His gaze swept over the shocked and furious Good Corpse before pausing briefly on Gamamaru, who stood as if facing a formidable enemy. Slowly, the corners of his mouth curled upward into a savage grin filled with undisguised malice and a desire for conquest.
"From this day forward,"
the Evil Corpse said. His voice was no longer hoarse; instead, it carried the fullness of newfound power and a metallic rasp. Every word seemed to reverberate with tremendous weight throughout the valley, now saturated with the Ten-Tails' power.
"I am the original."
He slightly raised his chin and looked down upon the Good Corpse with absolute superiority.
"I am the one and only Sage of Six Paths."
Then his gaze locked onto the Good Corpse like an icy shackle. His tone was domineering and unquestionable, with a hint of mockery.
"You will become my clone and submit to my control." He paused, the cruel gleam in his eyes intensifying. "Any objections?"
"Impossible!"
The Good Corpse—Hagoromo—refused without hesitation!
His voice trembled slightly with overwhelming fury and the feeling that everything he believed in had been trampled upon.
A clear, radiant aura of Senjutsu erupted around him, clashing sharply against the Evil Corpse's dark crimson, chaotic Chakra.
"We were originally one and the same! We both exist to carry on the original's will!"
A resolute fire burned in the Good Corpse's eyes. It was both a defense of his own path and anguish at his counterpart's complete betrayal.
"I will never submit to your control or become your subordinate! What we should do is uphold the original's will together, mend this shattered world, and protect the living beings within it!"
"The original? His will?"
The Evil Corpse looked as though he had heard the most absurd joke in the world. Cruelty and ridicule nearly overflowed from his face.
They possessed the same face, yet their utterly different souls made his expression seem incomparably sinister.
He let out a cold sneer, devoid of all warmth—containing only endless frost and rejection.
"The original..." He deliberately drew out the words, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt and a complete severance from the past.
"He died long ago."
He took a step forward. The overwhelming pressure of the Ten-Tails' power surged outward like a tsunami, splitting the earth of the valley.
"Now—and in the future—"
He stared at the Good Corpse, enunciating every word as though delivering a verdict, or defining reality itself.
"I am the original."
The two "sages" stood opposed. The conflict between good and evil had finally erupted in full!
"I will stop you!"
Facing the Evil Corpse's terrifying, almost tangible pressure and his domineering declaration—backed by the power of the Ten-Tails—the Good Corpse, Hagoromo, showed no trace of retreat.
The clear radiance of his Senjutsu and his vast Chakra erupted without reservation. Violet light surged forth, attempting to stand against the dark crimson tide of chaos.
A Rinnegan manifested upon his forehead, shining with unwavering determination.
Yet although his power was immense and pure, before the Evil Corpse, who had fused with the Ten-Tails itself, it seemed... lacking.
Their auras collided. The Good Corpse's clear radiance was like a lone boat upon a raging sea, firmly suppressed by the boundless dark crimson torrent, filled with the power to devour and destroy. The difference between them was plain to see.
The air in the valley seemed to turn viscous. Every breath carried crushing pressure, while even the light itself warped and flickered under the collision of their energies.
A great battle was about to begin!
Just as the surging energies reached their peak and a life-or-death struggle was about to erupt—
A soft sigh sounded through the frozen air without warning.
The sigh was clear and distant, as though it had traveled through the cold silence of the moon and across the barriers of space and time. Carrying indescribable weariness and melancholy, it gently swept across the tense valley.
Strangely, even the violent currents of energy seemed to freeze for an instant.
The Good Corpse and Evil Corpse—two brothers of the same origin who were about to fight to the death—both underwent a drastic change in expression!
They abruptly turned toward the source of the sound.
Not far away, above an otherwise unremarkable stone platform, the air rippled like water.
A soft, pure azure radiance, as though containing the essence of moonlight itself, appeared without warning.
The light was not dazzling, yet it possessed a peculiar rhythm that seemed capable of stabilizing space and soothing all unrest.
Amid the flickering radiance, a tall and familiar figure gradually emerged from illusion into reality.
His white robes were as pure as snow, and his black hair flowed down his back like a waterfall. Two horns rose from his forehead, while his handsome features carried an otherworldly detachment, cold serenity, and compassion.
A faint blue radiance surrounded him—different from both Chakra and Natural Energy, yet equally profound.
"Hamura!"
Two voices cried out in unison, yet they contained completely different emotions!
The Good Corpse's voice was filled with overwhelming surprise and hope, as though he had found a way to survive in the depths of despair.
To him, Hamura's appearance was equivalent to the arrival of the strongest possible ally—the only hope of overturning this desperate situation and stopping the Evil Corpse's atrocities.
The tension in his heart immediately eased considerably.
The Evil Corpse also called out his younger brother's name, but his eyes held a different kind of burning anticipation—one filled with aggression and conquest.
He stared intently at Hamura, as though assessing his younger brother's stance. At the same time, he secretly hoped that this powerful younger brother would acknowledge the strength and path of his "new original" and stand at his side to "reshape" the world together!
Even Gamamaru, who had remained on high alert and had already begun considering retreat, suddenly had a brilliant light flash through his wise amphibian eyes!
Much of the tension around him instantly dissipated. His withered chest rose and fell slightly as a powerful thought exploded in his mind—
A turning point!
A tremendous turning point!
Hamura was here. Two against one!
The advantage... was ours!
Upon the stone platform, Hamura slowly opened his Rinnegan. They were identical to his brother's, yet clearer and more tranquil.
His gaze swept across the two "brothers" before him, whose appearances were identical but whose auras were worlds apart.
Brother, after stirring up all this trouble, what exactly have you accomplished?
He let out a soft sigh. This second sigh carried even more grief and disappointment than the one that had come from nowhere before.
Silence spread between the three brothers. It was heavier and more suffocating than their previous confrontation of overwhelming power.
Only after a long while did Hamura finally speak. His voice was cold and clear, every word carrying a weariness and disillusionment that seemed to penetrate the soul.
"I never expected... that this would be my brother's end."
His gaze seemed to pass through the two "Hagoromos" before him and toward the true body of his elder brother, which had been taken away by those bizarre fishing lines. Deep sorrow colored his voice.
"And yet, after all this, he has left such a grave danger behind for the shinobi world, which had only just managed to catch its breath."
"Hamura!" The Good Corpse urgently stepped forward and pointed at the Evil Corpse, around whom dark crimson Chakra surged as his overwhelming presence bore down upon them. His voice trembled slightly with emotion.
"Quick! We must join forces and stop him! He has already devoured the Ten-Tails. If we allow him to continue unchecked, he will drag the entire world into the abyss!"
His eyes were filled with urgency and pleading, as though Hamura were the final weight that could tip the scales of justice.
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