Chapter 317: Balance
In the real world, on the battlefield that was enveloped in the deathly silence of the Infinite Tsukuyomi and countless white cocoons.
The bodies of Naruto and Sasuke, which had originally lost all signs of life, burst forth with an unprecedentedly powerful chakra fluctuation at almost the same time!
"Ugh..." Naruto was the first to open his eyes. In the depths of his azure-blue eyes, a golden sun-like pattern seemed to flash past. He sat up abruptly, feeling the majestic, yet perfectly controlled, new power within his body, as well as the six black Truth-Seeking Orbs floating in a row in front of his chest.
"Is this... the power of the old Sage of Six Paths?" He clenched his fist, feeling as if the entire world had become different.
On the other side, Sasuke also slowly stood up. He felt the "Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei" mark in his left palm, which contained the power of all creation, as well as the power in his right eye that seemed to be able to see through the essence of all things. He calmly scanned the purgatory-like scene around him, his gaze finally locking onto the center of the terrifying energy eruption in the distance—the battlefield of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya and Ōtsutsuki Isshiki.
"There's no time to get emotional, dead-last," Sasuke said in a low voice. "The battle is still going on, and... it's gotten worse. I can't feel Teacher's chakra anymore."
"Ah! I know!" Naruto reacted immediately. His sensory abilities had become incomparably sharp with the blessing of the Yang Power. "We have to save Bushy Brows-sensei first!"
The two figures flashed, instantly appearing beside Might Guy, who had been placed inside a barrier by Uchiha Douhuan in advance and whose life force was like a candle in the wind.
"Such a severe injury..." Naruto gasped, seeing Guy's almost shattered body. But without any hesitation, he immediately pressed the hand containing the ultimate Yang Power onto Guy's chest.
A rich to the extreme, vibrant life force poured into Guy's body! Wherever the Yang Power passed, the completely collapsed meridians were forcibly reconnected and reshaped, the shattered bones began to heal, and the exhausted life force, like a dry land being irrigated by sweet rain, recovered at an astonishing speed!
At this time, Sasuke also saw a small scroll beside Might Guy's body. After pulling it open, Sasuke's brow furrowed slightly. The sealing jutsu technique on the scroll was clearly the work of their teacher, Uchiha Douhuan.
Sasuke input his chakra. After opening the seal on the scroll, a line of text emerged: "Don't worry about me. I'm fine. Just go and stall them."
"A message from Teacher?" Naruto asked, looking at Sasuke after stabilizing Might Guy's injuries.
"Yes. Teacher must be plotting something. We just need to do as he says."
At this very moment, a stream of azure-blue light descended from the sky, landing steadily beside the three of them. It was Hyuga Neji! Three Truth-Seeking Orbs orbited his body, and his azure-blue Tenseigan shone brightly. It was precisely by relying on the power of his Tenseigan and his own willpower that he had forcibly isolated the light of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, becoming one of the extremely few lucky ones not to be enveloped.
"Naruto, Sasuke," Neji's voice carried a trace of fatigue, but more so, gravity. "You're finally awake. The situation is extremely critical. Teacher, he... after defeating Uchiha Madara, he voluntarily activated the Infinite Tsukuyomi, but was then seemingly devoured by something. Now, two even more terrifying enemies have appeared, and they are in the middle of a fierce battle!"
"Neji!" Naruto was overjoyed to see his friend unharmed, but was immediately pulled back to reality by his words. "Two enemies? Besides Ōtsutsuki Kaguya that the old Sage of Six Paths mentioned, who else is there?"
"It's that guy named Isshiki from before. He's back too!" Neji said quickly. "And the power they are exuding... is too terrifying. Just the aftershocks alone make it difficult to approach."
Sasuke's Rinnegan looked towards the distant battlefield, which was like a clash of natural disasters. His tone was icy, "There's no time to hesitate. No matter who the enemies are, or how many there are, we must stop them."
"That's right!" Naruto nodded heavily. His golden chakra cloak reappeared, but it was more condensed and powerful than the previous Nine-Tails Mode. The Truth-Seeking Orbs were arranged neatly behind him.
Neji's Tenseigan locked onto the target, his Truth-Seeking Orbs poised to strike.
A sharp light flashed in Sasuke's Rinnegan. The coordinates for Amenotejikara were already preset.
"Let's go!" Sasuke said in a low voice.
In the next moment, the three figures—Naruto, who had obtained the Six Paths Yang Power; Sasuke, who had obtained the Six Paths Yin Power; and Neji, who had survived thanks to the Tenseigan—transformed into three streaks of light, of different colors but all equally powerful, and charged towards the center of the battlefield without any hesitation!
