The rapidly rising roar, accompanied by a wave of air, stirred up a dark gale on the already scorched and flattened earth, instantly obscuring everyone's vision.
Whether it was the remaining trees, the charred floating soil, or the small hills still standing within sight, everything within view was swept away by the explosive power, thundering and vibrating, causing everyone present to temporarily lose all sensation.
"Did we get her?"
Namikaze Minato subconsciously looked up.
Within his Chakra sensing range, he could no longer detect Uchiha Hikari's Chakra, and he couldn't help but clench his fists.
Although the battle just now seemed complex, to onlookers, it was merely a brief clash.
Both Sawara Kiri and Uchiha Hikari were incredibly fast, beyond the reaction capabilities of most people. Only he could clearly discern how intense the exchange between them truly was.
Upon hearing him, everyone around felt a surge of excitement.
However, Uzumaki Kushina, who was also protected within the Susanoo, suddenly spoke:
"No!"
"Kurama says that monster is still there!"
"Look over there!"
Konan suddenly raised her voice.
Through her connection with the paper cranes hovering high above, her gaze from above detected a slight anomaly.
Everyone's attention was drawn by their words, and they subconsciously looked outwards.
However, all they saw was a scorched wasteland.
Only Sawara Kiri, poised in mid-air as if drawing a bow, seemed to sense something, and suddenly turned his head to look towards the epicenter of the explosion.
"Boom—"
With a whoosh, a massive figure suddenly shot out from the center of the dust.
The Susanoo, flapping its two wings like a god descending from the heavens, swung the long sword in its hand, striking directly down towards Sawara Kiri.
As for the Yata no Kagami that was originally in its hand, it had completely dissipated during the previous explosion.
Even a divine tool could not withstand the power of a true god.
"Buzz!"
Accompanied by a piercing tremor, the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi, which was over a hundred meters long, suddenly plunged down with unimaginably terrifying force, narrowly missing Sawara Kiri's figure.
The aftershock, carrying a wave of air, tore open the earth, creating a rift several kilometers long in the distance.
Sawara Kiri's gaze met Uchiha Hikari's, who was enveloped within the Susanoo's brow, and he suddenly clasped his hands together.
"Earth Release: Mountain Smash Technique."
In an instant, the ground beneath them churned like waves, and earth mountains several kilometers high rose out of nowhere, flanking Uchiha Hikari's Susanoo on both sides, sandwiching it like cheese between two slices of bread, and continuously pushing inward.
In the original timeline, this technique, when used by Kitsuchi, was capable of temporarily controlling the Ten-Tails. Now, unleashed by Sawara Kiri, its power was naturally even greater.
The seemingly massive Susanoo, compared to the mountains on either side, resembled a tiny ant. No matter how frantically it struggled, it could not escape the confines of this enormous restraint in the slightest.
Sawara Kiri looked at the Susanoo trapped in the center before him, vaguely sensing that something was amiss, but he couldn't pinpoint it.
But it didn't matter.
There was only one Yata no Kagami after all.
If one attack wasn't enough, then he would unleash another.
Sawara Kiri thought this, and once again spread his hands as if drawing a bow.
However, the moment he noticed this action.
He didn't know if it was an illusion.
Uchiha Hikari, located in the center of the Susanoo's brow, suddenly revealed a smile.
"Bang—"
Almost the instant his attention was drawn by Hikari's expression.
The soil beneath Sawara Kiri's feet suddenly exploded into a cloud of dust.
Deeply embedded beneath the soil, having avoided the previous storm, a figure completely covered in white, wriggling clay was clearly reflected in the center of the Six Eyes' vision.
The White Zetsu body, possessing the characteristics of the Zetsu Spore Technique, covered her, and she herself was deep underground.
The brief moment of obscured vision, when Sawara Kiri's attention was diverted, was enough.
At this moment, the girl held a long sword made entirely of wood, covered in blood-colored talismans.
That was the true Totsuka-no-Tsurugi.
Even Sawara Kiri's face flashed with a momentary look of astonishment.
At that moment, Sawara Kiri seemed to understand Uchiha Hikari's thoughts.
'How could I not know your power.'
'Sawara Kiri.'
'But, just like the weakness of all invincible people, you only have one opportunity.'
'That is the arrogance unique to the strong!'
Seven years of lurking, day after day of hiding, countless preparations, all for this moment.
Uchiha Hikari stepped forward.
All her movements, in Sawara Kiri's vision, seemed to slow down countless times.
