My encounter was largely the same."
Ino nodded. Both of them had been beaten black and blue and forced to come back and have her shoulder the burden. In that sense, their encounters were indeed "largely the same."
Back when she gathered the chakra of five Otsutsuki, Ino had owed them a favor. Paying it back now was perfectly fine.
Kaguya and Madara's choice was very smart.
"I understand. You can rest easy and stay in Konoha. My daughter also has the Rinnegan. My stance aligns with both of yours—whether that guy still calls himself Otsutsuki Yatsume or not, he must die. By the way, is there any news of Momoshiki and Kinshiki?"
Both shook their heads.
Understood. Those two unfortunate fools didn't know the coordinates of the ninja villages, so they couldn't redirect the danger here even if they wanted to. They could only wait to die out there, or perhaps they were already dead?
There was nothing to be done about that. Previously, to gather five Otsutsuki, she had spent time specifically tracking them down. Momoshiki and Kinshiki had no fixed residence; who knew where they were now? Ino couldn't ignore the village's safety or her daughter's safety to go searching the entire universe for those two idlers.
If they managed to survive and make it to her, she would save them. If their luck was bad and they were beaten to death, she would help them reincarnate into a good life, which could be considered repaying the favor.
Kaguya and Madara were quite heavily injured. After they finished explaining the situation, Ino ordered medical ninja to take them to rest.
Right as she was about to leave, Sasuke stopped her.
"Lady Hokage."
"What is it? Something on your mind?"
Sasuke carefully weighed his words. "If the village had another pair of Rinnegan right now, it could effectively distract that guy, preventing him from targeting Himawari, right?"
Ino understood instantly. "You want to awaken the Rinnegan too? The power of the Mangekyo Sharingan is actually sufficient. Awakening the Rinnegan will put you in danger."
Sasuke said solemnly, "I'm not afraid of danger."
"Is that so..." Ino thought for a moment. The current Sasuke had already honed his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan to perfection; all he lacked was Asura chakra.
With a flip of her wrist, Ino downgraded God Power into Six Paths power, and then downgraded it again to mimic the Asura chakra of the past, gathering it into a small golden orb of light. She took out a porcelain bottle normally used to hold Himawari's stationery, infused the chakra into it, sealed it, and handed it to Sasuke.
"Given your aptitude, this chakra is enough for you to awaken the Rinnegan."
"Thank you, Lady Hokage."
Sasuke's request was truly just a minor matter to the Ino of today. Forget about adding or subtracting a pair of Rinnegan; even if the entire village had the Rinnegan, it wouldn't pose a threat to her.
The Otsutsuki God that Kaguya and Madara mentioned was just a minor annoyance in her eyes. No matter how bizarre he was, if a guy like that charged right up to her, he would literally be the kind of trash she could "crush to death with a single finger."
Her focus was on a much more macro level.
Sitting in her office, Ino conversed with the Supreme Kai across an unknown distance.
The Supreme Kai said, "It's not just your home planet being attacked; the Demon Realm's offensive this time is extremely bizarre. Not only have they sent an advance force to attack the Seventh Universe, but they have also launched assaults on the Second, Third, Ninth, and Tenth Universes. Based on our current analysis, their attacks are incredibly intense, and the resulting destruction is immeasurable..."
Although the Supreme Kai was known for his 'lie flat' attitude, he was essentially a very kind-hearted young man. Seeing other universes being ravaged by the Demon Realm army deeply pained him.
Ino offered a few words of comfort before quickly steering the topic back to the Seventh Universe.
Other people's homes being pillaged and burned was certainly a massive tragedy, and feeling a bit of sympathy was fine. However, they weren't just idle bystanders either—they needed to look after themselves first!
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