Rumble...
The massive impact caused by Naruto and Sasuke's clash, joined with the surging waves, formed a terrifying shockwave that instantly swept across the entire coastline! The cliff beneath Shinji crumbled under the force, forcing him to flicker away and reposition himself further back, sitting suspended in mid-air.
Floating cross-legged, Shinji observed the two individuals still locked in a fierce struggle at the center of the battlefield.
Unlike the battle at the Valley of the End after the Fourth Great Ninja War in the original timeline, the current Naruto and Sasuke had not received the gifts from the Sage of Six Paths. There was clearly still a significant gap between them and the Six Paths Level.
However, both had already surpassed the Kage level, and the scale of the battlefield continued to expand. It had an earth-shattering momentum that had already surpassed the legendary duel between the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara!
"Another cycle of reincarnation..."
Shinji curled his lip. At his current level, a battle like the one before him held little novelty. On the contrary, whenever he thought of the brothers Otsutsuki Asura and Otsutsuki Indra—who had been constantly reincarnating for centuries to stage this so-called "fated duel" over and over again—he felt incredibly weary of it.
The Sage of Six Paths was indeed selfless toward the shinobi world, but his two sons had certainly put the world through the wringer.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Shinji used this battle to seriously evaluate Naruto and Sasuke's current strength.
Compared to the final battle at the Valley of the End in the original timeline, Sasuke's current "hardware" was actually stronger. In the original timeline, he had only one Six-Tomoe Rinnegan, whereas now he possessed a pair. However, in the original timeline, he had also used Chibaku Tensei to seal and extract the chakra of eight and a half Tailed Beasts. Balancing it out, current Sasuke had stronger pupil power but significantly less total chakra than his original counterpart.
As for Naruto, his current state was markedly inferior to his self at the Valley of the End. At that time, Naruto had not only received the Yang Power from the Sage but had also absorbed portions of the chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts, making him a temporary, miniature Ten-Tails Jinchuriki. The Truth-Seeking Balls appearing behind his back were the best proof of that.
Current Naruto lacked both the Yang Power and the chakra of the other eight Tailed Beasts. He was inferior in both quality and quantity of chakra compared to the original final battle. However, current Naruto had something the original didn't: Menma, residing in his spiritual world. This was a massive reinforcement for Naruto.
In short, neither Naruto nor Sasuke was as strong as they were at the end of the original timeline. However, due to various factors, they had been enhanced in other areas, so the gap between the two timelines was not as vast as one might imagine. This was why the battle was escalating with such mountain-moving, sea-tilting momentum!
At the core of the battlefield.
Sasuke, standing within the diamond-shaped space on the forehead of his Susanoo, looked astonished. He never expected Naruto to be this difficult to deal with!
"Dammit, Shinji is still watching!"
The more he fought, the more irritable he became. He had assumed that in his Rinnegan state, he should be able to crush Naruto—especially with a pair of Six-Tomoe Rinnegan. But once the fight started, he found that Naruto was like a cockroach that wouldn't die; the stronger Sasuke became, the stronger Naruto became.
Realizing that Susanoo alone wouldn't solve Naruto, Sasuke immediately activated Shinra Tensei. A massive repulsive force materialized out of thin air, instantly blasting the Kurama-fied Naruto back several hundred meters.
At that moment, the spirit-form Menma flew out of Naruto's body. In an instant, he arrived before Sasuke's Susanoo. The black Great Spiralling Ring in his hand slammed down violently against the head of the purple giant.
Boom!
The roar of the explosion echoed everywhere! Even a Perfect Susanoo struggled to withstand a point-blank Great Spiralling Ring to the face. Sasuke's Susanoo collapsed instantly, and he fell from the shattered head of the giant.
"I've got him!" Menma rejoiced, preparing to follow up on his advantage.
But just as he lunged toward Sasuke to launch a spiritual attack, Sasuke flipped up from the ground. His right palm activated the Rinnegan's ability to extract souls, instantly grabbing the incoming Menma.
A spirit-form Menma was nearly unsolvable for most shinobi. But to Sasuke with the Six-Tomoe Rinnegan, he was merely a nuisance. Sasuke had been caught off guard earlier, but now that he was prepared, the spirit form had nowhere to hide before his eyes.
Clutching Menma by the throat, Sasuke's face was full of shame and anger: "You think you can defeat me with just this?"
Menma was a spirit and was completely countered by the Rinnegan. Caught in Sasuke's grip, he couldn't even struggle; he was like a dead fish.
"Menma!" Naruto panicked, flickering toward them.
Whoosh!
Shinji suddenly descended into the field. With one hand each, he held back Naruto and Sasuke, who were ready to continue the fight. "Enough. I've seen what you both can do."
Sasuke retreated resentfully. Failing to defeat Naruto within the time Shinji implied rankled him deeply.
Menma, released by Sasuke, said to Shinji: "Are you going to go back on your word?"
Shinji smiled. "You didn't win."
"I..." Menma was speechless.
At that moment, Shinji reached up and pulled off his cat-face mask, revealing his true face to Naruto and Menma.
Naruto was thunderstruck: "Shi—Shinji!?"
Shinji laughed: "Naruto, you've grown much stronger!"
Menma was in disbelief: "You are 'A'... how is that possible!?"
As he spoke, he glanced at Sasuke and instantly understood why Sasuke had "betrayed" the village to join Akatsuki. The leader of Akatsuki was no stranger—it was the top student of their own class!
Since Shinji intended to bring Naruto and Sasuke to meet the Sage of Six Paths, he had no intention of keeping Naruto in the dark. After revealing his identity, he told Naruto the purpose of this trip.
Menma was startled: "Advancing to the Six Paths Level?!"
Naruto asked curiously: "Shinji, did you say I'm the son of the Sage of Six Paths?"
Sasuke said helplessly: "You idiot, Shinji said you're the reincarnation!"
"Pretty much the same thing!"
Shinji chuckled, then settled in to patiently wait for the arrival of the Sage of Six Paths.