Gamamaru.
This name, which was almost unknown in the shinobi world, was now uttered from Yuki Yoru's mouth, causing an incomparably brilliant light to burst out from the Great Toad Sage's eyes.
But in just an instant, the Great Toad Sage returned to his original state, maintaining a lazy, motionless posture: "I don't see sincerity. I only see hegemony."
"Power," Yoru replied calmly, "is my sincerity."
"How interesting." The Great Toad Sage showed a flicker of amusement and asked with curiosity:
"Was that how you persuaded the White Snake to cooperate with you?"
"He simply chose the correct path, following the will within his heart." Yoru's expression remained steady, indifferent.
"He knows that he is a relic of the old era, and he also understands what he upholds and what he wants in his heart."
"He's not like some guys who are dressed in fine clothes and have the skin of a Sage from a holy land but are doing things like spies. Am I right, Gamamaru?"
"It seems that seeing too many things has caused your perception of yourself to be a little skewed."
"Although I haven't stepped into that level of realm yet, I'm still very confident in dealing with a muddled old toad."
"Muddled? Hahahahahahaha!!"
Deafening laughter came from Gamamaru's mouth. This seemingly old Sage, who had trouble even walking, seemed to have heard a great joke as waves of sound spread out.
Countless eyes surfaced within Yiki Yoru's eye sockets, innumerable images flashing through them. He stood firm and composed amidst the laughter.
After a long while, the Great Toad Sage finally stopped. Yet within his laughter, an overwhelming flood of natural energy had already filled the cavern.
Waves of energy were silently activated, overflowing with a pure white light, gradually engulfing Yuki Yoru.
The light shimmered like a dream, beautiful and intoxicating.
"Since you've come to find that stinky snake, then go find him yourself. The premise is that he hasn't been deeply trapped in the thousand-year dream that I've woven." The Great Toad Sage's figure became more and more ethereal and indifferent in the dreamy scenery, and his voice also became more and more ethereal.
"Of course… the same goes for you."
"…"
Yoru's eyebrows twitched slightly. Countless eyes observed the illusory, dreamlike world before him.
The world of dreams.
The concept itself was uncanny—something that to ordinary people would sound like an intangible illusion.
But this world was far more complex and ever-changing than people imagined. The world they understood day-to-day was nothing more than the tip of the iceberg.
Dreams are mysterious things. To most, they are but illusions. Yet that does not mean every dream must be false. Under certain conditions, a dream could be real.
Just like the Uchiha clan's ultimate forbidden jutsu, Izanagi, it was the mutual alternation of reality and illusion to change the twist of reality.
Stripping away appearances to reveal essence, Yoru's observation told him that this so-called dream world was in truth a separate plane of existence—not a mere illusion. Much like Kamui's dimension, or the strange space the Six Paths' incarnation had once dragged him into.
Only this space was different—steeped in natural energy and spiritual power. The moment Yoru stepped into it, the world before his eyes began to shift infinitely.
The surrounding space stretched and twisted beneath dreamlike chakra, transforming into a lush and verdant world. His perspective warped again and again, compressing—until finally, he found himself standing within a dim and eerie stalactite cavern.
This place held no other living beings—only him. The environment, compared to that of the human world, was clearly harsh and unfriendly. And yet, there was a strange sense of familiarity pressing down on him.
This place was…
Ryūchi Cave?
No… not quite.
Yuki Yoru slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, countless eyes had already spread out, with him as the center, and radiated outward.
He didn't know what properties this space contained, what tricks the Great Toad Sage was employing, or how the Sage intended to deal with him.
But letting himself fall into the enemy's rhythm was undoubtedly the most foolish course of action.
As his immense spiritual power surged forth, a black energy spread like venom that corrodes bone and flesh, clinging to the very fabric of this world. Even though this dreamscape was created and controlled by the Great Toad Sage, all of its hidden mysteries were now laid bare before Yoru's gaze.
A moment later, a faint smile appeared on Yagura's lips.
He had seen it.
As his immense spiritual power surged forth, his perspective suddenly emptied, and a pale, slender figure appeared beneath him.
