The figure who emerged from the grasslands was none other than Koji Kashin, who had escaped to Mount Myoboku through Reverse Summoning after his battle with Jigen.
He had removed his mask, revealing the youthful face of Jiraiya.
At this moment, that face was filled with grim killing intent.
Anyone who had just watched the Great Toad Sage—one of the most revered beings in the shinobi world—casually slaughtered by an unknown figure would look exactly the same.
The black-clad man spoke calmly.
"Oh, Koji Kashin. A clone created by Amado using Jiraiya's cells."
"The last time I saw you was in Konoha, together with Delta. In just a few days, you've undergone a complete transformation. Did your battle with Jigen awaken the dormant potential within you?"
"That's right. You are also one of the cyborgs created by Amado using the DNA of Otsutsuki Shibai. The vessel of the divine art known as Omnidirection."
"Omnidirection—the supreme shinjutsu that allows one to see every possible future branching from the present. In my eyes, its value surpasses even Senrigan and Reflection."
The black-clad man began walking toward Koji Kashin.
"I have no interest in the toad's dying words."
"I'm interested in you."
"You were already one of the targets I intended to obtain. Since fate has brought us together here, that can only mean heaven is on my side."
Koji Kashin formed hand seals.
"Sage Art: Five Fire God Fan!"
Boom!
An explosive sea of flames surged around him, forming five massive walls of fire that isolated him from the black-clad man.
At the same time, Koji Kashin's hands moved with desperate speed.
That was right.
Just as the man calling himself Otsutsuki Kamishiki had said, Koji Kashin had awakened the divine art Omnidirection.
Among all the futures he had seen, there was only one path that could break the dead end before him.
It was a brutal and desperate choice—but the only one.
Slash!
The wall of fire was split apart by a violent gust.
Koji Kashin's robes whipped wildly around him, but his feet remained rooted to the ground.
His hands came together.
The final seal was complete.
Boom!
Within the flames behind him, a wild-haired phantom in a white haori emerged with a terrifying grin.
The Shinigami.
The black-clad man raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
"The Dead Demon Consuming Seal."
"You used Sage Art Fire Release to buy enough time to complete the hand seals, intending to sacrifice your soul and drag me down with you."
"You must have seen, through Omnidirection, what I intended to do to you and chosen the optimal response."
"But unfortunately…"
"No one can steal a soul from the King of the Underworld. Not even the Shinigami."
Naraka Path.
As he spoke, violet ghostly flames rose around his feet, and the King of Hell materialized behind him.
Its appearance was identical to the King of Hell summoned by any Rinnegan user.
But its ability was fundamentally different.
"I, Otsutsuki Kamishiki, have formed a contract with the ruler of the underworld."
"Through the Naraka Path, I can devour souls and directly acquire the abilities and techniques they carry."
"Yes, Koji Kashin."
"I am going to eat your soul and claim your divine art, Omnidirection."
The black-clad man raised his left hand and pointed at Koji Kashin.
Universal Pull: Human Path!
Whoosh!
An ominous force surged forward.
It was not ordinary gravity.
It was soul gravity—the power to tear a soul from its body.
Koji Kashin's soul was ripped directly out of him.
But at that critical moment, the Shinigami behind him swung its blade.
The target was not the enemy before him.
It was Koji Kashin's own soul.
Crack!
His soul was cleaved cleanly in two.
One half was pulled into the black-clad man's hand.
The other half returned to Koji Kashin's body.
"What!?"
Even the black-clad man was caught off guard.
So that was the true purpose of summoning the Shinigami.
In that brief moment of surprise, a giant toad appeared and swallowed Koji Kashin whole.
With a burst of summoning smoke, both Koji Kashin and the Shinigami vanished.
The black-clad man came to his senses and burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha!"
"Impressive."
"Well played."
"As expected of Omnidirection."
He looked at the half of Koji Kashin's soul in his hand and murmured, "Half a soul means half the power."
"So Omnidirection becomes Pentadirection."
"We each get half."
"We can each see only half of the future."
"That's fine."
"If everything were perfectly predictable, this game would lose all its fun."
The King of Hell opened its massive jaws.
The black-clad man tossed the captured soul inside.
Crunch.
The jaws shut and began chewing.
Immediately, a familiar sensation stirred deep within his own soul.
A torrent of information related to abilities and techniques flowed into his consciousness.
He was long accustomed to this.
After all, he had already absorbed the original soul of this Uchiha body, along with countless others, in the same way.
"Uchiha Jin."
"Surpassing the Sage of Six Paths and becoming the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki is far from your limit."
"Continue to ascend."
"And one day, I will take everything that belongs to you."
He rose into the sky and formed another seal.
Fire Release: Samadhi True Fire.
Flames poured from his mouth, and in an instant, all of Mount Myoboku was consumed in a hellish inferno.
This was Koji Kashin's Fire Release.
An inextinguishable flame that neither fierce winds nor torrential rain could extinguish.
A fire that could even erase life force itself.
From this day forward, Mount Myoboku became a lifeless wasteland of scorched earth.
…
Somewhere in the Land of Fire, before a summoning array that had been prepared in advance.
A giant toad spat out Koji Kashin's battered form, then vanished in a cloud of smoke.
The Shinigami appeared behind him like a shadow.
Its cursed arm passed through the prayer beads around its neck and reached for the other half of Koji Kashin's soul.
This was the price of the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
Koji Kashin did not react.
Every second mattered.
The left half of his body, robbed of half his soul, had already withered into the same dark purple dead flesh that once afflicted Orochimaru's arms.
With one hand, he summoned a messenger toad.
Then he bit off his own right thumb and used the blood to rapidly write a message on a scroll.
He stuffed both the scroll and the severed thumb into the toad's mouth.
Then he ignited his own body with Samadhi True Fire.
This ensured that no trace of his biological material would remain beyond the severed thumb.
"The other half of my soul will be trapped in the Shinigami's stomach."
"The only people who can release the Shinigami's seal and reincarnate me through Edo Tensei…"
"Are you…"
"And my original self, Jiraiya."
"My fellow Sannin…"
"Orochimaru."
"I beg you."
"Let me return to this world with half my soul."
"I must help that man."
"Yes…"
"The Child of Prophecy—Uchiha Jin."
"Only he…"
"Only he can stop the true body of that black-clad man, avert the coming catastrophe, and save this world!"
The Shinigami tore away the remaining half of Koji Kashin's soul.
His body was reduced to ashes by the Samadhi True Fire.
The messenger toad carrying Koji Kashin's severed thumb and the world's future hope leapt into a nearby pond with a splash.
At that very moment, beneath the night sky, Naruto was racing across the endless sands of the Land of Wind…
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