Arisu did not look at him. His gaze swept toward Ashura and Hagoromo below.
Hagoromo immediately dismissed the Ninja Sect disciples around him.
"You all go back!", Hagoromo said calmly.
The disciples of the Ninja Sect obeyed and quickly left.
This kind of situation was no longer something they could step into.
In just a moment, the huge battlefield became empty. Only four figures remained, facing each other in the sky and on the ground.
Arisu, in white robes fluttering, hovered in midair, firmly standing in front of Indra.
Hagoromo stood upon the earth, his Rinnegan glowing with a cold purple light, protecting Ashura behind him.
The father and son on the ground faced the master and disciple in the sky from afar. The air almost solidified into iron.
"Hagoromo, Indra is stubborn and arrogant, trying to conquer everything with power. He is wrong, he should be punished, he should be defeated, but his crime does not deserve death.", Arisu stood in the sky and spoke slowly.
Hagoromo's expression darkened. He bowed respectfully. "Master, Indra attempted to overturn the Ninja Sect, plotted to seize power, slaughtered his clansmen. If his life is spared, he will surely become a great disaster in this world!"
"Hagoromo...", Arisu's voice spoke calmly.
"I will take Indra away and let him train with me, to grind away the violence in his nature."
When these words entered his ears, Hagoromo's heart instantly sank to the bottom.
Indra's talent was already unmatched in all ages of the Ninja Sect, born with the embryonic form of the Rinnegan, and the potential of the Sharingan was unfathomable.
If he followed this Arisu, who had lived nearly a thousand years and had heaven-reaching methods, to train, it would not take long before he would surely surpass himself.
And his own time was almost up, his days were few. Ashura, gentle by nature and only understanding bonds, would absolutely not be able to resist Indra once he fully matured.
'Today, Indra must die! Otherwise the Ninja Sect would perish, and there would be no peace in the world!'
"Master, forgive my disrespect!"
"Today, Indra must die! He has already walked onto Mother Kaguya's path. If you do not stop him now and instead help him, Indra will surely become the second Kaguya!", Hagoromo straightened up, the light in his Rinnegan suddenly surging.
He deliberately brought up Kaguya. Back then, Kaguya betrayed Arisu and brought chaos to the world. It was an old wound Arisu least wanted to mention.
Hagoromo bet that this would make Arisu change his mind.
But Arisu only shook his head lightly in his heart. His face remained calm. "You don't need to worry about that."
He knew better than anyone that although Indra's talent was heaven-defying, he had inherited too little of the Otsutsuki origin. His upper limit had long been locked. He absolutely could not become a second Kaguya.
Seeing that Arisu was unmoved, Hagoromo's face turned extremely ugly. His palm quietly clenched, his knuckles turning white.
It seemed that today, they could only meet with weapons.
He closed his eyes.
That night, Hagoromo thought for a long time.
Countless images surged in his mind, the smiling faces of tens of thousands of the Ninja Sect disciples, the suffering of ordinary people in endless wars, Ashura's innocent yet pure eyes, and the terror of Kaguya bringing chaos to the world back then…
He had spent his whole life sealing his mother, establishing the Ninja Sect, passing down its ideals. In the end, was he to watch helplessly as a second demon was born?
Moreover, this Arisu, who always stayed high above and never interfered with the Ninja Sect affairs, had chosen this moment to protect Indra...
Hagoromo suddenly opened his eyes. A trace of realization flashed in them.
Arisu had never truly been without desire. He was playing a huge game that would sweep across the world.
Indra was the chess piece in his hand.
After thinking this through, Hagoromo no longer hesitated. In the face of great love, what was small love worth?
"Master, Indra's sins are monstrous. For the Ninja Sect, for all the people in the world, he must die!", Hagoromo said firmly.
Indra beside him stiffened all over. His heart was instantly drowned in piercing cold.
His biological father truly wanted to kill him completely, not leaving even a single path to live.
Arisu frowned slightly. A trace of doubt flashed in his eyes.
Hagoromo sealed his own mother Kaguya, and now he wanted to kill his own son. For the so-called the Ninja Sect, the so-called great love, he had already become obsessed and lost his original heart.