A white snake.
It was clear that this white snake was the White Snake Sage, and his previous perspective was the perspective of the White Snake Sage, who was trapped in this dream world and saw everything.
The white snake below him was crawling in Ryūchi Cave from countless years ago, carefully raising its slightly pointed dragon head and looking up at the outside world through a crack.
Ryūchi Cave was dark, but the outside world was also desolate. It was even more gloomy and desolate than Ryūchi Cave, and it was even filled with a thick aura of death.
A towering giant tree took root in the earth, greedily devouring all the resources and energy of this world. Countless figures crossed the heavens and earth, launching attacks and trying to destroy this giant tree, but they were all blocked by two pale figures.
Before those two, the resistance was pitiful, utterly powerless. They were defeated in a single clash.
Until all the resisters were slain, the outsiders reaped the rewards, the towering tree stood firm on the earth, and the Rabbit Goddess appeared...
The small white snake, through the cracks of Ryūchi Cave, witnessed the world turning upside down. It saw the grandeur and vastness of the power known as chakra brought by the outsiders.
It attempted to fuse the natural energy it controlled with the chakra brought by the celestial beings, ultimately creating Sage chakra and forging its own unique path.
During this time, it encountered two companions who had also found this path.
A toad.
A slug.
The existence of Sage Chakra allowed the three sages to grow endlessly. But among them, the toad held a firm belief: that the Rabbit Goddess herself would always remain a threat.
And indeed, the truth bore this out.
The Rabbit Goddess, sensing some vague crisis, unleashed without restraint a jutsu known as Infinite Tsukuyomi. From it, she began to create creatures called White Zetsu.
The toad argued that since the Rabbit Goddess had already set her sights on humanity, once she discovered the sages' existence, she would never allow them to live either.
Better to strike first—than to sit and wait for death.
But the white snake thought otherwise. Better fewer risks than more.
After all, the Rabbit Goddess' control extended over humans. With Sage Chakra, they could resist the Infinite Tsukuyomi to some degree. And with the overwhelming pressure exerted by the Ōtsutsuki clan, the white snake judged that rash action would only lead to disaster.
For now, they were safe. But if they provoked her and failed—then it would surely mean annihilation.
The Slug Sage, unlike the other two, remained neutral.
The White Snake and the Toad each clung to their own views, and in the end, they parted ways in discord. The White Snake returned to his Ryūchi Cave…
And everything that followed was history.
Though the Rabbit Goddess was invincible, she was ultimately sealed away by her two sons. After that, the Sage of Six Paths wandered the world, dispersing the Tailed Beasts, spreading chakra, and ushering in the shinobi era. As for the Three Sages, because of the choices they had made back then, they each stood apart, and with the passing of time, they came to be revered as "immortal sages." Their abodes were named the Holy Lands.
A thousand years passed.
Yet what unfolded beneath Yuki Yoru's countless eyes was not the same history he had once seen.
The world kept moving forward, but when the moment of disagreement among the Three Sages arrived, things took a different turn.
The Toad, who should have opposed the White Snake, did not choose to aid the Sage of Six Paths. Instead, he agreed with the White Snake's proposal and chose to live quietly beneath the ground of Ryūchi Cave.
Although the shinobi world ultimately had wars and conflicts, it had nothing to do with the three of them and did not affect them in the slightest.
Until the war stopped and the Sages traveled the world, their names also began to resound throughout the shinobi world as time passed.
It was just that this time, it was not the three Sages of the three great holy lands, but the three Sages of Ryūchi Cave...
The dreamy scenery constantly appeared. Yuki Yoru's eyes were full of mockery.
"You are truly disgusting, you damn toad. You're a scumbag who betrayed your own planet and chose to get mixed up with those inhuman and ghostly chakra lifeforms. While you're shamelessly enjoying the worship of the world, you're actually willing to let your former friend be deeply trapped in this dream world."
"Does holding the Ōtsutsuki's hand feel that good to you?"
His spiritual power erupted violently, flooding into the dream world. Countless eyes opened along the surge, as though to lay bare every last secret of existence itself.
