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🕑 Added 2025-06-02 16:40:01 +0000 UTCChapter 506: War of Higher-Dimensional Civilizations!
Outside the window, heavy rain poured relentlessly.
Raindrops streamed down the glass, like dark, bloody streaks trailing downward.
Shinji opened his eyes and saw a blue checkered ceiling that seemed worlds away.
"According to reports, a viral outbreak is spreading rapidly. Residents are advised to stay indoors and avoid going outside."
"I repeat, do not go outs—ahhhhh!"
Bang!
Outside, flames erupted!
A loud crash echoed as thick black smoke billowed up from the street below.
On the computer screen, the elegant news anchor who had been solemnly delivering the report just a moment before suddenly went berserk, smashing her head repeatedly against the news desk.
Blood and brain matter splattered across the table, soaking the news script in red.
Moments later, a group of figures clad in black riot gear stormed in, swiftly zipped the anchor into a body bag, and one gloved hand slammed against the camera lens—
Click!
The screen went to static.
"Cough... cough..."
Shinji let out a weak cough as he struggled to get up from the bed and moved toward the window.
From his cramped unit on the 43rd floor, he gazed down at the sprawling city below—
A city of neon lights and vibrant billboards, bustling with life and energy.
Yet now, from countless points across the urban landscape, black smoke curled upward, blotting out the sky.
Traffic was paralyzed. A chaotic throng of people surged through the streets, screaming incoherently as they ran, their faces twisted in terror, like a swarm of panicked students rushing out during a fire drill.
Helicopters roared as they landed on rooftops of skyscrapers and high-rise apartment buildings, evacuating influential figures who were still clinging to their sanity.
Suddenly,
A camouflaged helicopter wobbled past his window. Inside the cockpit, the pilot's eyes went wide as he clutched his chest, his hand slipping off the control stick. His face pressed against the dashboard, trembling with fear.
"Cough... cough... cough!!!"
His coughing echoed Shinji's own, as if he were witnessing something beyond comprehension.
The helicopter spiraled downward, crashing into the residential building across the street.
Boom!
Flames burst out,
Black smoke rose.
[Diagnosis: Despair.]
Red text flickered before Shinji's eyes, momentarily disorienting him.
And then, he remembered—
He was dead.
Killed in his final battle against Six Paths Madara Uchiha.
[Employee: Shinji, you died unexpectedly while attempting to save a world in chaos.]
[However, your efforts brought a glimmer of hope. The distortion of the original plane was corrected by 0.1%, and the catastrophic outbreak was delayed by four hours.]
[At 3:22 PM today, you died in a car accident.]
[Now, you have two choices.]
[1. Claim your insurance payout: 500 million yuan, and bring your body and all the powers you obtained in the chaotic world into reality, resurrecting yourself.]
[2. Return to life in the Shinobi World and continue fighting as the fated warrior to save that chaotic world. This opportunity is one-time only.]
[Note: If you choose option 2, your insurance payout will be reduced to 50 million yuan, but the policy remains active.]
[According to calculations, even if you revive in the Shinobi World, your death probability remains 100%. If you die there again, you can only be revived in reality with the 50 million yuan payout, losing all powers acquired in the Shinobi World.]
[Opportunities are rare—choose wisely!]
Once again, the options appeared before him, just as they had four months ago before he was abruptly saved.
This time, however, the details were more thorough, thanks to the Coordinate Power he earned after ending the Third Shinobi War prematurely.
The Coordinate Power allowed him to bring back powers from the Shinobi World into his own reality.
And in this broken reality, it seemed like he needed those powers more than ever.
In the previous life, he had fought against The Heavenly Corporation and obtained an insurance policy—the one guaranteeing him 500 million yuan or, at the very least, 50 million.
But in a world on the brink of collapse, even that money was nothing but worthless paper.
Now, Shinji faced a choice once again:
Should he keep this hard-won power to save his own world, his family, and his people?
Or,
Should he give up the power and return to the Shinobi World, facing Six Paths Madara once more in a battle deemed hopeless?
If he died there again, he would only revive in this grim reality, holding nothing but a check for 50 million yuan, powerless against an apocalyptic catastrophe.
Would he die in despair, like a stray dog on the street?
The stakes were never fair.
This was a war between higher-dimensional beings, where the price was civilization itself.
Two options—
The first offered a sliver of hope, at the cost of abandoning the Shinobi World.