Moreover, the talk about great love and small love back then was something Arisu had made up.
It was only to fool Hagoromo and Hamura into fighting against Kaguya.
He himself never believed that set of ideas.
"Hagoromo, you are trapped by appearances,", Arisu said softly.
"Sage, forgive me!", Hagoromo suddenly shouted, chakra exploding around him.
"For the Ninja Sect, for the world, abandoning small love for great love, there is nothing to hesitate about!"
"Today, I, Otsutsuki Hagoromo, wish to compete with you! Let me see your true strength, Master!"
As his voice fell, a completely black spear wrapped in chaotic chakra suddenly appeared in his hand. It was the Six Paths divine weapon, the Ama-no-hoko.
Ashura's face instantly filled with shock as he grabbed Hagoromo's sleeve.
'What the...'
'The current head of the Ninja Sect was actually going to fight the Grandmaster?!'
Ashura's voice trembled. "Father! That is the Grandmaster!"
He turned and knelt toward Arisu in the sky, tears streaming down his face. "Grandmaster, please take my brother away quickly! My father… he's just confused!"
"Ashura! Step back!", Hagoromo shouted sharply, forcing his son back. His Rinnegan stared fixedly at Indra, full of resolve.
"Before, I fought Kaguya. Today, I continue to fight Kaguya!"
"This is my last charge, Otsutsuki Hagoromo!"
In his eyes, Indra was already a demon who would bring chaos to the world, no different from Kaguya back then.
Indra had already stepped onto his mother's path.
If not stopped now, then when?
Arisu remained silent. Endless ages surged within his deep eyes. Pale golden sage chakra slowly rose around him like the rising sun, pressing down until even Six Paths chakra began to shrink.
Arisu spoke lightly, his voice not loud, "Hagoromo, how many years have you played in this world? Whether Indra is righteous or evil, what his true nature is, do you think I cannot see it?"
"Fine. Since your obsession will not die and you insist on fighting to the death, I will accompany you for a few moves."
Arisu had already understood in his heart that Hagoromo, who had exhausted his energy and was nearing the end of his life, was no longer at the peak strength he had when sealing Kaguya. He could not even maintain complete Six Paths level power.
If so, taking the Rinnegan now was fine.
Buzz!
Vast sage chakra gathered suddenly. A black crack split open in the void, and a pitch-black long sword appeared.
It was the Six Paths Sword.
This sword had been tempered by Arisu and fused with sage arts.
Holding the Six Paths Sword, its blade pointing diagonally downward, his white robe fluttering under the pressure, Arisu's eyes held no anger or joy.
He only spoke lightly, yet his voice rolled across the battlefield like thunder, "Hagoromo, do you want to taste whether my Six Paths Sword is sharp?"
"Hagoromo, do you truly want to see the world turn into devastation because of you and me?"
The Ama-no-hoko in Hagoromo's palm buzzed endlessly. The two Six Paths divine weapons resonated with each other, stirring chaotic chakra currents across the sky.
Hagoromo gripped the spear tightly. The purple light of his Rinnegan surged to the extreme. The earth around him split into endless ravines.
His sage chakra and Yin-Yang Release power wrapped around the spear, showing the last glory of his peak.
Truth-Seeking Balls also gathered and appeared one after another.
Facing this master who had lived nearly a thousand years and never shown his full strength, Hagoromo did not retreat at all. His voice rang like iron, full of determination.
"Master, my Ama-no-hoko is not dull either!"
As his words fell, the two pressures collided fiercely.
Invisible waves blasted away broken stones across the sky. The cracked earth collapsed layer by layer as the shockwaves swept outward.
These two divine weapons were based on will.
The stronger the will, the greater the power.
Both had lived so long. Their hearts were like iron companies.
With weapons like these in their hands, they were truly strong beyond limits.
Indra, protected beside Arisu by the sage talisman, looked at the Six Paths Sword that pressed upon earth, his eyes full of shock and awe.
Ashura, however, looked pale. Watching his father and the Grandmaster about to begin a divine weapon duel, his face was filled with fear and helplessness.
This was a battle with both raw power and real mechanics.
Everything fell silent. Only the two figures faced each other from afar.
The aura of the two of them... terrifying beyond words.