In that instant, Brook appeared in front of Onoki, seized the old man by the throat with one hand, and the two of them twisted into a spiraling vortex before vanishing into the Kamui dimension.
"I'll be taking your Dust Release Kekkei Tota."
Brook spoke softly. The hand clutching Onoki suddenly turned pale white, transforming into a White Zetsu arm. A great mass of white substance surged out at once and swallowed Onoki completely.
When Brook reappeared outside, Onoki was gone.
At the same time, Han, the Five Tails jinchūriki, had already been forced into a complete transformation. The pure white tailed beast that resembled a giant horse now stood fully revealed.
Brook landed directly on Kokuō's head and took control of it before returning to the main battlefield.
The moment Brook reappeared while standing atop the Five Tails, the remaining Iwa ninja felt their despair deepen even further.
"What did you do to Lord Tsuchikage?!"
"Earth Release: Rock Fist!"
Kitsuchi saw that his father had vanished and immediately roared in rage. His right arm instantly swelled into a massive stone fist as he smashed toward Brook.
"So noisy."
"Shinra Tensei!"
With a single repulsive blast, Brook sent Kitsuchi flying back into the Iwa camp, blood spraying from his mouth.
"Kitsuchi!"
The Explosion Release ninja Gari rushed over immediately, wanting to check his injuries.
"Explosion Release? So it's a bloodline limit like the Bomb Bomb Fruit's power, or Gladius's Pop Pop Fruit…"
"Universal Pull!"
Brook tugged Gari over like a mosquito caught in a gust of wind. Even if he was small fry, he still could not be wasted. Every special bloodline limit had value.
"You bastard!"
"Explosion Release: Landmine Fist!"
Dragged helplessly through the air, Gari could only coat his fist in Explosion Release chakra and gamble everything on a killing blow before he reached Brook.
But before he could touch him, a phantom flickered into existence.
A hand pierced straight through Gari's heart.
Blood gushed out.
Brook casually absorbed the blood into the Kamui space.
Then he vanished from Kokuō's head once again.
That scene made countless Iwa ninja break down completely.
Could it be that the Third Tsuchikage had disappeared the same way?
Large numbers of Iwa ninja turned their attention to the Five Tails and charged it from all sides. Under Brook's control, Kokuō showed no mercy. It crashed into the crowd like a natural disaster and trampled Iwa ninja beneath its hooves.
As if sensing the Rinnegan aura on Kokuō, the Gedo Statue temporarily gave up on devouring the tailed beast and instead rampaged beside its new little brother, slaughtering the Iwa forces together.
When Brook reappeared, the Konoha ANBU were so excited their blood nearly boiled.
If this continued, then with only a few dozen men, they really could crush tens of thousands of Iwa ninja.
This would become a legendary battle.
Even if they were not the main force, they would still become famous through it. Maybe in the future, people would even call them the Thirty Heroes of Konoha.
They were the heroes who followed the new God of the Shinobi World and defeated the main force of Iwagakure.
Just as Brook reappeared after devouring Gari's bloodline, a familiar aura descended once more and instantly dragged him into a dark space.
"You've gone too far!"
The Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, stared at Brook with a grave expression.
"How can you use such overwhelming power to massacre ordinary shinobi?"
When he saw Brook's Rinnegan, his expression changed again, becoming even more unreadable.
Had the chakras and bloodlines of Ashura and Indra truly fused together once more?
The two pairs of Rinnegan locked onto one another in a silent standoff.
"So this is the Pure Land you built with your Rinnegan."
Brook began surveying the surrounding space.
This was the Sage of Six Paths' territory, the place where the souls of powerful shinobi from across history were gathered.
Of course, many souls that had existed for too long had likely already faded away, or perhaps had even been consumed by Hagoromo himself to replenish chakra.
Brook remembered it clearly.
In the future, after Kaguya Otsutsuki was sealed again, Hagoromo's chakra avatar would summon the souls of seventeen deceased Kage level shinobi from the Pure Land and, together with them, use a large scale summoning technique to pull Team Seven, the tailed beasts, and the dying Madara Uchiha back out of Kaguya's dimension.