The second risked total destruction of both worlds.
This was a Game of Destiny.
[Your choice?]
Shinji stood at the precipice, like a butterfly fluttering between two worlds.
With a single flap of his wings, he could destroy everything.
Yet,
Looking at the options before him, Shinji grinned.
With a resolute voice, he declared,
"I choose Option 2!"
[Are you certain?]
The text turned blood-red, as if scolding him for his foolishness or warning him of the impending doom.
Without a trace of hesitation, Shinji sneered,
"Did you ask for my permission when you killed me with that truck?"
"Stupid boss!"
"Our fight starts now!"
With those words,
Shinji’s eyes gleamed fiercely. He turned, yanked open the window, and stepped onto the ledge.
Standing atop the 43rd floor, he embraced the smoke-filled, apocalyptic cityscape below,
and leaped!
His heart began to beat once more!
Blood surged through his veins!
On the battlefield in the Land of Water,
The young man named Shinji opened his pale eyes once again!
Without a second thought,
Betting his final chance at resurrection on his last, desperate move!
His face contorted in pain as he raised his hand,
and pressed it against his heart, burning like fire!
"Nuclear Burst: Sage Mode!"
Chapter 507: The Fall of the Great Sun!
Uchiha Madara’s judgment was flawless.
The only chance he gave Uchiha Shinji to swap places between his real body and his clone in the presence of the Rinnegan was the moment Madara used Ninjutsu: Heavenly Sending Line Transfer Technique to relocate the first Tailed Beast Ball from the Ten-Tails, striking the invisible Limbo: Border Jail Susanoo in the process.
In less than a second,
Uchiha Shinji immediately split off a Serpent Clone, while his real body abandoned all defense and power, diving beneath the ocean’s surface.
He understood one thing—
From the moment Uchiha Madara summoned the Ten-Tails,
whether Shinji ascended to the Six Paths level or whether he was killed was entirely up to Madara’s whim.
But fortunately,
Uchiha Shinji noticed that Madara was still hesitating. He had concerns.
The incomplete Ten-Tails must have some kind of flaw—a flaw so significant that even Madara found it unacceptable.
And that flaw…
was the opportunity Uchiha Shinji needed to launch a desperate counterattack!
The Ultimate Gamble
In the original storyline,
Madara, possessing a single Rinnegan in his complete Six Paths form, nearly perished when he took Might Guy’s Eighth Gate attack, Night Guy, head-on, despite the assistance of numerous shinobi.
Then… what if a technique could surpass even Night Guy?
Could such a technique kill Uchiha Madara?
A power that exceeds the Eight Gates,
that surpasses Night Guy,
that could even tear apart an Ōtsutsuki with bare hands…
Uchiha Shinji happened to possess such a technique!
[Nuclear Explosion: Sage Form]
By fusing Fire Release Chakra Mode with Sage Mode,
he redirected the Fire Release Chakra Mode’s chain reaction—where chakra burns itself to generate exponentially greater power—
into his Eternal Sage Body, burning himself as fuel.
Chakra, natural energy, Sage Chakra, Tailed Beast Chakra, Empowered Susanoo, and ocular power—
Everything was ignited!
This was the price for a momentary power surge surpassing even the Super Kage level and Night Guy!
When Uchiha Shinji first presented this idea to Orochimaru,
Orochimaru outright called it impossible,
madness.
But that was only the first step of Shinji’s plan.
Even this forbidden power wasn’t enough to ensure Madara’s death.
Unlike Might Guy in the original timeline, Uchiha Shinji had no allies aiding him.
The power of Six Paths Madara was so overwhelming in this era that no one could stand beside Shinji.
He had to fight alone.
And so, the complete version of this technique had a second step:
By using his burning Sage Form as a conduit,
he would extend this forbidden force outward,
replicating the method he once used on the Rain Country battlefield—
where he ignited the very chakra within Sand Shinobi by using external chakra as a catalyst.
This time, he would ignite the natural energy present everywhere in the world!
Using the power of the world itself, he would unleash a single, all-consuming strike!
Madara… can you withstand it?!
The Final Battle Begins
At this very moment,
Uchiha Shinji’s real body was executing this exact plan.
Summoning Susanoo War God cost ocular power,
and even though Madara had siphoned most of his chakra,
Uchiha Shinji was not so weakened that he couldn’t even stand.
