Opening the Mind's Path (Part 2)

(Chapter order has been adjusted, so paragraph comments are cleared—looking forward to everyone filling them in~)

In the depths of the sea of consciousness.

"Crack!" The Susanoo body, ignited by pure white light aura around Chen, tore apart the dark demonic tentacles piercing through his heart!

Chen stared at the grim-faced Jin. "Black is the base color of my Susanoo; white is Jin's."

The fusion of my and Jin's Dojutsu Power... yields a mithril-like hue, close to deep gray.

"So, you fake, stop pretending to be Jin here and ruining my mood!"

The White Susanoo's skeletal fist, carrying fury, swept through the seawater, smashing through the Dark Susanoo around Demon Jin and blasting half his body into dark, ghostly mist.

On Demon Jin's half-face, blood still seeped from the eye socket, his voice growing more piercing: "Big brother, why do you lie to yourself? Lie to yourself that I'm your Inner Demon?"

Chen's expression trembled sharply: "Shut up!"

Demon Jin's words carried a tone of grievance: "Big brother! I am Jin! The will of Uchiha Jin, dwelling in the eye you transplanted! Why won't you just admit this truth!"

"Shut your mouth!"

"Just because, when I was alive, I was the little angel in your eyes! I never blamed you! So now that I'm dead, I don't even have the right to complain? Big brother, is that fair!"

Chen repeatedly told himself that before him was an Inner Demon, calling itself the incarnation of Jin's will, born from the deepest 'doubt and delusion' within his own heart—he must not, absolutely must not be fooled by it!

To exist is to be deeply poisoned, or rather, to be deeply poisoned is to exist—that's the terror of an Inner Demon.

The Flower pattern on Chen's left eyeball began to twitch and distort.

He started to lose his grip on what was real...

"Little brother, Jin's will... what do you want from your big brother? If I die here, will you be at peace?"

Jin shook his head, the ferocity on his face replaced by complexity and grief: "No, how could I want my brother to die! I know my death wasn't your fault, big brother!"

"It's just that you mistook me for an Inner Demon and sealed my true body deep within your Samadhi Meditation Sea!"

"I, I still want to help you, big brother—to heal your wounds and unlock the power of the Rinnegan! But with just this projection, I can't do that!"

"So, so, please, big brother, undo the seal on the Meditation Sea. Let us brothers, like before, like before! Okay!"

Even that weak, submissive tone and that awkward way of speaking began to perfectly match Jin.

The scales within Chen's heart tipped once more.

"Whoosh!" The dark, ghostly aura reassembled into Demon Jin's blasted-off half.

The seductive voice rang out again: "That's right, big brother. Just undo the seal on the Meditation Sea, and we brothers can be like before..."

"Alright." Chen, envisioning that beauty, nodded in delight.

"Thump, thump, thump!" Suddenly, from deep within his mind came the sound of a table being knocked.

This was the triggered psychological cue he had set for himself back when he completed the Meditation Sea seal!

If the Inner Demon ever resurfaced, this cue would awaken his last shred of reason.

"..."

The trembling eyeball stopped. Chen's single eye stared at Jin like a stagnant pool.

"But, you say you're the will left behind in Jin's eye. Then tell me, what did you see before you died? And who killed you?"

The warmth on 'Jin's' face instantly cooled, turning into grimness and brutality as he stared silently at Chen.

Chen: "Can't say, can you? Of course you can't, because you're just an Inner Demon pretending to be Jin! There's no way you'd know what Jin saw before he died, let alone who killed him!"

"Heh, interesting..." Demon Jin muttered coldly.

But when a person needs to use 'inference' to prove something obvious, it already shows their wavering.

As long as you still waver, I have an opening!

"Just obediently undo the Meditation Sea seal! Then you wouldn't have to suffer so much! Big brother!"

"Still calling me big brother! You really won't give up!"

"I'm just a projection of the will Jin left behind, that's true! On a normal day, I'd pose no threat to you! But with your body on the verge of death and your left eye barely hanging on, how long can you resist?"

The Dark Susanoo rose again, dark demonic tentacles poised to strike.

"Oh, right~ We share one body, so this move should work well!"

Demon Jin grinned viciously, clasping his hands together in the 'Snake' hand seal!

"Dark Style Dragon Technique!"

A pitch-black wooden dragon roared as it lunged to kill Chen!

The pure white Susanoo skeleton around Chen wasn't strong enough—it shattered on first contact with the wooden dragon!

"Die!!" The dark tentacles struck with savage fury!

But just then, Chen raised his palm.

"Clatter, clatter, clatter!" Golden chains, converging from all directions, broke through the Dark Susanoo's barrier and entwined around Jin!

The dark tentacles rushing toward Chen halted, then shattered inch by inch!

Demon Ember was stunned: "Adamantine Sealing Chains! That's the Whirlpool Clan's ability! How can you use this technique!!"

Ah, back when I negotiated with Orochimaru, I took the opportunity to use the Twin Parasite to copy Karin's body. During that time, I stored her Adamantine Sealing Chains within the Abundant Imperial Qi Furnace. Just before my right eye triggered Izanagi, I unleashed this technique... For the Rinnegan, I was determined to bet my life! Precisely because my life is so heavy, I had to find ways to protect it!

"The strength of this Adamantine Sealing Chains has nothing to do with my own condition... With this projection of yours, you cannot resist! Give up!"

Demon Ember knew he had lost.

"Heh, as expected of Big Brother. But right now, we are one—the stronger you are, the stronger I am... In the depths of Samadhi Sea, I will watch you with my hatred!"

Was it my inner demon, or Ember's will? No! Without a doubt, it could only be the inner demon...

Dust steeled his resolve... His palm suddenly clenched tight!

"Crack!!" The constricting Adamantine Sealing Chains tore Demon Ember's projection into shreds of black mist, dispersing into the dark sea.

Yes, it was the inner demon.

Demon Ember's dissipation caused the confusion within Dust's heart to dissipate as well.

"Next..."

The light shining down from above began to drive away the darkness. Dust knew he had won this battle against himself...

After the darkness was completely dispelled, he saw a white expanse.

The Tōryū Time Zone? No, it wasn't the Tōryū Time Zone, because here the vast white land was pure and clean, without those white-gridded rooms.

"Oh, you've come back to life."

"See? My descendant is impressive, isn't he? By his own strength. Unlike your descendant, who was propped up by others."

"What era are we in now, still talking about yours and mine... Big Brother, can't you keep up with the times?"

"Who... who's speaking?" Dust wanted to shout, but his throat couldn't produce any sound. Vaguely, through the blurry white light before him, he saw the silhouettes of two people standing to his left and right! Both wore the white feathered robes of the Six Paths Sage's era. When he made out their faces... Dust's pupils dilated sharply! Impossible... How could these two people be before me at the same time!? This makes no sense! Ab! So! Lute! Ly! Im! Poss! Ible!

As if to answer the question in Dust's heart, the conversation between the two before him began again.

"The entanglement of the Reincarnated Ones ends with Naruto and Sasuke's generation..."