Tobirama Senju, Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha, Izuna Uchiha, Hamura Ōtsutsuki, and the others were stunned by Hagoromo's words.
The five of them had been completely focused on fighting Kaguya and trying to persuade her.
They knew something had gone wrong on the other side. Ashura had died after being struck by All-Killing Ash Bones, and Indra had awakened the Rinnegan after consuming Hashirama's flesh. However, they had no idea why matters had developed that way.
"But if Indra and Ashura are never born, what will happen to Madara and me?!" Hashirama asked Tobirama out of habit, visibly panicked.
"You are merely reincarnations of their chakra. Even without them, you should not disappear," Tobirama Senju analyzed rationally. "However, without the influence of their chakra, your personalities in this world and some of the crucial decisions you made concerning the village's development might be different."
Madara Uchiha and Izuna Uchiha relaxed slightly upon hearing that.
But before they could finish breathing a sigh of relief, a purple Susanoo suddenly appeared before Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki and launched an indiscriminate attack against both him and Hamura!
Who could have expected Black Zetsu's curse to come true so quickly?
Had Indra, driven to the depths of despair, truly decided to kill his own father?!
"No," Madara Uchiha said. "He's aiming for Hamura Ōtsutsuki!"
Perhaps because he and Sasuke were both reincarnations of Indra's chakra, they understood Indra's intentions better than anyone else.
"He wants the young Rikudō Sennin to experience the pain of losing his younger brother too!"
Not the kind of loss that could be reversed with a Senjutsu talisman.
A permanent loss...
"But even after awakening the Rinnegan, Indra still can't defeat his father, can he?"
As the father and son from different eras began fighting, the people from the mission scroll world had no idea how they could possibly bring this parallel world to a peaceful conclusion.
"That guy isn't stupid," Sasuke said.
"That guy?" Naruto froze briefly, but quickly understood from the battle that Sasuke was referring to Indra.
The moment Sasuke finished speaking, Indra turned his attention toward Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei, which was drawing in the surrounding earth as it rose higher and grew larger.
Sealed inside were Kaguya Ōtsutsuki at the height of her power and the newly born Black Zetsu.
Indra stared at the moon that would illuminate the night for thousands of years. A vortex seemed to spin within his newly awakened Rinnegan, and an eerie gleam flashed through his eyes.
"He's using the power of the Rinnegan to absorb chakra from Kaguya," Madara Uchiha said, explaining his conclusion to Hashirama and the others despite his own astonishment.
"!!!!"
"He's absorbing Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's power?!"
"Is that even possible?!"
Naruto suddenly remembered something. "It's just like my final battle against Sasuke in the main timeline! That Sasuke used Chibaku Tensei to seal Kurama and the others, then absorbed their chakra to fight me!"
Indra's Arrow!
By the time Naruto warned them, Indra had already absorbed enough chakra from Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
Just like the Sasuke from the main timeline, Indra used his Susanoo as a vessel for the excess chakra.
The purple Susanoo transformed into chakra armor capable of containing Kaguya's power. The sight was every bit as shocking as Indra's newly awakened Rinnegan!
"Older Brother..."
Hamura Ōtsutsuki looked toward Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki beside him.
The young Rikudō Sennin frowned deeply, his pale purple Rinnegan fixed upon Indra inside the Susanoo.
Indra explored the power of his new Dōjutsu, then drew his bow and aimed at Hamura Ōtsutsuki beside Hagoromo.
Realizing his intention, the furious Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki once again manifested his enormous pale blue Susanoo.
"What are you trying to do, Indra?!"
"Send this world back into reincarnation..."
"Reincarnation?!"
Hamura Ōtsutsuki from the mission scroll world tried to stop his nephew. "Is reincarnation an ability of your Rinnegan?!"
Indra ignored him, keeping his arrow aimed directly at Hamura Ōtsutsuki of this parallel world.
"Indra!!"
The much larger pale blue Susanoo moved in front of the purple Susanoo.
The sudden conflict between father and son left Naruto and the others at a loss. They did not even know how to begin persuading them.
Tobirama Senju pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed.
"Are you about to say that everyone with the Uchiha Sharingan is insane again?" Izuna Uchiha asked from beside him, his voice full of warning.
Tobirama Senju glanced at him. "I was going to say that I never expected even the Rikudō Sennin to be so obstinate in his youth. As expected of someone with the Rinnegan."
Was that not essentially the same thing?
Izuna cursed inwardly. He and Tobirama Senju truly were incompatible. In that world where Tobirama was a woman and the two of them were engaged, Izuna would probably have been driven to an early grave before he reached thirty!
Indra and Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki had truly begun fighting.
Everyone else watched tensely.
They wanted to persuade Indra to stop, but they had no idea how to enter the battlefield between father and son. Naruto and the others had not even recovered from Ashura's death yet.
At that moment, only Tobirama Senju, who remained calm and objective, remembered something important.
"Naruto."
Naruto sniffled. "What is it, Second Hokage?"
Tobirama had already grown accustomed to the way Naruto addressed him.
"Your mission should count as a failure, correct?" he asked. "What happens when you fail a mission?"
A failed mission.
Ever since receiving the mission scroll, they had never failed before.
