You're Not Dead?

"You're not dead?" Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's gaze fell upon the bloodshot depths of Hagoromo's eyes, her tone carrying a hint of deliberate pity:

"Do you see? This is the consequence of defying me. You killed Hamura with your own hands, and now you are all alone—if you are willing to turn back, perhaps I can find a way to bring him back from the dead."

"It was you, Mother, who forced my hand!" Hagoromo roared.

"It is you who treats human life as mere grass, you who used mind-control techniques to manipulate Hamura! You are the one who killed him!"

Hagoromo shouted in fury, the aura of his Rinnegan surging violently.

Kaguya's brows knit together sharply, anger burning in her eyes.

She truly could not understand why her own son would turn against his kin for the sake of those fleeting "ants."

"You were born to stand above all living things; why obsess over these mortals?

You can live for thousands upon thousands of years, long enough to witness the rise and fall of countless generations!

Five hundred years from now, those you care about will have long since turned to dust. What will you have left then?!"

Before the words had even faded, Kaguya's figure shot toward Hagoromo like an arrow released from a bow. The chakra condensed at her fingertips transformed into a sharp blade of air, carrying the power to tear the heavens asunder.

If that was the case, then she would simply reclaim Hagoromo's chakra!

Just as the air blade was about to touch Hagoromo—

"Snap!"

A crisp sound echoed through the surroundings.

A hand with distinct knuckles suddenly reached out, firmly gripping Kaguya's wrist. The force was like an iron vice, preventing her from advancing even a fraction of an inch.

"He... still has me."

Manji's voice was flat and ripple-free, his gaze fixed on Kaguya's stunned face.

"!!!!!!!"

Kaguya's pupils constricted, and the chakra around her body instantly fell into chaos.

She jerked her head up, and upon seeing the person before her, her face turned as pale as paper. She gasped in disbelief:

"It's you?!"

"You're not dead?"

Ōtsutsuki Kaguya exclaimed in shock.

The man stood tall and upright, his black and red robes snapping in the gale. His ink-black hair fluttered with the currents, and his face remained as it had been all those years ago—red-lipped and white-toothed, peerlessly handsome. Only the vicissitudes of time carved into his brow remained, and his eyes held a bottomless, profound stillness.

It was none other than Manji, whom she had assumed had long since turned to ash.

"Master!"

When Hagoromo saw who it was, the despair buried deep in his heart was instantly replaced by wild joy, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

Manji's peripheral vision swept over the Rinnegan in Hagoromo's eyes, the patterns within radiating a world-shaking power, before he calmly commanded:

"Use the Immortal Talisman to save Hamura."

"As for what comes next, I shall 'duel' with your mother for a while."

Before he finished speaking, Manji's wrist exerted sudden force, and Kaguya felt a tyrannical surge of senjutsu chakra erupting from his arm!

"Why are you not dead!? How could you possibly still be alive?"

Ōtsutsuki Kaguya muttered in shock, staring at the Manji before her in disbelief.

All-Killing Ash Bones, Infinite Tsukuyomi—how could Manji have possibly survived these two techniques!?

"Heh, Kaguya, are you surprised to see me?"

"Now, it is this old man's turn to duel with you!"

Manji sneered.

Without waiting for her to react, Manji leaned in, his right fist wrapped in senjutsu chakra, slamming toward her face with a piercing whistle that tore through the air!

"Whoosh!!!"

Kaguya scrambled to lean backward, simultaneously striking toward Manji's ribs with her left palm, the wind of her strike as sharp as a blade.

"BOOM----!"

Golden-green and pearlescent-white chakra collided violently, erupting with a deafening roar.

In an instant, Manji and Kaguya had already exchanged hundreds of blows in the blink of an eye.

The wind of their palms, the shadows of their fists, and the light of their techniques wove into a web. The speed was so fast that no mortal could possibly see them; they could only feel the world-destroying pressure that left one breathless.

"Bang, bang, bang--!"

"Snap, snap, snap, snap, snap, snap----!!!!"

In a heartbeat, the two had become a blur of afterimages on the spot, the crisp sounds of their taijutsu clash as dense as the beat of a drum.

Manji's techniques combined the suppleness of the senjutsu from Mount Myōboku with the raw, brutal power of the Monkey Demon Clan; every punch and kick carried an irresistible, overwhelming immortal force!

Where the palm wind swept, the ground churned with billowing dust, and stone slabs shattered into powder.

Though Kaguya bore the power of the God Tree and had reached the pinnacle of taijutsu, her body peerless after consuming the fruit, she found herself steadily retreating under the relentless barrage of Manji's senjutsu.

