An indescribably terrifying spiritual pressure shook the three realms, and as the origin point of this pressure, Mount Myōboku's situation was particularly disastrous.
Once a paradise untouched by the world, Mount Myōboku had now been utterly shattered, its landscape reduced to ruins. The corpses of tadpoles and toads whose souls had been crushed under the weight of the spiritual pressure lay scattered among the wreckage. Even the two Toad Sages, despite their best efforts, could do nothing to stop it.
They could prevent Mount Myōboku from collapsing under the overwhelming torrent of spiritual pressure, but they could not stop the absolute assault that vast spiritual pressure wrought upon the soul.
And once the soul was crushed, the very meaning of a living being's existence vanished.
"Why… why has it come to this…"
Toad Sage Fukasaku looked upon the ruins before him with powerless despair. Mount Myōboku, which had never suffered a disaster in a thousand years, had now become like this.
"Pull yourself together, old man! ! Now is not the time to mourn!"Toad Sage Shima formed hand seals, struggling to maintain the integrity of Mount Myōboku on the verge of total collapse. "Though we don't know what's happening with the Great Toad Sage, we, as Sages, must not give up no matter what!"
"Find the survivors! Reverse summon them out!"
"I understand!" Toad Sage Fukasaku reined in his emotions and nodded heavily.
His gaze turned towards the depths of the Toad Cave, his hands clenching into fists. "You must… you absolutely must hold on, Great Toad Sage!"
BOOM!!!
A terrifying surge of energy erupted from within the Toad Cave, causing the ancient cave that had stood atop Mount Myōboku for a thousand years to collapse instantly.
Accompanying the towering pillar of light, countless dreamlike figures flickered within it, appearing extremely strange and surreal.
Inside the pillar, in the dream world nearly bursting from Yuki Yoru's overwhelming spiritual pressure, a figure stood above the sky, holding a slender white snake in his hand.
Below, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, who was a transformation created by Gamamaru using the dream world, had a solemn expression.
He could feel that the Yoru before him was utterly different from before. If the previous Yoru was a rushing great river, the current Yoru was an boundless ocean!
He had completed his transformation, stepping into a higher realm!
"You cannot possibly wield this level of energy," Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's voice was low. "Your power isn't chakra—it's spiritual power. That's why you've been spreading spiritual power across the shinobi world, converting chakra into spirit, trying to walk Hagoromo's path.You even prepared to use the Eight-Thousand Spears ocular technique to absorb that spiritual power."
"But the people in the shinobi world are still largely intact. You don't have enough spiritual power to step into this realm… wait!"
"It seems you've realized it."
Yoru glanced at the frail, fading White Snake Sage in his hand—its life-force all but gone. Without hesitation, he ripped open the once-impenetrable dream-space and tossed the creature into the Garganta.
"Asura and Indra… as expected of the Sage of Six Paths' own sons. The chakra within them is immense."
"I originally thought I would need to prepare some other things to break through, but I didn't expect it to directly allow me to step into this realm."
Yoru clenched his fist, feeling the utterly different sensation within, as if all things had returned to one, a fundamental evolution completing a transformation. A smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
"This feeling… of seizing the opportunities that others schemed and prepared for—truly, it's not bad at all."
"You're not afraid of completely enraging Hagoromo?!"
"Hah, we already tore off the mask long ago." Yuki Yoru let out a cold laugh. If the Sage of Six Paths hadn't directly sent a clone to interfere with him, he might not have acted so hastily against Asura and Indra.
You strike first, I'll strike harder. Since Hagoromo had already chosen to play this way, Yoru would naturally accompany him to the bitter end!
The ruthless glint in his eyes made Gamamaru turn his head in spite of himself. For the first time, he realized that the Master of Soul standing before him did not just possess unfathomable potential—he also carried ambition and resolve beyond anything they had imagined.
