The power of Half-Saint stirred ripples in spacetime. Tsubasa's "vision" went against the current, struggling to penetrate the mists of time, and finally settled on the unfamiliar battlefield of Neptune Star Domain decades ago!
He saw it!
He saw all the beings in the Shinobi World kneeling before his statue, praying for victory in the war!
He saw the fearless Allied Shinobi Forces, under the command of the Ten Family, forming various formations—formations he had researched and improved. Each person would use their life and soul as fuel to ignite the acupoints within their body for a final, desperate battle at the most critical moment!
He saw his father, mother, brother, aunts, wife, and children. Without the slightest hesitation, they Hand Seals, igniting their physical and spiritual power, which burst into the most dazzling light and merged into their respective ultimate techniques!
He saw Might Guy and Kakashi Hatake, his lifelong friends and rivals, back to back, their Eight Gates Released Formation and Lightning Blade powers intertwining and erupting, ultimately becoming part of that destructive light!
He saw Madara Uchiha, the Senju Clan members, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Mito Uzumaki... all the ninjas he knew and didn't know, all the remaining creatures of the Shinobi World, whether humans, summoned beasts, or other intelligent life, all letting out their final cry at that moment!
"For the Shinobi World!!!"
Countless beams of light, burning with life and soul, converged into a torrent powerful enough to shake galaxies, charging headlong towards the Ōtsutsuki fleet with unwavering resolve! The light was more dazzling than stars and more tragic than a supernova!
He also saw it: Ōtsutsuki Sōichi, seated on his divine throne, finally showed a... well, a "serious" expression on his face as he faced this attack that gathered the last strength and will of the entire Shinobi World. In the final, desperate strike against the Tian Yu, he raised his hand once more, and a power containing the law of annihilation collided violently with the Tian Yu's life torrent!
There was no sound, but in the vast expanse of time, Tsubasa could feel the earth-shattering collision. The attack, in which all beings of the Shinobi World world burned everything, did indeed shake the Ōtsutsuki fleet and may even have caused some damage, but in the face of the laws of Saint, it ultimately melted away like ice and snow.
Then came the cold, world-destroying flames of Ōtsutsuki Sōichi that covered the entire star field.
The image then gradually blurs and disappears.
Tsubasa withdrew his gaze, standing there silently for a long time. Two streams of hot tears uncontrollably slid down his cheeks. They were not tears of weakness, but tears containing endless sorrow, anger, and... an indescribable shock and realization.
He felt it; in that final strike, what the Shinobi World world unleashed was not just power, but a will! A Will of Fire —unyielding—willing to burn everything to protect their homeland, even if it only splattered the enemy with blood!
Even after the body perishes and the soul is annihilated, that will seems to still linger in wisps, echoing in this desolate star field, telling of their indomitable spirit and existence.
Tsubasa took a step forward, and space folded beneath his feet. The next moment, he appeared directly in the core area of Neptune Star Domain battlefield.
Here, it was more desolate and lifeless than what he had seen through the river of time. Huge warship wrecks floated like asteroid belts, and in some places, there were still strange distortions left from energy collisions. In the air (if there was any air left), there was a sense of nothingness, as if all things had ended.
But Tsubasa closed his eyes, fully unleashing his Half-Saint senses, carefully sensing this void.
He sensed it! It wasn't energy, nor matter, but a kind of... "mark"! It was the ultimate emotion, indomitable will, and infinite longing for home left behind by countless beings of the Shinobi World as they burned their lives and souls in their final moments! That thing called " Will of Fire " did not completely disappear with their annihilation, but was imprinted on the laws of this star field in a more primal way!
At the same time, he also used his own Half-Saint level to re-simulate and feel the "annihilation" law contained in Ōtsutsuki Sōichi's final world-destroying strike. It was absolute death, the end of all things, and the end of order.
Life and death, creation and destruction, protection and annihilation... Two extremely opposing images collide and intertwine wildly in Tsubasa's sea of consciousness like yin and yang fish in this star field that bears the final fate of the Shinobi World.
He sat alone on a huge piece of wreckage that once belonged to the Konoha warship, like an old monk in deep meditation, or like a stone statue.
In his mind, the images of all living beings igniting life kept replaying, as did the image of Ōtsutsuki Sōichi indifferently annihilating everything. On one side was the ultimate, dazzling, and sacrificial "flame of life," and on the other was the absolute, cold, and final "flame of death."
"The golden lotus represents life... the World Will represents gestation... but this still seems incomplete... lacking a kind of... a 'power' sufficient to shake the laws of the Saint..." Tsubasa murmured to himself.
Suddenly, it was as if a bolt of lightning had struck his mind!
"Power... is not limited to the energy level! It's also about will! The will of all living beings! That will, which gathers the beliefs of countless individuals and is willing to do anything for a common goal, is itself a power capable of shaking heaven and earth!"
"My Golden Lotus Path governs the life force of all things; it is about bearing and continuing! But without the will to protect, without the resolute courage to face death for the sake of life, then life is fragile, like a flower in a greenhouse!"
"And the Will of Fire of all beings in the Shinobi World is the ultimate manifestation of this protection! It originates from a deep attachment to 'life,' yet it unleashes a power that marches towards 'death'!"
"I understand... I understand what that final opportunity was!"
Tsubasa suddenly opened his eyes, his eyes no longer filled with sorrow or hesitation, but with a profound and unwavering understanding.
"With the body of a golden lotus as its essence, it carries the origin of life! (Essence)"
"Born with the undying Will of Fire of all beings in the Shinobi World as its spirit, it is imbued with the belief in both protection and destruction! (God)"
"By fusing the essence of the World Will with my understanding of the Saint Dao into a sea of qi, I will evolve boundless vitality and laws! (Qi)"
"The unity of essence, energy, and spirit, embodying the wishes of all beings and encompassing the way of life and death! This is the Saint Dao that belongs to me Tsubasa Senju!"
He no longer suppressed himself, and his entire being underwent a tremendous reorganization and transformation! The Golden Lotus Dao Soul emerged from his body, spinning wildly and showering down endless rain of life-giving light; the invisible fragments of the will of all living beings that lingered in the star field, as if summoned, transformed into sparks of starlight, merging into his sea of consciousness and completely fusing with his soul; the origin of that Will of the Shinobi World's will intertwined with his understanding of the laws of life and death, opening up a chaotic and hazy sea of qi in his dantian, yet containing infinite possibilities!
The entire Shinobi World Star Domain seemed to tremble slightly because of his transformation. Endless void energy was drawn in, forming a huge energy Uzumaki, with Tsubasa at its center.
This enlightenment and reorganization was far more protracted and perilous than rebuilding the physical body. A century passed in the blink of an eye.