That meant Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha, and the others should all currently be somewhere inside this Pure Land.
He just did not know where Hagoromo had hidden them.
"Stop right there, Death God Brook!"
Hagoromo spoke in a serious, solemn voice.
"If you promise me that you will no longer interfere with the development of the shinobi world, and if you destroy the remnants of the Otsutsuki clan, then I will hand over the authority of the Pure Land to you. I will let you rebuild the Reincarnation Hell, and even allow you to become its master."
Brook did not answer immediately.
Instead, he narrowed his eyes slightly.
The glowing Yin and Yang seal on Hagoromo's palm was especially noticeable.
That power was dangerous.
It was one of the main tools used to reseal Kaguya Otsutsuki.
Brook did not want Hagoromo to decide to use it on him.
At the same time, Hagoromo clearly possessed far more of the Rinnegan's secrets than he let on. After all, he had just effortlessly dragged Brook out of the real world and into the Pure Land.
This old man had plenty of hidden cards.
Still, Brook had no intention of truly rebuilding this world's cycle of reincarnation.
What he wanted was simple.
He wanted the inheritance of Northern Yomi God Hirasaka.
He wanted more power.
"Was that ability just now, the one that dragged me here, one of your own Rinnegan powers?"
Brook asked instead of giving a direct answer.
"Hagoromo Otsutsuki, don't change the subject."
The Sage of Six Paths' expression turned colder.
"Your threat to the shinobi world is no less than that of the Otsutsuki clan. I hope you consider my conditions seriously."
"Hmph."
Brook gave a cold laugh.
"Have you really thought this through?"
"If we start fighting, then the remnants of the Otsutsuki clan may sense it immediately. And if they sense it, they may send a message to Otsutsuki headquarters without hesitation."
"When that happens, two or three enemies even stronger than Kaguya Otsutsuki could descend upon this world."
"If that happens, this shinobi world still won't survive."
"At worst, I'll just move on to another inhabited planet and rebuild a new cycle of hell there."
His tone turned colder with every word.
Trying to cut off his path to growing stronger had already crossed his bottom line.
That was something Brook would never tolerate.
------------
Brook and the Sage of Six Paths stared at one another with their purple Rinnegan, and a terrifying pressure spread through the Pure Land. It felt as though both of them were silently calculating the odds of striking first.
One wanted to seal the other.
The other wanted to kill him.
In the end, however, the Sage of Six Paths still did not dare gamble the fate of the entire planet on a life and death battle with Brook.
"Can you keep the noise down a little?" Hagoromo said coldly. "Do you want to alert the remnants of the Otsutsuki clan? From now on, you are not allowed to slaughter shinobi indiscriminately, and you are not allowed to start wars."
As he spoke, he clenched his fists and hid the glowing Yin and Yang marks in his palms.
"Fine."
Brook gave in without pushing further, since forcing the issue here would only make things worse.
"But this war is not my fault. The other two great nations invaded first. I was only protecting the reincarnation chakra of your two sons' descendants."
Hearing the Sage of Six Paths finally soften his tone, Brook chose not to test his limits. A full fight with Hagoromo Otsutsuki at a time like this would be foolish.
"Now tell me about that Otsutsuki clan member," Hagoromo said at once. "I will find him myself."
After weighing the situation, the Sage of Six Paths had chosen to eliminate the greatest threat first. As for Brook, he could be dealt with later.
"I can tell you," Brook replied, "but if you find him, you must call me. We deal with him together. Otherwise, if he escapes, I'll raze this shinobi world to the ground and leave for another world."
Brook's tone was calm, but the threat in it was real.
He had his eye on Isshiki Otsutsuki's dōjutsu and secret techniques. If he could not get them, then there was no point pretending to cooperate.
At worst, they could split up and each try to find Isshiki first.
"I promise."
After studying Brook's Rinnegan, Hagoromo finally agreed. Without Brook's information, he had no reliable way to locate the hidden Otsutsuki.
Isshiki's concealment was simply too effective.
