After everyone gathered, Ian raised his hand and lightly swiped at the empty air in front of him.
The space before him was torn open, revealing a pitch-black rift. The other end of the rift was none other than the moon.
"Let's go," he said.
Ian was the first to step inside.
Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha stepped onto the moon. Even they could not suppress the surging emotions in their hearts at this moment. They were men who stood at the absolute pinnacle of the shinobi world, believing they had seen everything there was to see.
But the moment their physical bodies truly stepped into the cosmos, they realized just how insignificant they had been in the past.
Beneath their feet, the familiar continental plates of the massive azure planet were clearly visible. As powerful as the two of them were, they couldn't help but be affected by this profound shock stemming from the depths of their very existence, rendering them momentarily speechless.
...
The group arrived at the far side of the moon, where a massive cavern was located.
In the center of the cavern, an artificial sun hung high, its light illuminating the subterranean space. Madara Uchiha was surprised to discover a vast complex of ancient architecture here.
However, a massacre was currently taking place within these ancient buildings.
"Boom!"
The sounds of slaughter in the distance shattered the dead silence.
The group looked over, stumbling right upon a bloody internal conflict.
Several figures with deathly pale skin, dressed in white robes, were frantically slaughtering their own kin.
Their movements were crazed. With every strike, a Byakugan was forcefully gouged out of a clansman's eye socket.
Those Byakugan, still dripping with blood, were tossed one by one into a giant eyeball resting on a distant altar.
That giant eye was formed from the convergence of countless Byakugan, possessing astonishing visual prowess.
It was none other than the Giant Tenseigan.
"For the destiny of the Otsutsuki clan!"
"To destroy those despicable monkeys on the surface who stole chakra!"
"Offer up your eyes!"
The young man leading them roared with a crazed expression.
Watching his highly inefficient slaughter, Ian turned his head and softly instructed a few Uchiha clansmen behind him who were bored out of their minds, "He's killing too slowly."
"You guys go help him out so he can fulfill his clan's long-cherished wish a little sooner," he added.
"Yes," they replied in unison.
Several Uchiha clansmen moved at the command, their figures vanishing from where they stood.
They turned into several afterimages and charged into the battlefield. The Otsutsuki clansmen conducting the bloody ritual only felt their vision blur.
The next second.
"Slash!"
"Slash!"
Several lines of blood sprayed out.
Whether it was those still putting up a stubborn resistance or the Otsutsuki branch family members engaged in the frantic slaughter, all of them froze in place.
A thin line of blood appeared across each of their necks.
The Uchiha clansmen flicked the blood off their blades and returned to stand beside Ian.
The entire process took no more than a few seconds.
The tragic and heroic ritual of the Otsutsuki branch family, which had staked the lives of their entire clan, was forcibly ended by the Uchiha.
Ian walked up to the altar and directly reached out, plucking the Giant Tenseigan right off of it.
The supreme treasure that gathered the visual prowess of the entire moon-dwelling Otsutsuki clan shrank down and was held between his fingers.
He casually tossed the "glass bead" to a clansman behind him.
"Take this back and give it to the Hyuga later. They've been staring at our Rinnegan all day and are practically going crazy with envy," Ian chuckled.
Having done all this, the group walked toward the core of the moon.
There lay the sealed origin of everything.
A massive spherical rock formation hovered in the core space, countless sealing formulas flowing across its surface, exuding an ancient aura.
This was the cage personally laid down by the Sage of Six Paths, sealing the progenitor of chakra, Kaguya Otsutsuki.
Beside them, Black Zetsu trembled with excitement.
Its plan, plotted over a millennium! Today, it was finally going to succeed!
Ian slowly raised his hand, his fingertips just about to touch the massive rock sphere.
Right at that moment!
A colossal surge of chakra suddenly descended!
The entire interior space of the moon was dyed in a layer of golden yellow.
A white-haired old man holding a shakujo, surrounded by pitch-black Truth-Seeking Orbs, slowly materialized in front of the seal.
His purple Rinnegan swept over the group with majestic authority.
"Stop!" he commanded.
"Those who disrupt life and death, and desecrate the seal, do you know your sins?!"
Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha's bodies tensed up.
Looking at the figure before them who only existed in legends, they blurted out that name in shock.
"The Sage of Six Paths?!"
Hagoromo Otsutsuki hovered majestically.
He swept his gaze over the bewildered Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, the reincarnations of his sons, Asura and Indra.
"Asura! Indra! You have ultimately strayed onto the wrong path," he proclaimed.
"And you..." His gaze shifted to Ian. "The power within you does not belong to this world. Just who are you?!"
Facing the questioning of this founder of Ninshu, Madara Uchiha felt no fear; instead, his entire body trembled with excitement.
"Hahahaha—!"
Pointing at Hagoromo's phantom, he let out an unbridled, maniacal laugh.
"Old man, save your preachy tone when talking to me!"
"You may have created Ninshu, but that doesn't change the fact that you're a remnant of the old era!"
"Today, I'll let you see with your own eyes what the power of the new era truly is!"
Ian lazily picked his ear, completely uninterested in this parent-child reunion that spanned a millennium. He waved his hand at the highly spirited Madara.
"Madara, go ahead. Stretch your bones a bit," Ian said.
"Give your ancestor a proper 'filial' greeting."
Receiving the order, Madara's aura erupted completely without any reservation!
Boom—!
A pure white Six Paths cloak manifested around him, a large number of Truth-Seeking Orbs circled behind his back, and his eyes were perfect purple Rinnegan.
But that wasn't all!
He directly opened the Eight Inner Gates (Minecraft Mod Version)!
"[Eight Inner Gates Formation·Gate of Death·Open]!"
Blood-red steam shot into the sky, transforming into a ferocious blood dragon around him!
The constant health-draining debuff from opening the Gate of Death was absolutely nothing in the face of his Sage Body's hyper-regeneration!
His skin cracked the moment the gate opened, only to heal in the very next instant. This was the [Eternal·Eight Gates Fully Opened] mode with zero side effects!
"Old man, keep your eyes wide open and watch closely!" Madara shouted.
Madara's figure vanished from his spot.
The next second, he appeared right in front of Hagoromo, delivering a massive kick straight at the Sage of Six Paths' face!
Space itself distorted under this kick!
The Sage of Six Paths' previously calm expression suddenly changed drastically!
He immediately crossed his arms, transforming six Truth-Seeking Orbs into a pitch-black shield in front of him for defense.
However, it was useless.
"Boom—!"
A massive explosion echoed throughout the moon.
The Sage of Six Paths' Truth-Seeking Orb shield didn't even last a single second before it was kicked into disintegration and annihilation by Madara Uchiha!
His body was sent flying directly by the kick, smashing viciously deep into the moon's crust!
Madara, having opened the Gate of Death, slowly retracted his leg and looked coldly in the direction the Sage of Six Paths had flown.
The Sage of Six Paths struggled to crawl out of the ground. If not for the protection of numerous Six Paths sacred treasures, he would have been shattered to pieces by that kick just now.
The Sage of Six Paths looked at Madara Uchiha, who was wreathed in blood-red steam.
"Madara Uchiha! In terms of taijutsu, no one can surpass you. I, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, declare you the strongest!!!"