Their entry instantly broke the original balance of the duel. Kaguya and Isshiki both retreated almost at the same time. Their cold gazes swept towards this group of uninvited guests. A terrifying pressure pressed down like a tangible substance, but Naruto and Sasuke, who had obtained the power of Six Paths, and Neji, who possessed the Tenseigan, actually withstood this pressure head-on, forming a brief standoff with them.
In the center of the battlefield, energy turbulence raged, the earth cracked, and space distorted. The three forces each occupied a side, forming an extremely subtle and dangerous balance.
Ōtsutsuki Isshiki floated in the air, his face terribly grim. He was about to suppress and execute clan law on Kaguya, but was interrupted by this group of "ants" that kept popping up. Especially since these three ants had stolen the power that originated from their clan.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, on the other hand, appeared somewhat uncertain. She had just calmed down a bit from her frantic outburst. The pressure from Isshiki had eased slightly, but the three newcomers also exuded a power that could not be underestimated. And the Yin-Yang power and Tenseigan chakra on them also made her feel a trace of deep-seated apprehension from her bloodline.
Just at this moment of tense silence, Black Zetsu, wrapped around Kaguya's sleeve, his cunning eyes rolling, suddenly spoke in his sharp and cold voice, his target aimed straight at Naruto and Sasuke:
"Mother! Look! Those are the two chakra reincarnates of that rebellious son Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo—the reincarnates of Asura and Indra! By seniority, they should call you grandmother," Black Zetsu's voice carried a deliberate incitement. "They have inherited the power of the Sage of Six Paths and are the biggest threat besides that Isshiki! But... they are also the enemies of that bastard Isshiki!"
Black Zetsu's words cleverly shifted, trying to bewitch them, "The enemy of our enemy is a temporary friend! Mother, why don't we join forces with them? Let's get rid of this mortal threat, Isshiki, first! He is the biggest threat to us! As long as we solve him, this world will have no one left who can stop you from reclaiming all the chakra!"
He then looked at Naruto and Sasuke, his voice full of temptation, "Asura, Indra! Are you going to just watch as this outsider destroys your world? Unlike Mother, he only has pure plunder and destruction for this world! Cooperate with us, defeat him first! After that, we can talk about other things!"
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya seemed to be moved by Black Zetsu's words. Her pair of pure Byakugan swept over Naruto and Sasuke. Although she didn't speak, the hostility around her seemed to have weakened a little, replaced by a kind of scrutiny and waiting for a price.
Naruto's brows furrowed tightly. Kurama in his body was also madly reminding him not to believe Black Zetsu's nonsense. He subconsciously wanted to refuse, preparing to beat up that Isshiki guy as well.
However, just as Naruto was about to speak, Sasuke stepped forward and stood in front of him.
Sasuke's Rinnegan calmly scanned the covetously watching Isshiki, and then glanced at the Kaguya mother and son who were trying to pull them in. In his mind, the teachings his teacher Uchiha Douhuan had once given him flashed instantly:
["Sasuke, a true powerhouse not only knows how to use power, but more importantly, learns to use the situation. When multiple parties are in a chaotic battle and it's hard to distinguish friend from foe, the stupidest thing to do is to immediately pick a side and become the target of all. The most brilliant strategy is to make yourself that 'variable,' so that all forces are wary of you, and thus... control the balance, and pull the chestnuts out of the fire."]
In an instant, Sasuke had already made a decision in his heart.
He did not directly respond to Black Zetsu's attempt to rope him in. Instead, he first cast his gaze towards Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, who was under the most pressure and whose face was the ugliest. His tone was calm, but carried a trace of imperceptible provocation:
"Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, it seems your situation is not very good. These two 'traitors' seem to want to join forces with us to get rid of you first." He deliberately pointed out Isshiki's dilemma.
Isshiki's cold Byakugan swept over Sasuke. He snorted coldly, "Hmph, mere lower creatures, you are also worthy of negotiating terms with me? Even if you join forces, the result will not change in any way." Although he said so, the chakra condensing around his body showed that he was not completely unconcerned.
Ōtsutsuki Isshiki and Kaguya stared at each other, and then resumed attacking each other.
Black cubes and All-Killing Ash Bones whistled towards each other. At this moment, both Ōtsutsuki Isshiki and Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, under Black Zetsu's reminder, wanted to end the battle as soon as possible, so as not to let Sasuke and the others affect the battle situation.
And in the next moment, a sharp light flashed in Sasuke's Rinnegan, and he made a move that was beyond everyone's expectations!
