"Not bad," Su Xiuyu remarked, giving Sasuke a once-over. "Your reaction time was a little slow, but you still managed to respond. Did you arrive through Urashiki's treasure?"
Sasuke stiffened. He hadn't told anyone that—not even Fugaku. His eyes flicked toward his father in confusion.
"You don't need to look at Fugaku," Su Xiuyu said with a casual wave. "He didn't tell me anything. I simply glimpsed a small piece of the future and confirmed the situation myself."
He didn't say it aloud, but truthfully, the moment he saw Sasuke—with his missing arm, Rinnegan, and heavy aura—he'd guessed it all. Sometimes, letting people believe the Sharingan could predict the future made things simpler.
"…Yeah," Sasuke said at last, cautiously.
Su Xiuyu turned toward the boy standing awkwardly nearby. "So this is Naruto's kid? Boruto, was it?"
He narrowed his eyes.
"…Ugly kid."
"Wha—You—!" Boruto scowled, fists clenching.
Before he could react, Su Xiuyu opened a swirling portal beside him with a flick of his hand. "Since you're Boruto, you deserve to suffer a little."
Boruto yelped as he was yanked into the swirling vortex, vanishing mid-shout.
A moment later, silence.
Sasuke's kunai was in his hand in an instant. "Where did you send him?!"
"Relax," Su Xiuyu replied, waving off the concern like a fly. "He just needs to cool his head. I sent him through a space loop—a little breeze, a little falling, nothing too serious. He'll be back in about thirty minutes. Maybe a little dizzy."
He glanced at the kunai.
"You might want to put that down. Even with your Mangekyō and Rinnegan, you're no match for me. And this is only a clone."
It wasn't arrogance. It was fact. And Sasuke knew it—but it still stung to hear it spoken aloud.
On instinct, he surged forward, lightning crackling along his body as he launched a strike.
Bang!
An invisible force repelled him instantly, sending him skidding back several meters.
"Shinra Tensei…?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "You've awakened the Rinnegan?"
Su Xiuyu's lavender eyes glowed faintly as he revealed their full form. "Why do you think you're the only one capable of evolving the Sharingan into the Rinnegan? You're not as special as you think, Sasuke."
Fugaku stepped forward, visibly stunned. "This… this means…"
Su Xiuyu nodded. "The ultimate evolution of the Sharingan is the Rinnegan. But Eternal Mangekyō is only a prerequisite. You must also master Yin and Yang Release—and merge all seven chakra natures into your bloodline network."
Only then does the path to the Rinnegan open.
Fugaku's eyes widened, the revelation dawning on him like a lightning strike. So this is the truth behind the Sage of Six Paths… and the Uchiha lineage.
"But don't spread this knowledge," Su Xiuyu warned. His voice was quiet but firm. "If the wrong people learn this, they'll start killing their own kin to obtain Eternal Mangekyō. That's why I left no trace of this in the clan archives."
He turned back toward Fugaku. "Focus on practicing the Yang Release I left for you. It'll stabilize your Mangekyō and may even allow you to evolve it—without the need for a transplant. Even if you don't reach the Eternal Mangekyō, Yang Release can preserve your vision."
Fugaku gave a respectful nod. "Understood."
"You're in a much better position than Madara or me. We clawed our way through blood and war. As for Urashiki... don't worry. He's weak. My clone alone is enough."
Su Xiuyu's gaze turned toward the horizon. "Speaking of which... I can already sense him."
A pulse of foreign chakra—cold and ancient—rippled through the air.
"That's him," Su Xiuyu said. "Urashiki is on his way."
He turned back toward Fugaku. "Gather Shisui, Itachi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Shikaku. Let's give them a front-row seat to what it means to stand at the pinnacle of the shinobi world."
---
Moments later, the group stood assembled.
Sasuke watched Naruto from the corner of his eye, worry tugging at his expression. "Are you sure Naruto should be here? Urashiki's after the Nine-Tails."
"He'll be fine," Su Xiuyu said, brushing off the concern. "Urashiki is weaker than Kinshiki. This'll be over quickly. If not, I can always call back the original."
He said it with the ease of someone discussing the weather.
To him, Urashiki wasn't a threat—he was an inconvenience.