But this time, they truly had failed to prevent the Rikudō Sennin of this era from sealing his mother, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
After hearing Tobirama's question, Naruto hurriedly forced down his grief and took the mission scroll from his ninja tool pouch.
Minato Namikaze, Sasuke Uchiha, and the others gathered around after overhearing their conversation.
[Mission Rank: S-rank]
[Mission Objective: Prevent Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki and Hamura Ōtsutsuki from sealing Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.]
[Mission Status: Failed.]
Mission status: Failed...
"What are we supposed to do?! Does that mean we can't go back?!!"
While Indra and Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki fought fiercely nearby, Naruto and the others found themselves facing an enormous crisis of their own.
Were they going to be trapped in this ancient era?
Absolutely not!
Naruto and Sasuke felt their scalps go numb.
They had only just regained their families. How could they possibly remain in this godforsaken place?!
"But the mission scroll hasn't provided any instructions. How are we supposed to return?"
The thought of being trapped there forever left everyone deeply distressed.
"If there's no other choice..." Adult Obito began, steeling himself. "Maybe I should try awakening the Rinnegan too?"
Madara Uchiha, Hashirama Senju, and the others stared at him as though asking whether he had also gone insane.
"Barring anything unexpected, my Rinnegan ability should allow me to travel between parallel worlds," Adult Obito explained. "At least, the version of me from another parallel world possessed that ability. He was the one who took me to that strange world where Kakashi and Itachi were both women."
Madara Uchiha was speechless. He had no desire whatsoever to visit such a world.
"Do you think you can awaken the Rinnegan whenever you please?" He pointed toward Kakashi and Rin Nohara. "Even if I killed both of them right here, you still might not awaken it."
"Uh..."
Obito naturally had no intention of letting Madara actually do that. Besides, just as Madara had said, even if it did awaken his eyes, he would probably lose his mind in the process.
Just as everyone was at a loss, Sasuke Uchiha, who had kept his Sharingan activated while trying to glare a new mission into existence on the scroll, called out to them.
"Look!"
Everyone immediately turned toward the mission scroll in Naruto's hands.
It still displayed the S-rank mission to prevent the Rikudō Sennin and his younger brother from sealing Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
However, its status had changed.
[Mission Status]
First Failure: Failed to prevent Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki and Hamura Ōtsutsuki from sealing Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
First failure?!
Did that mean there would be another chance?
Just as the thought crossed their minds, everyone, including Indra as he fought Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, felt an overwhelming force pulling at them.
"It's a space-time vortex!"
Indra immediately abandoned his battle with Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki and rushed toward Naruto and the others. He gathered all of Ashura's ashes into the chakra of his Susanoo.
The moment he finished, the powerful suction dragged them out of that world.
...
When they opened their eyes again, it was dusk.
Wooden buildings surrounded them, bearing some resemblance to the ninshū from Indra's memories.
Another line appeared on the mission scroll in Naruto's hands.
[Second Mission: Begin.]
The clang of weapons and sounds of battle came from the distance.
Everyone immediately hurried toward the noise. After their previous failure, they could no longer afford to take anything for granted.
The mission scroll had always given them such a strong sense of security that they had forgotten something important.
A ninja's mission was always accompanied by tremendous danger and risk.
But when they arrived, what they saw was so unexpected that none of them immediately intervened.
The two people fighting were Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki and Hamura Ōtsutsuki, the very brothers mentioned in their mission!
"This is the period when Mother controlled me and forced me to attack Older Brother!"
Fortunately, Hamura Ōtsutsuki from the mission scroll world immediately recognized the point in time they had reached.
He looked at the sky. "The battle will end very soon."
"End?" someone asked.
"Yes. Older Brother killed me and awakened the Rinnegan."
"Then why are you alive now?" Madara Uchiha asked.
"Before Older Brother left Mount Myōboku, Gamamaru gave him a talisman capable of reviving the dead. Older Brother used it to bring me back to life."
"Huh? Mount Myōboku has something that useful, dattebayo?" Naruto grew excited. "When I go there to train, I'll make sure to ask the toads for a few of them!"
"You complete idiot," Sasuke said. "How could something like that possibly be mass-produced?"
"Tch! You're insulting me again, you bastard Sasuke!!"
Before the two could begin arguing, Minato Namikaze stopped them.
For one thing, Kaguya, who possessed the Byakugan, had already turned to look in their direction.
For another...
Just as Hamura from the mission scroll world had said, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki of this era, left with no other choice, decided to kill his younger brother with his own hands.
"I'm sorry, Hamura."
A single tear rolled down the young Rikudō Sennin's face.
Powerful chakra and Lightning Release gathered in his hand. In the blink of an eye, he thrust it into Hamura Ōtsutsuki's heart.
At that exact moment, Hamura regained his senses.
"Older Brother... How did I...?"
He seemed astonished to discover that while trying to persuade their mother to abandon the God Tree and Infinite Tsukuyomi, she had taken control of him and forced him to fight his older brother.
Before he could finish speaking, Hamura Ōtsutsuki died.
Indra watched expressionlessly as Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki of this era tightly embraced Hamura and awakened the Rinnegan through his tears.
At this moment, Indra could not empathize with Hagoromo's feelings.
His own pale purple eyes remained fixed on Hagoromo's every movement as he watched him take the resurrection talisman from inside his robes...
***
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