Dio, who evolved again by using the Calamity Divine Tree to absorb the power of the world, now possessed absolute control over the battlefield.
"If the Slug Sage hadn't stepped in, I would already be dead, but…"
Ryosuke looked at the endless void in front of him.
"Being like this now, what's the difference between being dead?"
He floated in the form of a soul.
His body, tempered through countless trials, had been erased. He could no longer sense even the slightest ripple, nature energy, ghostly power, or dragon vein power.
The system, although Dio could not erase it, had become unimaginably distant from Ryosuke under the influence of overwritten reality.
It was like the eight JOJO timelines. Because the distance between them was too far, the causal connections were broken.
Between Ryosuke and the system, and between him and the many Stands, they could no longer sense each other.
No body.
No system.
No Stands.
Only a soul left…
What could Ryosuke still do?
It was foreseeable that he would float forever in this old universe where there was no concept of time, no concept of space, nothing at all.
Only at the end of eternity, when the ninja world was destroyed by Dio and the old universe perished along with it, would Ryosuke, who existed within it, finally be freed.
This was the calamity the Great Toad Sage had seen.
Ryosuke, who once had everything, had lost everything, including his freedom and dignity, and could only wait painfully for death.
How bleak.
How sorrowful.
The Great Toad Sage did not see this ending, but sensed the grief coming from the future. Because it could not see the details, it was powerless and could not even find a way to give a warning.
Ryosuke had figured out the cause and effect of everything. He let out a soft sigh.
"You shouldn't have come to save me."
The "you" he spoke of was naturally the Slug Sage.
Ryosuke had cultivated the Path of the Past for so long that he was already very familiar with the River of Time, past anchor points, and spacetime rifts.
The projection of the past was truly an extremely powerful cultivation path. No matter which world Ryosuke was in, the power stored in the past projection could descend across world barriers, domineering and unstoppable.
Matching that dominance was the closed nature of the River of Time.
There was no completely identical person in this world. Even twins, walking through their own lives, would leave behind different trajectories.
The River of Time was a story that belonged to each individual alone.
For the Slug Sage to invade Ryosuke's River of Time and save him meant that in the process, the story that belonged to the Slug Sage would be washed over by the River of Time, becoming fragile, shattered, and even disappearing.
Ryosuke closed his eyes and stopped thinking about what had already happened.
"Right now, this is a dead end."
"The only good news is… there is still a soul carrying my thoughts."
"I can still think."
As long as he could think, he could find a way.
Ryosuke was truly exhausted. Especially after losing the protection of his ultimate lifeform body, his soul was laid bare outside. Weakness, fatigue, and drowsiness were eating away at his mind little by little.
But…
Ryosuke raised his head. A flame of soul slowly ignited in his eyes.
He could not give up here.
Too many expectations rested on him. He had made promises to many people, including his mother in the real world.
Ryosuke had to go back.
"If when I return, I find that everyone is dead…"
"What then?"
This thought appeared in his mind uncontrollably.
After a moment of silence, Ryosuke clenched his fists.
If people were alive, save them.
If people were dead, take revenge.
Whether they were dead or alive, there had to be a conclusion. He could not just let Dio run wild out there.
"That's easy to say."
Ryosuke sat cross-legged. "In this old world where there is nothing at all, how am I supposed to find a way to turn things around?"
He lowered his head and thought deeply.
Suddenly, something felt off.
"Wait a minute?"
"It's not that there's nothing."
During the process of accelerating time and restarting the universe, Ryosuke had personally left one "thing" in the old universe.
Otsutsuki Kaguya.
———
Ryosuke was sent away in soul form.
The situation on the battlefield changed instantly.
Giorno, Jotaro, Weather Report, and Johnny barely held on for less than ten seconds before they were all defeated one after another.
Dio grabbed Johnny's face and gently squeezed.
Crack!
Johnny's head exploded, and he died on the spot.
Next was Weather Report. He was pierced through the chest from behind by The World, and his heart was crushed.
Jotaro was struck with a hand blade from top to bottom, splitting his entire body into two halves.
"Dio!!!"
Giorno roared in anger.
Along the way, Giorno had already acknowledged the will of his companions. Every one of them was a hero worthy of respect, yet now they had all died miserably at Dio's hands.
Dio's eyes were teasing.
"You should call me 'father.'"
"Also, I merely granted them the death they were meant to have. In parallel worlds, they died in exactly these ways."
Johnny, in JoJolion, transferred his son's curse onto himself using the power of Spin, then crushed his own face with a large stone.
Weather Report was killed by Pucci after his chest was pierced through.
Jotaro was killed by Father Pucci, who split his head under acceleration.
"How should I put this…"
Dio folded his arms, raised his index finger, gently waved it, and said with a smile, "I am paying tribute to the classics."
"That's enough small talk. They were useless people, not worth pitying."
"But Giorno, your Gold Experience Requiem is truly very useful. To open up a new world, I need your power, so…"
Dio's figure disappeared.
Giorno looked around. Even if he was the only one left, he would continue to fight.
An ice-cold hand gently rested on the back of Giorno's neck. It felt like ice water poured from his head, seeping into his body and soul, making his hair stand on end.
Giorno turned around fiercely. Gold Experience appeared.
"Muda! Muda!"
Gold Experience threw a punch.
But whether it was Giorno's intent to turn around or the punch Gold Experience threw, everything froze in place.
Threads of pitch-black aura drifted over from behind. Giorno felt his consciousness becoming blurrier little by little.
Until… it completely disappeared.
———
[On The Other Side, The Calamity Divine Tree Battlefield.]
Josuke was heavily injured and unconscious, falling into the ocean of mist.
Hot Pants chased after him.
Uchiha Madara and Big Joestar were still fighting Wonder of U.
As the Calamity Divine Tree pierced through the ninja world, the violent turbulence forced Madara, Big Joestar, Wonder of U, and Kars to temporarily stop fighting.
After the first wave of impact ended, a vast spacetime turbulence shot into the distance along the trunk of the tree. When Uchiha Madara looked up, he saw an enormous crack.
Through the crack, Madara could see a blue planet.
It was the ninja world he was familiar with.
Sasuke, piloting the Ten-Tails, locked eyes with Uchiha Madara across the world rift.
The last two members of the Uchiha clan saw the same emotion in each other's eyes.
Confusion.
They had never imagined that the world barrier would truly be broken through.
At the same time, the Slug Sage's message was delivered. Ryosuke and the others had been defeated. When they tried to ask again, the Slug Sage had also lost contact.
Meanwhile, the small slugs scattered throughout the ninja world all died.
"What should we do?"
Even the most outstanding warrior would waver when facing an overwhelming disadvantage.
"Brother Ryosuke… lost?!"
Sasuke could not imagine that Ryosuke, who had been invincible since the first day he met him, would lose to a madman trying to devour the ninja world.
Suddenly, an alarm sounded inside the Ten-Tails. Sasuke's gaze naturally locked onto the direction where the warning appeared.
Behind Uchiha Madara.
Dio walked forward step by step.