Six Paths Minato hesitated slightly but still offered an explanation.
"It's hard for me to explain in detail, but this was the Lord's assistance to me."
"He helped me with creating a clone identical to my real body, able to withstand damage like the original, with no time limit, and even capable of sealing to become a Jinchuriki!"
Hashirama and the others were shocked.
Was there such a miraculous jutsu? Its effects were too extraordinary, weren't they? Not only could it endure damage, but it also lasted long and could even become a Jinchuriki… Wait… this wasn't a clone anymore; it was another living being, right?
Meaning, the Sage of the Six Paths casually created another living being? And it was a perfect, identical copy of the original body?
"Amazing! There's such a magical ability?"
"Then, could I also create another version of myself?"
Hashirama was deeply curious, secretly hopeful.
"Fool, you want to create another you to replace yourself?"
Madara was clearly more concerned; a perfect clone, indistinguishable, able to be injured, and long-lasting—was it still their own clone?
This was a terrifying question that sent chills down the spine. Madara didn't want another version of himself replacing him, taking over everything.
"That's not possible, right?"
Hashirama looked at Minato, seeking confirmation.
"There's still a difference."
"The Lord calls this clone an incarnation, distinct from ordinary clones. At the very least, it lacks its own consciousness, fully controlled by the original body's consciousness."
Madara raised an eyebrow: "So, both bodies are controlled by your consciousness?"
"Exactly."
"At first, I wasn't used to it. It took quite a while to manage doing two things at once…"
"I see, then there's no issue."
Madara nodded, satisfied. As long as there was no risk of being replaced, having a perfect clone meant extra happiness, double the strength, and an extra life… In short, the benefits far outweighed the drawbacks. The best proof was Minato's recent defeat of Isshiki using the Outer Body Incarnation.
In a situation where the enemy was unaware, a clone that could substitute for the "dead" original body was the perfect bait, lulling the enemy into a false sense of security and creating a prime opportunity for a lethal strike. Madara even thought of many incredible uses and felt a bit intrigued.
Instantly, Madara and Hashirama instinctively glanced at each other, clearly guessing what the other was thinking.
A perfectly realistic clone, controlled by their consciousness, with almost no limitations. It was the ideal ability for going on outings together! Enough to evade anyone's surveillance…
(When will the Lord make an Outer Body Incarnation for me?)
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"Considering it's the Lord's power, it's not strange that it's so miraculous."
Nagato's Six Paths nodded in agreement.
For these figures from different times and spaces to meet face-to-face was already a miracle among miracles. A few more miracles weren't odd.
"But, Minato, your clone's corpse… no, it should be your incarnation's corpse, is still inside the barrier."
"Didn't the Rinnegan and other special eyes in its body get destroyed by the explosion?" Nagato asked curiously.
A clone could be sacrificed, but destroying two precious eyes at once was a bit wasteful.
"No, I swapped out the real Rinnegan and Black Eye beforehand."
"They're all here. The incarnation only carried fake eyes simulated as projections."
Minato took out the two eyes he'd swapped from the Outer Body Incarnation earlier. He wasn't foolish enough to destroy those precious eyes for nothing.
This was also why the incarnation, after teleporting in front of Isshiki, didn't use special dojutsu anymore.
"You were prepared from the start!"
"By the way, what about Kurama?"
"Since your real body sealed Juubi, Kurama should've been in the incarnation's body, right?"
"So, Kurama sacrificed himself?"
Minato answered directly: "Yes."
"The Kurama in my incarnation's body died along with the incarnation's death."
"But Kurama isn't dead. His other half, the Yang body, is still inside Kushina."
"All the chakra lost after my Yin half's death in the incarnation will slowly gather back to Kurama's Yang half, reforming a complete Kurama."
"And all memories will remain intact. It just needs some time to recover, and it won't affect Kurama."
Minato had considered this and gained Kurama's confirmation and consent before executing the backup plan. After all, a split Kurama had weaknesses but also advantages.
The weakness was halved chakra and strength, but the advantage was that Kurama became a monster nearly impossible to kill.
