— Izanagi… Did you use Izanagi, Uchiha Yue?! A mad roar swept through the dead dimension, causing space itself to shake. "Do you understand what you've done, you bastard?" My eyes! My divine eyes! A-a-argh!!!
The furious scream was drowned in silence. The Sage of the White Snake seemed to have stopped feeling his own tortured body. All his thoughts were consumed by one thing—the loss of those invincible eyes. Anger, hitherto unknown, primal, seized him. Of course, he knew about the forbidden Izanagi technique and the price for using it, but he considered this knowledge insignificant.
The sage was sure that before the awakening of the omnipotent eyes, Uchiha Yue was an ordinary person. Only a select few possessed such techniques in the Uchiha clan, and most had never even heard of them. How could a mere mortal comprehend the mystery of Izanagi?
But now... now this damned Uchiha, for the sake of saving his own skin, had personally extinguished one of the divine eyes! What blasphemy! What blind stupidity!
The Sage of the White Snake put everything on the line — his own life, the future of his family — just to take possession of this treasure. And now…
— Ah, ah!!! Uchiha Yue!!! You bastard!!! What have you done?!
At the very thought, the Sage's eyes turned bloodshot. He went into a frenzy. Heaven only knew with what desperate care he fought the battle, avoiding any physical attacks that could damage his precious eyes. He was well aware that Uchiha Yue's energy attacks were food that only made him stronger.
So why was it that after swallowing the enemy, he still used the energy to dissolve his flesh?
Because it was the only way to deal minimal damage to the higher, divine eyes. Otherwise, he would have smashed his body with a single blow of his tail long ago. In two minutes of combat, the Sage had learned that Uchiha Yue was also capable of absorbing kinetic energy, but this ability was nothing compared to how he absorbed pure energy!
And now this creature, for the sake of survival, sacrificed one of the eyes that were supposed to lift him, the Sage, to the top of the world. It's unforgivable!
How dare you, Uchiha Yue, sacrifice your divine power for the sake of your insignificant life?!
But when the Sage of the White Snake was about to unleash all his rage on Yue, a chilling thought struck him. If this nobody is willing to sacrifice divine power for the sake of survival, then…
There's still one eye left. What if he goes blind too?
Then everything he's done will be meaningless? The death of snakes, merging with the Ryuchi cave — all in vain? He single-handedly destroyed his home, gained nothing, and even put his own life on the line? Would he really be the last fool?
A wave of despair and powerlessness overwhelmed the Sage. If only he knew that Uchiha Yue owns Izanagi…
But there were no "ifs." If Yue had a regular sharingan, he would have considered this possibility. But he was a simple man! Why would a common man know about the clan's secret techniques that he couldn't use anyway?
Stop. Through the crimson haze of rage, the Sage caught something strange. After Uchiha Yue's one eye went blind, his "territory" should have weakened or decreased, but he did not feel any changes.
And then he remembered. Their long-standing assumption… that these eyes are capable of converting any energy into dojutsu power.
Really... so that's what it's all about!
The Sage of the White Snake let out a strangled sigh. Some of the tension subsided. He was really afraid that the eye would fade away forever, and then all his sacrifices would lose their meaning.
No, not really. If he manages to kill Uchiha Yue, then even if he sacrificed the entire Ryuchi cave, at least he will stay alive. In any case, it's not a total loss. If he allowed Uchiha Yue to continue gaining strength, the whole world would be under threat.
"Just a little more, right?"
Uchiha Yue stared blankly at the Sage, not paying attention to either his rage or his own recent "death." He even hoped that the Sage of the White Snake would stay longer. Not like Ootsutsuki Isshiki.
The last fight with Isshiki was a complete humiliation. Countless deaths without a single chance to retaliate. Everything happened so quickly that he almost didn't have time to absorb the opponent's energy. As soon as he realized that he couldn't really kill him, he immediately retreated. If Yue hadn't pulled off one trick in the end, he wouldn't have gotten anything at all.
Now the Sage of the White Snake understood how to get the eyes. We need to kill Yue again. When he uses Izanagi again, he will have nothing left. This will be his death hour.
With this thought, the Sage began to burn himself all over again. Almost like Ootsutsuki Isshiki... but no. Tom didn't have to burn himself to kill Yue countless times, and then, sensing something was wrong, he immediately retreated.
The Sage of the White Snake was unable to do this. He was stronger than the current Uchiha Yue, but significantly weaker than Ootsutsuki Isshiki. For Isshiki, crushing the then Yue was a piece of cake. Even now, when Yue had become a little stronger, a couple of punches would have been enough for Isshiki to blow his brains out.
It hadn't even been ten days since their fight.
To kill Uchiha Yue at least once, the Sage of the White Snake had to burn his flesh, blood, and life itself — everything to bring his strength to an unthinkable limit. And that's for a measly two minutes of fighting. If he had lasted any longer, he would have worn himself out.
In the next instant, a ghostly blue flame enveloped the Sage's body. His flesh, his blood, his very essence—everything turned into fuel for the final, all-consuming fire.
There was only one goal. Destroy.