Around them, the atmosphere shifted. Shikaku, Fugaku, Shisui, and Itachi observed Su Xiuyu with thinly veiled awe. Even Naruto and Sasuke, though young, could feel it—this was someone beyond Kage-level.
Someone that legends whispered about in reverent tones.
"Alright," Su Xiuyu said, raising his hand. A glowing portal bloomed open behind him. "Let's move. I'd rather not turn Konoha into a crater."
The scenery on the other side of the portal stunned everyone. The mountainous terrain stretched into the horizon—windswept, desolate, isolated.
And the portal... it wasn't just space-time ninjutsu.
It was an art.
Even hardened veterans like Shikaku and Fugaku understood immediately: in a war, this kind of technique could end battles before they began.
"This is the power of a true god of the shinobi world…" Shikaku whispered.
Boruto, having returned—slightly windblown but otherwise unharmed—stared at the portal, slack-jawed.
"Master… can you do that?"
Sasuke shook his head. "No. I've never seen anything like it. That portal… it's stable, it doesn't distort chakra, and it allows for multiple people to cross safely. In terms of space-time mastery, even Minato would fall short."
And that was saying something.
With a deep breath, they stepped through.
---
They arrived at a wide, barren plateau.
"Stay here," Su Xiuyu said. "I've already sensed Urashiki's location. Don't interfere."
He looked at Sasuke. "Guard this place, Sasuke. I can't afford distractions."
Sasuke nodded silently.
Nearby, the young Sasuke tilted his head. "Wait… your name is Sasuke too?"
Before Sasuke could respond, Fugaku cut in sharply. "Focus. Stay alert."
---
Meanwhile, in the sky above...
Urashiki Otsutsuki soared through the air like a crimson comet, his chakra signature blazing with intensity. He'd tracked the Nine-Tails to this region—and the scent of it was strong.
"A perfect opportunity..." he smirked.
But in the next instant—crack!
A devastating strike smashed into his gut. The force of it sent him plummeting from the sky like a meteor, slamming into the ground below with a resounding crash.
"Wh—What…?!"
Dust and rock scattered as he dragged himself upright.
"Who dares?!"
He looked around, wild-eyed—but there was no sign of his attacker.
He hadn't even seen the blow coming.
------------
"Well now," Su Xiuyu said with a smirk, cracking his knuckles as he faced his opponent. "Nice to meet you, Urashiki. I'm here to take your life."
To him, it was polite. To Otsutsuki Urashiki, it was nothing short of blasphemy.
"You dare—!" the Otsutsuki snarled, his crimson eyes flaring with indignation. "Filthy, inferior creature! Do you even comprehend what you just said?!"
With a ripple of space, Urashiki vanished and reappeared directly in front of Su Xiuyu, his leg whipping through the air in a vicious sidekick.
CRACK!
He flew back faster than he'd arrived, sent soaring through the sky by a single punch—Su Xiuyu's fist imprint now carved across his cheek.
"Tch… Bastard!" Urashiki's rage only intensified.
"You really are a rookie," Su Xiuyu muttered, unimpressed. "Kinshiki, at least, had better hand-to-hand skills than you."
"You know Kinshiki?"
"I fought him. He was… average. You, on the other hand—your power is outright disappointing."
Urashiki snarled, summoning his infamous red fishing rod and launching it forward like a spear, aiming straight for Su Xiuyu's heart. The weapon, forged to rip chakra from his enemies, was one of his signature tools.
It struck true—directly into Su Xiuyu's chest.
Urashiki smirked.
But the smirk faltered almost instantly.
"…Nothing?"
He reeled his weapon back in, confused. Not a single drop of chakra had been absorbed.
"That's impossible," he breathed. "Who are you?!"
"As expected," Su Xiuyu said coolly. "Your toy doesn't work on someone with Six Paths-level chakra. It's about time we stopped testing things out, don't you think?"
He didn't wait for a reply.
Su Xiuyu launched into a brutal assault, his fists a blur. Each strike landed with bone-crunching weight, carving trenches in the earth with every impact. Urashiki staggered under the relentless blows, his body smashing into the ground, through rocks, craters forming in his wake.
But the Otsutsuki was tough.
Bruised and bloodied, he still stood—angrier than ever, eyes blazing with hatred. In the distance, the Konoha group watched in awe and confusion.
