"If this attack could act directly on his body, it might cause some trouble," Takuno's mind drifted with a cold evaluation.
The essence of Senjutsu is Natural Energy, which indeed can cause effective damage to Six Paths level existences.
But the prerequisite is being able to hit; the Truth-Seeking Orb barrier around Obito, in its strength and scale, is already beyond what the Senjutsu chakra driven by Hashirama's current Edo Tensei body can penetrate.
For them to want to defeat the current Six Paths Obito, unless Six Paths Obito himself makes a mistake, it is basically an impossible task.
At that moment, Takuno raised an eyebrow and looked toward the other side of the battlefield.
There were two figures sitting cross-legged.
One was Naruto, who was recovering chakra, and the other was Sasuke, who was attempting to control the Rinnegan.
"The Sage of Six Paths? What use is his arrival?"
Takuno murmured; the Sage of Six Paths no longer had power that he could give to Naruto and Sasuke at this time.
But his arrival could not be meaningless.
So, could the arrival of the Sage of Six Paths bring another variable to this battle?
Takuno chuckled lightly; things seemed to be getting interesting once again.
On the battlefield, Hashirama witnessed despair like a cold tide, rapidly submerging the entire battlefield.
Minato's tactics could be called exquisite, gathering all the top combat power of the Edo Tensei army and the Alliance, with Lord Tobirama's Flying Thunder God for support and his own Senjutsu as the key means of attack.
However, in the face of an absolute power gap, even the most perfect plan appeared pale and weak.
Six Paths Obito floated in the air, nine Truth-Seeking Orbs slowly rotating around him, emitting a divine pressure that made the very air freeze.
He looked down at the collapsing Alliance with a hint of mockery and indifference in his eyes.
"Is this where the struggle of mortals ends?" Obito's cold voice echoed across the desert.
Just as the suffocating morale was about to completely break, a light of unprecedented determination erupted in Hashirama's eyes!
He knew well that what was needed now was not exquisite tactics, but a power sufficient to shake this desperate stalemate and ignite the last spark of fighting spirit in everyone's hearts!
A symbol that could stand up and tell everyone through action that the battle was not yet over!
"Madara!!" Hashirama suddenly looked up and let out a world-shaking roar toward the figure of his old rival!
This roar was a call for cooperation, and also a declaration of the full power of the "God of Shinobi" to his former opponent, with whom he now faced a common ultimate enemy!
Before the roar faded, Hashirama clapped his hands together!
Boundless Natural Energy surged madly into his Edo Tensei body, and prominent orange-red Sage markings instantly appeared around his eyelids as powerful Senjutsu chakra gushed out like a physical substance!
"Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!"
Rumble!!!
The earth let out an overburdened wail, trembling violently!
Under the unbelievable gazes of the Alliance and the slightly solemn gaze of Obito, a wooden giant Buddha, taller than the heavens and larger than any Tailed Beast, appeared.
Accompanied by a deafening roar, it broke through the desert sand and stood majestically in the center of the battlefield!
This wooden Buddha possessed countless arms, and its magnificent body blotted out the sun.
The massive shadow it cast instantly covered the remaining Alliance forces below, bringing a suffocating sense of pressure, but also a small flame of hope!
Atop the head of the wooden Buddha, Hashirama stood proudly, his Sage markings shining brightly and his gaze like a torch as he locked onto Six Paths Obito in the sky.
The pressure formed by his massive chakra and Senjutsu energy managed to barely withstand the divine aura of the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki for the first time on the battlefield, forming a brief and intense confrontation!
"It's not over yet!" Hashirama's voice was like a great bell, echoing through the clouds. "Alliance! It's not time to give up yet!"
Madara's cold snort sounded particularly piercing after Hashirama's earth-shaking roar, yet it also carried a hint of understanding.
He naturally understood the deep meaning contained in Hashirama's call; it was a wordless understanding belonging to the two rivals.
Madara's sharp gaze swept across the battlefield, instantly locking onto Shisui and Itachi, who also possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.
"You two," Madara's voice carried an unquestionable tone of command; even though he had lost his Rinnegan, the pressure belonging to the Asura of the Shinobi World remained boundless. "Come here! Lend me your power!"
Shisui and Itachi looked up almost simultaneously, meeting Madara's burning and battle-ready gaze.
The two exchanged a look and instantly understood Madara's intention.