The real reason he was faltering was that he was burning his Sage Form’s Eternal Body with Fire Release Chakra Mode.
The cost?
His body couldn’t endure the backlash of this technique.
Just before completing the first step, his body would perish from life force depletion.
But now—
"That brat is still there!"
High in the air, Uchiha Madara suddenly turned his head,
his gaze locking onto the "forest" on the ocean’s surface below.
A surge of killing intent erupted in his eyes!
With no hesitation,
he manipulated three Truth-Seeking Orbs,
transforming them into Heavenly Swamp Spears and gripping them in his hand!
Then, he dived down!
However—
At that very moment,
Uchiha Shinji’s Serpent Clone, which had lost consciousness due to his real body’s death, suddenly snapped its eyes open!
Shaking violently, he vomited blood uncontrollably,
his body plummeting toward the sea.
Yet, despite his agony, he lifted his trembling arms with great difficulty—
And suddenly, his hands clasped together!
"Sage Art: Empowered Susanoo War God!"
The Final Blow
In the sky—
the Susanoo War God,
previously bisected by Sage Art: Storm Release Light Slash,
opened its blazing eyes once again!
Its six-hundred-meter form began to compress wildly,
its chakra solidifying into a crimson beam of light—
BOOM!!!
Faster than Madara,
the chakra beam shot downward,
annihilating Madara’s wooden forest in an instant!
Midair, Uchiha Madara’s body suddenly halted!
And then—
Below him…
Amid the charred ruins,
a figure cloaked in a black-and-flame-patterned robe staggered to his feet, coughing up blood.
He reached out—
catching the Kusanagi Sword that fell from the beam of light.
Behind him,
the Uchiha clan crest emerged within the flames.
The Kusanagi Sword in his grip was instantly engulfed in pure golden fire!
The next moment—
Uchiha Shinji, face covered in blood, suddenly lifted his head!
His ashen-white eyes locked onto Uchiha Madara, who floated in the sky.
Unseen by Madara—
His body burned.
His blood burned.
Everything he had ever gained…
Burned! Burned! Burned!
Holding the Kusanagi Sword, its blade trembling violently under the relentless, chain-reacting golden flames—
He poured everything into it!
"What is that…?"
Uchiha Madara’s heart skipped a beat,
his gaze darkening as he looked at Shinji’s sword.
But soon,
he sneered coldly.
"It doesn’t matter what it is."
"Before my Blade of the Mind—Heavenly Swamp Spear, your struggles are meaningless."
With that,
Madara raised his hand,
coldly gazing down at Uchiha Shinji.
He swung his sword.
A pitch-black, twisting greatsword shot down like a beam of dark energy!
In that instant—
Uchiha Shinji’s expression twisted in rage!
With both hands gripping the Kusanagi Sword,
he arched his back,
swung his arms,
and raised the sword high!
"Uchiha Style: Solar Halo Dance—"
"The Fall of the Great Sun!"
The Endgame
With all his might,
he detonated the Kusanagi Sword,
unleashing a golden greatsword over a hundred meters long, as radiant as the sun itself!
The golden sword clashed with the Heavenly Swamp Spear!
In the next instant—
The Heavenly Swamp Spear bent and rebounded violently under an unimaginable force!
Madara’s face changed drastically!
He immediately recalled his Truth-Seeking Orbs,
attempting to encase himself within them.
But the next moment—
A flash of white light!
Uchiha Shinji appeared before him!
A single sword thrust—
And Madara’s chest was pierced through!
The land itself was split in half!
Two bodies collapsed.
And from beneath the sea,
a shadow emerged…
Black Zetsu.
"Tsk tsk… What a monster."
"Even Six Paths Madara couldn’t survive…"
But just as Zetsu reached for Madara’s eyes—
A cold, elderly voice echoed behind him—
"Who gave you permission to touch those eyes?!"
Chapter 508: Interlude - Eternal Kaleidoscope
The Battlefield of the Land of Water
On a scorched wooden platform, roughly 300 square meters in size, jutting abruptly out of the ocean—
At the sound of a cold, aged voice behind him,
A shadowy figure suddenly froze mid-action, his hand stopping just as he was about to gouge out a pair of eyes. His face contorted in shock, his expression one of utter disbelief.
He turned his head sharply and saw—
BANG!
The coffin lid slammed into the ground!