He did not attack either side, but fiercely raised his hand!
"Amenotejikara!"
In an instant, a huge black cube that Ōtsutsuki Isshiki had just released, which was about to smash towards Kaguya, and an All-Killing Ash Bone that Kaguya had shot out, which was silently attacking Isshiki's back, suddenly swapped places!
Boom!
Clack!
The black cube smashed into empty space, and the All-Killing Ash Bone grazed dangerously past Isshiki's side!
This move seemingly hit no one, but it instantly made the faces of both Kaguya and Isshiki even uglier!
"Brat! You're seeking death!" Isshiki's cold gaze for the first time locked completely onto Sasuke, his killing intent overflowing.
"The reincarnation of Indra... you!" Kaguya also let out an angry low growl.
But Sasuke didn't care about the anger of the two. He floated in the air, calmly controlling the rhythm of the battlefield, "Want our help? Fine. Show enough 'sincerity.' For example... tell us the method to completely kill the other party first? Or, show us which of you is more valuable for us to temporarily use?"
His words were extremely tricky. It seemed like he was proposing conditions, but in reality, he was sowing discord and delaying, kicking the ball back to them, implying that both sides needed to pay a price or reveal each other's secrets to win them over.
Naruto immediately understood and chimed in loudly, "Yeah! That's right! If you want our help, we won't do it for nothing." These words were extremely straightforward, but they just happened to fit his consistent style, adding a bit more irony.
Neji silently deployed his Truth-Seeking Orb defense, perfectly cooperating with Sasuke's strategy.
Black Zetsu was so angry he almost spat blood. He had never expected this generation's Indra reincarnate to be so cunning and difficult to deal with! What on earth did that god-damned Uchiha Douhuan teach this kid?
Black Zetsu immediately retorted sharply, "You—!"
Kaguya's gaze also became icy cold again.
But Sasuke no longer looked at them. Instead, he refocused his Rinnegan on Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, as if evaluating the price of both sides. His posture was very clear: We do want to stop both of you from destroying the world, but we will not be easily used as a gun by either side. We have our own power and judgment.
At this moment, the situation became incomparably subtle.
Although Ōtsutsuki Isshiki was arrogant, he had to consider the risk of being besieged by Kaguya + Naruto, Sasuke, and the others at the same time.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya and Black Zetsu, on one hand, wanted to use Naruto and Sasuke to deal with Isshiki, but they were also wary of their power and the backlash after resolving Isshiki.
And Naruto's group, relying on Sasuke's exquisite words and posture, had temporarily elevated themselves from a "target that must be eliminated immediately" to a "key third party" that both sides were trying to win over, yet also had to be wary of!
A balance was achieved!
An extremely fragile, suspicion-filled, yet temporarily maintained terrifying balance!
The three parties mutually constrained each other. No one dared to be the first to launch a full-scale attack on another party, for fear that the third party would reap the benefits. The battlefield fell into a strange stalemate. The air was filled with a suffocating tension, as if a single spark could detonate the entire situation.
Naruto looked at the calmly strategizing Sasuke beside him. A trace of understanding and trust flashed in his eyes, and he said in a low voice, "As expected of you, Sasuke."
Neji's Tenseigan was constantly observing the subtle changes in the chakra of the entire field. He said in a low voice, "They are all guarding against each other. Their chakra flow has become extremely cautious."
Uchiha Douhuan's teachings were, at this moment, being used to the fullest by Sasuke. He had successfully used words and posture to drag this catastrophic conflict, which could destroy the world, into a dangerous stalemate, buying precious time to find a real way to break the deadlock.
And the opportunity to break this balance might be in the very next second.
Ōtsutsuki Isshiki slightly narrowed his eyes. The space-time fluctuations around him flickered. Compared to Sasuke's group and Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, he, who possessed a stronger space-time ability, had the confidence to retreat in advance.
However, in the next moment, a flash of light suddenly passed through Sasuke's Rinnegan. The space-time fluctuation around Ōtsutsuki Isshiki was suddenly disrupted. At the same time, beads of sweat also dripped from Sasuke's forehead. In order to cut off Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's escape route, it seemed that Sasuke was not having an easy time either. This move had directly used up more than half of the Yin Power given to him by the Sage of Six Paths.
"Seeking death!" Ōtsutsuki Isshiki looked fiercely at Sasuke. But Naruto and Neji at this time blocked his path.
"Since you're already here, isn't it a bit rude to just try and leave like that, Ōtsutsuki Isshiki?" Sasuke's voice sounded from behind the two.
(End of chapter)