In the void, time had no meaning. Tsubasa's soul resided within the Golden Lotus Dao Soul, and he began to examine himself. His physical body had already spontaneously combusted in the final battle. If it weren't for the Golden Lotus Dao Soul's extraordinary power and his comprehension of a trace of Saint Level Dao intent, which preserved a sliver of his soul, he would have been utterly destroyed. Now, with the final gift of the Will of the Shinobi World, even this remaining wisp of his soul was restored, and his physical body was reforged with the primordial Golden Lotus.
"He has experience in rebuilding physical bodies! This time, we must make the physical body even more perfect," Tsubasa's soul emitted a firm wave. He mobilized the inexhaustible power contained in the Golden Lotus Dao Soul and the life energy that was in harmony with the Will of the Shinobi World, and began to construct his new body extremely slowly, thread by thread.
This is an incredibly tedious and painful process. It's like using the finest carving knife to sculpt a perfect work of art from scratch. Bones, meridians, flesh, skin... every detail requires an immense amount of life essence and an ultimate understanding of the body's structure. The golden lotus's light flickers, representing the difficulty of the process.
Decades passed silently in the void. Finally, a perfect physical body gradually took shape in the center of the golden lotus, its appearance identical to the original Tsubasa, but beneath its skin, golden lotus Dao patterns flowed faintly, filled with indescribable life Dao charm. The physical body reconstruction was complete!
But that's not enough! Far from enough!
Tsubasa could sense that the last trace of primordial life force bestowed upon him by the Golden Lotus Dao Soul and the Will of the Shinobi World was deeply merging with his newly reborn body. This was not merely a restoration of power, but a leap in his level of life. His understanding of "life" and "death," and his comprehension of the laws of the world, were all improving at an astonishing rate.
He recalled the power of laws he had unleashed by burning the Great Dao, a power that transcended the system of laws and was closer to the essence of the world—the " Saint Dao "?
" Saint... regards all living beings as ants, and can decide the birth and death of Xingchen with a single thought..." Tsubasa's soul trembled, not from fear, but from anger and longing. "That realm, I must reach it!"
He was immersed in deep enlightenment, combining the "ultimate life" represented by the golden lotus with the "world origin" meaning of the Will of the Shinobi World world's will that encompasses all things and nurtures everything, constantly deducing and integrating them. The golden lotus slowly rotated in his sea of consciousness, scattering endless fragments of the Dao principles, intertwining with that wisp of world origin, evolving into all sorts of vibrant and wondrous phenomena.
Another long period of enlightenment has passed.
One day, Tsubasa suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes, and it seemed as if golden lotuses were blooming in his eyes, or as if the birth and death of the world were evolving. His aura suddenly surged, breaking through a certain limit and reaching a completely new and mysterious realm. A faint golden halo surrounded his body, and within the halo, there were vague scenes of grass and trees growing and all things Reproduction.
The realm of Half-Saint!
With his Golden Lotus Dao Soul, the Origin of the World, and his understanding of the Saint Dao, he finally stepped into the realm of Half-Saint! It seems that he is only one step away from becoming a true Eternal Saint!
But this final step was like an insurmountable chasm, firmly blocking him. With the gift of the Shinobi World world's origin, he felt that his accumulation was already substantial enough, and his understanding of the Way of Life had reached a bottleneck, but he always felt that he lacked some kind of key opportunity, something that could make his "Way" completely perfect, thereby triggering the laws of heaven and earth and formally conferring the "Sainthood".
"Trying to reinvent the wheel is ultimately futile." Tsubasa stood up, his new physical body flawless, brimming with vitality and power. He took a step forward, leaving the void rift that had been hidden for decades, and returned to that familiar land— the Shikkotsu Forest.
Stepping onto the soil of the Shikkotsu Forest, the ground felt cold and hard. Tsubasa looked around, and his heart sank.
The sacred forbidden land, once vibrant with enormous and strange plants, was now barren. All the vegetation had withered and turned to black ash, covering the ground. The massive, mountain-like animal bones had lost their former luster, becoming dull and fragile, as if they would crumble at the slightest touch. There was no flow of Chakra or any sign of life in the air, only an absolute, chilling stillness.
"How could this be..." Tsubasa's ominous premonition grew stronger. He unleashed his Half-Saint level perception, which spread outwards like mercury spilling onto the ground.
First, around the Shikkotsu Forest... there was no sign of life.
Then there's the capital of the Land of Fire... Once a bustling metropolis, now only ruins remain, the streets are deserted, without even a rat or an insect.
The Immortal Venerable Hall... that hall that symbolized the highest power in the Shinobi World is now lifeless, its barrier long since dissipated.
Konoha Ninja Village... the place where he grew up, the familiar Hokage Rock, is now mottled and broken, and there is no familiar atmosphere in the village.
His perception continued to expand, covering the entire Shinobi Planet and Hell. Forests withered, rivers dried up, oceans became stagnant water, the land was barren, and even volcanoes fell silent. There were no Asuka, no beasts, no humans, and he couldn't even sense the activity of microorganisms! Even more terrifying, he could no longer sense the will of the Shinobi Planet! That once warm, vast, and nurturing mother consciousness that had given birth to countless lives and gods had completely vanished!
The Shinobi Planet has become a cold, lifeless dead star!
"No... impossible!" Tsubasa's voice trembled slightly. He was unwilling to accept it, and his perception stretched outwards wildly, breaking through the atmosphere and sweeping towards the starry sky.
The moon... was deathly silent. The ruins of the Ōtsutsuki that once stood there seemed to have lost all their energy.
Mars... the colony is reduced to ruins, and red dust covers everything.
Jupiter, Saturn... all the planets, all the celestial bodies, wherever human footprints once trod, now show no signs of life!
The entire Solar System, every planet within his field of vision, had become a dead star! Utterly devoid of life!
An unprecedented sense of loneliness and coldness instantly enveloped Tsubasa. He stood there, as if he were the only living being left in the entire universe.
"What happened... what happened?! Everyone... everyone..." He dared not think further. In the final battle of annihilation, his Golden Lotus Dao Soul instinctively sensed danger and fled into the void. Tsubasa himself had no idea what had happened. But all of this must be related to the invasion of the Ōtsutsuki Clan. Only this plundering race of the starry sky would do such a thing...
"The River of Time! Yes, the River of Time!" Tsubasa's eyes shone brightly with golden light. He unleashed the full power of Half-Saint, and his gaze became profound, as if piercing through layers of void, looking at the ever-flowing River of Time that carries the past, present, and Mirai!
He wanted to see for himself what had happened during the years he had been asleep!