The dust and smoke settled.
A pale figure lay in the deep crater, several Truth-Seeker Orbs floating around him. Leaning on a pitch-black staff, he slowly climbed out of the pit and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
Vigilance filled his lone Rinnegan. Mid-scan, his gaze landed on the gray-white figure floating in the air before Naruto and Sasuke. His closed Mangekyō Sharingan snapped open, and his face instantly twisted into an expression of pure disbelief.
This person held a matching staff, Truth-Seeker Orbs floated behind him, and he possessed the same pair of horns and Rinnegan...
The ancient face was as calm as a still pond, reflecting the depth of ages. After a single glance at him, the figure looked away and continued staring forward.
This strange appearance bore an eighty to ninety percent resemblance to his own current form.
Or rather, his current form as the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki was merely an imitation of the man before him.
With both of them appearing in the same place, the difference was as stark as a forgery compared to the original.
His mind went blank for a moment before a realization struck him like lightning. The legendary title immediately surged into his heart—
The Sage of Six Paths!
"Obito!"
Naruto's face was filled with surprise as he looked at the figure in the crater.
What on earth had happened while he was down?
Who had Obito been fighting? He had sustained significant injuries.
He could clearly sense a powerful presence that had knocked Obito down and then flickered here, standing alongside the aura of that previous Reaper.
"Sasuke!"
He subconsciously whispered to his friend, but Sasuke didn't respond. Turning his head, he saw Sasuke staring blankly at the position where the Reaper stood.
"Sasuke, what do you see?"
Sasuke ignored Naruto's question, his eyes fixed on that spot as if he had seen something shocking.
Through the power of his six-tomoe Rinnegan to see through life and death, the Reaper and the massive figure standing before him were clearly visible to Sasuke.
Sasuke ignored the Reaper and focused on the massive figure.
Pink scales, dancing whiskers... but what shocked him even more was the delicate face with sharp fangs that still held traces of its original appearance.
And that familiar pattern of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Without a doubt, it was the Uchiha Shisui he had recently seen on the outskirts of Konoha.
"Big Brother Shisui, how did you turn into such a monster!"
"Is it the Reaper? What did that Reaper do to you?"
Sasuke's voice echoed across the battlefield, carrying a trace of uncontrollable resentment.
Faced with Sasuke's interrogation, Shisui's expression remained unchanged. He maintained his vigilance, guarding the master behind him.
In the crater, Obito snapped out of it at Sasuke's sudden shout. His gaze swept quickly, and he realized he was caught between the Reaper and the Sage of Six Paths.
Without hesitation, he leapt backward. His lone Rinnegan swept past the Sage of Six Paths and landed on the Reaper and the massive monster blocking the way.
Recalling Sasuke's words, he looked at the monster's features again. It indeed bore some resemblance to the Uchiha Shisui in his memories.
'Shisui of the Body Flicker!'
'Why is a man who died long ago here? I can only see him with the Rinnegan. Is he a spirit?'
'But why would he turn into a monster like that?'
After landing, Obito's gaze shifted between the Sage of Six Paths and the Reaper, his expression growing uglier.
He had thought these two spirits were nothing to fear, but his brief clash with the monstrous Shisui just now ended in a stalemate.
Moreover, there was an existence clearly superior to Shisui who had yet to make a move. He still didn't know the extent of that person's power.
Now that he had been knocked to the ground, he discovered that the legendary Sage of Six Paths had also manifested.
He had been dead for over a millennium. Whether his appearance now meant he was a friend or foe remained unknown.
Currently, the forces of Obito, the Sage of Six Paths, and Ren formed a standard triangle on the battlefield.
The three sides were wary of each other. In this murderous atmosphere, the air felt as heavy as lead.
Amidst this tension, the Sage of Six Paths looked past the massive monster and stared directly at the Reaper behind it. His voice was heavy with gravity.
"Reaper from another world, I did not expect you to know so much about me."
"To use a deceased member of the Uchiha clan as a pawn while possessing unfathomable power yourself... I fear I may not be a sufficient opponent on my own."
