Annihilation of the First Principle

The explosion's roar settled.

The Five-Wheeled Tribulation armor swayed precariously, yet still clung in tattered fragments to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

The Hashirama Clone on the statue's chest was completely unscathed!

Momoshiki hovered in the smoke-choked sky, his face full of disbelief!

"He actually took my Mutual Multiplication Explosive Tag amplified by Kōtakamusubi!"

Atop the statue, in the only remaining Forehead Chamber, Madara stood with arms crossed, expressionless. "What are you joking about? Five-Wheeled Tribulation is my strongest defense at this stage, and you've already wrecked it like this. Aren't you satisfied yet? Otsutsuki."

"Damn it!" Momoshiki clenched his fist in frustration. Kōtakamusubi had no more stock left.

Given the combat intelligence Madara had shown, he probably wouldn't get another chance to feed him moves either!

And as for Momoshiki's own techniques, while they could be overwhelmingly powerful, it was hard to surpass the barrier set by Kōtakamusubi's Mutual Multiplication Explosive Tag just now!

Was there really no way out?

Facing the lowly lifeform he had looked down on, Momoshiki humiliatingly found that he was actually starting to feel the urge to retreat!

Damn it, what am I thinking? Running away with my tail between my legs? I am Otsutsuki Momoshiki! A celestial being with noble blood!

The Crimson Crescent Blade of the Wave God coalesced in his hand once more.

To withstand the explosion attack just now, his Rinnegan had synchronized all four shadows into temporary disappearance, likely entering the cooldown period of his dojutsu technique.

If I use Wild Martial Fusion combined with Yin-Yang Release for a single decisive slash, I might still destroy his body!

Seeing Momoshiki's refusal to back down, Madara lowered his crossed arms, and the residual Susanoo armor peeled away from the statue.

"Ungrateful wretch. Then stay right here. I'm short of Otsutsuki souls for my collection."

"Swish!" At that moment, a Black Vortex churned through space-time, interrupting the imminent clash between Madara and Momoshiki.

Obito and Chen landed on top of the statue.

"Hm?" Madara turned his gaze.

Chen's right eye had already undergone a drastic change.

The sclera was the pale purple unique to the ninja world's lands.

Three rings of ink-black ripples were dotted with six ink-drop tomoe.

It was the Six Tomoe Rinnegan!

"Sorry for the wait, Uncle Madara. Unfortunately, I only awakened a single eye."

Madara glanced sideways. "What more do you want? Self-sacrifice to open the eye is inherently inadvisable. For you to open a single Rinnegan this way is already a miracle among miracles!"

His gaze shifted to Chen's left eye, the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

"As for opening the left eye, Chen, you'll need to experience a genuine, near-death state caused by an irresistible external force!"

"An irresistible external force..."

Meaning, subjectively, there must be absolutely no deliberate intent. When facing an enemy, attacks that could be instinctively dodged or neutralized with techniques—if intentionally not avoided to cause severe injury and near-death—that too would be unacceptable.

"Understood." Chen smiled. "Then I'll leave it to fate."

Having a Rinnegan and not having one were two different things; opening one eye or both were equally two different things.

For completing the current plan, a single eye was enough!

Madara stared deeply at Chen. "Chen, have you already unsealed the Twin Flowers?"

"Yeah."

"Then what's going on with your body? Why does your own body show Hashirama's chakra and my chakra reaction? It's as if you're still in the Twin Flowers state synchronized with the Hashirama Clone."

"That's a long story..." Chen lightly covered his right eye, the Rinnegan glistening through the gaps between his fingers.

"Consider it a one-time but permanently effective 'eye-opening gift effect.' In short, the power of that Hashirama Clone infused with Uncle Madara's strength has become a part of me!"

Madara marveled, "Eye-opening gift effect? I don't recall the Rinnegan having such an effect when it awakens."

Chen's hand slid smoothly across his cheek. "Of course, it has to do with the dojutsu I've nurtured..."

