After climbing the stone staircase, Isamu finally reached the summit.
What stood before him was an ancient, weathered shrine.
Stepping inside, he carefully examined his surroundings.
Unfortunately, the relentless passage of time had claimed much of the structure. White dust covered every corner, and thick spiderwebs stretched across nearly the entire building.
Then his gaze shifted forward.
He froze.
At the center of the shrine stood a statue.
It wasn't a deity worshipped by ordinary people, nor a Buddha.
Instead, it depicted a warrior clad in armor, his hands locked in a hand seal.
At the warrior's feet was a long sword.
The blade emitted a chilling gleam.
Despite the centuries that had passed, it remained spotless.
Not a single speck of dust rested upon it.
A cold aura radiated continuously from the weapon.
"This has to be a divine weapon."
Isamu's eyes immediately lit up.
He stepped forward eagerly.
Then he stopped again.
The ground beneath the sword was engraved with a massive eye.
Not a Byakugan.
Not a Sharingan.
It was a Rinnegan.
And not an ordinary Rinnegan either.
It was a Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan identical to his own.
Although it was merely a carving, it looked astonishingly lifelike.
More importantly, an enormous amount of chakra flowed from it.
Isamu frowned.
"Whose eye is this?"
It didn't feel like something Kaguya would create.
Could this shrine have belonged to Hagoromo instead?
The eye wasn't real, but some special technique had been used to preserve chakra within it.
Most likely, it served as a seal to prevent anyone from stealing the sword.
That was Isamu's best guess.
Whether it was correct or not, he couldn't be certain.
"If this really was the Six Paths Sage's former homeland, then the origin of this sword must be extraordinary."
Smiling faintly, he reached out and grabbed the hilt.
The moment his hand touched the sword, a freezing sensation surged through his body.
A strange feeling washed over him.
It was as though countless years had passed in an instant.
Then suddenly—
His pupils contracted.
Images flooded his mind.
The world became crimson.
Blood stained the sky.
Countless warriors charged fearlessly into battle, swords clashing amid endless slaughter.
The roar of war shook heaven and earth.
Then the scene changed.
A colossal purple Susanoo rose into view.
Inside stood a middle-aged man with long black hair.
He wore white robes and held a gleaming sword.
His expression carried supreme confidence, as though all creation lay beneath him.
Within his eyes spun a pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan marked by a pentagram pattern.
Opposite him stood another man.
Short black hair.
Hands clasped together.
He stood atop an enormous wooden Buddha.
Six Truth-Seeking Orbs floated behind him.
Compared to the gigantic wooden construct, the Susanoo initially seemed insignificant.
Yet at that moment, the long-haired man's left eye transformed.
The Eternal Mangekyō pattern vanished.
Concentric ripples appeared.
A Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan emerged.
Instantly, the Susanoo expanded.
Its size surged until it matched the giant Buddha.
The two titans stared at one another.
Then they charged.
The vision ended.
Isamu suddenly returned to reality.
Fine beads of sweat covered his forehead.
Although it had only been a vision, the pressure radiating from those two figures had been overwhelming.
Witnessing a battle between two Six Paths-level beings was an experience beyond words.
Even at his peak, without relying on his Rinnegan's Time Power, he couldn't guarantee victory against either of them.
"The right eye was an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan."
"The left eye was a Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan."
"There can only be one person."
Isamu exhaled slowly.
In Uchiha history, aside from the yet-unborn Sasuke, only one person had ever possessed such eyes.
Ōtsutsuki Indra.
The eldest son of Hagoromo.
"What a monster."
Isamu clenched his fists.
Even through a vision thousands of years old, Indra's chakra had been terrifying.
That was merely a remnant left behind after death.
His true strength in life would have been far greater.
For the first time in years, excitement surged through Isamu's heart.
Ever since obtaining the Rinnegan and becoming virtually unmatched in the shinobi world, he had gradually lost the thrill of facing worthy opponents.
Now he had finally seen someone who could stand on equal footing.
How could he not be excited?
"As for the man facing him…"
"That had to be Ashura."
Thinking of the nearly thousand-meter-tall Buddha, Isamu couldn't help comparing him to Hashirama.
"Ashura was on an entirely different level."
Hashirama had required the power of the entire Ninja World to create something comparable.
Ashura had apparently achieved it through his own strength.
The difference was obvious.
Still, both men had lived over a thousand years ago.
They were long gone.
A trace of regret appeared on Isamu's face.
"What a shame."
"If only I had lived during their era."
"Then I could have fought true Six Paths-level experts."
Lost in thought, he unconsciously tightened his grip.
The sword shifted slightly.
Just a fraction of an inch.
Yet that tiny movement caused a dramatic reaction.
The Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan engraved on the floor suddenly expanded.
The pattern spread outward and engulfed him.
Brilliant white light erupted.
The entire shrine became illuminated.
Isamu instinctively raised an arm to shield his eyes.
Then he frowned.
A powerful force had locked onto him.
It was pulling him somewhere.
His expression changed.
Then realization dawned.
"This feeling…"
"The power of space and time."
"Could this be the passage the system mentioned?"
Excitement immediately replaced surprise.
He had spent thirty days searching the ocean.
Yet the passage had been here all along.
Sometimes things really did fall into place unexpectedly.
The white light grew brighter.
The force pulling him intensified.
Then—
Everything vanished.
The light disappeared.
The Rinnegan pattern shrank back to its original size.
The sword trembled once before becoming still again.
Silence returned to the shrine.
The dust.
The spiderwebs.
The ancient ruins.
Everything looked exactly as before.
As though nobody had ever entered.
As though no living person had set foot there for centuries.
Because Isamu was gone.
Completely gone.
No trace of him remained anywhere in the Ninja World.
The space-time passage had taken him away.