Main World.
Winter, Year 27 of Konoha.
Above Mechanical City, Mechanical Star.
The sky split open. Not the clouds, but space itself. A pitch-black rift tore across the sky, its edges glowing dark purple, as though some invisible force had burst it open from within. The rift grew larger and wider, finally forming an enormous, irregular opening. Deep inside, there was no light, no sound, only a suffocating void.
Two figures walked out of the rift. They did not fall; they "walked." They stepped on empty space as though it were level ground, one unhurried step after another. The rift slowly closed behind them, and the sky returned to gray-blue, but the oppressive feeling did not disappear. Instead, it intensified.
The man in front was tall, dressed in a white robe embroidered with black tomoe patterns along the hem. His dark gray hair hung to his waist, his face was stern, and his gaze indifferent. On his forehead was a pale purple Rinnegan-not the kind the Sage of Six Paths possessed, but a purer, more ancient Rinnegan without ripples. Ōtsutsuki Yandō. Main Family. A Six Paths level powerhouse.
The man behind him was shorter, wearing the same white robe, but with fewer tomoe patterns along its hem. His hair was gray-white, and his eyes were not ordinary Byakugan-his pupils were silver-white, with fine, lightning-like blue patterns flowing around their edges. It was a mutated Byakugan-the Thunder Scorch Byakugan. Ōtsutsuki Raiga. Cadet Family. Quasi-Six Paths level.
Mechanical City's alarms suddenly blared. These were no ordinary alarms, but the alarms for "maximum combat readiness." Red lights flashed above the city. Factories halted production, schools suspended classes, and churches closed. The believers of the Mechanical God Cult knelt inside the churches, reciting prayers. Combat robots poured out of warehouses and formed ranks in