Within a hundred exchanges, Kaguya's sleeves were shredded, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of her mouth; she was being utterly suppressed by Manji!

"Your power... it is more than twice as strong as it was back then!"

Kaguya was both shocked and furious. She dodged a sweeping kick from Manji, flew backward, and stared at him with piercing eyes.

Manji remained silent, flashing forward in pursuit. The senjutsu chakra condensed at his fingertips transformed into fine, sharp blades of light, slashing toward Kaguya's vital points.

His movements were blindingly fast. The hem of his black and red robe tore through the air, leaving behind trails of afterimages. Hundreds of exchanges occurred in the span of a single breath, each collision of limbs erupting with a deafening roar.

The two fought from the ground into the air, and Manji slammed a fist into the palm Kaguya used to block!

"Sage Art: Multiple Frog Kumite!"

Manji exerted his force!

Under the explosion of sage power, Kaguya was struck as if by a heavy blow, sent flying backward to shatter several ancient, towering trees, and left a crater several fathoms deep in the ground.

Before the dust could settle, Manji had already teleported before her!

"Sage Art: Kirin!"

Manji suddenly raised his hand, his palm condensing violent lightning chakra. Dark clouds gathered instantly around him, accompanied by flashes of lightning and thunder.

He whipped his arm forward, and a giant lightning Kirin roared out from the clouds!

The silver-white lightning, carrying destructive power, opened its bloodthirsty maw and bit down fiercely toward Kaguya!

"BOOM—!!!"

The moment the lightning Kirin struck, the earth trembled violently. Countless cracks spread like a spiderweb, and the surrounding structures were instantly razed to the ground!

Dust and electric light intertwined, forming a terrifying zone of destruction.

The shockwaves spread like a tsunami, shaking the distant mountains until they teetered on the brink of collapse.

However, Kaguya still flew out from the smoke!

For Kaguya, even if senjutsu could inflict significant damage upon her, she had, after all, consumed the fruit, and her physical body was formidable.

Taking a direct hit from a Sage Art: Kirin was no problem.

She used the force of the recoil to retreat several fathoms, looking at Manji's relentlessly approaching figure with eyes full of confusion: "Since you are still alive, why have you never appeared all these years? Do you know that I..."

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

Manji said coldly.

He truly could not comprehend Kaguya's logic—it was she who had betrayed him back then, piercing his chest with the All-Killing Ash Bones, yet now she asked why he hadn't appeared?

If he had truly come knocking as she wished, he would likely have been met with another fatal blow.

You wouldn't be happy if I really came...

Thoughts raced through his mind, but Manji's movements did not falter. He stepped into the void, his senjutsu chakra condensing into solid steps, and he closed the distance once more, his palm wind carrying the force of world-shattering destruction: "Enough talk!"

"Noisy! Taste my killing move!!!"

"Sage Art: Gale Palm!"

"BOOM—!"

The two collided again high in the sky. A terrifying wave of air spread from the center of their clash, and the mansion below instantly turned to dust!

The ground split into crisscrossing ravines, bottomless and dark, as dust surged into the sky, blotting out the sun.

On the ground, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo held the cold corpse of Hamura, looking up at the two figures moving at extreme speeds in the high sky, his eyes filled with shock:

"Master's strength... has actually reached such a level that he can confront Mother head-on, and even suppress her!"

"But with the Rinnegan, I should also possess the strength to contend with Mother..."

Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo clenched his fists; he felt that he was strong now!

[The original work's Hagoromo and Hamura brothers do not possess Susanoo, nor do they use ninjutsu; they both fight relying on Truth-Seeking Orb and Yin-Yang Release.]

[Including the subsequent original Indra and Asura plotlines, it is Indra who creates ninjutsu, and only Indra knows ninjutsu; Asura does not possess Wood Release or ninjutsu suspected to be Rasengan; he fights relying on Truth-Seeking Orb, Yin-Yang Release, and a mode suspected to be Nine-Tails chakra.]

[The reason I say this is because this book's plot references the TV anime; do not bring up the manga's plot.]

He hurriedly took the Toad Immortal Talisman from his bosom. The talisman felt warm in his hand, emitting a faint golden light. Hagoromo did not hesitate to press it onto Hamura's brow.

"Hum—!"

A brilliant golden light erupted instantly, enveloping Hamura's corpse.

The golden light flowed through Hamura's seven orifices into his body. His originally cold body gradually regained its temperature, the piercing wound in his chest healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and his pale face was stained with color once more.

A moment later, the golden light dissipated. Hamura opened his eyes abruptly, his Byakugan suddenly activating, and he began to cough violently. His chest rose and fell, and he was already as good as new.

Golden light flickered, the Toad Immortal Talisman exerted its power!