An elderly man with an aged face, long, stark-white hair, and clad in a deep-blue robe, emerged from a coffin that had risen behind Black Zetsu on the wooden platform.
Deep wrinkles lined his face, but now, strange cracks seemed to extend unnaturally across his skin.
His gaze, cold and indifferent, bore into Black Zetsu.
And in his eyes—
A pair of eerie, glowing purple Rinnegan!
"Uchiha Madara?!"
"You?!"
Black Zetsu’s eyes widened in shock at the sight of the old man behind him. His body tensed instantly.
But in the next moment—
Before he could even finish his exclamation, his expression turned cold. Without hesitation, he reached for the corpse of Uchiha Madara beneath him, aiming to seize the Rinnegan from its sockets!
However—
"Ninjutsu: Four Black Serpent Formation!"
Four small snakes suddenly shot up from the ground, their mouths spewing chakra threads that expanded into a dark purple cubic barrier, instantly enclosing Madara’s corpse.
Black Zetsu’s hand slammed against the barrier, only to be met with a sizzle of white smoke.
His expression darkened further. He quickly turned to his right, his gaze sharp.
"You?! Orochimaru?!"
"Hehehe~"
From the far-right corner of the platform, a hoarse chuckle echoed.
A pale-skinned man with long black hair, slitted golden eyes, and purple markings around them—wearing blue-green tomoe-shaped earrings—crawled out from the gaping jaws of a massive white snake lying on the ground.
Orochimaru smirked, his gaze playful as he locked eyes with Black Zetsu.
"A creation of Yin-Yang Release, huh? Interesting~"
Black Zetsu’s face darkened even further.
"Madara, you would actually work with someone like this?"
Seeing that the situation had taken a turn beyond his control, Black Zetsu swiftly stepped back, then leapt toward the sea in an attempt to escape.
However—
"Sealing Jutsu: Uchiha Fire Barrier Formation!"
A cold, mocking voice rang out. Madara didn’t move; he merely lifted his foot and stomped the ground.
BOOM!
From beneath the sea, an enormous scarlet sealing formation erupted, shooting into the sky and forming a massive red cubic barrier, several hundred meters tall.
The intense heat from the barrier burned and severed the earth’s ley lines, cutting off Black Zetsu’s last chance of escaping using the Mayfly Technique.
At that moment, for the first time, fear flickered across Black Zetsu’s face. He turned his head sharply toward Madara, panic rising in his voice.
"Madara, you can’t do this! I—I am your will! I was created to help you fulfill the Moon’s Eye Plan! Wait, what are you trying to do?!"
Madara let out a disdainful snort.
"My will?"
"Hmph. I don’t recall ever having something like you as my will."
With that, the aged Madara took slow, deliberate steps forward.
He raised one hand, and a small, pitch-black sphere shot forth—
"Six Paths Technique: Chibaku Tensei!"
The black sphere instantly generated a powerful gravitational force, pulling everything on the ground upward indiscriminately.
Black Zetsu’s face twisted in horror. He immediately clawed at the ground, desperately trying to anchor himself and avoid being sealed.
But in the next instant—
Chibaku Tensei suddenly halted.
A new, opposing force abruptly rose—
"Banshō Ten’in!" (Universal Pull)
The shift between the two forces threw Black Zetsu off balance, yanking him violently backward.
Madara seized the opportunity—his hand shot forward and clamped around Black Zetsu’s throat!
"The containment vessel that blocks Yin-Yang Release and prevents this thing from touching the earth—do you have it?"
Still gripping Black Zetsu by the throat, Madara turned his head slightly and cast a cold glance at Orochimaru.
Orochimaru chuckled softly.
"Of course."
He casually raised a hand, producing a scroll, which he tossed forward.
POOF!
A puff of white smoke dispersed, revealing a massive brownish-yellow urn inscribed with the black kanji "Dust" (塵).
Without hesitation, the Rinnegan-wielding Madara uncapped the Kohaku no Jōhei (Amber Purifying Pot) and, with a single motion, shoved the struggling Black Zetsu inside.
"Uchiha Madara! How could you—!"
"NO!!"
BANG!
The lid slammed shut.
The urn trembled violently for a brief moment—then fell silent.
With even this final hidden threat erased,
Madara exhaled deeply.
He slowly lifted his gaze toward the sky, where the moon was obscured by layers of thick, dark clouds.
