After a moment of grief, Sasuke quickly returned to his serious mode.
"Alright, let's talk business."
"How did you manage to break Omnipotence's continuous memory alteration and perception correction?"
This was the question Sasuke was most concerned about.
If Orochimaru and the others had truly found a way to counter Omnipotence, that would be fantastic. As long as Sasuke could break Omnipotence's restrictions, he'd have no limits. Even storming Konoha to kill Isshiki wouldn't be an issue!
Unfortunately, Orochimaru and Itachi's responses weren't as enthusiastic as he'd hoped.
"So, it was Kotoamatsukami's effect that neutralized Omnipotence's continuous influence?"
Sasuke recalled when he and Edo Tensei Itachi fought Kabuto.
Back then, his brother was saved by Shisui's Kotoamatsukami. Unexpectedly, Kotoamatsukami could work miracles again.
Truly the strongest Genjutsu!
It was only fitting for Shisui. Though long dead, his pair of Mangekyō Sharingan gave their side multiple chances to turn the tide.
However, using Kotoamatsukami against Omnipotence was only a temporary solution; it could only resist Omnipotence's continuous corrections, not fully restore all memories.
Kotoamatsukami's limitations weren't small either. From Shisui's Edo Tensei pair of Mangekyō Sharingan, the permanent left-eye Kotoamatsukami had been used on Orochimaru, and the time-limited right-eye Kotoamatsukami on Edo Tensei Itachi. That meant there was no way to use this method to resolve others' memory issues.
"So we can't awaken more people?" Sasuke felt a bit regretful.
Even awakening one more ally controlled by Omnipotence would be useful.
"No, there's still a way." Orochimaru spoke up, but not his main body—his clone. His real body was still excitedly licking the trembling Daemon.
"Hm? Another way?"
Both of Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan had been used—could there be a Genjutsu stronger than Kotoamatsukami? Impossible…
Orochimaru's clone didn't waste words, directly activating a Summoning Technique, calling forth a not-too-large snake.
The snake opened its mouth wide, spitting out a biological test tube from its stomach, containing a Sharingan.
"This?"
"Shisui's original Mangekyō Sharingan…"
"How? I clearly burned Shisui's physical Sharingan!" Edo Tensei Itachi was shocked.
Back then, he'd burned that physical Sharingan to ashes with Amaterasu in front of Naruto and Killer Bee—how could it still exist?
"No, this is a different one."
"A different one? The one Danzō took? Wasn't that sealed by that old bastard Danzō?" Sasuke had witnessed Danzō's glorious record of sealing half a bridge.
Of course, Danzō had also sealed Shisui's other Sharingan. Even Obito back then was helpless and regretful.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and smiled, explaining: "An ordinary Reverse Four Symbols Sealing, similar to the Eight Trigrams Seal, far below the Dead Demon Consuming Seal—how could it stump me?"
After the Fourth Ninja World War, Orochimaru naturally wouldn't let Danzō's body go. He retrieved it and secretly studied methods to break the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing, ultimately succeeding in unsealing and recovering this Sharingan.
"I see. You've been quietly doing a lot, haven't you?" Sasuke understood but didn't pursue the minor details.
As long as it didn't threaten Konoha, even Naruto didn't say anything—how could he blame Orochimaru?
After all, this was his 'beloved teacher' from back then! In fact, Sasuke now hoped Orochimaru would pull out more good stuff to counter the Otsutsuki Clan.
And so, Sasuke happily accepted this Sharingan and handed it to Edo Tensei Itachi for use.
Itachi placed it in another summoned crow, ready to activate anytime. With this, the physical Mangekyō Sharingan Kotoamatsukami could continuously neutralize Omnipotence's memory alterations for one more target.
"Sasuke, who are you planning to use this Kotoamatsukami to free from Omnipotence's control?" Itachi asked.
"No rush, I'll decide when the time's right." Sasuke hadn't chosen yet, planning to think it over later.
One more chance to use Kotoamatsukami held significant value; if used well in the future, it could produce miraculous effects.
"Alright. If you need to use it, let me know anytime." Itachi agreed quickly, fully trusting his grown brother.
Then, Boruto asked: "Sensei, I didn't find Uncle Killer Bee—is he…?"
