As everyone braced for the approaching horde of devils—
A surge of red light burst forth without warning, sweeping across the battlefield, followed by a wave of scorching heat that slammed into them like a furnace blast.
Their gazes quickly converged—Charlotte Oven's entire body had turned crimson.
"Prepare for battle!"
Oven bellowed without the slightest concern for Dalmatian's narrowed stare.
[BOOM!]
Like a molten-red giant elephant, he stomped down with explosive force on the lava-scorched ground beneath him—and charged forward with ferocity.
Flames flickered in Oven's eyes. His raised right fist glowed white with intense heat.
As he swung that fist—burning at the limit of temperature—
The surrounding air ignited instantly, forming a roaring fire-fist that incinerated incoming magical attacks and barriers alike, tearing into the horde of devils with overwhelming force, unleashing screams and destruction in its wake.
And Oven himself didn't pause for a second. He dove headfirst into the inferno he'd just created, fists glowing white-hot and blindingly bright as he swung them wildly in every direction—cutting down swathes of enemies, one man waging war against an entire army!
[BEEP ——— BEEP ———]
[BEEP ——— BEEP ———]
The Conquerors opened their mouths, and dazzling golden energy began to gather within.
[Zzzt—zzzt—zzzt—zzzt!]
In an instant, ten golden beams shot over the heads of the assembled warriors.
In the blink of an eye, they struck the mass of devils emerging from the "Gate of the Underworld."
Immediately, a chain of thunderous explosions erupted, each marked by a towering mushroom-shaped fireball that swallowed the devils whole and blasted nearby ones high into the air with brute force.
These deafening booms rang out like a battle whistle.
Dalmatian and the others sprang into action.
...
High above, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo gazed down at the scene below—officers of the World Government's army fighting side by side with the elite shinobi from the various Hidden Villages, united in their efforts to repel the demonic invasion. The sight left him deep in thought.
He recalled what his younger brother had said before departing for the Underworld of the Starfish:
"Perhaps the emergence of the World Government isn't necessarily a bad thing—neither for the shinobi world nor for us."
Back then, Hagoromo had been skeptical.
He felt that the World Government had disrupted his plans, plunging the shinobi world into chaos.
But now, it seemed… the World Government might actually become an asset to him?
What could he gain from them—and what would he need to give in return?
With that question in mind, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo flew toward the "Funerary Pyramid."
He examined the towering, sand-colored pyramid with his deep violet Rinnegan, inspecting it from top to bottom.
"Such techniques from another world... Remarkable. To manipulate natural energy with such precision... But the inside seems quite dangerous."
In his soul form, suspended in midair, Hagoromo clicked his tongue in awe.
He was referring to the withering laws infused within the sand itself—the very rules that continuously eroded Shinnō's dark chakra.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Hagoromo's form lit up with the initial manifestation of Susanoo.
Enveloped in a layer of azure energy, and utilizing the soul form's intangibility, he easily phased into the pyramid's outer wall.
The ever-shifting sand immediately began to consume Susanoo's energy.
Hagoromo paid it no mind. This level of chakra expenditure was well within his capacity.
Bathed in dim blue light, he slowly made his way toward Shinnō.
Because he had to constantly resist the current created by the sand's pressure, his movement was sluggish.
Moments later, Hagoromo reached Shinnō's vicinity.
Yet the latter remained completely unaware, still struggling in despair and unwillingness, barely fending off the relentless erosion and crushing force of the surrounding sand.
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo remained unfazed—because what he sought wasn't Shinnō himself, but the devil residing within him: Satori.
[Vmmm—]
In the next moment, an invisible wave of ocular power rippled out from his Rinnegan.
Hagoromo's consciousness followed that wave, delving directly into the depths of Shinnō's mind.
Shinnō's spiritual domain, as seen by Hagoromo, resembled a suffocating, oppressive prison shrouded in darkness, with a messy layer of yellow sand covering the ground.
As he walked deeper inside—
He saw Satori, shrunken down to roughly 2 to 3 meters tall, sitting silently inside a barred cell.
As soon as Satori spotted Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, it immediately sprang to its feet, the pair of pitch-black wings on its back instinctively spreading wide.
At the same time, an expression of shock and fury twisted the face that belonged to the "Zero-Tails."
"You! It's actually you!!!"
Of course Satori recognized Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo—after all, not long after it accidentally entered the shinobi world all those centuries ago, it had nearly been killed by him in the Land of Grass and was ultimately sealed inside the "Box of Ultimate Bliss" for nearly a thousand years.
"It's been a while," Hagoromo said with a calm demeanor. "I remember you once claimed to be a high-ranking devil. Void, wasn't it? Then I'll call you that from now on."