After a long while,
He lowered his head once more, his eyes falling upon the charred, lifeless corpse of Shinji, now nothing more than a burnt husk.
His expression was unreadable—perhaps bored, perhaps regretful.
Madara let out a slow sigh.
"You didn’t actually want to kill that boy, did you?"
Behind him, Orochimaru stepped forward, his hoarse voice tinged with curiosity.
"Just now, you could have killed him."
"But in the moment he chose to take his own life—"
"You let him have his victory."
A glint of amusement flickered in Orochimaru’s golden eyes as he observed Madara’s aged face.
His voice stretched out, teasing—
"So tell me, Uchiha Madara-sama~"
"Why?"
There were many possible answers to that question.
Perhaps it was because, even as an incomplete Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, his ultimate fate would not have changed.
Perhaps it was because he had planned to feign death to eliminate the threat of Black Zetsu.
Perhaps it was because he intended to resurrect himself properly in three years with Orochimaru’s help.
Perhaps he was simply laying the groundwork for the Moon’s Eye Plan.
Or maybe,
Uchiha Madara just wanted to grant that boy a dignified exit.
But in the end—
Madara didn’t answer the question.
He simply shot Orochimaru a cold glance—then curled his lips into a mocking sneer.
"The one who killed him—"
"Was you."
"A master kills his disciple, a disciple kills his master—Orochimaru. Without a doubt, you are an ominous person, a testament to the failure of this world!"
"However," Orochimaru chuckled hoarsely, his face displaying an air of complete indifference.
"Only I can truly help you advance that so-called Moon Eye Plan, can’t I?"
"Heh." Uchiha Madara let out a sneer, as if he had just heard a joke.
"Then allow this old man to wait and see—"
"Uchiha"
"Madara!"
Orochimaru smiled as he weaved hand signs, sealing the reincarnated, aged Madara back into his coffin, sending it deep underground.
Then, he raised his palm.
One by one, using only his index finger and thumb, he dug out his own eyes from their sockets and replaced them with the eyes of the old corpse before him.
"Hiss—"
The moment the peculiar eyes settled into his sockets, unbearable pain surged through his entire body.
"Ha... This power... So this is the so-called power of the Sage of Six Paths?"
Exerting all his strength, he could barely manage to open just one of Uchiha Madara’s eyes.
Standing upon the ruins of the sea, which was gradually sinking into silence, Orochimaru’s face bore a smile—one that was both unfathomably cold and infinitely gentle.
"Now, I’ve surpassed you, Shinji."
And yet—
As his words fell,
He didn’t even spare a glance at the charred, corpse-like body of Shinji lying on the ground.
He no longer obsessed over Shinji’s body as he had in the past, nor did he plan to resurrect his former disciple with the Reanimation Jutsu.
With a cold expression, a trace of mockery in his eyes—whether aimed at himself or another—he turned and walked away into the fading distance without looking back.
Not long after Orochimaru departed,
A tall and imposing figure, clad in a black robe and wearing a dark mask, stepped onto the sea’s surface and slowly approached the platform.
Surveying the devastation before him,
He walked to the center of the wooden platform and stood before the corpse—now indistinguishable, charred beyond recognition—his expression complicated.
Slowly, he crouched down.
From a hidden pocket within his black robe, he retrieved a glass container.
Crack!
With a gloved hand, he crushed the container’s lid and carefully pinched out the pair of Sharingan within—though their owner was long gone, the three jet-black tomoe still spun actively in the crimson snake-like pupils.
Kakuzu hesitated as he gazed at the seemingly lifeless body of Shinji. He remained silent for a moment,
his mind filled with uncertainty.
But soon, he recalled the words spoken by that old Uchiha in the Valley of Hell before he had left—words laced with a cold sneer:
"All forbidden jutsu come with a price."
"If one cannot achieve the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, if they cannot use these eyes to see through the darkness that spans the entire history of the Shinobi world—"
"Then, lost in that illusory gap of dreams—"
"Taking these eyes will not save that brat; it will doom him."
"Whether he soars like an eagle or crashes into the abyss like worthless trash—all hinges on that moment!"
"If he comes back alive—good."
"If he doesn’t, then he will be damned for eternity—"
"Dead!"
Back then, Kakuzu had merely scoffed at those words,
"You old bastard, get lost! I just want to sell these eyes for a good price. If you don’t want them, then don’t get in my way while I find another buyer!"
