Before, I beat Kaguya. Today, I still beat Kaguya!

In the past, I fought Kaguya, and today, I still fight Kaguya! Manji did not look at him, his gaze sweeping toward Asura and Hagoromo below.

Hagoromo immediately dismissed the surrounding disciples of the Ninja Sect.

"All of you, return!"

Hagoromo said calmly.

The crowd of Ninja Sect disciples obeyed and hurried away.

Such a situation was no longer something they could interfere with.

In but a moment, the vast battlefield was empty, leaving only four figures confronting each other between the sky and the earth.

Manji, his white robes fluttering, hung in mid-air, standing firmly before Indra.

Hagoromo stood upon the earth, his Rinnegan glowing with a cold, violet light, shielding Asura behind him.

The father and son stood far apart from the master and disciple in the sky; the air had almost solidified into iron.

Two masters and disciples against two masters and disciples.

"Hagoromo, Indra is paranoid and arrogant, attempting to conquer everything with power. He is wrong, he deserves punishment, and he deserves to be defeated, but his crimes do not warrant death."

Manji stood tall in the air and spoke slowly.

Hagoromo's expression darkened as he bowed in salute: "Master, Indra attempted to subvert the Ninja Sect, conspired to usurp power, and slaughtered his own kin. If his life is spared, he will surely become a great scourge to the world!"

"Hagoromo,"

Manji's voice spoke plainly.

"Indra is paranoid and arrogant, attempting to conquer everything with power. He is wrong, he deserves punishment, and he deserves to be defeated, but his crimes do not warrant death."

"I will take Indra away, let him cultivate with me, and grind away the violence in his nature."

Upon hearing these words, Hagoromo's heart sank to the bottom.

Indra's talent was unprecedented in the history of the Ninja Sect, possessing a nascent Rinnegan from birth, and the potential of his Sharingan was unfathomable. If he were to continue cultivating with Manji—who had lived for nearly a thousand years and possessed heaven-defying means—he would inevitably surpass him before long!

With his own end approaching and little time left, Asura, who was gentle by nature and understood only bonds, would have no possibility of resisting a fully matured Indra.

Today, Indra must die! Otherwise, the Ninja Sect would surely perish, and there would be no more peace in the world!

"Master, please forgive my rudeness!"

"Today, Indra must die! He has already walked the path of Mother Kaguya. If you do not stop him now, but instead abet him, Indra will surely become a second Kaguya in the future!"

Hagoromo straightened his back, the light of his Rinnegan flaring intensely.

He deliberately brought up Kaguya. Back then, Kaguya had backstabbed Manji and brought chaos to the world; it was the old debt Manji least wished to revisit.

Hagoromo gambled that this would make Manji change his mind.

But Manji only shook his head faintly in his heart, his face remaining calm: "You need not worry about that."

He knew better than anyone that although Indra's talent was heaven-defying, he had inherited too little of the Otsutsuki origin, and his upper limit had long been locked; it was impossible for him to become a second Kaguya.

Seeing Manji unmoved, Hagoromo's expression turned extremely ugly. He quietly clenched his palms, his knuckles turning white.

It seemed that today, they could only resort to arms.

He closed his eyes...

That night, Hagoromo had pondered for a long time!

Countless images surged through his mind: the smiling faces of ten thousand Ninja Sect disciples, the suffering of mortals enduring war, the ignorant yet pure eyes of Asura, and the terror of Kaguya's chaos in the past...

He had exhausted his life to seal his mother, establish the Ninja Sect, and pass down the philosophy of the Ninja Sect—was he, in the end, to watch helplessly as a second demon was born?

Moreover, this Manji, who had always rested high above in the nine heavens and never concerned himself with the affairs of the Ninja Sect, had chosen this moment to step in and protect Indra—

Hagoromo opened his eyes abruptly, a flash of realization crossing his gaze!

Manji was never truly without desire; he was playing a grand game that would sweep across the world!

Indra was merely a chess piece in his hand!

Having figured this out, Hagoromo no longer hesitated. With great love at stake, what did small love matter?

"Master, Indra's sins are monstrous. For the sake of the Ninja Sect and for the sake of all people in the world, he must die!"

Hagoromo said firmly.

Beside him, Indra's body stiffened, his heart instantly drowned in bone-chilling cold.

His own father was actually determined to drive him to extinction, refusing to leave even a sliver of a path to survival.

Manji frowned slightly, a trace of confusion flitting through his eyes.

