"Warning. Intrusion of high-purity Otsutsuki chakra detected." The palace's automated defense system activated, and a mechanical female voice rang out. "Initiating final defense protocol. Self-destruct countdown: ten minutes."
"Self-destruct?!" Naruto cried in alarm.
"The sacred grounds must not fall into Otsutsuki hands." Karin gritted her teeth. "Lady Zhixue prepared this as a last resort. We have to leave now!"
"But the scrolls!" Kankuro looked at the shelves around them. "There are so many secret techniques of the Uzumaki Clan here. We can't just let them be destroyed!"
"Use sealing scrolls to take as much as you can!" Lin Ye ordered. "Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, take the eastern shelves. Darui, Kurotsuchi, Chōjūrō, the western ones. Kankuro, come with me to the northern shelves. Karin, copy the formulas on the central altar. Hurry! We only have eight minutes left!"
Everyone scattered. Lin Ye and Kankuro rushed to the northern shelves, which held records of the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu and Barrier Ninjutsu. Lin Ye scanned them directly with his Rinnegan, copying their contents into the Legacy System's storage space. Kankuro used specially made scrolls to collect the physical copies.
Time ticked away.
Five minutes later, they regrouped. Karin had successfully copied the altar's core formula: the Uzumaki Clan's ultimate secret art, Six Paths Heaven-Sealing Earth-Locking, powerful enough to temporarily seal an Otsutsuki-level being.
"Go!" Lin Ye led the charge toward the exit.
But two figures were already standing there.
No, they were not human. They were Otsutsuki.
The one on the left was tall and dark-skinned, with a single horn on his forehead and several black rings floating behind him-Kinshiki Otsutsuki. The one on the right was slender and pale, with two horns on his forehead and a red fishing rod in his hand-Urashiki Otsutsuki.
"Well, well, we made it in time." Urashiki spoke flippantly. "So this is the legacy Lord Isshiki left behind? Doesn't look like much."
"Hand over the Eye of Prophecy and the Legacy System's core, and we will leave your corpses intact." Kinshiki's deep voice rumbled like a beating drum.
"Not a chance." Lin Ye stepped in front of the others, activating his Rinnegan and Jōgan at the same time. "Karin, take everyone out the back entrance. I'll hold them off."
"No, Lord Ye, you can't take them on alone-"
"That's an order!" Lin Ye looked back, his gaze resolute. "The Eye of Prophecy showed me that I'm the only one who can hold them off. Go to the Cave of Myriad Forms immediately and find the antibody that can counter the Otsutsuki. It's our only hope."
"But-"
"No buts!" Lin Ye formed hand seals. "Legacy System, activate highest-level access-Summon: Kagami Uchiha, Shisui Uchiha, Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Mikoto!"
Four rays of light flew out of Lin Ye's body and took the shape of four translucent figures-the four deceased Uchiha powerhouses. This was a new function of the Legacy System: by consuming unfulfilled wish completion progress, he could briefly summon the souls of deceased Uchiha to fight alongside him. They would only last three minutes, but that was enough.
"Elder Kagami, Shisui, Uncle Fugaku, Aunt Mikoto, I'm counting on you."
"Leave it to this old man." Kagami's soul smiled.
"I'll control one of them with Kotoamatsukami," Shisui's soul said.
"Sasuke, go." Fugaku's soul looked at his son.
"Sasuke, live well," Mikoto's soul said gently.
Sasuke gritted his teeth and turned away. "Let's go!"
Tears spilled from Karin's eyes, but she knew she could not hesitate. She led the others toward the palace's back entrance. Kinshiki and Urashiki tried to stop them, but the souls of the four Uchiha powerhouses blocked their path.
"Uchiha ghosts? Interesting." Urashiki flicked his fishing rod, sending the hook straight at Kagami's soul. But Kagami dodged with the Body Flicker Technique and countered with Fire Release.
"Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
Flames engulfed Urashiki, but he used Yomotsu Hirasaka to slip into another dimension before reappearing from a different angle. Kinshiki charged at Lin Ye, the black rings behind him transforming into weapons that shot forward like a torrential downpour.
"Shinra Tensei!" Lin Ye repelled them, but Kinshiki's power was too great and broke through the repulsive force. At the critical moment, Fugaku's soul used his Mangekyo ocular technique, Takemikado, to create a defensive barrier and block the attack.
Father... Pain pierced Lin Ye's heart. Every second these souls remained consumed both his unfulfilled wish completion progress and the essence of their souls. This was a true sacrifice.
"Don't lose focus, Ye." Mikoto's soul used Shurikenjutsu to disrupt Kinshiki. "We were already dead. It's an honor to fight once more for the Uchiha's future."
"Amaterasu!" Shisui's soul unleashed black flames, but Urashiki absorbed them with his Rinnegan.
