On the screen, smoke filled the air and rubble littered the ground.
Naruto continued to showcase the fruits of his Sage Mode training, even Naraka Path Pain was smashed apart under the assault of his Shadow Clones from above.
Unfortunately, the battle had dragged on too long, and by this point, Tendo Pain had already recovered his power.
"Shinra Tensei!"
The familiar voice rang out, and Tendo Pain instantly repelled Naruto just as he was about to strike Preta Path Pain.
Gamabunta's short sword swept sideways, Gamaken's iron fork thrust forward, and Gamahiro's twin blades slashed downward, the three attacks from three directions, cutting off all routes of escape. But Tendo Pain and Preta Path Pain leaped lightly, their bodies twisting gracefully in midair to evade the encirclement.
And after the five-second cooldown ended, Tendo Pain jumped alone into the middle of the three toads, arms spread wide, his black cloak with red clouds billowing in the wind.
"Shinra Tensei!"
It was the same Jutsu, but this time the repulsive force was even stronger. The three toads were immediately sent flying, crashing into the walls at the edge of the crater, completely incapacitated.
At the same time, Tendo Pain followed up with Banshō Ten'in.
His right hand opened wide, palm aimed at Naruto, and a powerful gravitational force immediately pulled Naruto toward him; Naruto's feet left the ground, his body hurtling uncontrollably forward.
And before he could react, Preta Path Pain grabbed him from behind, its arms clamping down on his wrists like iron vices, rendering him immobile.
"Capture of the Nine-Tails, accomplished."
Seeing this, Tendo Pain believed that the battle was over.
But Naruto quickly grasped the principle behind Preta Path Pain's chakra absorption. He actively channeled natural energy into Preta Path Pain's body—catching it off guard. Unable to absorb this type of energy, Preta Path Pain instantly underwent frogification, turning into a stone frog statue.
Naruto then exerted his strength and shattered the statue's arms, breaking free with ease.
The people of the Shinobi World watching marveled at the sight. No wonder the Sky Screen had said that at this point, Naruto's combat power had finally surpassed Sasuke with his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Facing the Super Kage-level Six Paths of Pain alone, he had taken down five of them—an astonishing feat!
But soon, Tendo Pain used Banshō Ten'in twice in succession, killing Sage Fukasaku and pinning Naruto's hands to the ground with black rods, leaving him helpless.
By now, the audience had finally pieced together the fragments of this battle shown before. They were eager to know: how did Naruto actually win?
As if reading their thoughts, the screen skipped ahead—bypassing Hinata's one-on-one confrontation with Tendo Pain—and cut directly to Naruto's berserk state.
On the screen, Naruto's Nine-Tails transformation erupted once more.
Red chakra surged from his body like flames licking his skin. His flesh reddened, and the bones and muscle of the Nine-Tails began to form around him. One tail lashed out, then a second, third, fourth… His eyes turned blood-red, empty of reason, filled only with savage bestial fury.
The Nine-Tails-enhanced Naruto shattered the ground with sheer chakra force, sending countless chunks of rock flying upward like a dense rain of debris hurtling toward Tendo Pain.
Tendo Pain continuously deflected the stones with his hands and feet, but using the barrage as cover, Naruto closed the distance in an instant.
With a single punch, Naruto's fist—wreathed in Nine-Tails chakra—slammed squarely into Tendo Pain's face.
The impact distorted the puppet's features, crushing its nose and splitting its mouth wide. Tendo Pain was sent flying like it had been struck by a high-speed train, tumbling through the air and crashing into a pile of rubble.
The watching shinobis across different Timelines felt their eyes twitch. The style of this fight was starting to feel… a bit off.
Weren't they supposed to be trading Ninjutsu?
What happened to tactical outmaneuvering?
How did this suddenly turn into a street brawl?
Especially when they saw the Nine-Tails-enhanced Naruto grab a long slab of stone and hammer it down on Tendo Pain's head like driving a nail into the ground—many found it rather amusing.
"Those really are just puppets. Tendo Pain didn't even try to dodge, guess Nagato's real body isn't feeling any of that pain."
"To be fair, Tendo Pain is way more durable than the other Pains. Wonder if it was specially reinforced."
Meanwhile, on the screen.
"My pain is far greater than yours!"
Seeing Naruto in his tailed beast state seemed to provoke Tendo Pain, who began to counterattack.
The two exchanged blow for blow, black rods and fireballs flying in tandem.
But what shocked viewers across every Timeline even more was the realization that Tendo Pain's Shinra Tensei was not actually unbeatable!
Against the Tailed Beast-form Naruto, even Tendo Pain's Shinra Tensei couldn't hold, he was sent flying and his head embedded deep into a cliff wall.
