"Ugh~"
The Fourth Raikage coughed up a mouthful of blood. Even with the protection of his Strongest Lightning Release Armor, his internal organs were displaced from the violent impact, his vision blurred, and his left arm was completely numb and twisted.
He had never imagined that one day he would be beaten to near death by pure strength. No Chakra, no Bloodline Limit, nothing. This Tao Bai Bai simply possessed strength that was unbelievably immense.
Even a Tailed Beast couldn't possess such terrifying strength.
He slashed with his right hand, and his twisted left arm instantly broke off. He seized the opportunity to use Lightning Release Body Flicker to create distance, but after only a few steps, he again coughed up a large mouthful of blood and collapsed weakly to the ground.
Bai Cangshu ignored the Fourth Raikage; he was almost nauseated by the perfect benevolence and supreme goodness in Ping Zhongshi's eyes.
"I say, are you really starting to think of yourself as Marika, huh?!"
Bai Cangshu had no interest in debating what constituted perfect benevolence and supreme goodness. Such matters, which had no objective standard and varied completely based on each person's moral level and biological subjectivity, were a complete waste of time to debate.
However, Ping Zhongshi's current state, where he was clearly on the verge of losing his very 'self' yet stubbornly immersed in the so-called beautiful dream of making the world better, truly displeased Bai Cangshu.
Ping Zhongshi had no idea who Marika was, nor did he care. He could feel Tao Bai Bai's killing intent towards him, but he simply didn't care.
On the contrary, the overwhelming power Tao Bai Bai displayed, instantly defeating the Fourth Raikage, made him truly see the dawn of the Golden Tree Era.
Miss Providence had once told him that for the Golden Tree Era to descend, it would inevitably face immense resistance. The entire world's order and power system would attack him.
That was a power that even the Hokage couldn't protect himself from.
But if the Hokage couldn't... Tao Bai Bai could!
Tsk.
Bai Cangshu felt bored. There was no possibility of communication with someone so immersed in a "martyr" mindset. Bai Cangshu tightened his grip, preparing to kill Ping Zhongshi first, abandon this trial mission, and then find that woman and cut her down along with the Golden Tree.
At this moment, a golden light suddenly appeared from a great distance. Ping Zhongshi, in Bai Cangshu's hand, inexplicably found a surge of strength. He turned his head and saw a corner of the sky to the south in the distance lit up by the golden light.
"That is…"
Bai Cangshu, holding Ping Zhongshi, walked in front of the Fourth Raikage. He raised his foot and stomped down fiercely.
Boom!
The air suddenly distorted, and the Fourth Raikage's body twisted and disappeared.
Bai Cangshu looked down at Uchiha Obito, who appeared distorted in front of him, his voice filled with killing intent.
"Uchiha Obito, have you found your other eye?"
He dropped Ping Zhongshi and spread his hands. The moment that stance appeared, Uchiha Obito felt a chilling killing intent completely envelop him.
Tao Bai Bai had murderous intent; he needed to escape!
But Uchiha Obito tried several times and simply couldn't move. An infinitely more powerful will had appeared within his body.
He could only watch helplessly as his body remained in place.
"Young man, before you kill these people, would you be willing to listen to my benevolence…"
An extremely strong Chakra condensed in front of Uchiha Obito. The Yin Release Chakra, representing Mental energy, and the Yang Release Chakra, representing physical and life energy, began to merge.
Finally, a black orb appeared.
This black orb did not emit the strong gravitational pull like when Pain used Earth Explosion Star, but it made Bai Cangshu stop his movements.
Just by seeing this thing, he felt an intense sense of danger. His cells, his body, were repelling this thing.
That thing possessed terrifying destructive power for any living being.
Yin-Yang Release: Truth-Seeking Ball…
This was one of the top power manifestations in this world, almost touching energy control, a power truly transcending the human Shinobi level.
Bai Cangshu stared at Uchiha Obito at this moment. The calmness in his Sharingan was completely different from Obito's.