"Yes, the Hachibi Jinchūriki was likely taken by Isshiki to his other dimension…"
"What now? Can't we revive the Juubi after this?"
"The plan to revive the Juubi was just bait told to Isshiki. The odds of reviving the Juubi are slim. Forget gathering all the Bijuu—the Gedō Mazō statue itself is still sealed. That's not a seal easily touched…" Sasuke explained patiently.
He'd never intended to revive the Juubi; it was just a means to intimidate Isshiki.
"Do we still need to capture Bijuu after this?"
"Not for now."
"Then what should we do next? By the way, the Kumogakure battlefield, Sensei, you…"
"No need to worry about that either. The Fourth and Fifth Raikages are dead—killed by me! The remaining Kumogakure ninjas are no match for Terumi Mei and the others. Once they finish dealing with Kumogakure's main forces, they'll fully occupy it."
Sasuke said it lightly, but it was indeed that simple. Earlier on the main battlefield, fighting Kumogakure's forces with Six Paths power while activating Susano'o was a complete massacre.
Though the Fourth and Fifth Raikages bravely and fearlessly charged him, the power gap was too vast. It wasn't something belief or resolve could bridge…
In less than two rounds, both Raikages were killed by Susano'o. With them dead, the remaining Kumogakure ninjas were no concern.
This could be seen as revenge for the elbow strikes he endured from the Raikage back then; but the middle-aged Sasuke felt little joy. Instead, he envied and admired Kumogakure's spirit and conviction.
Facing a near-certain defeat, they still advanced fearlessly. If Konoha had such awareness and unity back then, it might've unified the ninja world long ago, and the Uchiha Clan massacre tragedy wouldn't have happened.
If the Uchiha Clan hadn't been wiped out and continued to now, even with a few more pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan and special Dōjutsu, it would've been enough to give the Otsutsuki a headache.
"The Raikages and the others are dead?" Boruto, learning the answer, felt a bit reluctant but quickly adjusted his mindset.
He knew the path to save his father and the world would be bloody, so hesitation now was a sin.
Instead of mourning victims from other villages, it was better to think about how to improve himself.
How to defeat the enemy?
"Sensei, what should we do next?"
"Go to Kumogakure. After it's under control, prepare to attack Iwagakure!"
Sasuke directly shared the next plan. He hadn't forgotten his main goal. Killing Isshiki was important, but fulfilling the agreement with the Tenshou Sennin, swiftly destroying the three major villages, and saving Naruto were equally critical!
With Kirigakure and Kumogakure already crushed, only Iwagakure remained to bring Naruto back! It had to be hastened.
Sasuke didn't forget who gave him this powerful Six Paths strength. Without the Tenshou Sennin's aid, how could he have regained his youthful confidence and felt the thrill of being a pillar under a clear sky again?
However, two major battles and continuous chakra expenditure left Sasuke's Six Paths chakra running low. He could still control Gudōdama and activate the Six Paths Demon God Susano'o, but firing an Indra's Arrow as strong as before was difficult. So he had to speed up the unification for Naruto's return.
"The next target is Iwagakure?"
"But I have a question. Sensei, doesn't the enemy have Senrigan that monitors everything?"
"Is it wise to openly discuss Kotoamatsukami and our next plans like this?"
Boruto had grown a lot, catching the key point. He was even more puzzled why the next strategic plan was revealed so loudly?
Could it be another of Sasuke's ploys to deceive the enemy? But Isshiki had already been burned once—would he fall for it again?
Sasuke patted Boruto, pleased with his student's independent thinking, then activated Genjutsu, explaining in the mental space:
"As you suspected, an enemy who's been burned once might not believe our plans and movements even if he knows them, let alone easily take risks again."
"More importantly, there's another key point. You must've heard about Daemon and Eida's relationship from Amado, right?"
"Isshiki likely used Daemon to threaten Eida into submission."
"Now that Daemon is in our hands, do you think Eida will still wholeheartedly serve Isshiki?"
This was one reason Sasuke deliberately saved Daemon. Not just for Daemon's incredible combat power, but because his existence could greatly influence Eida's stance.
Their side ultimately aimed to break Omnipotence, likely inseparable from Eida, the main subject activating that Divine Technique. It was better to prepare now.