The massive Chakra pushing her body from behind sprayed out like fireworks, her footsteps on the ground crushed the hard, scorched soil, turning it into flying fragments, and the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi in her hand pointed forward with its tip, the runes covering the sword emitting a dazzling crimson glow.
Only one sword strike.
Only if she could touch his body.
Then she could seal him in the depths of an eternal illusion.
Until she had pacified the entire world.
Uchiha Hikari's soul at this moment seemed to soar before her body, the depths of her crimson eyes holding no killing intent, only visions of the future.
Her future with Kiri!
"Whoosh—!!"
The delayed sound of air being displaced followed the parting air current, reverberating in everyone's ears.
Those enveloped beneath the Susanoo all tightened their pupils in unison.
The next moment.
All of Uchiha Hikari's expressions suddenly froze at this instant.
"Clink."
An invisible sound wave spread in all directions.
But it wasn't like the clash of metal.
Everyone present stared blankly at the scene unfolding before their eyes.
Sawara Kiri still stood calmly in place, his expression serene as he lowered his head, looking at the girl so close to him.
He extended his right hand, index finger raised, and simply, without any fanfare, blocked the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi as it thrust towards his chest.
It could not advance an inch further.
There was no change whatsoever.
"How could this be—?!"
Staring in a daze at this scene, as if suddenly realizing something, Uchiha Hikari let out a cry of disbelief.
All her patience, all her trump cards, all her preparations, all shattered like broken porcelain at the moment this scene appeared, scattering into countless fragments on the ground.
Unimaginable.
That was the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi, the Sage of Six Paths's divine tool! A divine object capable of sealing everything into an eternal illusion!
Why?
Although this thought wasn't voiced, everyone present understood the expression on Uchiha Hikari's face.
Sawara Kiri's expression remained composed, just as it was at the very beginning.
From start to finish, it seemed only the moment his Six Eyes were obscured caused him a slight surprise.
At this moment, hearing Uchiha Hikari's voice, he spoke in his usual gentle tone:
"An eternal dream?"
"An interesting seal."
"But it's useless, for me."
The fingertip blocking the sword's tip lowered, gripping the sealing aftershock of the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi, which was erupting with full power. One could even vaguely see the Chakra bursting from Sawara Kiri's fingertip and the sword body canceling each other out, producing a faint glow.
Sawara Kiri stood there, his height of over 1.8 meters allowing him to look down at the girl still in a charging posture before him, and said softly:
"The so-called Ninja battle is a battle of Chakra."
"Just as sufficiently powerful ocular power can negate your full-powered Engraved Tsukuyomi."
"As long as the Chakra provided is enough to sustain this small area of Limitless in front of me, then even a divine tool capable of sealing everything cannot break through my obstruction."
At this moment, Uchiha Hikari stared at the man so close to her, her expression shaking, her pupils constricted.
Sawara Kiri drew Nietono no Shana from his waist.
The slender blade, under the blood-red light of the sky, reflected a silver-moon-like brilliance.
It fell.
"Chh—"
Tearing a bloodstain that ran from her right chest to her left abdomen.
"Boom!"
In the distant Earth Release technique, the Shadow Clone, having lost the support of its main body, finally completely closed between the continuously pressing mountains on both sides, exploding into a scattered cloud of smoke.
Uchiha Hikari collapsed heavily to the ground, blood seeping from the corner of her lips.
She looked at the man still standing before her with some helplessness.
In the end, she still couldn't defeat him.
Seeing this scene from afar, everyone enveloped beneath the Susanoo couldn't help but reveal excited smiles.
Tsunade curled her lips, smiling as she looked at the young man in the distance.
Although she had speculated countless times about Sawara Kiri's strength.
However, seeing Uchiha Hikari, who had absorbed the Chakra of tens of thousands of Ninja and left everyone powerless, fall so easily beneath his blade, she still inexplicably felt a strong sense of reliance.
"Indeed, as expected of Kiri…"
Tsunade subconsciously murmured.
Right beside her, Uchiha Megumi, who looked like she was about to speak, froze, then turned to look at her in astonishment, her eyes revealing a somewhat ominous glint.
Stealing my line? What are you trying to do?
Just as the others were starting to have the leisure to think about other random things, Sawara Kiri stood with his sword raised before Uchiha Hikari, pointing the blade at her:
"The victor is king, the loser is bandit."
"Since you also acknowledge this principle, you should know that the weak have no right to say 'no' to the strong."
"Release the Engraved Tsukuyomi."
Upon hearing this, Uchiha Hikari looked at the man standing with his sword raised before her, her expression seeming to flash with a hint of astonishment.
