Great sound is silent, great form is formless.
If Ōtsutsuki Shibai's full power unleashed created a myriad of chaotic and earth-shattering phenomena, then the single strike from Sawara Kiri, in the eyes of onlookers, left only a profound, soul-deep tranquility.
Extreme stillness.
The scene before them turned into a blank, and the grand tremors that reached their ears quickly exceeded everyone's endurance limit. Even Hashirama and others, who were Edo Tensei bodies, could only feel their grave-like bodies being peeled away piece by piece, as if their entire beings were about to turn to ash under the almost endlessly rising temperature and aftershocks.
But the moment that blade truly struck the surface of Ōtsutsuki Shibai's body at the very center of the earth, all sense of destruction reverted to an illusion.
"Buzz—"
A belated sound, like an echo.
A mark suddenly spanning thousands of miles burst forth, surging straight towards the very front of the earth with an unstoppable momentum, like a storm and a flood.
Not only the ground, but even the sky was split in two by this single strike, cracking into a profound canyon abyss that stretched as far as the eye could see at the edge of their vision, flowing away with the endless aftershocks.
Uchiha Megumi, completely enveloped within Susanoo, stared blankly at the scene before her.
It wasn't until the sound reached her ears that she suddenly realized that the surface of the jet-black Susanoo, which enveloped her like a divine statue, was now covered in spiderweb-like cracks, shattering brittlely like a piece of dropped glass. Merely the light and shockwaves were enough to make this 'absolute defense' unsustainable, and the Chakra used to maintain Susanoo within her body had vanished by more than half, as if drained by a pump. Fatigue and weariness suddenly assaulted her mind, making her legs feel weak and almost causing her to collapse.
Immediately after, with a "bang," the Susanoo she had barely maintained burst apart, transforming into scattered embers of Chakra.
However, Tsunade, Namikaze Minato, and others, who were enveloped behind her, seemed completely oblivious to the situation before them, staring absently at the distant battlefield.
In the center of the distant battlefield, Ōtsutsuki Shibai, who had expanded countless times and seemed to merge with the entire Ninja World under the support of the earth, had now completely vanished.
The hundreds-of-meters-tall earth statue turned into a sky full of dust, which was then scattered by the subsequent swirling storm, revealing the scene in the center of the battlefield.
The overall raised highland had been split in two by that previous strike. In the center of the originally complete hemispherical hill, a rift, extending all the way to the horizon, had appeared at some point. Its width alone was at least several hundred meters, and the cut ends presented smooth, scorched black cross-sections. The faintly emanating heat created shimmering, distorted high-temperature steam in the vision, rising hazily into the clouds.
Those who had survived to this point on the battlefield were considered the elite of the elite throughout the entire Ninja World. Many of them had fought against various Tailed Beast and monsters, and there was even Uzumaki Kushina, a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, among them. Not a few had witnessed the power of the Biju Bomb.
However, even if all the destructive scenes they had ever witnessed were combined, they still couldn't compare to the shock they felt at this moment.
"This kid is simply a monster."
Hashirama seemed completely oblivious to the layer of marks peeled away from his face by the aftershocks, his eyes wide as he stared at the scene before him, mumbling unconsciously.
Tobirama, meanwhile, glanced at him, as if smiling, yet also a little wistful.
He hadn't expected to hear such words from his elder brother after dying.
But compared to that kid, even his elder brother was just a mortal, wasn't he?
Madara, standing beside them, couldn't help but clench his fists, staring intently at Sawara Kiri, who still stood at the very top of the sky, looking down at the earth. His heart was filled with complex emotions.
Even if he pushed his imagination to its limit, he could at most reach the level of Ōtsutsuki Shibai—no, perhaps even fall short.
After all, that was the power of 'Yin-Yang,' a fusion of his and Hashirama's bloodlines.
Yet, Ōtsutsuki Shibai, who was more than one level above that standard, was struck down by a single blade from the opponent.
What that feeling of shattered ideals was truly like, perhaps no one could know.
However, he himself didn't even notice that a sense of relief vaguely lingered in his heart.
Only Sawara Kiri remained silent, looking down at the figure on the ground.
Although the severed earth deity statue was shattered, it still fell to the ground in countless pieces, scattered on both sides of the mark that traversed the earth.
His azure eyes, containing rings, were now fixed on one of those pieces.
"Crack…"
A pale hand tore through the rock, covered in crimson blood, and crawled out from beneath.
Ōtsutsuki Shibai's frail figure lay prostrate on the ground.
At this moment, he was left with only one arm and the upper part of his body; even one of the hideous horns on his head was broken. His entire clothing was tattered, making him look utterly miserable.
Two of the three eyeballs embedded in his face had already burst, leaving only the Rinnegan in the center of his forehead still open, though bloodstains seeped from around its socket, flowing incessantly.
