At this moment, when Hagoromo learned that the fate line of this world had fallen into chaos because of Uchiha Rengoku's appearance, his heart sank.
Because only by relying on precise prophetic abilities had he been able to carefully weave the fate trajectory of the ninja world and keep it firmly under his control at all times.
But now, not only had the destiny he painstakingly arranged in the past been severely disrupted, even his future control over the ninja world had become distant and unattainable.
For Otsutsuki Hagoromo, this was undoubtedly something he found hard to bear.
"At this point, it seems that only by completely eradicating Uchiha Rengoku can I restore my former control over the ninja world."
In order to once again dominate the direction of the ninja world, Rengoku's life or death became the key. He had to disappear from this world.
"With your current condition, winning this battle probably won't be easy," the Great Toad Sage reminded him.
"I'll find a way to solve this problem. Right now my energy is almost depleted. I must focus on getting rid of Uchiha Rengoku first."
"After this is done, I'll come back to find you."
After Otsutsuki Hagoromo finished speaking, his figure gradually became blurred, as if shrouded in a faint layer of mist.
Before long, that figure completely disappeared from Mount Myoboku.
Gamamaru quietly gazed in the direction where Otsutsuki Hagoromo had left. A trace of worry appeared in his round, bulging eyes.
After a while, Gamamaru slowly closed his eyes, and not long after, the sound of snoring rang out again.
As if everything that had just happened had not affected him in the slightest.
———
After leaving Mount Myoboku, Otsutsuki Hagoromo spent the entire journey racking his brain over how to completely eradicate Uchiha Rengoku.
At this moment, he was in an extremely special soul form and could only strike Rengoku on the soul level.
But Rengoku's soul was extremely resilient, and his attacks were completely ineffective.
Defeating Rengoku was almost nothing but a pipe dream.
After all, based on the intelligence he had previously gathered, Otsutsuki Hagoromo already had a very clear understanding of the terrifying power Uchiha Rengoku possessed.
Facing such a powerful enemy, ordinary attack methods were utterly useless.
What made things even trickier was that, up to now, he still had not found a body that was highly compatible with him, one that he could perfectly control and fully unleash his strength through.
If he continued to face Uchiha Rengoku in this soul form, it would undoubtedly be like using an egg to strike a stone, with an almost nonexistent chance of victory.
While painfully thinking through countermeasures, Otsutsuki Hagoromo rapidly passed through layers upon layers of clouds and mist, heading straight toward the Land of Wind.
Before long, he arrived at this place.
Yellow sand filled the sky, whipping about wildly as fierce winds howled past.
They rolled up surging waves of sand, crashing endlessly against this vast land like roaring giant dragons.
Otsutsuki Hagoromo steadily hovered in midair, his sharp gaze looking toward a certain direction along the border of the Land of Wind.
'There, if my guess is correct…'
Thinking of this, he already had a plan in mind.
After making up his mind, Otsutsuki Hagoromo no longer hesitated. His figure flashed as he sped toward his predetermined target.
.
.
.
Before long, Otsutsuki Hagoromo finally reached his destination.
Amid the sky filled with flying sand, a once-glorious city ruin lay half-buried.
Although time had mercilessly eroded this ancient city, from the crumbling walls and the faintly discernible outlines of buildings, one could still imagine its former prosperity.
However, as time passed and circumstances changed, no matter how prosperous and lively a city once was, it ultimately could not escape the fate of becoming ruins.
This place had long since become deserted, with silence all around.
Otsutsuki Hagoromo did not stay on the surface, but instead plunged straight down.
Because he currently existed in a soul form, he easily passed through the thick layers of sand.
Like a ghost, he silently slipped deep underground.
And beneath those deep layers of sand, there was actually a massive pit hidden away.
The interior of the pit was dark and profound, with no end visible at a glance.
At the very center of the pit stood a small altar, not large in scale but quietly emitting a mysterious aura.
At the very center of the altar, a Sword of Ninja Love was embedded. [T/N: I am not sure what it is but my best guess is Kunai of Minato that he uses for teleportation.]
———
Within the Land of Wind—
[Konoha Forces' Encampment]
After Otsutsuki Hagoromo came and left, Rengoku became vigilant.
After Karin went out to call others, he opened the Bond Star and began to check it.
When he heard Otsutsuki Hagoromo say that his soul was resilient, an idea immediately formed in his mind.
To deal with this kind of soul body, the attack naturally had to be effective.
Rengoku's first thought was Kato Dan's Spirit Transformation Technique.
And his own soul strength was very high, clearly good material for cultivating the Spirit Transformation Technique.
He was already familiar with the completed form of Eternal Mangekyo's Susanoo.
Now was the time to strengthen himself once again.
With another trump card in hand, Rengoku directly opened the Bond Star.
Rengoku lightly tapped Kato Dan's Bond Fruit.
["Ding! Kato Dan's level one, two, three, and four bonds have been unlocked."]
["Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Memory Fragments."]
["Congratulations to the host for obtaining: 10% of the main body's soul power."]
["Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Spirit Transformation Technique."]
["Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Kato Dan's soul power."]
Kato Dan had also fought on the battlefield back in the day, and the memory fragments were filled with scenes of him using the Spirit Transformation Technique in battle.
What came out of the second-level bond was not chakra like other people, but soul power instead.
This meant that soul power was one of Kato Dan's strong points.
The third-level bond, as expected, was the Spirit Transformation Technique.
And there was no "unlearned" marker afterward, indicating that he himself had talent for it.
Although the Spirit Transformation Technique scroll had always been stored in Konoha village, Rengoku had saved himself the time of learning it.
The fourth-level bond, like Orochimaru's, was also soul power.
When the soul power was injected, a cool sensation spread through Rengoku's head, and his eyes felt extremely comfortable.
And he could very clearly sense that the upper limit of his ocular power had increased quite a bit again.
His body also felt thoroughly refreshed, full of energy.
The strengthening of soul power and the growth of ocular power caused the number of his clones to increase by one more, becoming seven clones.
As soul power continuously poured into his body, Rengoku clearly felt that his control over his own physical body became more and more smooth and effortless.
Curious, he reached out and grabbed a strand of his own hair. He saw that clump of hair actually began to grow crazily at an astonishing speed, as if enchanted.
In no time at all, his originally short hair had turned into something like a waterfall, draping down over his shoulders.
Next, Rengoku shifted his gaze to his fingernails. With a slight movement of his fingertips, the nails rapidly lengthened like bamboo shoots breaking through the soil, turning into sharp blades in the blink of an eye.
"Heh! Interesting!", Rengoku's lips curled upward, revealing a satisfied smile.
After that, he drew the weapon he carried with him. With a light twist of his wrist, cold light flashed, and he trimmed his fingernails back into shape.
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