Hagoromo had sealed his own mother, Kaguya, and now he was determined to kill his own son. For the sake of the so-called Ninja Sect and so-called great love, he had become paranoid and obsessed, losing his original heart.

Furthermore, the argument of great love versus small love...

It was something he had fabricated himself.

It was merely to bewitch Hagoromo and Hamura into opposing Kaguya.

He himself never believed in that nonsense.

"Hagoromo, you are obsessed." Manji spoke softly.

"Sage, forgive me!"

Hagoromo shouted abruptly, his chakra erupting with a deafening roar!

"For the sake of the Ninja Sect, for the sake of the world, to abandon small love for the greater good—there is nothing to hesitate about! Today, I, Hagoromo, shall challenge the heavens themselves. Let me witness your true strength, Teacher!"

As his voice fell, a pitch-black spear wreathed in chaotic chakra suddenly manifested in his hand—the Six Paths Tool, the Sword of Amenonuhoko!

Asura was instantly stunned, grabbing Hagoromo's sleeve in shock.

Holy crap!

The current leader of the Ninja Sect was actually going to throw down with the Grandmaster?!

Asura's voice trembled: "Father! That is the Grandmaster!"

He turned and knelt toward Manji in the sky, tears streaming down his face: "Grandmaster, please, take my brother away! My father... he is just confused by his desperation!"

"Asura! Get back!"

Hagoromo barked at his son, his Rinnegan locked onto Indra with absolute resolve.

"In the past, I fought Kaguya. Today, I shall fight Kaguya once more!"

"This is my, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo's, final charge!"

In his eyes, Indra was already a demon wreaking havoc upon the world, no different from Kaguya in those days.

Indra had already embarked on his mother's path.

If not stopped now, when would it be?!

Manji remained silent, his deep eyes churning with endless vicissitudes. Pale golden Immortal Art chakra rose slowly around him like the rising sun, pressing down until even the Six Paths chakra began to recoil.

Manji spoke softly, his voice low:

"Hagoromo, how many years have you been playing with this world? Do you think I cannot see whether Indra is righteous or evil, or the true nature of his heart and foundation?"

"Enough. Since your obsession will not die and you insist on a life-or-death struggle, then I shall indulge you for a few rounds."

Manji had already realized that Hagoromo, having exhausted his life force and nearing his end, no longer possessed the peak combat power he had when sealing Kaguya; he could barely even maintain his Six Paths Level strength.

If that is the case, then taking the Rinnegan now is fine!

Hum—!

Vast Immortal Art chakra converged abruptly, tearing a pitch-black rift in the void from which a jet-black longsword emerged!

It was the Six Paths Sword!

This blade had been tempered by Manji and infused with Immortal Art.

Manji held the Six Paths Sword, the tip pointing diagonally toward the ground. His white robes snapped in the pressure, and his eyes held neither anger nor joy. He spoke calmly, yet his voice rolled across the battlefield like thunder:

"Hagoromo, do you wish to taste whether my Six Paths Sword is sharp?"

"Hagoromo, do you truly wish to see the world plunged into ruin because of the two of us?"

The Sword of Amenonuhoko in Hagoromo's palm hummed incessantly. The two Six Paths tools resonated with each other, whipping up a chaotic storm of chakra.

Hagoromo gripped the spear tightly, the purple light of his Rinnegan flaring to its limit. The earth beneath him cracked into chasms thousands of feet deep as Hagoromo's Immortal Art and Yin-Yang Release swirled around the spear, displaying the remnants of his peak power.

Truth-Seeking Orbs also condensed and appeared one after another!

Facing this teacher who had lived for nearly a millennium and never once revealed his full strength, Hagoromo did not retreat in the slightest. His voice was iron-clad and filled with resolve!

"Teacher, my Sword of Amenonuhoko is not lacking in sharpness either!"

As the words fell, two heaven-shaking auras collided with a roar!

Invisible shockwaves blew away the shattered rocks, the parched earth collapsed layer by layer, and the blast swept across the land!

These two divine tools were manifestations of will.

The stronger the will, the greater the power.

Both men had lived for so long; their hearts were made of steel!

Wielding such weapons, they were truly boundless in their strength.

Indra, protected by Manji's immortal seal, gazed at the Six Paths Sword that dominated the heavens with shock and awe.

Asura looked wretched, watching the impending clash of divine tools between his father and the Grandmaster, his face full of panic and helplessness.

This was a battle of both raw stats and complex mechanics!

The world fell into a deathly silence, with only two figures standing in distant opposition.

The aura of the two... was terrifying!

Even the Great Dao itself was being ground to nothing...