"Hoo…hoo…"
Heavy breathing simultaneously emanated from his mouth and the massive wound where his waist had been severed. Looking from behind, one could even vaguely see his internal organs dragging out. Only a formidable life force still supported his body, allowing him to temporarily move with difficulty.
However, anyone could see that Ōtsutsuki Shibai was now at his limit.
Sawara Kiri descended to the ground and slowly walked towards him, his expression carrying a transcendent indifference, much like Ōtsutsuki Shibai's first appearance before him:
"Life force that doesn't match one's strength is, instead, a flaw."
"I advise you not to push yourself; it's better to just die like this obediently."
"Or…"
He extended the Nietono no Shana in his hand, as if asking.
"Shall I grant you 'this time's' death?"
"Ugh—!"
Crimson blood spurted from the body on the ground, splashing onto the earth, yet igniting tiny flames.
In Sawara Kiri's eyes at this moment, there were no longer any secrets in this Ninja World. He could tell at a glance that it was Chakra fire, a result of degeneration caused by an excessive intake of natural energy that the body could no longer bear.
For energy beings like the Ōtsutsuki Clan, that meant his current body could no longer contain the power he possessed.
Similarly, this also indicated that Ōtsutsuki Shibai had now reached the end of his life.
However, despite having reached such a state, Ōtsutsuki Shibai still struggled to prop himself up with his sole remaining hand, lifting his head to try and meet Sawara Kiri's gaze. On his pale face, there was not the slightest fear of death.
"How…how did you do it?"
"I should have told you from the beginning—'Omnipotence and Omniscience.'"
Sawara Kiri patiently bent down to enlighten him: "Whether it's Ninja or Ōtsutsuki, in essence, they are merely different beings who fight using Chakra."
"Our battle, fundamentally, is a battle of Chakra."
"Heh, Omnipotence and Omniscience."
Ōtsutsuki Shibai struggled to grin, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth: "What arrogant, inferior beings."
"In that case…"
"Snap!"
Before he could finish his words, his remaining hand suddenly clamped onto Sawara Kiri's ankle, and the expression on his face instantly turned frantic. The Rinnegan in his forehead was bloodshot and bulging, and he roared:
"You must have seen what I'm about to do!"
Sawara Kiri's expression seemed to freeze for a moment. He looked down at the hand gripping his ankle and the bloodstains on his clothes, saying nothing.
However, the surface of Ōtsutsuki Shibai's severed body suddenly showed irregular, ink-like strokes running through his entire being. All the Chakra within him burned completely at this instant. His skin, muscles, bones, and even his organs all swelled several times over, and continued to expand, bloating like a balloon. Hideous blood vessels protruded like pipes from beneath his skin, covering every part of his body.
His expression became increasingly distorted, and his voice grew frantic and shrill:
"This death is merely another reincarnation!"
"Sawara Kiri!"
"As long as you, this anomaly, remain in this world, then across countless timelines, there will be an infinite number of me, an infinite number of people with Ōtsutsuki blood, continuously coming to the world where you exist!"
"Until you are completely annihilated!"
"Even if I can't kill you this time, it doesn't matter!"
"Even the power remaining in this body is enough to flatten the entire surface!"
"Watch with your own eyes!"
"This world, and all the people you care about, dying before your eyes—"
The frantic voice suddenly fell silent before it could finish speaking.
Sawara Kiri's voice sounded again, but it was an answer to an unasked question:
"Of course, I saw it."
Ōtsutsuki Shibai's distorted expression suddenly turned to bewilderment.
The world in his eyes seemed to have suddenly risen a few degrees from where he had been lying prostrate. The illusory world presented a fragmented, mirror-like sensation, and even time seemed to have been stolen for a few seconds.
Blood dripped from the smooth cut onto the scorched earth, spreading out in dull rings.
The pale hair was held in Sawara Kiri's hand, but its weight was light, as if swaying.
That last Rinnegan glanced downwards, only to see a headless corpse lying prostrate on the ground. Even the 'Karma' that had attempted to cling to Sawara Kiri's body just before death seemed to have been cut off out of thin air, solidified on his shriveled skin.
'Kyōka Suigetsu'
As if finally understanding something, Ōtsutsuki Shibai looked on unwillingly, but could no longer make a sound.
Finally, even that Rinnegan slowly closed.
And then, silence.
Almost the instant he closed his eyes.
Whether it was Otsutsuki Momoshiki and Kinshiki, who remained in the bodies of several Kumogakure Ninja in the form of 'Karma' awaiting their arrival, or Ōtsutsuki Urashiki, who was barely surviving in a laboratory somewhere underground in the Land of Lightning, or even Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, who had just appeared on the battlefield and been caught by his own boss, all the marks they had left on these individuals simultaneously ignited. Along with them, the people they were attached to also turned into charred ashes, wailing and collapsing to the ground.