The girl stared at him for a long time, then suddenly revealed a smile.
Indeed, my conjecture was not wrong.
Kiri didn't kill me on the spot, which means he cares about me.
After a long silence, the girl's tone softened as well, and she softly replied:
"Alright."
The next moment, her eyes returned to their usual jet black.
Without the support of any ocular power, the rainbow-glowing runes on the surface of the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi in her hand also returned to their original state, turning into an ordinary wooden sword.
After personally witnessing Uchiha Hikari retract her Mangekyo Sharingan, Sawara Kiri finally let out a sigh of relief.
Now, the Ninja World is finally…
As he was thinking this, he suddenly sensed something, and looked up at the sky in astonishment.
The blood moon still emitted a dazzling glow.
Not only did it show no intention of dissipating, but after Uchiha Hikari gave up controlling it with her Mangekyo Sharingan, it became even more dazzling than the previous second.
Not only Sawara Kiri, but even Uchiha Hikari seemed to suddenly realize something, subconsciously looking up, and once again gazing at the sky with her Mangekyo Sharingan.
And those who were already enveloped beneath the Susanoo also looked up in unison.
They saw that the blood moon, which was originally branded with a pinwheel-like pattern, immediately began to rotate like a pinwheel the moment it lost Uchiha Hikari's control. The dark patterns gradually blurred under the illumination of the original moonlight, transforming into concentric circles arranged in rings.
On these concentric circle patterns, distinct tomoe were dotted.
"This is…"
Sawara Kiri's eyes suddenly widened.
"Roar—!!"
Immediately after, everyone's attention was drawn by a sudden roar from the distance.
When they turned their heads, they saw that behind the Chakra Tree, which had always stood behind Uchiha Hikari, soaring into the sky like a signal tower, and constructed from the bodies of tens of thousands of Ninja from Iwagakure and Kumogakure, a figure even larger than it had suddenly emerged.
Sawara Kiri immediately recognized the true identity of that monstrous figure.
Gedo Statue.
But how could this be?!
When did Ōtsutsuki Kaguya revive?
Uchiha Madara and Obito haven't caused trouble again in this timeline…?
"Crunch, crunch—"
Almost in that brief moment of his rapid thought, he saw the Gedo Statue, which was the Ten-Tails' true body, already crouching like a beast on the surface of the original Chakra Tree, greedily devouring the tree's main body, along with the Chakra of tens of thousands of Ninja, which it also swallowed, integrating them as part of its own body.
Uchiha Hikari struggled to support herself, staring at this scene in disbelief.
"How is this possible?"
"Who did this again?"
Although that Chakra Tree was something she had picked up from the Kumogakure, she had never revealed the entire plan to anyone.
However, now this moon suspended in mid-air, and the Chakra Tree being devoured, all indicated one thing.
From the very beginning of the plan, she was destined to be a stepping stone for someone else.
"Are you surprised?"
Just as everyone was bewildered.
A familiar voice suddenly entered everyone's minds.
Almost instinctively, everyone looked up towards the sky.
And then, they saw a figure completely cloaked in a black robe, descending like a god, suspended beneath the blood moon of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, looking down at everyone.
In the constantly swirling wind, his blood-red long hair fluttered wildly.
"You are… Nagato?!"
The first to recognize this person was still Namikaze Minato.
Unlike Sawara Kiri's consistent invincible posture, as one of the strongest opponents Namikaze Minato had ever faced in his life, his impression of Nagato was extremely deep.
However, in that instant just now, he still almost failed to recognize the man before him.
The reason was simple.
The current Nagato was vastly different from the appearance he had seen back then.
Nagato's figure was suspended high in the sky, and his Rinnegan, which was originally deep purple, was now adorned with black tomoe.
At the same time, a vertical pupil had also torn open in the center of his forehead.
Dazzling blue light, sparkling like stars, shone brightly.
His body, originally no different from a human's, also underwent significant changes.
From the surface of his forehead, two bone horns, one long and one short, extended to the left and right. His entire body was covered in a pale, silver-moon-like hue, six Truth-Seeking Balls orbited behind him like shooting stars, and he held a black staff in his hand.
Based on first impressions, even Namikaze Minato almost mistook him for an Ōtsutsuki clan member he had seen in the past.
"This, what exactly is this…?"
Upon hearing this name, the one with the biggest reaction was Konan, who was behind everyone.
She stared blankly at the figure floating high in the sky, unable to comprehend.
Sawara Kiri, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes, observing the vertical pupil in the center of his forehead.
"Rinnegan and… Tenseigan?"