"Traitor!"
A deafening roar like thunder exploded, and in the blink of an eye, a red "flame" erupted in the ruins.
"Hmph..."
Ruri sneered coldly as her five fingers clenched tightly, ruthlessly crushing Yuto's throat.
Under the influence of the Kotoamatsukami illusion, which forced him to make no response to Ruri's attacks, Yuto had no way to defend himself. His trachea was completely torn apart.
Boom!
Natsume suddenly intervened, landing between the two like a spear thrust into the ground. His fiery red hair stood on end, ablaze with fury.
Golden chains shot out from his body. Being an Uzumaki clone, Yuto had taught him many fuinjutsu techniques.
After a fierce clash, the three were blown apart, rolling in different directions for quite some time before coming to a stop.
Hiss... gurgle...
Yuto made strange noises, a result of the air being sucked into his punctured trachea. Blood-tinged foam bubbled up, and the intense pain wrapped around him like a spider's web.
He raised his hand, forming seals to activate Creation Rebirth hoping to heal himself first. However, just as the hand signs formed, Ruri attacked again.
The white-haired girl placed her hand gently on Yuto's neck. The speed wasn't fast, nor was the strength overwhelming, but Yuto suddenly found himself immobilized. His mind became sluggish, with no desire to act.
It was still the effect of the illusion—Kotoamatsukami—that prevented him from responding to her attacks.
In that critical moment, Natsume once again shielded Yuto, kicking Ruri aside and firmly protecting Yuto behind him.
"Are you insane? You dare attack the original body?" Natsume's eyes were bloodshot with rage.
"He is the original! The creator of us all! The source of our lives and thoughts!"
"That's the difference between humans and livestock," Ruri tilted her head, a mocking smile on her face. "I've lived in this body for ten years. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose my self-awareness. I'm grateful he created me, but that's not enough for me to sacrifice myself... Sorry, I'm just a selfish person."
"Hmph..." Natsume gritted his teeth, glancing at Kuroki Ryoma, who was getting up in the distance. In a low voice, he said, "Original, quickly use your Creation Rebirth. I'll hold off these traitors for you... Original? Original?"
Not getting a response from Yuto for a long while, Natsume turned around, horrified, only to see Yuto's decapitated body.
"If you think my assassination plan, prepared over ten years, would only result in shattering his throat, you've underestimated me," Ruri closed her eyes and spoke softly, "I'm sorry, original, Natsume, Ryoma, Kitsu—I'll kill you all. From today onward, I'm no longer part of anyone. I am myself."
...
Pure Land.
The ground was covered with lead-colored dust, and the sky was a murky gray-black.
Yuto appeared once more.
He touched his throat, still shaken. The pain of his shattered trachea and broken neck lingered.
"Here we are again, young man," the Sage of Six Paths appeared slowly, still in his familiar form—two horns protruding from his head, a white robe draped over his body.
"This time, I didn't summon you, so..."
"I'm already dead," Yuto stated flatly, without much expression.
Golden light surrounded him, a result of his Sage Eye Mode, where chakra and ocular power combined. It was only due to this form that he was able to reach the Pure Land in this state.
"Ruri is impressive, truly worthy of being my first 'daughter,'" Yuto murmured, feeling his intact neck, laughing as he lay on the ground.
"Ryoma's chakra flow is odd; it seems he's under the influence of genjutsu as well."
"So, one of Shisui's eyes was used on Ryoma, while the other was transplanted to him for a sneak attack on me."
"For how long had she been planning this? Five years? Eight years? Or perhaps since the moment I created her?" Yuto continued, chuckling darkly.
The Sage of Six Paths frowned slightly at Yuto's behavior. "You don't seem saddened."
"For a shinobi, dying along their chosen path is already a stroke of great fortune."
"Is that truly the case? After working for so many years, at the final moment, you've lost everything. In a few minutes, when your Sage Eye Mode chakra is depleted, you'll become like all the other souls here, losing your self-awareness and sleeping in the Pure Land for eternity. Such a fate..."
"That fate wouldn't be too bad," Yuto said softly. "A killer must always be prepared to be killed. I've considered that one day, I might be killed by the reincarnations of Asura or Indra, in the name of 'love.' But if it's for freedom... well, I can accept that too."
"You're truly a strange one."
As they spoke, the golden light enveloping Yuto dimmed more and more. Sage Eye Mode had its limits, and from the moment Ruri betrayed him, time was almost up.
However, at that moment, a streak of light shot across the gray sky of the Pure Land, crashing into the dust with a loud boom.
Both Yuto and the Sage of Six Paths were taken aback.
But unlike the Sage's frown, Yuto's expression was filled with complex joy.
"It seems my time isn't up just yet."
Yuto plunged his hand into the dust and pulled out a mass of chakra, which overflowed with raw vitality.
This chakra was unmistakably from... "Natsume Mahiro"!
In mere seconds, Ruri had already slain the Uzumaki clone.
The Sage of Six Paths frowned slightly, but it was too late to stop what was happening.
No—more accurately, it was impossible to stop.
Partial Return to the Whole, like the nine Tailed Beasts recombining into the Ten-Tails, was a natural event following the laws of chakra.
Yuto closed his eyes as Natsume's chakra merged with his soul.
Shortly after, a second wave of chakra descended from the sky. This one carried an icy, immense ocular power.
It was Ryoma's chakra.
Yuto once again thrust his hand into the sand, allowing the chakra of the Uchiha clone to merge with his.
Next came Kitsu's chakra.
"You've killed all your brothers, haven't you, Ruri?" Yuto sighed and stood up.
The power of the Ōtsutsuki surged in his soul. Although incomplete without Ruri, he was now on par with the Sage of Six Paths, at least in terms of bloodline purity, comparable to Asura and Indra.
"Sage," Yuto chuckled lightly. "I have some family matters to settle... and perhaps give the world a little surprise."
With that, he vanished, leaping from the Pure Land back to the shinobi world.
His unique chakra roared, shaking everything in its path.
From the winds of the Land of Whirlpools to the cold rain of Amegakure, every wisp of air, every drop of spring water, and every feather of migrating birds seemed to tremble and wail—like vassals bowing before their king.
The boundless Pure Land was once again left with only the Sage of Six Paths. His Rinnegan gazed at the sky, his vision piercing through the realms, landing on the turbulent shinobi world.
The ancestor of shinobi sighed softly, taking a step forward.
The great war had begun at this moment.
(End of Chapter)