Thick, icy darkness mingled with the nightmare's frenzied purple-red glow, "flowing" toward them from the passage ahead like a living tide. The terrifying presence Ayami had called the "Deep Dream Source Manifestation" had yet to reveal its full form, but its aura alone already sent the Whisperer's fragile shields buckling, groaning beneath an unbearable burden. Lights flickered wildly in the cockpit. The readings on the instrument screens dissolved into chaos, leaving only the glaring red of destruction.
Despair clamped around everyone's throat like the heaviest of shackles. A dead end ahead, pursuers behind, trapped and utterly spent. This was the final, exquisite death trap Kaguya had prepared for them.
"Are we... going to die?" Naruto slumped on the cold floor. He could no longer squeeze out a single trace of chakra, and even the strength to remain conscious was rapidly slipping away. Watching the shifting nightmare shadows draw closer beyond the viewport, his eyes showed an almost resigned bewilderment for the first time. Kurama roared within him, furious and unwilling to surrender, but equally weak.
Sakura knelt beside Lin Ye, her hands still pressed against the energy interface, though the energy she fed into it had dwindled to almost nothing. The Byakugō Seal on her forehead had vanished completely, leaving only a faint diamond-shaped scar riddled with tiny cracks. Her face was ashen, her gaze unfocused. The backlash from fully releasing the seal swept through her like an icy tide, rapidly devouring her life force. She no longer even had the strength to fear the end approaching.
Sasuke remained braced against the cabin wall, his eyes tightly shut. The mad whispers and cold pressure radiating from the deep dream origin struck directly at his soul, driving countless steel needles into his already ravaged mind. His knuckles whitened around his sword-not