Seeing this, Nagato—the true controller behind the scenes—could no longer stay idle. After luring the berserk Naruto near his main body using Tendo Pain, he quietly tossed a black sphere from his hand.
The black sphere drifted slowly skyward, growing larger and larger, pulling everything around it into the air. Even the rampaging Nine-Tails couldn't resist this Jutsu.
[Here it comes! The most powerful sealing Jutsu: Chibaku Tensei!]
[The power of this Jutsu needs no explanation—after all, Kaguya is still up there hanging in the sky.]
[This Jutsu is practically a hallmark of true powerhouses. Look at all those who can use it: Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, Ōtsutsuki Hamura, Uchiha Madara, Sasuke, Nagato; and among them, Nagato is the weakest.]
---
[Konoha, Year One. Outside the Village on the Cliffside]
Just a few words from the screen caused the uninterested Madara and Hashirama to change expressions dramatically!
Their faces shifted from casual to serious, then from serious to stunned.
Ōtsutsuki… two more new Ōtsutsuki—Hagoromo and Hamura—and they sounded like brothers. So just how many more Ōtsutsuki were there on the moon?
And why weren't they acting now? Why would they only act against the Shinobi World in the future?
Also, what did it mean that Ōtsutsuki Kaguya was "still hanging in the sky"?
They looked up at the sky… and saw nothing.
Could this be some future event? But the Sky Screen's tone didn't sound that way. Or was it hidden by some kind of Jutsu?
As for the sensational idea of her being sealed in the moon… they hadn't even begun to think along those lines.
A moment later, Hashirama hesitantly asked: "Madara… can you use Chibaku Tensei right now? So were you holding back when you fought me before?"
Veins popped up on Madara's forehead: "What are you thinking, Hashirama?! If I could use it, I would've used it on you ages ago—and holding back? I haven't even settled the score with you yet for the screen saying you always held back!"
Hashirama immediately felt a little guilty. "Ha… like I said before, I was going all out too. I don't know what this screen was going on about."
Beside him, Tobirama was lost in thought. 'Chibaku Tensei, this Jutsu seems to be a special ability of the Rinnegan? That would explain why Nagato could use it.'
'Then… could it be that everyone mentioned earlier on the screen also possesses the Rinnegan?'
In Tobirama's mind, a thread began to piece together all the scattered bits of information.
According to the Sky Screen, the Rinnegan wasn't Nagato's own—it had been planted in him by someone else.
And given the timeline, aside from the Ōtsutsuki, the only possible owner of that Rinnegan was Madara. After all, Sasuke hadn't even been born at that point.
But… didn't the Ōtsutsuki have the Byakugan? How did those two Ōtsutsuki have the Rinnegan?
Or—could the Tenseigan also use this Jutsu?
No, that fleeting scene of Ōtsutsuki Toneri didn't seem to show such ability, and the screen hadn't mentioned his name just now either.
So then, did the Ōtsutsuki clan possess at least two types of eyes? The Rinnegan and the Tenseigan?
Also, both Madara and Sasuke had the Rinnegan… So, was there a connection between the Sharingan and the Rinnegan?
But then why did only the two of them have it? What about the other Uchiha? Why had no other Uchiha awakened the Rinnegan in over a thousand years?!
'Hmm?'
The screen had said many times that both Madara and Sasuke were Indra's reincarnations, hadn't it?!
Suddenly, a startling theory flashed through Tobirama's mind like a bolt of lightning piercing the fog.
'The Sage of Six Paths… was an Ōtsutsuki!!'
Or rather, one of the two—Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo or Ōtsutsuki Hamura, was the Sage of Six Paths!
It all fit, everything was falling into place.
The Sky Screen had also said the Sage of Six Paths had a younger brother!
Tobirama's breathing quickened, his pupils contracting slightly.
The Sage of Six Paths possessed the Rinnegan, so naturally his eldest son, Indra, would have the potential to awaken it. Even if Indra himself never did, the potential was there in his bloodline, which is why Madara and Sasuke could eventually possess those eyes.
And Indra was the ancestor of the Uchiha. He inherited the Sage's ocular power, and that power lay dormant in the bloodline, waiting for a trigger to awaken.
Madara seemed to have found that trigger, and so did Sasuke. So the reason other Uchiha hadn't was because they weren't Indra's reincarnations.
In that instant, a hidden corner of the Shinobi World's history seemed to reveal itself to him. The truth buried for a thousand years, the obscured history, the secrets of the Ōtsutsuki, the Sage of Six Paths, and the origins of the Uchiha—were all being unraveled bit by bit by the screen.
Even someone as composed as Tobirama couldn't help but shudder.
He looked up at the sky, where nothing seemed to be there. But he knew; up there, even more secrets lay hidden.
*****
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