As a close partner of the Sage of Six Paths, Gamamaru knew very well what kind of importance Asura and Indra held in Six Paths's plan.
They were one of the keys for Six Paths to break through his limit and achieve the true Kekkei Mōra. But now, this key element had been preemptively seized by Yuki Yoru, ruining Six Paths' thousand-year plan.
"Yuki Yoru… it seems we truly underestimated you."
Gamamaru's expression darkened. The realm Yoru now stood upon could only be compared to the Kekkei Mōra—a realm beyond the Six Paths. His power was already greater than Gamamaru's own, greater even than that of the Six Paths brothers in their current state.
Yes.
Gamamaru himself had not yet fully stepped into that realm. He still lingered at the Six Paths realm, though infinitely close. If he could completely devour the White Snake, he might mend the final gap, fusing his sage chakra and transforming to reach the Kekkei Mōra.
The Six Paths brothers were in a similar state.
Without a doubt, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, who had once defeated his own mother, had absolutely stood within that realm. But after he voluntarily gave up his Ten-Tails' jinchūriki status, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki fell from the Kekkei Mōra realm and became a regular Six Paths realm.
Still, a thousand years within the Pure Land, along with all the plans he had woven for the shinobi world, must have honed his strength. Perhaps he was once again infinitely close to Kekkei Mōra—perhaps he could even, in time, surpass his mother entirely.
But now, without Asura and Indra, his grand plan was crippled. And the one who had ruined it all—was Mizunotsuki Yoru!
Yoru stared at Ōtsutsuki Kaguya before him. His eye sockets were filled with pitch-black eyes, emitting a soul-stirring gleam, as if seeing through the Ōtsutsuki Kaguya condensed from the dream world's power and landing on that extremely ugly, filthy-hearted toad.
"You guys are always so self-righteous, calling yourselves Sages, gods, manipulating everything from on high."
"Child of Prophecy, soul reincarnation... To you, people are merely pieces, toys, resources, puppets to be controlled, trampled, and manipulated at will."
"But have you ever considered that the ones who will overturn your chessboard are these very pieces you never valued?!"
"You're only spouting those fancy words because you've now stepped onto the board yourself," Gamamaru's gloomy voice rumbled slowly. "And do you really think that just because you've broken through, you can control the entire situation, oppose me, or stand against Hagoromo?!"
Yoru grinned.
"Why not?"
"All-Killing Ash Bones!"
The dream-forged Kaguya appeared before Yoru in an instant, her delicate hand pressing against his chest. With all her strength, she drove the lethal bone blade into his heart.
But Yoru did not move. He simply looked down at Kaguya's flawless face, calm and unflinching, not even lifting a hand to defend.
"Got you!"
A look of joy flickered in those pure white eyes, only to freeze moments later.
Yoru, whose heart had been pierced by the All-Killing Ash Bones, did not dissipate or shatter like dust in the wind. He stood there as if nothing had happened.
The Destruction Gray Light, a manifestation of the Kekkei Mōra's ultimate power, spread outward, yet Yuki Yoru's form showed not the slightest sign of collapse.
Confused, are you?"
Slowly, Yoru raised his palm. Spirit power condensed into a blade, and with a clean slash he cut across Kaguya's chest, spraying blood into the air.
"This is impossible! The power of the All-Killing Ash Bones is the power of the Kekkei Mōra—it can erase every substance, every energy in existence. Nothing can withstand it!"
"This can't be… even if you have stepped into that level—"
"Seems that you, who pride yourself on mastering and foreseeing everything in this dream, never truly understood me at all."
Yoru slowly pulled the grey bone spike from his heart. With a squeeze of his palm, he crushed it to dust.
A calm voice slowly spilled from his lips. Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, refusing to believe it, charged to attack. Eighty Gods Vacuum Attacks surged forth. But the instant her attack landed, Yoru's figure had already teleported to another location.
"This is impossible! Rabbit Hair Needles!"
