"Hello."
In the frozen world, a strange voice came from behind him. Ryosuke wasn't surprised at all. Instead, a long-held question in his heart was finally answered.
The name of this trial mission was "Saint's Trial," not "Funny Valentine Trial."
Before activating the mission, Ryosuke had already wondered whether he might get to see the Saint from the Steel Ball Run world, and now…
He turned around. In his line of sight, within the split ocean road, stood a man a few steps away. He wore a plain white robe, a crown of thorns on his head, had a lean figure and sharply defined features. He stood there quietly, smiling at Ryosuke.
There was no need for words, no need for any special introduction. Just standing there like that, his identity was beyond doubt, The Saint.
"Nice to meet you."
The Saint nodded slightly.
This was a gesture of respect toward a fellow traveler. Everything they had done was for the sake of letting more people live like human beings. That was why they didn't take the easy road, but instead stepped onto a thorn-covered path.
Ryosuke also nodded slightly.
At this moment, he understood two things.
First, "intermediate difficulty" didn't mean that, in this trial, with Diego's body and the power of past projections, he could easily crush everything.
Nor did it mean that Funny Valentine with D4C: Love Train was weaker than Kars, Dio, or Father Pucci.
Mechanically speaking, Funny Valentine was the most unsolvable enemy Ryosuke had ever faced. The only way to break him was the Spin of the Cavalry.
What "intermediate" really meant was that he had Hett Panz, Johnny, and Gyro, three teammates who would never hold back at critical moments, and, more importantly, the guidance that came from them.
The second thing concerned the Saint.
"If I had really run away just now, even if I found another chance later to kill Funny Valentine, I wouldn't have been able to meet you, right?" Ryosuke asked.
The Saint still smiled.
"That would mean you chose another path. On that path, I wouldn't be able to help you. Even if we met, it would only add to your troubles. It would be better not to meet at all."
"Alright, Ryosuke. I really would like to talk with you for a long time, but..."
He pointed to a crack that had appeared in the sky.
"We don't have much time."
"Ever since you obtained my crown of thorns, I've been watching you."
"Based on a bit of my personal ability, I know many things about the ninja world, and about you. So…"
The Saint slowly raised three fingers.
"You can ask me three questions. As long as an answer exists, I can tell you."
Three chances to question the all-knowing Saint.
Once again, Ryosuke was glad he hadn't chosen to retreat. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Can I ask anything?"
"Anything," the Saint said. "Except one thing."
Ryosuke asked cautiously, "Fate Ink?"
"That's right."
The Saint explained, "I do know what it is, and I also know what the corresponding 'pen' is."
"But I can't say it. Their existence is higher than me, higher than this world…"
He pointed upward.
"Higher-dimensional."
"The moment I even form the thought of telling you their secrets, the space where we're talking would instantly shatter.
"I can only tell you this…"
"The pen is just 'a pen.'"
Crack!
Large, glass-like fractures appeared throughout the frozen world.
The Saint didn't look at them and continued speaking. "When you see that 'pen,' you'll naturally understand. However, I don't recommend that you use it."
As he spoke, the cracks covering the sky and the ground grew finer and denser.
But neither of them paid any attention to that.
Ryosuke recalled the description of Fate Ink.
[Ability: Ink condensed from drawing upon the world's power of fate, capable of granting a Stand that has reached its limit a chance to surpass that limit.]
[Note 1: Since it is ink, it must be used together with a 'pen.']
[Note 2: Using the power of fate will eventually require paying the price of fate at some point in the future.]
"The so-called price of fate… what exactly is it?"
Ryosuke had no way of knowing.
After a brief silence, Ryosuke gathered his thoughts.
He'd say it again, if he could avoid using it, he definitely would.
But if it ever came to a point where not using it meant people would die, then any price would have to be set aside for later.
"First question. After I go back, in the coming war, with my current state plus Sasuke, Kakashi, and the others helping, can we win?"
The Saint pondered for a long time, then slowly shook his head.
"Everyone defines 'winning' differently."
If all of humanity were wiped out, but Ryosuke ultimately killed the Otsutsuki and Obito, would that count as winning?
If 50% of humanity survived, but all of Ryosuke's teammates died, would that count?
"By your standards, it's impossible. A great, great many people will die, your friends, your acquaintances, and even more ordinary people."
"You will pay an extremely sorrowful price before finally killing the enemy."
Ryosuke pointed at the frozen time-stop space, at the Spin embedded in Valentine's chest.
"Even with this, it won't work?"
"Precisely because you have this, I say 'many will die' rather than 'nearly all,' because… they are Otsutsuki. They are Ten-Tails jinchuriki."
Ryosuke understood.
Take Gyro's Spin of the Cavalry as an example.
After the steel ball hits, it delivers infinite rotational impact while also causing the enemy to age at an extremely terrifying speed.
Ryosuke had seen clearly that this aging affected not only life itself, but all forms of energy.
Otsutsuki or Ten-Tails jinchūriki, what they lack the least is energy and vitality.
Johnny's Tusk Act 4 was the same.
Even Funny Valentine could endure it long enough to switch bodies instead of dying instantly.
Put simply, the Otsutsuki's HP bar and MP bar were just too thick. No matter how strong the mechanics or how good the technique, without enough raw stats, it wouldn't work.
Ryosuke's power could compensate for the lack of stats, and the Spin of the Cavalry could serve as one of his trump cards.
But the heroes of the world couldn't be underestimated.
He had trump cards.
Did that mean others didn't?
Not to mention that the Spin of the Cavalry also had the limitation of needing to ride for a certain distance so the mount could enter the Golden Rectangle.
"But this path works," the Saint said. "As long as you can accept this level of death, humanity will achieve victory."
After a long silence, Ryosuke took a deep breath and asked the second question, "If I resurrect Otsutsuki Kaguya, with her help, would so many people still die?"
After experiencing a round of despair and activating Bites the Dust, in the few short minutes after returning, Ryosuke had thought through countless possibilities. In the end, he arrived at one,
Kaguya had attacked Isshiki. The two were undoubtedly enemies.
To guard against the Otsutsuki clan coming to inspect the God Tree's planting, Kaguya had created large numbers of White Zetsu. Clearly, she was also hostile toward Momoshiki and Kinshiki.
The God Tree, Ten-Tails, belonged to Kaguya. Obito had taken it, so Kaguya would definitely want it back. Another enemy relationship.
From this perspective, Kaguya was the perfect teammate.
On top of that, she had defeated Isshiki. Her combat ability and intelligence were surely outstanding.
As long as there was a way to revive Kaguya and fight together against three Otsutsuki plus a Ten-Tails jinchūriki, the casualties in the ninja world could definitely be reduced to a minimum.
What's more, the research institute had found Kaguya's alternate dimension. She most likely had space-travel abilities.
If the main battlefield could be placed in another dimension, the civilians of the ninja world wouldn't be affected at all.
Two birds with one stone.
As for how to deal with Kaguya after the war…
That would depend on her attitude toward the ninja world.
Hearing this question, the Saint fell silent for even longer. After a long while, he finally spoke,
"I don't directly predict the future, nor do I derive the unknown like 'Amenominakanushi.'"
"I simply know many things."
"With a large amount of known information, plus a bit of my insignificant ability, I can judge answers and probabilities."
"But Kaguya… is someone with a very unusual way of thinking. Once she revives, what she will truly think…"
"I'm sorry, Ryosuke. I can't determine it."
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