Now, deep in thought, he let out a begrudging sigh,
raised his hand,
and placed the pair of eyes into the hollow sockets of the charred corpse.
And at that very moment—
Falling endlessly into a boundless abyss of darkness,
Shinji could hear sounds echoing around him—collisions, agonized screams, and the piercing sirens of an ambulance growing ever clearer.
And yet—
Just as he was about to return to the despair-ridden, lightless world of the living—
Shinji suddenly saw a light!
And—
A familiar line of text appeared before his eyes—
【Ding!】
Chapter 509: Yomotsu-Shikome
Thud!
A soft sound echoed.
It felt as though he had fallen from a void of complete darkness and nothingness into a flowing river.
Shinji could feel himself drifting upstream along the current.
His charred body, rendered incapable of revival even by the Reanimation Jutsu due to the binding nature of his "immortality," gradually regained sensation as he drifted toward the river’s surface.
First touch, then hearing, taste, and smell—until finally—
Sight.
One by one, the five senses returned to Shinji’s perception.
But in the blink of an eye,
He lost them all again.
It was a peculiar sensation, as if the abstract concept of "time" had transformed into something tangible, guiding him from the endpoint of death back to the origin of life.
In a fleeting moment, Shinji experienced the journey from death to birth.
And beyond that, he was propelled even further, beyond the point of his birth, by a strange force that enveloped, swept, and pushed the very concept of "self."
He began leaping through moments before his own birth.
This strange force had a name—
Mangekyō Sharingan Ability: Yomotsu-Shikome (よもつしこめ).
This eye technique allowed the Sharingan to project the mythical boundary separating the living world from Yomi, the land of the dead—
Yomotsu Hirasaka (よもつひらさか).
Within Yomotsu Hirasaka, only the concepts of life and death exist. "Time" does not. It is a realm beyond the perception, comprehension, or entry of any living being bound by the constraints of time.
Only those who possess a time-reversal Mangekyō ability, such as Ame-no-Tokotachi, or those who wield the forbidden Sharingan technique Izanagi, which opens the gates of Yomi, can step into this interstitial world.
The difference between the two lies in their function: the former grants the timeless Yomotsu Hirasaka a tangible "time" framework, making it perceivable, whereas the latter merely follows a rigid, predetermined mythological narrative—
A narrative based on the ancient tale from the Kojiki.
(Kojiki, Volume 1: Izanagi-no-Mikoto and Izanami-no-Mikoto in Yomi, Section 16)
In the age of gods, after the creation of the deities, the father god Izanagi longed for his deceased wife, Izanami. Driven by his grief, he ventured into Yomi to see her once more.
However, Izanami, having consumed the food of Yomi, had undergone a grotesque transformation. Her body was riddled with festering tumors and writhing maggots, her throat choked by putrid gas.
Horrified by the sight, Izanagi turned to flee. Humiliated and enraged, Izanami sent the Yomotsu-Shikome, the hideous hags of Yomi, in pursuit.
Izanagi fended them off by throwing his hair ornaments as distractions, then drew his Totsuka-no-Tsurugi to cut down the pursuing forces. Finally, he plucked three peaches from a tree and hurled them at his pursuers, using their divine power to escape. In the end, he sealed the entrance to Yomi with a massive Chibiki Stone, preventing Izanami from following him.
The Uchiha clan’s forbidden technique, Izanagi, originates from this legend.
A user of this technique can connect the boundaries of illusion and reality. Within this liminal space, they cast an illusion upon themselves, embodying Izanagi and reenacting his legendary escape from Yomi, thereby achieving the impossible cycle of death and rebirth.
However, as Yomi is a "world of illusion" devoid of time, the user perceives nothing within it. They remain unaware of the technique’s mechanics, only experiencing their death in reality, followed by their inexplicable resurrection.
Conversely, those who possess the Mangekyō ability Ame-no-Tokotachi, which rewrites their own timeline, can perceive both illusion and reality simultaneously.
Just like—
At this very moment—
Shinji could clearly see this world of illusion.
It was a pristine white river, flowing backward, emerging from a void of nothingness.
Upon closer inspection, the river was not made of water but of sand—countless grains of pure white sand. Each grain encased a fragment of the past, reflecting moments from the history of the Shinobi World.