It was as if some indescribable great power had, across vast distances, wiped away all traces of their existence in one fell swoop.
Sawara Kiri looked up, gazing at the Divine Tree still standing on the earth in the distance.
The giant tree, laden with countless buds, instantly bloomed.
The countless people wrapped in cocoons on its branches were also given life once more under the Chakra tide, slowly falling from the sky, their Rinnegan's ocular power rapidly fading.
People, unaware of what had happened, stood up blankly, then looked at those around them, all with confused expressions.
The remaining Otsutsuki Hagoromo clan members on the moon suddenly discovered that the ancestral sealing scroll, once used to seal Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, had abruptly lost its power. Even the lunar soil beneath their feet seemed to radiate unprecedented vitality under the infusion of some abnormal Chakra.
Under the battle between Sawara Kiri and Ōtsutsuki Shibai, the earth, torn into endless pits, was also smoothed by an invisible force.
Mountains, canyons, trees, rocks, soil…
All were swept flat.
Everything within sight was smoothed over.
Only those who were once 'Jewel Ninja,' the Ninja who were the vessels of the Shikon no Tama, quietly turned to ash and vanished in the sudden gust of wind.
Looking out.
The sky was clear, vast, and wide.
Sawara Kiri quietly watched scene after scene unfold.
Although the ability 'Omnipotence and Omniscience' brought by 'The Almighty' was neither truly omniscient nor omnipotent.
However, within the scope of what Chakra could achieve, it could still have some effect.
Just as he was thinking this, he seemed to suddenly 'see' something and abruptly turned his head in the direction of Uchiha Megumi and the others.
Looking at the girl who was coincidentally staring directly back at him, a familiar smile slowly appeared on his previously somewhat indifferent expression.
As if noticing his smile, Megumi's eyes, which had been somewhat hesitant just moments before, immediately reddened, and she instantly started to move.
Sawara Kiri also opened his arms to her.
But before she could rush over, a dark figure suddenly leaped past her, crashing into Sawara Kiri's embrace with a thud, nearly making him stumble.
"Kiri!!!"
Upon seeing who it was, Megumi, who had just been feeling a little moved, immediately gritted her teeth.
"Naturally evil Uchiha Hikari, I'll just—"
Before she could finish speaking, another figure rushed out from beside her, embracing the bewildered Sawara Kiri.
"You brat, I really thought we were done for this time!"
Even Sawara Yuki, who was further back, jumped over like a playful puppy and hung onto his neck, wailing louder than anyone else:
"Exactly! If you had a trump card like that, why didn't you use it earlier? You scared us to death!"
A vein throbbed on Uchiha Megumi's forehead. She was truly exhausted from maintaining Susanoo for so long to protect these people, but she still forced her shaky legs to push into the crowd, grabbing one of his arms and declaring loudly:
"Kiri is mine!"
However, this loud declaration of ownership seemed to further ignite everyone's desire to tease Megumi. Even Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina squeezed in, laughing as they lifted Sawara Kiri, tossing him high into the air, cheering words that couldn't be clearly heard.
Only Konan watched the crowd in front of her with a complex expression, as if sighing, yet also letting out a long, relieved breath.
As long as he was still here, perhaps no one would have to experience the suffering they endured in their youth again?
"I never thought that old fogies like us, who have long been dead, would actually have the chance to witness a battle like this. Dying was worth it."
Hashirama folded his arms, feeling a strange sense of wistfulness.
"An old fogey who's already dead, talking about dying being worth it. What a joke."
Madara also stood beside him, just as he used to when they fought side-by-side, habitually contradicting him.
"Speaking of you, Madara, I grieved for your death for so long back then, and it turns out you're still alive, you bastard!"
"Huh? That's your own stupidity! You didn't even notice where my corpse was! You just threw it to your foolish younger brother after the funeral and didn't care, just knew how to hide at home and cry, and then you suffocated yourself to death within two years! You think I don't know?"
"What?! You…you saw it?!" Hashirama's eyes widened, and his old face couldn't help but redden.
Madara's tone hitched, and he stiffly changed the subject: "If we had been like that kid earlier, you and I, working together, could have flattened the entire Ninja World. There wouldn't have been all those messy problems later!"
"And weren't you yourself deceived by that black thing, believing in Yin-Yang! Right! This is clearly your fault!"
"You know nothing about ocular power!"
"What ocular power or not, you still lost to me at the Valley of the End."
"You scoundrel, do you want to fight?!"
"Fight then! Am I afraid of you?!"
As the two old men spoke, they grabbed each other's collars, just like before, glaring at each other and bickering like children.
Tobirama stood to the side, feeling inexplicably at ease.
He turned his head and looked again at the figure being tossed into the sky and then falling heavily. A faint smile unconsciously appeared on his stern face.
No matter what, it was finally over.