The interior of the Ruins was not a cave, but a boundless, pure-white space. The floor was smooth as a mirror, reflecting their blurred silhouettes. A polyhedral crystal floated at its center, each face displaying a different scene-Kaguya descending to Earth, Isshiki inscribing "Kāma," the battle between Indra and Asura, the rise and fall of the Uchiha, and even... the day Lin Ye had crossed into this world.
"Welcome, Uchiha Ye, Karin Uzumaki." A neutral, emotionless voice came from the polyhedron. "I am the monitor of the Kāma system, designation 'Zero.' Your arrival meets the preset conditions of 'contact with a nascent Jōgan' and 'possession of Counter-Kāma,' triggering the information declassification procedure."
"You're an artificial intelligence created by the Otsutsuki?" Lin Ye asked.
"That is an acceptable interpretation. I am an automated observation system created by Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, based on Sukunahikona and Daikokuten. Duties: monitor the Kāma selection process, record candidate vessel data, and initiate the God Tree Descent procedure once the final vessel has been confirmed."
"God Tree Descent?" Karin frowned. "Isn't it the Eye of the Moon Plan?"
"The Eye of the Moon Plan is a secondary scheme extrapolated by Obito Uchiha and Black Zetsu from incomplete information. God Tree Descent is the original protocol: once the perfect vessel, Indra's reincarnation, completes the thawing of Kāma, the monitor will guide him to the God Tree's core, where he will merge with Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's remaining consciousness and become Isshiki's new vessel. He will then summon the God Tree to devour the planet's energy."
Lin Ye understood. "So Isshiki's real resurrection plan didn't rely on the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and the tailed beasts, but on having the perfect vessel summon the God Tree directly? Then Obito and Black Zetsu's Eye of the Moon..."
"An erroneous path. You removed the Kāma within Indra's Reincarnate, Sasuke Uchiha. Isshiki's resurrection plan has failed. The monitor has entered the backup protocol: assess the impact of the new variable, the Wish System, on the Kāma system, and determine whether to initiate the elimination procedure."
"Elimination procedure?"
"Erase all beings that interfere with Kāma selection. Including you, Uchiha Ye, and your companions."
The temperature in the space plummeted. The polyhedral crystal began to rotate, firing beams of light from every face. They wove into a vast net that closed over the two of them.
"Shinra Tensei!" Lin Ye raised his hand, unleashing repulsive force, but the light ignored it and continued to contract. These beams were not physical attacks. They were "existence erasure" at the level of rules.
"Karin!"
"Understood! Sealing Jutsu: Eight Trigrams Mirror Realm!"
Karin pressed both hands to the floor. Eight enormous sealing mirrors rose from the ground, shielding them at the center. The light struck the mirrors and was reflected and refracted. This was a defensive forbidden jutsu of the Uzumaki Clan, capable of deflecting any attack, but its cost was immense. Karin's face instantly turned pale.
"Futile. This space is my domain. All jutsu are constrained by my rules. Countdown: the mirror realm will collapse in ten seconds."
"Then I'll destroy your core before it collapses!" Lin Ye's Rinnegan spun furiously as he poured all the power of his nascent Jōgan into them. "Amenotejikara!"
This was the Rinnegan's spatial swapping ability, which could instantly exchange his position with a target's. But his target was not the polyhedron-it was the spatial rules surrounding it. Lin Ye exchanged his spatial properties with those of the "mirror realm's interior." In an instant, the rules inside the mirror realm became "inviolable," and the light could no longer penetrate.
"Oh? Exploiting a loophole in my rules. Interesting. But how long can you sustain it?"
"I don't need to sustain it," Lin Ye said. "Karin, use that!"
Karin nodded, bit the tip of her tongue, and spat out a mouthful of blood essence. The blood transformed into intricate sealing runes in midair-a variant of the Reaper Death Seal. Rather than summon the Reaper, however, it imposed a "rule contract." She had found it in Tea Granny's memories. It was one of the Uzumaki Clan's oldest forbidden jutsu, capable of forming a temporary contract with the world rules.
"With Uzumaki blood, I call upon the laws of the world. With my soul, I forge a pact of equals-Forbidden Jutsu: Rule Synchronization!"
The runes merged into the polyhedron. A faint fluctuation entered the voice of the monitor, Zero. "A forced contract? You seek to share my authority? Foolish. The wills of inferior beings cannot withstand the flow of rule information."
"Then let's find out." Lin Ye pressed his hand against the runes, channeling the combined eye power of his Rinnegan and Jōgan into them. "Let me see what secrets you're hiding, you so-called monitor!"
A torrent of information flooded his mind.
Before you continue