After the Battle

The freezing wind in the other dimension had completely died down. The enormous seal stone floating in midair like a moon hung silently, radiating a stifling sense of deathly stillness.

Chenshu Senju withdrew his gaze and turned to Naruto and Sasuke, who were slumped on the shattered ice. "All right, stop savoring the moment. Get back, clean up, and go to sleep."

Too lazy to listen to Naruto complain, he grabbed the backs of their collars with one hand each and lifted them like chicks.

Space warped in an instant, and the snowy world before them peeled away layer by layer like a shattered mirror. A powerful sensation of weightlessness struck them, and the three landed steadily amid the ruins of the real world.

The moment they landed, Chenshu Senju let go. Caught off guard, Naruto fell flat onto his butt, clutching his tailbone and baring his teeth in pain.

"Ow! Couldn't you use a more dignified way to carry people?"

"You're getting a free ride and still complaining? Keep talking, and I'll toss you back into the lava for a bath." Chenshu Senju rolled his eyes.

The battlefield had long since been ravaged beyond recognition by all kinds of world-shattering ninjutsu. The air carried a thick burnt smell, and there was not even a single intact patch of level ground to be found.

Sasuke silently dusted himself off and warily scanned his surroundings.

Just then, strange ripples appeared in the void ahead. A mass of gentle chakra rapidly gathered, gradually outlining the figure of someone sitting cross-legged in midair.

It was an old man in a white robe, with horns on his forehead, a long beard on his chin, and a black staff in his hand. He looked every bit like an immortal sage.

"Six Paths Grandpa!" Naruto's eyes