Ren looked at the Sage of Six Paths, the founder of the Ninja Creed who held immense influence over the shinobi world. He opened his mouth slightly, his voice low.
"If you surrender now, my previous terms still stand."
The Sage of Six Paths shook his head silently, his refusal clear.
Behind him, Naruto couldn't hear Ren's voice. Seeing the Sage shake his head, he thought the old man was feeling discouraged.
He immediately stood tall, patted his chest, and spoke with vibrant energy.
"Old Man Sage, don't forget about us."
"Sasuke and I have the power you gave us. That's enough to help you."
"We have my father, Grandpa Third, the two Hokage Rock uncles, the Five Kage, and our comrades from every village. Everyone is on your side."
A soft smile appeared on the Sage's calm face before he retracted it.
"Naruto, Sasuke, go deal with the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki."
"As for the Reaper from another world, I, a spirit dead for a thousand years, will handle him."
"And you aren't the only ones. I have another helper who should be arriving any moment now."
As he finished speaking, he looked up at the full moon casting its cold, pale light across the sky.
Just as he looked up, everyone around him seemed to sense something and looked up in unison.
The jade disk hanging in the night sky suddenly erupted with a beam of pure light. The light surged downward at an incomparable speed.
Like a falling star, it reached the battlefield in the blink of an eye and hovered beside the Sage of Six Paths.
Watching this mass of light, Naruto, Sasuke, the former Hokage, and the Five Kage all came to a realization.
This wasn't just light; it was a massive cluster of chakra.
Buzz!
The chakra condensed into a humanoid form wearing gray-white robes like the Sage. He was elderly, had two horns, and long, flowing hair.
He also held a staff and had Truth-Seeker Orbs floating behind him.
However, his eyes were not the Rinnegan like the Sage's; instead, they were blue eyes that glowed with a brilliant radiance.
Ethereal and profound.
The ocular power contained within was in no way inferior to the world-shaking might of the Rinnegan.
"It took quite some time to collect the Tenseigan's chakra. I hope I'm not late, Brother."
"No, you've arrived at just the right time, Hamura."
The Sage of Six Paths closed his eyes for a moment, the corners of his mouth curling upward. When he opened them, a relieved smile touched his brow.
This old man was the younger brother of the Sage, Otsutsuki Hamura.
"The Sage of Six Paths had a brother!"
"I've never heard of such a thing."
"The Sage is the legendary figure who founded the Ninja Creed. His brother certainly wouldn't be an ordinary person either."
The crowd behind them looked at the sudden arrival and heard him call the Sage 'Brother,' their faces filling with a mix of shock and joy.
They were shocked that the Sage had a brother who had remained unknown to history.
They were joyful because if this brother had existed all these years, his power must be comparable to the Sage's.
With the two brothers joining forces, surely nothing could go wrong against that invisible Reaper.
"So that's the Old Man Sage's brother."
"He's definitely as old as the old man."
Naruto looked at the newcomer, a look of understanding dawning on his face.
Earlier in the mental space, he had listened to the Sage tell a very long story, which included mentions of his brother.
Hamura looked at Naruto and caught a faint glimpse of his nephew, Ashura. He immediately confirmed his suspicion.
He must be the reincarnation of Ashura's chakra.
Then the boy with the Rinnegan standing next to Ashura was Indra.
He withdrew his gaze and followed his brother's lead, looking at the two figures standing not far away.
"I see. So these are the enemies we must deal with. They certainly cannot be underestimated."
"Yes," the Sage of Six Paths nodded, his expression solemn. "The opponent is a Reaper from another world. Though he hasn't made a move yet, that confident demeanor is not for show."
He glanced briefly at his brother.
"How is the Tenseigan?"
"Everything is fine," Hamura said. "Just to be safe, I've gathered all the chakra from the Tenseigan. It should be enough to support us in this battle."
He looked at the calm Reaper from another world, his voice tightening.
"I never expected that we two brothers would fight side by side again."
"The threat he poses is of that level. I'm afraid he is already on par with Mother."