He spoke gently, as if genuinely willing to show respect.
But Void wasn't buying it. With a cold snort, it snapped: "Spare me the act. I already know why you're here!"
"That makes things easier," Hagoromo replied softly, his hand resting on the Sage's Staff. "Then may I ask you to close the Gate of the Underworld?"
"You can forget about that! I couldn't do it even if I wanted to! Hahahaha!" Void laughed wildly, full of arrogant glee.
"You're probably thinking the Gate of the Underworld was opened under my instruction to Mōryō, and that I must know how to close it. But the truth is—"
"—the ones who actually opened the Gate were the two rulers of the First Layer: the supreme devils Nahamah and Lilith!"
"All Mōryō did was locate the spatial rift created when I first descended into this world—a rift now so faint it's barely there—and then, using the demonic aura from my flesh and a magic circle, guided them to sense this world's coordinates. With their immense power, they tore the rift wide open once more, forging the Gate of the Underworld!"
Hagoromo listened patiently, though Void's mocking tone was grating.
But by the end of the explanation, a heaviness weighed down on his heart.
Because Nahamah and Lilith were already dead—yet the Gate of the Underworld remained open.
Why?
And more importantly... what now?
...
"What!!!"
Void roared in disbelief after hearing Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo's words.
"That's impossible!"
"You humans could never defeat the highest-ranking devils—let alone those who rule over the First Layer of the Underworld!"
It was convinced Hagoromo was trying to deceive it, and that only made it even more furious.
Hagoromo didn't refute it immediately.
Thinking it through, without the World Government's intervention, and judging by the current state of the Shinobi World…
Unless he personally stepped in—
Those shinobi truly wouldn't stand a chance against Nahamah and Lilith.
"Well then, why don't you see for yourself?"
Realizing that words alone wouldn't convince Void, Hagoromo raised his Sage's Staff, waving it in midair to conjure a floating illusionary screen. The scene that unfolded showed Sakazuki and Kuzan delivering their final blows against Nahamah and Lilith.
"This... This can't be real!"
Void was stunned on the spot.
It felt as if its entire worldview had been shattered—blasted to pieces by Sakazuki's massive hellfire.
For countless years, the Underworld had launched invasions into one human world after another.
While it wasn't rare for high-ranking devils like itself to occasionally fall to human heroes—
The death of a highest-ranking devil was unheard of.
At most, if the First Layer encountered a troublesome opponent, they would summon devil armies—
"Let me ask you—why is it that even though Lilith and Nahamah are dead, the Gate of the Underworld hasn't disappeared?"
Hagoromo waited until Void had slightly composed itself before speaking again.
"Hmph, and why the hell should I tell you?" Void sneered coldly.
"Because if you don't… you'll die. Don't tell me you actually believe I sealed you back then because I couldn't kill you?"
Hagoromo's tone turned ice-cold as the Sage's Staff in his hand morphed into nine pitch-black Truth-Seeking Orbs, which floated around him like stars orbiting a sun.
Void stared at the orbs in silence.
From them, it felt an unprecedented sense of danger—pure, suffocating fear.
"…And how do I know you won't kill me after I tell you?"
Void spoke again, pressing the issue.
"Don't give me that nonsense about having no choice. If that's your excuse, I'd rather tell you nothing at all."
"If the Gate of the Underworld remains open for too long, it's only a matter of time before it draws the attention of the highest-ranking devils from the Second Layer—or even the Third and Fourth. When that happens, it won't just be you. The entire Shinobi World will be buried with me!"
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo frowned. "Even if I swore not to kill you, you still wouldn't believe me, would you?"
"Hmph. Then show me a reason to believe you."
"I could extract you from Shinnō's body and seal you back into the Box of Ultimate Bliss. That should count as not killing you, right?"
"…"
Void felt a figurative dark cloud drop over its head. It quickly protested, "No! I want freedom. I swear, I won't cause any more trouble!"
"Out of the question. Who in their right mind would let a devil roam freely?"
Hagoromo didn't even pause before rejecting the idea.
"Then send me back to the Underworld! That's fair enough, isn't it?!"
Void thought to itself—now that the ruler of the First Layer was dead, and most of the high-ranking devils were wiped out, wouldn't this be the perfect time to climb the ranks?
Well, except for one minor concern...
Hagoromo, on the other hand, found the suggestion reasonable and decided to go along with it for now.
"Very well. If you can answer all the questions I'm about to ask, I'll release you from here. Whether or not you make it back to the Underworld is your own problem. But you are absolutely forbidden to remain in the Shinobi World."
"No problem!"
Void answered immediately, unable to contain its eagerness.
Whatever it took to escape this cursed seal!
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