The Clash

At that moment, Tao Yu looked toward the Sage of Six Paths.

"You make the call. This concerns the entire ninja world, after all."

Tao Yu had no ties to Saint Ou; if anything, he could even be considered at odds with the Ou Family. If the Sage of Six Paths didn't want to save him, there was no need to force the issue.

His strength had improved, and he had truly reached the Saint rank. After completing the Deification of his Rinnegan, Tao Yu was completely confident he could handle either Saint Ou or the Sage of Six Paths.

But the Golden Witch outclassed him in every respect, and Tao Yu still recognized her strength.

Her earlier move had even carried a faint ripple in space and time. She was clearly skilled in manipulating those forces.

On top of that, there seemed to be another will within her—quite possibly that other Demoness Tao Yu had yet to meet. He didn't know whether she had left something behind in Beatrice, but it might prove to be another trump card when the need arose.

Given all those unknowns, if the Sage of Six Paths or the ninja world were in trouble, Tao Yu might have tried to help, for old times' sake.

But if it was only Saint Ou, then he could forget it. Besides, Tao Yu had a feeling Saint Ou still had some tricks up his sleeve.

A Saint would never so easily put his safety in someone else's hands.

Looking at the situation before him, the Sage of Six Paths held his staff across his body and sighed helplessly. He spoke slowly and earnestly.

"To be honest, my first meeting with this gentleman didn't go very well..."

Saint Ou's aged face fell at those words, but he had