"I see! Sensei, you're so ruthless… no, so brilliant!"
Boruto unconsciously praised, realizing he still had much to learn from his teacher. After all, he couldn't learn these things from his father.
"Don't talk too much. Let's go to Kumogakure!"
Sasuke gave the order, and everyone set off together toward Kumogakure.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
On the other side, the severely injured and dying Isshiki didn't flee directly back to Konoha.
What could he do? The cold and ruthless Sasuke was beyond his imagination. This battle nearly traumatized him.
Even with Konoha as a major shield, Isshiki didn't dare return directly. He feared Six Paths Sasuke would recklessly storm Konoha and kill him on the spot. After all, this was a madman who could calmly kill his own wife!
Thus, the gravely injured and terrified Isshiki fled back to his other dimension.
He'd relocated his dimension's coordinates and hadn't shared the new ones with anyone. He was certain even Six Paths Sasuke couldn't quickly find his dimension again. Resting and healing here was clearly safer than in Konoha.
The dying Isshiki, reduced to a head and a small portion of his chest, rushed like a starving demon to his palace upon returning. He found the baby Juubi he'd imprisoned.
The baby Juubi looked weak. After all, it had been drained multiple times before. Though a chakra source, it couldn't withstand such insane demands!
Unfortunately, the dying Isshiki didn't care. He immediately activated his ability, frantically draining the Juubi's chakra and vitality to cover his massive consumption.
Note that no matter how strong Kāma's self-healing was, it still required chakra, vitality, or a soul to provide energy. Isshiki's chakra and vitality were nearly depleted, and he cherished his soul too much.
Thus, to hasten his recovery, he could only devour the Juubi's chakra. Let the baby Juubi suffer; let it bear the bad name!
"Roar—!!!" The Juubi, having its chakra forcibly drained, let out an instinctive cry of pain, but to Isshiki, it meant nothing.
"Good boy!"
"Hold on a bit longer; let me drain a little first."
"The chakra you lose, I'll find a way to repay you!"
Isshiki grinned wickedly, soothing while increasing his draining speed.
With the influx of abundant chakra, his Kāma Seal reactivated faster, and his missing body parts began regenerating and recovering at a visible pace.
In just over ten seconds, Isshiki fully restored his body, returning to Code's original form.
Indeed, after parasitizing Code, it was like merging his true body into Code's. Their lives became one, and the body now regenerating was still Code's. But since Isshiki completely dominated and controlled Code's consciousness and body, in some ways, Code could be said to have long been dead.
"Draining chakra feels the best!"
After absorbing the Juubi's chakra and fully restoring his body, Isshiki couldn't help but sigh in relief. However, the baby Juubi was far more pitiful. Drained to a skeletal state, it could provide less and less chakra. Seeing this, Isshiki was forced to stop.
"Wait… You can't take it anymore?"
The baby Juubi was still in its infant stage. In terms of total chakra, it couldn't compare to a perfect Juubi. If drained further, Isshiki might not fully recover, but the baby Juubi would die first.
Isshiki didn't dare drain the Juubi to death and hurriedly stopped.
"Damn it, looks like I can only recover to this point…"
Isshiki assessed his condition and found that while Code's body was restored, most of the lost vitality was hard to recover. Simply put, Code's lifespan had been drastically shortened. He wouldn't live more than a few years.
If he forcibly activated Kāma Stage 2 to fight with Code's body, he might not last even three minutes before dying instantly.
This weakening and harsh reality made Isshiki's face grim and pained. He also deeply hated that disgusting human ninja Uchiha Sasuke; of course, behind that hatred was a trace of fear.
Having just escaped death, Isshiki suppressed various emotions and decided to drink a bottle of his stored red wine to calm down. But as he entered his palace, he was immediately grabbed by another frantic figure.
"You bastard, you dared use Daemon as a shield!"
"You nearly killed my brother!" Eida roared hysterically at Isshiki.
With her Senrigan, she'd naturally seen the entire battle. She not only witnessed Isshiki's crime of using Daemon as a sacrifice but also saw the moment Six Paths Sasuke nearly killed him. Now, Eida was nearly losing her sanity, instinctively confronting Isshiki for answers.