As known, when a Jinchuriki is killed, the Bijuu dies with them. Though a Bijuu can regather chakra to revive, it takes a long time and may lose some memories and sanity, becoming disoriented, like Isobu the Three-Tails, who died accidentally with Rin.
With Kurama split in two, he could perfectly avoid this weakness. If one half died accidentally, the chakra could quickly gather to the other half, with memories intact. It was like a perfect, rapid revival…
Or rather, it wasn't true death at all, more like a shadow clone dissipating, with chakra and memories returning to the original body.
This was why Minato dared to let his Outer Body Incarnation, carrying Kurama, fight to the death!
After all, Isshiki was already in his death countdown and intended to kill Obito. Without pulling out the ultimate move and using the incarnation's "death" to provoke Isshiki, even if Six Paths Minato's real body entered the arena, he couldn't have snatched Obito from Isshiki's hands—at least not alive.
"There's such a method?"
"Bijuu are truly remarkable."
"So, will you always be Juubi Jinchuriki from now on?"
Minato shook his head in denial: "No."
"I promised Kurama. After the battle, I'll release all the Bijuu."
"Hmm?"
Hashirama and the others exchanged glances.
Minato would give up the Six Paths power of Juubi for Kurama?
What was this about?
Even in the kind-hearted Hashirama's eyes, Bijuu were monsters that could threaten human safety and needed reasonable control.
Why did Minato treat them as respected teammates?
"Minato, are you sure? Juubi' power isn't easy to come by…"
"Hashirama-sama, this is a promise I made. I must keep it!"
"Fine, but extracting the Bijuu will kill you!"
"No problem. I've discussed it with Kurama. After some time, once Kurama fully recovers, he'll be split again. Then the original half of Kurama can replace Juubi seal in my body."
Seeing Minato had prepared everything, the others chose to respect his decision, no longer persuading him. After all, this was Minato's world; he was Konoha's Hokage here and had the right to decide the Bijuu's fate.
Moreover, with Minato's abilities and fighting style, even without Juubi, his combat strength wouldn't drop much. He was still strong enough to defeat all of Parallel World 4's current forces.
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On the other side, the terrifying explosion inside the barrier lasted over a minute before gradually subsiding. Everyone simultaneously turned their gazes inside the barrier, where, amid the destruction, Isshiki's figure had completely vanished.
"As expected, that guy's finally dead!"
"Is he really dead? What if he's hiding somewhere?"
Given Isshiki's terrifying power and difficulty to kill, even a Ninja God like Hashirama couldn't help but worry.
"Don't worry, he's truly dead."
Lux stepped forward, instantly appearing beside Hashirama and the others, giving a definitive answer.
Lux was undoubtedly the one who knew best whether Isshiki was dead. The rising progress of Parallel World 4's unification was the best proof, confirming that Parallel World 4's Isshiki was truly dead!
"Lord!"
Everyone saluted, except Madara, who reluctantly nodded in thanks.
"Minato, you succeeded. Congratulations."
"Thanks to the Lord's support!"
Minato thanked sincerely. Without the Sage of the Six Paths' help, the ninja world might have won this great battle, but the losses would've been immense!
Whether Konoha or the Moon was destroyed… Relying solely on Minato and Obito, they couldn't have stopped an Isshiki unleashing his full power. Moreover, without the Sage's help, Minato wouldn't have reached this point. He might've died tragically just sealing Kurama…
Looking back, Minato and Kurama, who initially fought each other, had nearly achieved complete understanding.
One was willing to give up Juubi' power for the Bijuu, while the other was willing to sacrifice for Minato's protection—a destiny and blessing in itself.
Did all Bijuu naturally favor blond hair?
This also made Lux recall the first time he saw Minato, beating up Obito. It felt like so long ago!
Parallel World 4 Unification Progress: 88% → 92%
Was it already 92% unification progress? It seemed only the final step remained. Parallel World 4 would soon complete its unification.
As for how to motivate Minato to quickly solve the last piece of this puzzle, Lux already had a plan in mind.