Under the crushing weight of this pressure, the dream world began to quake violently, as if it might shatter at any moment!
"…Was that necessary?"
A long sigh slowly sounded, and with the sound of this sigh, the dreamy world that seemed to be on the verge of collapsing quickly stabilized.
Immediately after, a cold figure appeared in the dreamy scenery.
Her long white hair trailed below her feet. A pure white robe was embroidered with black Magatama. On her cold face was a pair of pure white eyes that did not contain a single hint of emotion. The pair of horns on her forehead and the third eye closed between her eyebrows added a few points of majesty to her cold and noble temperament!
With just one look, even Yujki Yoru, who had already activated 'Omniscience,' was stunned.
Then—
"Hahahahahaha!!"
A crazed, uninhibited laugh came from Yuki Yoru's mouth: "I think you're crazy, you damn toad. You're trying to scare me by creating an illusion of the Rabbit Goddess to put on a show?"
"I'm not trying to scare you."
The Rabbit Goddess's red lips slightly parted. While her pure white eyes stared at Yomizu Minazuki, she also raised her hand: "I'm going to leave you here forever... Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack!"
"What?!"
A merciless fist that could shake the heavens with Sage arts, with both offense and defense in one!
The power exclusive to the Kekkei Mōra level, which sublimates chakra to the extreme, and can only be activated by Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, burst out in an instant, carrying an unstoppable, terrifying force and directly landing on Yuki Yoru's body.
With just one hit, Yuki Yoru's figure was sent crashing into the ground of the dream world. The world became solid and was desolate and dead.
The earth cracked. The Rabbit Goddess's terrifying power, even when it passed through Yuki Yoru's body, was enough to completely shatter the entire leyline of the earth. The entire earth directly crumbled into countless pieces of dust and debris, engulfingYuki Yoru's body.
With just one hit, it showed the terrifying power of the Rabbit Goddess that was enough to destroy the world!
Fortunately, the moment Yuki Yoru's figure fell, he reappeared behind Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. The Sacred Destruction Arrow was released at almost zero distance from her face.
"Boom!"
The ethereal white hair was unbreakable and easily blocked the close-range explosion of the Sacred Destruction Arrow.
And while blocking Yuki Yoru's attack, countless thin hairs turned into a sharp, stormy wave of thorns that, with the cooperation of her Byakugan, directly pierced Yuki Yoru through the heart, perfectly sealing countless chakra points on Yuki Yoru's body.
Fortunately, spirit particles was different from chakra. The chakra points had a minimal effect on the Master of Souls. However, the restriction on his movements allowed Kaguya Ōtsutsuki to instantly appear in front of Yoru.
The Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack, which was powerful enough to shatter the heavens and earth, landed solidly on Yoru's chest. While it sent him flying, even his chest was forcefully caved in.
"Humm…"
The pure white eyes calmly watched Yomizu Minazuki flying backward. With a slight tremor, a black cavity appeared in the space next to Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, pulling her inside.
In just a moment, the moment Yuki Yoru completely withstood the power of the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack, the Rabbit Goddess's figure had already appeared behind Yuki Yoru.
Gray bones shot out from the palms of her hands. This was the power of Kekkei Mōra that was enough to cause everything in the world to decay!
"It's over, Yuki Yoru."
"Holy Domain Praise!"
A surge of spiritual particles erupted, forming a radiant barrier of immense force around Yoru. It intercepted the fatal strike, and at that same moment, countless Sacred Destruction Arrows flared outward, bombarding Kaguya.
Yet with a mere sweep of her sleeve, all of them disintegrated into nothingness, swallowed by the endless folds of space.
"Are you still going to put up a desperate struggle?"
"Desperate struggle?" Yuki Yoru's eyes were cold: "You're trying to take me down by creating a fake Rabbit Goddess? What a joke!"
"Fake?"
The goddess stood there, her expression indifferent.
"This is indeed not the real Rabbit Goddess, but in this world, in this dream world where everything I want will be realized, the power I have is the power of the real Rabbit Goddess!"
"Since you're still going to put up a desperate struggle, then you should feel the might of the former god!"