Wrapped in the power of his Mangekyō, Shinji emerged from a particularly brilliant shard at the river’s end and collapsed onto the riverbank.
Lying there, he saw his reflection in the water—
A pale face, staring back at him.
His previously blind, milky-white eyes had transformed once more into a pair of spinning, crimson Sharingan.
His left eye had regained its original appearance before blindness,
But his right eye now bore a pattern all too familiar to him—
A swirling black curve spiraled toward the pupil, encircled by three thick black rings that intertwined like a film reel.
It was the Mangekyō Sharingan pattern of Uchiha Setsuna.
Shinji was momentarily dazed,
But soon, realization struck—
His eyes were undergoing an evolution,
A transformation that should have been completed back in Hell Valley, where he had first attained the Mangekyō Sharingan.
No—
More than that—
His previously discarded, blind Mangekyō Sharingan, his genetically phased-out Sharingan, and even the pair of eyes that Kakuzu had once stolen from him—
All were now merging into one.
At this very moment, he was simultaneously evolving into both the Mangekyō Sharingan and the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan!
And just as Uchiha Itachi had imprinted Amaterasu within Sasuke’s eyes, allowing him to awaken the same ability upon unlocking his Mangekyō—
Uchiha Setsuna had implanted a Sealed Writing Jutsu into Shinji’s eyes. As his new eye ability awakened, it fused with his deepest desire—
And thus, the new Mangekyō ability was born—
Yomotsu-Shikome.
"I have already glimpsed hell, and my heart will pursue what is most important!"
Ame-no-Tokotachi, the eye that allowed one to exist simultaneously in both reality and illusion, had revived Shinji in the real world after the Hell Valley battle.
Now, in this "world between reality and illusion," the same technique had once again completed its final duty—
It had revived him.
A surge of clarity filled Shinji’s mind.
A premonition stirred within him—
The power of his newly awakened Yomotsu-Shikome could not only allow him to escape this interstitial realm, but also grant him a power only accessible through the Rinnegan or Bloodline Selection Fusion—
The ability to traverse different dimensions freely.
A power only ever wielded by Ōtsutsuki Kaguya and Ōtsutsuki Urashiki—
The Space-Time Ninjutsu: Yomotsu Hirasaka!
And once he escaped from this liminal space—
He could return to the Shinobi World—
And live again!
Yet, just as he resolved himself—
A sudden blankness overtook his mind.
His determined expression froze, his pupils trembled violently.
"Huh…?"
"What was I… supposed to do again?"
Chapter 510: Prisoner of Time
Shinji stood in a daze, staring at the pure white river flowing in reverse before him.
It was like a child standing on the beach on a bright summer day, licking an ice cream cone, only to suddenly forget why they had come to the beach in the first place.
"Who am I? Oh, right, my name is Shinji."
"Where am I? Hmm… this is Yomi-no-Kuni."
"But… where am I supposed to go?"
Shinji froze in place, his Sharingan—three tomoe spinning in his crimson irises—blinking absentmindedly. A strange feeling crept over him, an unsettling yet electric sensation, as if something deep inside him was urgently calling out, urging him to fulfill some unknown purpose.
But… what was he supposed to do?
He had no idea.
Annoyed by his inability to remember, Shinji started pacing along the banks of the strange, pure-white river.
At first, he followed the current upstream, but before long, he encountered an immense, borderless wall of deep violet. The wall moved slowly, ever advancing upstream.
Somehow, he instinctively understood:
He could not cross this wall.
Because beyond it lay the future—a future that had not yet happened, or rather, a future that was happening.
And the mere thought of stepping into it sent an overwhelming sense of danger coursing through his entire body. His spine tingled, his skin prickled with cold sweat, and a shiver ran from his neck all the way down to his tailbone.
So, in the end…
Shinji scratched his head, turned around, and began walking in the opposite direction—toward the downstream past.
It wasn’t long before he spotted a figure.
A man lay sprawled in the river, arms and legs spread wide, his body drifting lazily atop the water. He wore a high-collared robe, his dark hair slicked back, and a white cloth belt tied around his waist. A sword sheath rested at his side, though the sword itself was missing.
The man gazed blankly at the boundless, deep-blue sky above the river, his eyes empty.
As Shinji approached, the man lazily lowered his gaze and gave him a brief glance.
Then, just as indifferently, he turned his eyes back to the sky—completely unbothered by Shinji’s presence, as if his arrival was nothing more than an insignificant occurrence.