"Useless, inferior creatures." Urashiki laughed. "Still, you are a little stronger than ordinary ants. But this is where it ends. Kinshiki, use that."
"Understood." Kinshiki pressed his palms together, and the black rings behind him combined into a massive axe. "Cleave!"
The axe swung down, tearing through space itself. Kagami, Shisui, Fugaku, and Mikoto simultaneously unleashed their strongest defenses, but their spiritual bodies began to disintegrate under the attack.
"Now!" Lin Ye poured all his power into his Jōgan. "Jōgan: Time-Space Freeze!"
This was the ultimate ability of his nascent Jōgan: briefly freezing time and space within a small area, at an enormous cost. Lin Ye felt as though needles were piercing his eyes, and blood streamed from their corners, but the effect was unmistakable-Kinshiki and Urashiki stopped moving for half a second.
In that half second, the four Uchiha souls seized their chance and detonated themselves together.
"The will of the Uchiha will never die!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Four explosions erupted. The power of the burning souls briefly drove Kinshiki and Urashiki back. Lin Ye seized the opening and dashed toward the back entrance, but Urashiki's hook shot in from a treacherous angle and pierced his left shoulder.
"Ugh!" Lin Ye grunted, severed the fishing line with Adamantine Sealing Chains, and kept running.
"After him!" Kinshiki roared.
But at that moment, the palace's self-destruct countdown reached zero.
The entire Eye of the Whirlpool began to collapse. Jade shattered, seals ran wild, and raging chakra swept through everything. Kinshiki and Urashiki had no choice but to retreat, escaping through Yomotsu Hirasaka.
Lin Ye burst out of the back entrance and leaped aboard the Dawnbringer. The ship's engines were already running, and it sped away at full speed the moment he boarded.
Behind them, the Eye of the Whirlpool sank beneath the sea in a massive explosion. Its light illuminated the night sky-and Lin Ye's pale face.
"Lord Ye!" Karin rushed over and used Medical Ninjutsu to treat his wound. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine..." Lin Ye panted. The wound in his left shoulder was healing rapidly, but the drain on his soul left him weak. "Is everyone... safe?"
"Everyone's safe, and we saved the scrolls too," Sakura said. "But the four elders..."
"They're at rest now." Lin Ye gazed toward the explosion. "That was their choice, and the Uchiha's honor."
Sasuke said nothing, but his hands trembled. His father and mother had "died" before his eyes once again. Even though they had only been souls, the pain still cut deep.
"What do we do next?" Darui asked.
"Go to the Cave of Myriad Forms," Lin Ye said. "The Eye of Prophecy showed that the key to fighting the Otsutsuki is there. And..."
He looked at Sasuke. "There may also be a way to restore your sight there."
Sasuke froze. "My eyes..."
"The Senju Clan's Cave of Myriad Forms holds intact cells from the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, as well as an 'antibody' he extracted from an Otsutsuki corpse. If we use those together with the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Jutsu, we might be able to reconstruct your eyes. Maybe even... give you new power."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Naruto clenched his fists. "Full speed ahead!"
The Dawnbringer changed course and headed toward the Land of Fire.
Meanwhile, in the sky above the waters they had left behind, Kinshiki and Urashiki emerged from another dimension. Their faces darkened as they looked at the sunken Eye of the Whirlpool.
"They got away," Kinshiki said.
"It doesn't matter. Lord Isshiki's Legacy System is still inside that Uchiha brat." Urashiki licked his lips. "Besides, they're headed for the Cave of Myriad Forms. There's something there that Lord Momoshiki wants. We'll wait for them there and catch them all in one net."
"Should we inform Lord Momoshiki?"
"Not yet. If we can't even deal with a few inferior creatures, we won't have the face to return." Urashiki flicked his fishing rod. "Come on. Let's set the trap. This time, they won't escape."
The two slipped into Yomotsu Hirasaka and vanished.
The sea grew calm again. Only the lingering ripples of the whirlpool bore witness to the sacred grounds that had once stood there.
Aboard the Dawnbringer, Lin Ye stood at the stern, gazing at the distant horizon. His left shoulder still ached faintly, but his heart hurt more-once again, he had used the souls of the dead Uchiha, even if it had been their wish.
"Brother Ye." Naruto walked over and handed him a flask of water. "Don't blame yourself too much. Grandpa Kagami and the others did it willingly."
"I know." Lin Ye took the water. "I just feel like I owe the Uchiha more and more."
"Then fulfill their last wishes and protect this world," Naruto said. "That's the best way to repay them."
"Yeah." Lin Ye looked up at the starry sky, determination flashing in his eyes. "Next stop, the Cave of Myriad Forms. This time, we take the initiative."
The storm still lay ahead.
But this time, they had a direction.
Before you continue