"Lowly lifeforms! You seem to have forgotten my presence!"

Momoshiki's furious shout cut off the conversation between the two on the statue!

Momoshiki scrutinized Chen with his Byakugan.

The lowly lifeform who had just been on the brink of death had returned, and his right eye had become a 'Rinnegan.'

It seemed this was another lowly lifeform deeply tainted by Kaguya's bloodline.

Kaguya truly was a disgrace to our clan! To allow the Rinnegan—this noble dojutsu born from our clan's Ten-Tails—to spread across this inferior land!

Madara crossed his arms again. "So, how do you plan to deal with Momoshiki?"

Chen asked with a smile, "Uncle Madara, any thoughts?"

Madara mused, "That depends on what role Momoshiki plays in your plan."

Chen swept his gaze and fixed it on a corner of the reddish-brown earth.

He glanced down at his watch. 8:12:49.

He had been transported into the space-time around 8:01.

Uncle Madara shook hands with Kinshiki first; it shouldn't have been possible to cut that off in a single exchange. Conservatively, there was about 2 to 3 minutes of leeway.

That might still be enough time.

That technique was worth trying.

"Whoosh!" Chen flashed down, not toward Momoshiki, but toward a corner of the ground—the broken horn of Kinshiki, severed by Madara's Solar Judgment!

"Lower lifeform! What do you think you're doing under my nose?!" Momoshiki brandished the Crimson Crescent Blade, chasing after Chen's figure as he charged over!

Chen's right eye flicked!

—Toyomiketsunomikoto!

"Shrrrrrr!" A sky-covering net of chakra shot out in crisscrossing lines before Momoshiki's eyes!

"!?" Startled, Momoshiki's eyes moved as his hand followed, sweeping the Crimson Crescent Blade to barely knock away the surrounding chakra net!

Chen withdrew his gaze, landing before Kinshiki's broken horn.

"Whoosh!" The horn flew into Chen's palm, and light burst from his right eye!

—Omodaru!

"Whoosh!" Black lines rippled, and along that horn, Kinshiki's burly figure reappeared under Chen's palm, his face full of shock.

Chen murmured, "That was cutting it close. Lucky that after awakening the Rinnegan, the limit for Time Reversal became ten minutes."

Kinshiki looked around in bewilderment. "Th-this... what's going on... wasn't I already... by Lord Momoshiki?!"

From the moment Kinshiki was recreated, Momoshiki stood frozen in midair.

"Th-that... that technique is..."

Atop the Demonic Statue, Madara said gravely, "So that's how it is... So this is really the case."

Really...?

Obito narrowed his eyes and asked, "What's going on? That's Chen's right eye ability—we're already used to it."

Madara said.

"Obito, you didn't witness it firsthand, so it's understandable you didn't catch it."

"Momoshiki already devoured Kinshiki. There exists a layer of causality between them."

"Simple logic: if Chen reversed time and reset Kinshiki to before Momoshiki turned him into a pill, then under that causal link, Momoshiki would also withdraw from the state of having absorbed Kinshiki. But Momoshiki's form hasn't changed at all."

"Do you know what that means, Obito?"

Obito clenched his fist. "It means... that causality has vanished."

Madara nodded. "Correct. On the surface, what Chen did looks like simply reviving Kinshiki, but in reality..."

Madara's eyes held a suppressed tremor as he spoke in a low voice.

"Chen made Kinshiki into two—the Kinshiki devoured by Momoshiki, and... the living Kinshiki!"

Chen had already seen what he wanted to see.

"Crack!" Ice crystals that froze time began to cover Kinshiki's body.

"Lord Momoshiki!" Kinshiki looked helplessly at the dumbstruck Momoshiki in the sky, then was completely frozen and sealed, vanishing into a frosty mist.

"This is the dojutsu that can sever causality—Annihilation of the First Principle!"

"Next..." Chen's gaze turned to Momoshiki.

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