"You are… Six Paths Sage?!"
—
Outside Konoha Village, the colossal Golden Tree continued to grow, its height already approaching a thousand meters. The golden radiance spilling from the tree almost enveloped an area of several hundred kilometers, continuously drifting further away with the wind.
The Shinobi and ordinary people of Konoha Village all looked up, stunned, at the miraculous sight.
Many who previously disbelieved in the so-called golden law now wavered.
Jiraiya stood at the village entrance, watching the golden radiance fall. In a trance, he realized that this was no longer the Konoha he knew.
Beneath this Golden Tree, there would be no more embers, nor any new saplings.
No matter how beautiful the Golden Tree Era depicted by that woman was, all he could see was stagnant water.
Without death, with everything conforming to the order of the Golden Law, would the world truly be better?
But he turned his head, and the eyes of a large number of Shinobi in the village, including those from the Uchiha Clan, were already glowing golden.
This war had left Konoha in an irrecoverable state.
Perhaps, that Orochimaru fellow would like this so-called world without death… He gave a self-deprecating smile and returned to the village somewhat listlessly.
He had to quickly find Minato's son. Uchiha Shisui said that Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha of their clan had both gone missing simultaneously, hinting that Tao Bai Bai and Providence were most likely involved.
Currently, Uchiha Shisui had already left the village to pursue Tao Bai Bai, so he, naturally, had to go find Providence.
Jiraiya's speed was quite swift. Ten kilometers beyond the Konoha backyard, he saw the two figures standing at the base of the Golden Tree.
The red-haired Le Ren looked back at Jiraiya, while the woman further ahead completely ignored him. She simply spoke to Le Ren, addressing him:
"Run, Mr. Le Ren."
Le Ren lowered his head, his face unable to hide his confusion and anger.
Their mission progress had been very significant; they had successfully used the Akatsuki's actions to destabilize Konoha and trigger a war, absorbing much sustenance for the Golden Tree during the conflict.
At the same time, Tao Bai Bai's existence had caused a terrible commotion, drawing the Shinobi World's attention away.
Coupled with the fact that the one bearing the golden law was a character related to Tao Bai Bai, the punishment for world-line deviation would not affect either of them.
In his opinion, this was a divinely ingenious strategy.
It was proof that Miss Providence was far superior to those renowned individuals in the space.
But such a Miss Providence had just told him that she had trapped Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha inside the Golden Tree.
And that she would ultimately use shackles to break their bonds, at great cost, to take one of them out of this world.
He completely didn't understand the purpose of doing this. Was it just because she wanted the half of the Nine-Tails inside Naruto, or did she want the destiny carried by both of them?
But everyone knew that once such a thing was done, if the Children of the World suffered, the world will would directly trigger a terrible disaster.
At this very moment, this colossal Golden Tree, which appeared as a miracle to the people of Konoha, was a death warrant for Providence and Le Ren.
This meant that the golden law was very likely absorbing the power of those two Children of the World.
"Why, Miss Providence? Is it just because you don't want to offend that Tao Bai Bai?!"
"If we don't bother him, he might even be killed by those Six Paths Level guys…"
Le Ren had always seemed very carefree and not particularly concerned with personal gain.
But at this moment, he lost his composure.
Providence merely looked up at the towering Golden Tree and sighed,
"How beautiful…"
She would not explain to Le Ren that all her decisions were completely devoid of personal feelings; everything was the choice of the perfect timeline.
It was only because mortals were too insignificant to see such distant and complex changes that people always lamented—'Heaven's will is high and hard to question since ancient times.'
Heaven's will was not high, nor was it difficult. Heaven's will always flowed among countless choices.
You must discard greed and make every choice well, only then can you reach the end.
Before her eyes, countless scenes seemed to appear, and in each scene, a terrifying monster cruelly smiled as it tore her apart.
Tao Bai Bai… What exactly are you? How could you be… so abnormal.