The spear pierced in.
The rotation activated.
Clearly it was a void, a dead old universe, yet at this moment it was as if the sound of rusty gears turning again echoed through it.
Fold once.
Fold twice.
Fold three times.
———
Forty times.
Forty one times.
Ryosuke suddenly lifted his head, his gaze looking into the distance.
He sensed the System again. He sensed the connection between the Stands and his soul.
Although it was very faint.
But...
"They're right there."
———
One hundred fifteen times.
One hundred sixteen times.
As the folding continued, the speed of folding increased exponentially.
Correspondingly, the power of rotation, the power of ghosts and gods, and the power of the Dragon Vein contained inside the iron ball were being constantly consumed.
That meant the sealing power on Otsutsuki Kaguya was weakening.
Kaguya seemed to notice the change outside. Chaotic and mixed chakra fluctuations were released from inside the iron ball, clearly trying to break free from the seal.
Ryosuke ignored Kaguya's small movements.
He quietly stared into the distance, waiting for the System, waiting for each Stand to return.
Folded one hundred thirty nine times.
Seeing that there was still no movement outside, Kaguya finally gritted her teeth and stamped her foot, overcoming her fear of possibly getting beaten after coming out, and broke free from the seal.
After coming out, Kaguya hurried to distance herself from Ryosuke, only to find that there was no concept of "space" around her at all.
She just floated in midair, staring with wide eyes at Ryosuke, guarding against his every move.
Kaguya could not understand what this terrifying man, who had killed Isshiki, Momoshiki, and Kinshiki with his bare hands, planned to do after releasing her from the seal.
One terrible guess after another flashed through Kaguya's mind, until... she saw Ryosuke's state clearly.
"A soul state?"
Kaguya was stunned for quite a while. She looked Ryosuke up and down. After confirming she was not mistaken, she laughed.
"Ryosuke, Ryosuke, you have a day like this too!"
Kaguya's eyes widened, and a ferocious smile curled at the corner of her mouth. Even her voice became several degrees louder than before.
She had been sealed inside the iron ball in soul form.
After breaking the seal, Kaguya still did not have a suitable body.
But that was a small matter. As long as she returned to the Ninja World, there were plenty of ways to solve it.
Besides, even in soul form, Kaguya still possessed endless Ten Tails power.
"And you, Ryosuke, what do you have left?!"
"You only have a soul left... a soul that will soon be tortured and toyed with by me!"
Kaguya deeply hated the matter of "sealing." She had serious PTSD about it.
The brothers Hagoromo and Hamura who had first sealed her had long died of old age. She had no way to take revenge, and she had always held that anger inside.
Later, she had just come out and moved freely for less than half a day before her body was erased again and she was sealed inside the iron ball.
Kaguya's anger had already reached its peak.
Now her enemy Ryosuke was right in front of her. He was also the murderer who killed her fellow Otsutsuki, such as Isshiki. If she killed Ryosuke, it would count as avenging her clan.
In that case, whether she stayed in the Ninja World to rule as a king or returned to Otsutsuki society, she would have enough reasons. She could advance or retreat freely.
Kaguya was calculating in her heart.
Ryosuke did not know what she was thinking. Even if he did, he would not care... with the world on the brink of destruction, how could he care about a foolish woman whose mind was full of petty schemes and herself.
Kaguya, who believed she had Ryosuke in her grasp and was expecting to see him show fear and kneel to beg for mercy, felt his disregard. Her expression gradually darkened.
"After your body died, you went mad in despair?"
"Boring."
Kaguya raised her hand and summoned a black rod, aiming it at Ryosuke, preparing to first pierce through his limbs and then torture him slowly.
"Kaguya."
Ryosuke still looked into the distance and asked in a calm tone, "You lived in the Ninja World for a long time and killed many people. Don't you ever feel that you were wrong?"
Kaguya sneered. "You humans deserve to die."
"I should have turned everyone in the Ninja World into nourishment for the Divine Tree long ago, eaten the fruit, and then left this damned place early."
"But… it's not too late now!"
Whoosh!
The black rod floating in Kaguya's palm shot out, stabbing straight toward Ryosuke.
Suddenly, a large hand precisely grabbed the black rod, forcefully stopping its flight.
The pride, arrogance, and relaxed sense of control on Kaguya's face disappeared instantly.
Her gaze moved stiffly upward along the hand holding the black rod, like an old rusty tricycle turning its wheel.
Kaguya met the cold eyes of Star Platinum.
Crack!
Star Platinum crushed the black rod.
The next second...
"Ora!"
Star Platinum's iron fist smashed heavily into Kaguya's face, caving her features inward.
Kaguya flew backward, only to immediately crash into a solid and powerful chest.
Kaguya turned her head.
She saw a pink big cat.
Beside Killer Queen were White Snake, Made in Heaven, C-Moon, Civil War, Hermit Purple, Weather Report, Aerosmith…
White Snake spat into his palm and raised his hand.
"Hit her!"
He was the first to slap Kaguya across the face.
A group of Stands surrounded Kaguya and kicked her wildly.
Ryosuke did not pay attention to Kaguya. At the end of his sight, a brilliant golden light flew over.
At the center of the light, there was clearly a Saint's Corpse.
The ninth corpse part.
Adding the eight parts Ryosuke had previously collected and stored in the Ghost Room, all the corpse parts had now fallen into Ryosuke's hands.
The System and the Stands had also completely returned.
"Next is the body."
Ryosuke took out a bottle of blood from the Ghost Room.
This was a gene virus blood designed specifically to deal with Kars, based on his own blood.
Previously, what Hot Pants and the others had applied to their weapons was this.
Ryosuke unscrewed the cap. The blood flowed out, spinning in his palm, reversing and restoring, removing the gene virus contained inside.
With this portion of blood, with just a single thought, he could rebuild his body.
At that time, Stand, System, and body would all be restored.
All Saint's Corpse parts were in his hands.
Ryosuke could immediately return to his peak state.
"But… just returning to the past is not enough."
Ryosuke did not know what the situation outside was like.
The old universe was like an absolutely sealed black box. The people inside could not see outside, and those outside could not explore inside.
Considering that while fighting Ryosuke, Dio had already begun absorbing the Ninja World's energy and had mastered "Overwriting Reality" and "World Power."
"As time passes, the world power Dio obtains will only increase."
"To confront and defeat him, just returning to the past is not enough."
Ryosuke took out all the Saint's Corpse parts and said in a low voice, "I must surpass the limit, surpass…"
"Heaven."
Nine Saint's Corpse parts.
Thirty five polluted souls.
These thirty five polluted souls were either extremely evil people themselves, such as Diavolo, or ugly souls amplified by Dio.
Ryosuke had not killed Hol Horse for this reason.
It might sound a bit disrespectful, but Hol Horse's "evil" was not qualified.
A soul that was not strong enough, even if burned, would provide weaker power amplification than normal.
The nine polluted souls obtained from killing thousands of vampires in the Stone Ocean were relatively weaker than the others.
In contrast, Diavolo, even without Dio's amplification, was extremely powerful... perhaps it had something to do with him dying countless times?
Ryosuke did not know.
Of course, at this critical moment, there was no extra time to think about that. He only needed to know one thing.
"Still one short."
"The last murderous, utterly evil soul."
As he spoke, Ryosuke looked toward Otsutsuki Kaguya, who was currently being surrounded and kicked by a group of Stands.