"Master," Boruto muttered, "why was it so hard for us to fight this guy…?"
Sasuke didn't respond. Not because he didn't have an answer, but because he didn't want to say it.
Because you kept getting in the way…
---
Urashiki tried to escape.
"Yomotsu Hirasaka!" he shouted, tearing open a dimensional rift. He vanished into it, aiming to reemerge far away and regroup.
But when he reappeared—he was right back where he started.
"What?!"
Su Xiuyu stood across from him, arms folded.
"Oh, that? I opened my own portal inside yours. You go in, you come right back out. Try something else. I've already locked that dimension."
He shrugged as if it were a trivial matter.
"Besides," he added casually, "I think I'll claim Hirasaka for myself after this. Would save me the effort of building my own domain."
Urashiki roared in frustration and slammed his palms together.
"Shinra Tensei!"
The air rippled with force as an immense gravitational wave surged outward.
"Shinra Tensei, huh?" Su Xiuyu echoed, raising one hand lazily.
A pulse of his own exploded outward, colliding with Urashiki's technique.
BOOM!
The surrounding terrain disintegrated in an instant—trees, earth, even air itself flattened into dust. But when the dust settled, it was Urashiki who had been blown back, blood leaking from his mouth, body skidding across the ground like a broken puppet.
Still, his injuries began to heal.
The resilience of the Otsutsuki clan was truly absurd.
"You really are hard to kill," Su Xiuyu muttered, standing above him. "Almost admirable."
"You filthy native…!" Urashiki snarled. "You'll never understand the greatness of the Otsutsuki!"
Su Xiuyu raised an eyebrow. "You're still on about that? I've been beating the superiority complex out of you for ten minutes now."
Suddenly, Urashiki opened the red chakra gourd slung across his back.
"I'm going all out!" he shouted, swallowing every ounce of chakra stored inside.
His body twisted grotesquely. A crane-like head emerged. Power surged through him in waves. The transformation was complete—and with it came a massive boost in strength and speed.
For the first time, Urashiki gained the upper hand in their exchange.
His strikes landed harder, faster. Su Xiuyu, caught slightly off guard, stepped back as the transformed Otsutsuki pressed the assault.
Watching from afar, Sasuke took a step forward.
"Wait," Fugaku said, holding out an arm. "Just observe. Lord Xiuyu isn't fighting seriously yet."
Sasuke hesitated, then stepped back.
---
Suddenly, the air split.
Countless versions of Su Xiuyu appeared in the sky, surrounding Urashiki. They weren't shadow clones. They weren't chakra illusions.
They were something else entirely.
"The Form of Iken," Su Xiuyu murmured, his hands glowing with runes. "Let's test how well it works in this world."
Urashiki's eyes darted between the duplicates, panic setting in as the binding spell activated. His limbs locked in place.
"This… What is this?! I can't move!"
Su Xiuyu raised a hand, summoning a bolt of lightning so large it seemed to swallow the sky.
"Thunder of Bossat."
The lightning struck like a god's judgment.
Urashiki raised his arms instinctively, trying to absorb the attack.
Nothing happened.
He screamed as the divine energy tore through him, burning his flesh and fracturing his body on a level no chakra attack ever had.
"WHY—?! What is this power?! Why can't I absorb it?!"
Su Xiuyu descended slowly.
"Are you stupid?" he asked, tilting his head. "You're my enemy. Why would I explain my techniques to you?"
---
Back on the cliff, the Konoha shinobi watched in stunned silence.
"That… That lightning didn't have any chakra signature," Itachi whispered.
"And those clones," Shisui added. "They weren't shadow clones, but they were still tangible."
"They were physical," Shikaku confirmed, eyes narrowed.
Fugaku turned to the Sasuke from the other world. "Do you understand what that was?"
Sasuke shook his head slowly. "No. Whatever it was… it wasn't ninjutsu. Or at least, it wasn't our ninjutsu. Urashiki couldn't absorb it, and that's… unheard of."
"It's likely," Fugaku said thoughtfully, "that Lord Xiuyu is using a completely different power system."
Sasuke said nothing, but a chill passed down his spine.
If this is what a clone is capable of… then just how powerful is the original?