Just as Madara had lost his Mangekyo Sharingan and could not manifest a Perfect Susanoo on his own, they needed to pool their power now to oppose the nearly invincible Six Paths Obito before them.
Without the slightest hesitation, Shisui's emerald green Mangekyo and Itachi's crimson Mangekyo simultaneously erupted with an eerie and powerful light!
"Understood!" Shisui shouted low, as emerald green chakra poured out like a surging river.
"Understood!" Itachi's response was concise and firm, with a deep red torrent of chakra following closely behind.
Two streams of Ocular Power containing the ultimate Yin Release power mixed with Madara's own chakra, which, although he had lost the Rinnegan, was still vast and powerful.
It precisely crossed space and madly injected into Hashirama's heaven-towering "Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands"!
An astonishing sight occurred instantly!
The wooden giant Buddha, larger than a mountain, no longer had a surface of simple wood grain.
A layer of energy armor composed of pure chakra was madly spreading and condensing at a speed visible to the naked eye!
Emerald green, deep red, and azure blue—three colors representing the highest Ocular Power of the Uchiha—interwove and fused on the giant Buddha's body, as if donning a divine set of battle armor for this Senjutsu creation!
The entire process was completed in a few breaths.
When the last gap was filled by the three-colored chakra, the air on the battlefield seemed to freeze.
An unprecedented existence stood between heaven and earth!
It was no longer a simple Wood Release creation, but an ultimate weapon that fused Hashirama's boundless Senjutsu chakra with the Ocular Power of three top Uchiha Mangekyo Sharingan!
The hundreds-of-meters-tall giant Buddha was clad in a Susanoo heavy armor of interwoven blue, green, and red, with destructive energy light flowing over the armor, emitting a pressure several times more terrifying than when Hashirama manifested it alone before!
This aura seemed capable of crushing even space itself, making the earth tremble and causing the nine slowly rotating Truth-Seeking Orbs of Six Paths Obito floating in the sky to seemingly pause!
The terror of its power was truly world-destroying!
Takuno leaned back on his stone throne, his Six-Tomoe Rinnegan reflecting that magnificent, heaven-towering creation: Hashirama's True Several Thousand Hands giant Buddha covered in blue, green, and red Susanoo heavy armor.
His languid posture remained unchanged, but in those deep eyes, a nearly imperceptible trace of surprise indeed flashed.
"Heh."
An ambiguous light sigh almost dissipated into the air.
He truly hadn't expected that these few Shinobi, who in his eyes were still struggling within the scope of "mortals"—Hashirama, Madara, Shisui, and Itachi—
Could actually erupt with such amazing creativity and power when nearly at their wits' end.
They perfectly fused the boundless vitality of Senjutsu chakra, the ultimate Ocular Power of the Mangekyo Sharingan, and the final form of Wood Release to produce this giant Buddha, whose contained energy level had undergone a qualitative change.
Although not one of them had truly stepped into the realm of the Six Paths level, the pressure emitted by this fused creation had already blurred that boundary and even vaguely touched the threshold of the Six Paths.
Takuno evaluated calmly.
If what they were facing now was the Obito from the original story, whose power was not yet complete and was called the "weakest Six Paths," this all-out combined attack might truly create a slim chance of victory.
His gaze turned toward Obito, who was floating high in the sky with nine Truth-Seeking Orbs slowly rotating around him.
The latter's form, which fused the Ten-Tails and perfectly mastered the Six Paths Power, radiated a divine majesty and absolute power far beyond what the original could compare to.
Unfortunately, there were no 'ifs'.
Takuno's thoughts were calm and wave-less; the power of the Obito before him had long since transcended the scope of the "weakest Six Paths."
This wooden Buddha giant... in the end, it is impossible for it to defeat Six Paths Obito.
However, the corner of Takuno's mouth curved into an almost invisible arc.
The value of this wooden Buddha giant that surpassed limits did not lie in whether it could truly defeat Obito—that was an almost impossible task.
Its true significance lay in the terrifying aura it erupted with, sufficient to shake Six Paths level defenses, and its massive presence that blotted out the sun.
It precisely secured extremely precious and rare breathing room for the other two key figures on the battlefield, Naruto and Sasuke.
At the very moment when this world-shaking energy collision was about to erupt, and everyone's minds were captured by the confrontation between the giant Buddha and Obito.
Takuno clearly perceived that two faint mental links originating from the depths of the soul were quietly crossing the boundary between reality and spirit, extending toward a space where a certain ancient will resided.