"Good," Brook said. "The superior your mother, Kaguya Otsutsuki, ambushed was named Isshiki Otsutsuki. His eye technique allows him to shrink himself and parasitize another person's body. He can also use the Otsutsuki clan's secret technique, Karma, to revive through a host."
"He is currently living inside the body of a monk named Jigen. That body bears Isshiki's Karma seal."
"But Jigen's body is too weak. It cannot support a perfect resurrection. So Isshiki is searching for a more suitable vessel, someone powerful enough for him to carve with Karma and reincarnate completely."
Brook revealed part of the truth, though not all of it.
He did not mention the juvenile Ten Tails Isshiki was raising, nor the existence of Daikokuten. There was no reason to reveal everything.
"Isshiki Otsutsuki, a parasite who shrinks himself and revives through Karma…"
The Sage of Six Paths repeated the name under his breath, his eyes filling with killing intent. A hidden enemy like that was too dangerous to leave alive.
"Once you return, stop this war," he said. "I do not want so many shinobi dying in battle. As for your other affairs, I will turn a blind eye."
He sighed as he spoke.
When Hagoromo had first spread chakra and founded ninshu, he had passed his power to more than a dozen disciples. Most of the clans in the shinobi world today were descended either from him or from those disciples.
Yet for over a thousand years, they had done little but fight one another.
He had long since grown tired of their endless wars.
If Brook had not appeared, he probably would not have intervened at all until the day Kaguya broke free.
"If it isn't urgent, then don't drag me into this Pure Land space again," Brook said with a faint chuckle. "I might get angry."
Inwardly, however, he was already thinking of how to develop a countermeasure. He needed a way to resist the Sage of Six Paths' ability to forcibly pull him into the Pure Land.
"Understood," Hagoromo replied. "And remember, do not slaughter shinobi carelessly. Do your best not to kill the Kage of the hidden villages either. I do not wish to have their souls imprisoned here."
"Ha. Fine. The bloodlines are mine, the souls are yours. Happy?"
Brook laughed.
As expected, even the Sage of Six Paths was not free of desire. He still needed powerful souls and chakra to maintain this Pure Land and preserve his chakra body.
In the future, if necessary, those Kage level souls could also become his reserve fighting force.
"Hmph."
The Sage of Six Paths gave a cold snort and immediately sent Brook back out of the Pure Land.
Once back on the battlefield, Brook reappeared above the carnage.
"Stop. The war is over."
At his command, both the Gedo Statue and the Five Tails, Kokuō, came to a halt. Minato Namikaze and the Konoha ANBU also pulled back at once.
Kitsuchi, his eyes bloodshot, roared furiously, "What did you do to Lord Tsuchikage and Gari?!"
Brook looked down at him calmly.
"You lost. If you want Onoki and Gari back, then bring me the Four Tails jinchūriki in exchange. Now take your men and get out of here. If you keep pushing, I'll start killing again."
He had already decided on his plan.
Once he returned, he would revive Onoki and Gari the same way he had revived Minato Namikaze, then send them back to Iwagakure to help govern the village and quietly search for more bloodline limit shinobi for him.
"You…"
Kitsuchi clenched his fists, but the elite Iwa jonin behind him quickly dragged him back. They had already lost too much today. Since this man had openly said Onoki and Gari could still be exchanged, then that meant they might still be alive.
They could negotiate through the Land of Earth's daimyō later.
There was no point provoking this monster any further.
Even Han, the Five Tails jinchūriki, had already fallen into his hands.
These elite Iwa shinobi immediately began retreating in a panic. Each of them carried one or two unconscious comrades as they fled the battlefield. No one dared linger.
After all, the Gedo Statue, the Five Tails, the Fourth Hokage, and Brook himself had already driven them completely into despair.
Watching the Iwa forces retreat, Brook dispelled the summoning of the Gedo Statue. He then released Kokuō from direct control and let the tailed beast return to Han's body before capturing Han himself and tossing him into the Kamui dimension.
Once he returned, he would make time to use the Gedo Statue and the Sealing Technique: Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals to extract the Five Tails completely.
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]