Pure white hair extended infinitely, attempting to directly restrain and immobilize Yoru. Simultaneously, countless All-Killing Ash Bones condensed and shot forth.
But these originally certain-hit attacks, skills that should have required Yoru's full power to block, now couldn't even touch a hair on Yoru's body!
Step by step, Yoru advanced toward her. With every step, black spiritual power containing countless eyes spread across the dream world.
"I am the source of all Shinigami and Quincy. I am the origin and the creator of spiritual power itself in this world!"
"I hold the laws, I see the mysteries. I bestow my truest believers with the strongest authority, granting them the honor and script of gods!"
"In your eyes, I achieved a breakthrough, a transformation fueled by endless spiritual power. But in truth, it is the opposite."
"The power and abilities I possess have existed since the moment I descended into this world. All this vast energy did was help me reclaim what was already mine!"
The power of Kekkei Mōra now seemed laughably weak. Even Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, who had been manifested by Gamamaru to resemble a true god, could not even touch Yuki Yoru's clothing.
With a backhanded blow, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki spat out blood and was sent flying backward.
"You're very confused, aren't you?"
"Why I can evade it all."
"Why I can break free of this world's shackles."
"Why I can crush you so effortlessly."
"You must be dying to know—how is it that even though you stand like a god in this world, all that awaits you is defeat?"
"Defeat? Don't make me laugh, Yuki Yoru! Even if you have undergone a transformation, in this world, I am still an invincible existence!"
"Expansive Truth-Seeking Orb!!"
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya once again unleashed the power that could reduce the entire world to nothingness. The Expansive Truth-Seeking Orb swelled, drawing in a torrent of energy, ready to erupt in an instant.
But this time, before it could even detonate, the orb suddenly deflated—like a punctured balloon—and vanished without a trace.
"What?! That's impossible!"
"In the face of my power, all so-called 'understanding' and 'countermeasures' cease to exist. Your vaunted foresight and control are nothing but a joke."
Yuki Yoru's gaze was calm as he looked at Kaguya. The pitch-black spiritual power he commanded had already spread throughout vast portions of the dream world during their battle, and now it crept closer, seeping into Kaguya herself.
As the corruption took hold, her body began to collapse, her form turning insubstantial. Gamamaru tried desperately to stop it, to wrest back control—but to his horror, even the entire dream world was slipping out of his grasp.
"What on earth is this..."
"You already know my ability. You called it the power of All-Knowing." His indifferent voice echoed through the unraveling world. "But allow me to correct you."
"All-Knowing alone cannot describe my power. Its true name is…"
"All-Knowing and All-Powerful."
The black spiritual power gnawed through flesh and soul alike, completely consuming Kaguya. In the blink of an eye, her form shattered like spilled ink, dissolving into fragments of pure dream energy that splashed against the ground.
Gamamaru rallied, summoning what little control of the world remained to him. Endless streams of sage chakra gathered into a torrent, surging toward Yoru.
But Yoru's expression stayed utterly serene. He simply lifted his hand.
"Do you still not understand?"
"All things within my sight are powerless before me."
"This world—the dreamscape you've nurtured for a thousand years, the foundation you counted on to breach the Kekkei Mōra—has already lost all meaning."
That seemingly pale, slender hand now grew infinitely large. The power Gamamaru had gathered was fragile and insignificant before that palm.
"No… no… this isn't possible… this can't be happening!"
—Mount Myōboku, deep within the Great Toad Sage's cave.
The pillar of light piercing the sky cracked apart, and from it a battered figure plummeted to the ground.
"Great Toad Sage!" Shima and Fukasaku, frantically searching for survivors, felt the tremor in their hearts. Fukasaku cried out and looked toward the fallen figure.
The Great Toad Sage opened his eyes. Once, his pupils had been clouded yet carried the brilliance of one who grasped all things.
But now, those amphibian eyes reflected only chaos—panic and fear.