This ultimate creation fusing Senjutsu and Ocular Power would become the perfect cover and time barrier for Naruto and Sasuke to reach the will of the Sage of Six Paths to seek a final glimmer of hope.
At the same time, Naruto and Sasuke had already met the Sage of Six Paths in that mental space.
Within the mental space, time seemed to freeze.
The roar of the world-shaking collision between the giant Buddha and Six Paths Obito outside was isolated, leaving only a profound silence.
Naruto and Sasuke had just been in a mental daze due to the massive consumption of chakra and the impact of the Rinnegan.
The next moment, they found themselves in a strange space.
Beneath their feet was a water surface as calm as a mirror, reflecting the stars above that seemed to contain the mysteries of the universe.
Right before them, the space distorted silently, and a figure slowly condensed into form.
It was an extremely elderly man, clad in a simple white robe, with two horns on his forehead and a face that was kind yet carried an eternal majesty.
He kept his eyes closed, floating cross-legged above the water, his hands forming a unique seal.
The most striking thing was the eye open on his forehead—a Rinnegan with nine tomoe, emitting an indescribable sense of pressure, yet also containing a sense of compassion.
In his hand, he held a black Shakujo with a tip like a crescent moon.
"Who are you?!"
Naruto shouted almost as a reflex, his body instantly tensing as the golden cloak of Nine-Tails chakra instinctively appeared, warily watching this suddenly appearing existence with unfathomable aura.
Sasuke's reaction was equally swift, his newly obtained Rinnegan suddenly focusing.
The elder slowly opened his ordinary eyes, his gaze calmly sweeping over the two who were acting as if facing a great enemy.
His voice echoed directly in the depths of their hearts, ancient and distant, carrying a sense of vicissitude that saw through everything:
"My name is Otsutsuki Hagoromo. The world also calls me... the Sage of Six Paths."
"The Six Paths... Sage?!" Naruto's eyes widened and his mouth hung slightly open, his face written with unbelievable shock.
He had only heard this name in legends; he was the founder of Ninshu, the god of creation who created the moon and sealed the Ten-Tails!
How could he appear here?
Sasuke's pupils also contracted violently; the insight of the Rinnegan allowed him to better feel the ancient power within the other person.
This was definitely not Genjutsu, nor was it an existence that any known Ninjutsu could simulate.
A mythological figure from legend was actually standing right in front of them!
"You... You are the Sage of Six Paths? What business do you have with us?"
Sasuke suppressed the stormy waves in his heart, his voice carrying a hint of imperceptible hoarseness as he asked the most critical question.
He keenly felt that the appearance of this legendary figure must be closely related to the ultimate battle before them concerning the survival of the Shinobi World.
The Sage of Six Paths nodded slightly, his gaze drifting between Naruto and Sasuke, as if seeing through the connections and entanglements in the depths of their souls.
He obviously also perceived the urgency of the battle situation outside, where the giant Buddha—clad in Susanoo heavy armor and driven by the combined efforts of Hashirama, Madara, Shisui, and Itachi—
Was struggling to hold on before Six Paths Obito's absolute power, with every second being incredibly precious.
"Time is short, I will be brief." The Sage of Six Paths's voice remained calm, yet carried an unquestionable weight.
"The two of you, Naruto Namikaze and Sasuke, did not get involved in this battle by accident. Your destinies have been interwoven since a thousand years ago."
He paused, his gaze becoming deep: "I have two sons. The elder son, Indra, was exceptionally talented and believed that power and order were the only ways to bring peace; his Ocular Power and the quality of his chakra were passed down to the Uchiha Clan."
His gaze landed on Sasuke.
"The younger son, Ashura, had mediocre talent but believed that understanding and bonds were the path to peace; his vigorous life force and the quantity of his chakra were passed down to the Senju Clan, as well as the Uzumaki Clan."
His gaze turned toward Naruto.
"Indra and Ashura had opposing philosophies and fought incessantly. This cycle of fate has spanned a thousand years of time and reappears in the two of you."
The Sage of Six Paths's words were concise yet like a heavy hammer, striking the hearts of Naruto and Sasuke.
"You two are precisely the chakra reincarnations of my sons, Indra and Ashura."
Naruto and Sasuke were completely stunned.
Fate? Reincarnation? Indra? Ashura? These words exploded in their minds like thunder.
A thousand years of entanglement had actually continued to their generation?