Kaede crossed his arms, a mocking smile playing on his lips.
Without another moment of hesitation, Isshiki Ōtsutsuki tore open another space-time portal and vanished into it.
Kaede's body disappeared right after him.
From there, the chase moved through one strange dimension after another—an ice-filled world, a realm of corrosive acid—Isshiki fled relentlessly, but every time he entered a new space, Kaede was right behind him, attacking without pause.
The constant pursuit left Isshiki on the verge of mental collapse. No matter what he did, he couldn't shake off Kaede's hunt.
If this kept up, he knew his remaining lifespan would be completely burned away—then he'd truly be dead.
Kaede waved his hand, and flames infused with the power of natural energy erupted, instantly forming a blazing sea of fire that engulfed Isshiki.
"Ahhh!"
Isshiki screamed as the searing heat devoured him.
In blind panic, he tore open another portal. This time, he emerged back in the ninja world.
The pain still lingered in his body, and he had no desire to be burned again.
Then, a thought struck him—every member of the Ōtsutsuki clan carried a treasured artifact.
His own artifact granted him temporal reversal—returning to the past.
If he could use it now, he could go back, undo everything that had happened here, and set his plans into motion early… even securing Kaede's perfect body for himself.
Acting before Kaede arrived, Isshiki poured his power into the relic, sacrificing what remained of his lifespan to do so.
A white light began to spread, growing larger until it could contain a human form.
Isshiki stepped into it without hesitation.
At that exact moment, Kaede appeared.
A raging spatial storm surged forth—normally, it would have been aimed at Isshiki, a devastating force from another world that, when combined with Yin-Yang Release, could obliterate a body entirely.
But the storm resonated with the relic's power.
In an instant, the space-time shift was complete.
Kaede watched as Isshiki's power carried him into the past, and the curve of his lips widened.
"You think going back in time means I can't touch you?"
Kaede's figure vanished.
When he reappeared, he stood outside the ruins of Rōran, the ancient kingdom that once sat atop the ninja world's greatest source of energy—the Dragon Vein.
Though Rōran itself had long since crumbled into dust, leaving only broken walls and rubble, the Dragon Vein still pulsed beneath the earth.
In Sage Mode, Kaede's sensory perception far surpassed any other in the ninja world.
It took him mere moments to locate the Dragon Vein deep underground.
The God Tree absorbed the world's natural energy, but it ignored the Dragon Vein's power. That was fine—because the Dragon Vein held the flow of space-time itself. If harnessed to its fullest, it could open the gate to the past.
For Kaede, wielding such power was hardly a challenge.
Natural energy gathered around him, the ground trembling violently as if something beneath was about to burst free.
With a deafening boom, the earth split apart.
A surge of purple dragon-shaped energy roared into the sky.
The force was so immense that cracks spread across the ground for dozens of kilometers, and the heavens themselves seemed stained violet.
The massive energy took the form of a five-clawed dragon—only a shape, with no true life in its eyes, clearly just the manifestation of the Dragon Vein's power.
The violent aura immediately lashed toward Kaede.
Far away, many felt the earth's upheaval and turned their eyes toward the ruins of Rōran.
When the purple energy rose into the air, Onoki's expression twisted in shock.
"This… this is the Dragon Vein!" he said, his teeth chattering.
The Dragon Vein's power was legendary. Many nations had tried to claim it, but none had ever truly controlled it. And now, it had appeared again.
Onoki muttered under his breath, realizing that any thoughts of biding their time until Kaede's death were nothing but a fool's dream.
Orochimaru, watching from a distance, whispered to himself, "So that's the Dragon Vein… it's far stronger than the White Snake Sage of Ryūchi Cave."
He had seen the White Snake Sage with his own eyes, and yet the difference in their powers was on an entirely different level.
The dragon-shaped energy attacked with fury, but Kaede's Rinnegan spun wildly.
"Ahhh!"
The Dragon Vein's energy let out a cry like a living creature as Kaede absorbed it, turning it into his nourishment.
He didn't use it to strengthen himself immediately—instead, he traced Isshiki's trail.
The Dragon Vein recorded the threads of space-time, and combined with the faint link to Isshiki's power, Kaede quickly pinpointed his location.
A grin spread across his face.
"Little mouse… I'm coming for you."
Natural energy and the God Tree's chakra poured into the Dragon Vein's seal. Purple light flared, and the space around him began to shudder.
The illusory gate of time appeared, growing larger as his power surged.
Once it reached the threshold he needed, Kaede stepped into it without hesitation.
The moment he entered, the Dragon Vein's seal lost its supply of energy and shut down instantly.
(End of Chapter)
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