The situation across the battlefield was gradually becoming clear.
The Pure Land's once-formidable elite forces had suffered unprecedented losses from Might Guy and Might Duy's earth-shattering, life-burning strikes.
Asura and Indra, the two sons of the Sage of Six Paths, had been grievously wounded and forced out of the battle, their combat strength greatly diminished; Madara Uchiha had also been sealed outright by Hashirama Senju's Kakuan Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands.
Those victories tipped the balance among the strongest combatants.
Then Hamura Otsutsuki, deprived of allies who could support him and targeted by both Kaguya Otsutsuki and Uchiha Hikari, soon fell to the combined efforts of Otohime, Kaguya, and Uchiha Hikari.
With the Pure Land's strongest fighters falling one after another, its remaining Kage-level and Jonin-level forces, though still numerous, were beginning to falter under the coordinated counterattack of Konoha's many powerful fighters. Their defeat seemed inevitable, beyond any hope of recovery.
Before the chessboard, the Sage of Six Paths, who had watched the game in silence as though detached from it all, finally rose slowly to his feet.
His wrinkled face betrayed neither joy nor anger. Only his Rinnegan seemed to reflect the birth and extinction of the universe, holding boundless wisdom and the weight of ages.
In his left hand, he held the double-ended staff formed from a Truth-Seeking Orb. He slowly raised his right hand, opening his palm toward Naruto Uzumaki opposite him.
"The seven calamities and eight sufferings are all ordained. The six paths of reincarnation are no mere illusion."
The Sage of Six Paths' voice rang like a great bell, yet also resembled a whisper from antiquity, resounding directly in the depths of Naruto's soul.
These were more than words. They seemed a declaration of law. With the movement of his right hand, an unfathomable