Every clash unleashed a new wave of destruction.
Finally!
In the instant when the three sides collided with the full extent of their power, Hamura seized a tiny opening in the Evil Corpse's defenses—an opening born from his growing impatience after failing to defeat his opponents for so long!
The azure moonlight surrounding Hamura suddenly contracted, gathering entirely within his palm and condensing into an incomparably brilliant point of deep blue light, as though it contained the coldness and weight of an entire moon.
Following an unfathomable trajectory, it bypassed the dark crimson barrier the Evil Corpse had hastily formed and struck directly upon the faint pattern of the Ten-Tails' core emerging from his chest!
"Break!"
Hamura cried out, and the point of deep blue light burst apart without a sound!
It was not an explosion.
It was a power of absolute purification and severance!
Screech—!
The nine jet-black barriers surrounding the Evil Corpse—like tangible armor formed from the most concentrated Ten-Tails' Chakra fused with his own violent nature—emitted a series of ear-piercing cracking sounds before shattering and dissipating!
"GRAAAH—!!!"
The Evil Corpse let out a howl of pain and fury as his entire body shook violently!
With his strongest layer of defense gone, the wild and untamed power of the Ten-Tails within him, which he had not yet fully assimilated, seemed to lose its restraints and began to violently backlash and run rampant!
The enormous phantom of the Ten-Tails, towering like a mountain and savage as a demon god, struggled free from his fractured body and manifested once more!
Dark crimson Chakra poured forth like floodwaters from a broken dam, overflowing with chaos and destruction!
"Good Corpse!"
Seizing this fleeting opportunity, Hamura shouted without even turning around!
His voice pierced through the raging currents of energy and rang clearly in the Good Corpse's ears.
The Good Corpse, already covered in wounds and exhausted after their successive battles, was instantly invigorated by the shout!
The light in his eyes, which had nearly scattered, immediately refocused and erupted with unprecedented sharpness!
He knew that this was their only chance!
Seal the Ten-Tails and deprive the Evil Corpse of his greatest source of power!
The violet radiance within his Rinnegan surged forth without restraint, as though he were willing to burn away his very ocular power and soul!
"Seal!"
An enormous sealing formula, far more complex than anything before it, unfolded explosively around the Good Corpse. Its pale radiance carried an irresistible power of purification and restraint, spreading like a net cast across heaven and earth and instantly enveloping the colossal body of the Ten-Tails, which seemed momentarily disoriented after being separated from its host!
The Ten-Tails roared in unwilling fury and struggled madly, its dark crimson Chakra battering against the barrier of sealing light.
But the Good Corpse gritted his teeth. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as he poured every ounce of his strength and will into the seal!
Hummm—!
The sealing formula blazed brilliantly and rapidly contracted!
Under Hamura's cold gaze, and amid the Evil Corpse's furious roar, the Ten-Tails, which had only recently emerged, was forcibly dragged back and compressed by the pale sealing light. It transformed into a distorted streak of light and was once again forcibly sealed inside the Good Corpse's battered but unyielding body!
"Pfft—!"
Having completed the seal, the Good Corpse could no longer hold on. He spat out a mouthful of blood glimmering with golden light, and his entire body seemed to lose all strength.
His vision went dark, and he collapsed heavily onto the ground in a miserable heap, supporting himself with both hands as he gasped violently for breath.
His face was deathly pale from complete exhaustion, weariness etched deep into his bones. Even his Rinnegan had dimmed.
Nearby, Hamura also let out a quiet breath. The azure moonlight around him receded slightly, revealing a trace of exhaustion and fatigue that was difficult to detect.
Slowly, he turned around and stepped across the devastated ground, where the raging energies had yet to fully subside, making his way toward the Good Corpse slumped on the ground.
And the Evil Corpse?
The instant the Ten-Tails was forcibly stripped from him and sealed away once more, he suffered an unprecedented backlash. The body that had fused with the Ten-Tails' power had nearly collapsed.
His aura had weakened to its lowest point. Lying amid the distant ruins, he was temporarily unable to rise and could only stare at the two of them with eyes overflowing with endless resentment and hatred.
Hamura stopped before the Good Corpse and looked down at him.
His gaze was complicated. The disappointment and regret from before were gone, as was the sharpness he had displayed in battle. All that remained was a calmness born of reflection and... a faint sense of entrusting something to another.
"I don't care what identity you take on in the future," Hamura said. His voice was slightly hoarse from the battle, but every word was clear and solemn. "Nor do I care whether you act under the name of 'Hagoromo' or bear the title of the 'Sage of Six Paths.'"
He paused, his gaze sharpening like a blade, as though he wished to see straight into the Good Corpse's soul.
"I only hope... that you can truly inherit my brother's will."
He spoke those words slowly and heavily.
The Good Corpse struggled to raise his head. Though his face was covered in blood and exhaustion, the light within his clear Rinnegan had never been more resolute.
He met Hamura's gaze without the slightest attempt to avoid it and slowly, firmly nodded.
"That is only natural," he said. His voice was weak, yet his conviction was unquestionable.
"It is also... my life's purpose."
Taking a deep breath, as though engraving the promise upon his soul, he added:
"I will never forget it."
Hamura silently watched him for several seconds before finally nodding as well.
He said nothing more.
At his feet, a complex and mysterious transportation formula composed of azure symbols spread outward without warning, glowing with a soft and steady light.
Hamura cast one final glance at the Good Corpse slumped on the ground, then swept his gaze toward the distant Evil Corpse, whose aura was weak but whose hatred still burned fiercely.
Finally, he looked toward the distant void above, as though his gaze could pierce through layers of stone and reach the world of the living beyond.
"I will still return to the moon," he said, his voice regaining its cold clarity, now carrying the unwavering persistence of a thousand years.
"And watch over the world below."
The light of the transportation formula grew brighter, gradually enveloping his body.
"Generation after generation."
His voice became somewhat ethereal within the light, yet the weight of his words only increased.
"Even after I die, my descendants—my children—will inherit this duty... to watch over this world and see whether it can truly, as my brother once said, ultimately... achieve peace."
It was a vigil, an expectation, and a cold test that would transcend the passage of time.
The Good Corpse forced himself to remain upright as he watched his younger brother's figure gradually blur and fade within the light.
Gathering the last of his strength, he nodded firmly.
His voice was hoarse and weak, yet it carried the ringing conviction of someone staking everything on a single promise.
"Don't worry!"
Addressing the light that was about to disappear—as though speaking to the future a thousand years away—he declared, one word at a time:
"You will see it!"
The light bloomed completely before suddenly fading away.
The Good Corpse remained alone amid the ruins. In the distance lay the Evil Corpse, his hatred undiminished but temporarily too weak to fight again.
Silence descended upon heaven and earth. Only the occasional shriek of turbulent energy and the mournful whistling of the wind through the shattered ruins could be heard.
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