The Sage's eyes darkened, his voice filled with unconcealed wariness.
Seeing the newcomer standing beside the Sage, Ren raised an eyebrow, his voice tinged with realization.
"Hagoromo, Hamura... the two of you appearing together suggests you are determined to fight me to the bitter end."
"Reaper from another world, if you abandon your designs on the shinobi world and the Pure Land and leave now, we need not have this battle," the Sage said.
Hamura nodded in agreement. "Precisely. If you cast aside these evil thoughts of invasion, we brothers could treat you as a friend."
"I'm afraid that's not possible," Ren shook his head. "Things have come too far; I cannot stop my advance now."
"Then we have no choice but to fight."
The Sage of Six Paths sighed.
"Once we defeat you, we will reclaim the Pure Land from your grasp."
"The safety of the world is at stake. Please do not blame us for the cowardice of outnumbering you, as you are a god capable of crossing between worlds," Hamura said firmly.
Ren's face darkened, but then his eyes flickered, and a brief, fleeting chuckle escaped him.
"Why would I? Outnumbering the weak is a standard principle of war. I won't complain."
"However... Sage of Six Paths, since you have summoned a helper, it is only reasonable for me to call upon a few of my own."
Hearing this, Shisui curled his fingers into a whistle and blew a sharp, piercing note.
"Fweet!"
The whistle rang out, its sound waves traveling far and crossing the boundaries of space.
Crack!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The sound of glass shattering echoed across the battlefield. In this corner that was anything but quiet, it sounded particularly abrupt.
"What! What happened now!"
Naruto looked left and right, trying to find the source of the sound, but he couldn't see anything unusual even as the shattering noises continued.
He instinctively looked at Sasuke and his father. He found that both of them seemed to share a silent understanding; the moment the sound started, their expressions darkened, and they both looked up at the sky.
Naruto's peripheral vision caught the others. Not just those two, but the three Hokage and the Five Kage were all looking up as well. Their faces were pale as if they had seen something terrifying.
The reactions of everyone around him made Naruto's heart sink.
He followed Sasuke's gaze to the sky above.
"This! What is this!"
Naruto's eyes widened, his mouth hanging open as the scene in the sky was reflected in his blue eyes.
High above, a horizontal crack suddenly appeared across the cold and noble full moon.
The crack wasn't a perfectly straight line; it was filled with tiny, winding jagged edges that came together to form a slightly curved fissure.
Shards resembling glass fragments fell from the crack. The crisp shattering sounds from moments ago originated here.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
The continuous sound of glass breaking intensified. The crack in the sky extended toward both sides, stretching across the face of the moon before breaking past its edges and reaching into the sky beyond.
From the ground, it looked as if someone had swung a dull blade, attempting to cut the moon and the sky in half, but failing to be sharp enough, leaving only a deep, jagged scar.
"The sky... it's splitting open..."
"What is this now!"
"Is it a space-time ninjutsu... or did some entity actually strike the sky of the ninja world?"
The shinobi of various villages, the Five Kage, and Naruto had never seen such a miraculous and terrifying sight. Their eyes trembled as they watched the heart-stopping phenomenon.
Even after surviving tonight's massive war—encountering the Ten-Tails and then its Jinchūriki—everyone thought they were well-versed in the impossible and seasoned by battle.
But seeing this celestial anomaly, they were still overwhelmed by an incomparable shock.
It was beyond comprehension.
Seeing this for the first time, one couldn't even attempt a rational analysis. Among the many shinobi, only a few could even maintain their composure.
As for the resurrected Hokage and Sasuke, though shock crossed their faces, it was accompanied by a look of grim certainty.
"As expected... the Reaper has a trump card of his own!"
"Who is coming this time?"
"Judging by this display... I fear it's someone far beyond our expectations."
Seeing their reactions, Tsunade turned to look at Hashirama and Tobirama. Her face, which had just begun to recover from the initial shock, now showed urgency.
"Great-Grandpa, Second-Grandpa, what exactly do you know?"
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]