Seeing this, Shinji raised an eyebrow, came to a stop at the riverbank, and crouched down.
Picking up a stick from the ground, he poked the young man’s cheek.
"Oi~"
"Why are you lying there?"
At first, the man seemed too uninterested to respond, but as Shinji continued poking him, he eventually furrowed his brows in irritation and snapped,
"Does it matter?"
"Of course, it matters," Shinji replied. Then, as if suddenly struck by a thought, he used the stick to doodle a small turtle on the man’s face, muttering to himself,
"I think… I might be lost on the path of life."
"And you, appearing here so suddenly, lying in the water in that ridiculously arrogant pose… you seem just like those ‘wise masters’ often described in novels."
"Hmm~ so, what do you say? Want to give me some guidance?"
Shinji smirked, arching a brow as he looked at the man.
"Tell me—what am I supposed to do?"
But instead of answering, the man let out a long sigh.
He continued floating in the river, resembling nothing more than a dead fish, and spoke in a flat, detached tone:
"Even if you knew… what difference would it make?"
"Not knowing is a kind of bliss."
Then, he suddenly furrowed his brows and shot Shinji an annoyed glare.
"And don’t think I didn’t notice, you little brat—you just drew a damn turtle on my face!"
Shinji froze mid-doodle, coughed awkwardly, then quickly recovered. He narrowed his eyes and stared at the man.
"So… that means you do know something, don’t you?"
"I don’t know anything." The man scoffed, a cold smirk tugging at his lips.
"How could I possibly know?"
"The only people who end up here are either those with eyes like mine…" he paused, his sharp gaze briefly flickering to Shinji’s Sharingan, "...or fools desperate enough to risk their lives using Izanagi."
"And those kinds of people—"
He chuckled, his laughter carrying a hint of mockery.
"—never forget why they came here."
"But you," he continued, scrutinizing Shinji with mild amusement, "you’re just standing there like an aimless idiot."
Being called an idiot didn’t seem to bother Shinji in the slightest. If anything, his grin widened.
He tilted his head, looking at the man floating like a dead fish, and chuckled.
"That description… actually fits you perfectly."
"Baka!"
The man’s eye twitched. He smacked the water with his palm in frustration—much like a fish flopping around helplessly—before settling back into stillness.
"Alright then," Shinji’s tone turned serious.
"I’ll help you solve whatever problem you’re struggling with. In return, you help me figure out what I’m supposed to do."
"By the way, my name is Shinji. And you?"
The man raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised by his bold offer.
Then, he grinned.
"Interesting… You’re an arrogant little brat."
"Fine then, listen up, Uchiha brat."
"My name is—"
"Uchiha Naga."
The moment he spoke the name, Shinji’s pupils contracted.
His once-blank mind suddenly conjured up a distant memory—
Uchiha Naga.
The legendary figure recorded in the Uchiha clan’s history.
The creator of the forbidden jutsu Izanagi.
The founder of the Uchiha-ryu Sword Style: Solar Eclipse Dance.
The man who, in an era of chaos and bloodshed, ultimately fell at the hands of the formidable kunoichi Uchiha Chiri—the very one who would later create Izanami.
The last man standing in that dark and turbulent age.
And yet…
Shinji stared at the pathetic figure before him, three black lines metaphorically forming on his forehead.
Seriously?
No matter how he looked at it, this idiot didn’t resemble the legendary Uchiha ancestor at all!
"Hmph, what’s with that look, brat?"
Uchiha Naga raised a brow at Shinji’s skeptical expression.
He shook his head like a wet dog, flinging droplets from his hair, then crossed his arms in thought.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up with mischief.
"Well, now that I think about it…"
He turned to Shinji, his lips curling into a mocking smile.
"There is something that’s been troubling me."
"But I don’t believe that you—someone even I failed to accomplish—can change the outcome."
"Of course," he added with a smirk,
"For prisoners of time like us, no matter what we do, it’s all pointless in the end. The only difference is that I have already accepted it…"
"While you still refuse to submit to fate."
"But hey, since I’m bored anyway…"
Uchiha Naga reached into the river and scooped up a single grain of sand.
Holding it between his fingers, he grinned.
"How about you do me a favor, new cellmate?"
"Go to the very beginning… and kill—"
"Me."
(End of Chapter)
