"Ashura is dead?"
An old and fading question.
By the time Indra received the news, it was already three months later.
At the moment he heard those words, Indra suddenly froze, then fell into a deep daze.
Indra stood stiffly in place.
After a long time, he finally muttered toward the empty air, his voice filled with a complicated feeling that could not be clearly explained.
"He died just like that? Died so peacefully…"
There was unwillingness, there was sadness. The lifelong enemy he had spent his entire life confronting and chasing had actually ended in such a plain and calm way. There was also a trace of emptiness that even he himself did not want to admit.
Staggering slightly, Indra slowly collapsed back onto the cold stone seat. The pride that remained around him could not hide the decline of old age.
"Grandpa, Grandpa, what's wrong with you?"
A childish voice rang out clearly. Indra's little grandson ran over to him with short steps, raised his innocent little face, and gently tugged at his cloak.
Indra's cloudy eyes suddenly came back to their senses. He slowly lowered his head. His withered hand gently rested on the top of his grandson's soft hair. The movement was rarely gentle, but his tone carried the obsession of his entire life.
"Just an old acquaintance… You must remember your mission. Destroy the Ninja Sect!"
The little grandson blinked his clear eyes, full of confusion.
"I understand, Grandpa."
The little grandson still nodded obediently and replied softly.
"Good child...", Indra said nothing more.
He slowly stood up
and walked step by step toward the outside of the hall.
At some unknown moment, white snow had begun to fall from the sky. Large snowflakes drifted everywhere, covering the world in white.
The cold wind swept the snow and howled past, striking his shoulders coldly. It soaked through the thick cloak, and the piercing cold spread through his limbs and bones.
"Cold? Could it be that after the soul is weakened, the lifespan really becomes shorter?"
Indra raised his eyes toward the lead-gray sky, letting the cold wind fill his clothes. His voice was so light that it was almost swallowed by the wind and snow.
His feet stepped onto the thick snow, making small crunching sounds.
Amid the endless falling snow, the figure who had been proud his entire life finally could no longer hold on. He slowly collapsed onto the cold snow-covered ground.
"Grandpa!!!"
A heart-breaking cry suddenly tore through the quiet of the ninja clan created by Indra, causing the entire clan to shake with shock.
Indra was dead.
That descendant of Otsutsuki who appeared out of nowhere, who lived proudly his whole life, who used his heaven-defying bloodline and powerful ninjutsu to create a legend, had finally reached the end of his life.
A generation's legend came to an end.
But on the very night of Indra's death, something strange happened.
His cold corpse suddenly disappeared without a sound during the clan's vigil, leaving only the empty stone platform where the body had been placed.
———
[Mount Myoboku]
Deep inside the sage land of the toads filled with immortal mist, Indra's corpse quietly appeared here.
Arisu stood with his hands behind his back. His gaze calmly fell on the body in front of him. There was no sadness or joy in his eyes, yet he clearly knew how valuable this body was.
Those eyes, and that body carrying a bloodline almost close to the origin of the Otsutsuki, were all extremely rare treasures in the world.
If they were left in the mortal world, they would definitely cause endless fighting and struggle, ending with people dissecting the body, tearing it apart, and squeezing out every bit of its value in a miserable way.
Others might misunderstand, but Arisu never had even the slightest greedy thought.
Ashura still had Sarutobi behind him to properly cremate him and give him peace after death, but Indra had lived his entire life alone and proud, and never had such support.
"As your teacher, I will not let your corpse be dissected."
Arisu spoke softly. His tone was calm but carried unquestionable certainty.
With a casual wave of his hand, several preservation talismans filled with the toad sages' immortal power instantly stuck all over Indra's body.
At the same time, his fingers formed seals, and one hidden sage technique after another wrapped around the body, completely sealing and properly preserving it.
After finishing all of this, Arisu slowly closed his eyes and fell into silence.
Time was simply too long.
Kaguya had long been sealed. White-Brow and the White Ape King had fallen one after another. Even Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura had already turned into dust.
Now even Ashura and Indra, who had been entangled with each other for their entire lives, had all left this world.
He had lived for many years, outlasting generation after generation of old acquaintances, witnessing all the separations and deaths in the world.
Even with endless lifespan, seeing the old people around him fall one after another still made a long sigh and loneliness rise in Arisu's heart.
"Forget it. We will meet again after a thousand years."
Arisu waved his hand slightly and left.
———
Many more years passed.
Twenty years went by in the blink of an eye.
Sarutobi of the Ninja Sect had already become a centenarian old man over a hundred years old, becoming a true pillar and senior figure of the Ninja Sect.
And the Ninja Sect and the Uchiha ninja clan from Indra's lineage finally reached the destined war between them.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The battlefield was filled with smoke. The explosions of detonating tags rang out one after another with deafening noise.
The huge blasts threw dust into the air, and the sharp sounds of kunai clashing rang out again and again.
"Even though I am old, this old man has experienced that era as well. Storms like this, I have seen far too many…"
The hundred-year-old Sarutobi had completely white hair and beard. His thin body was wrapped in worn Ninja Sect clothes as he stood alone in the center of the battlefield.
Opposite him, dozens of Uchiha clan members rushed forward in an encircling formation. In everyone's eyes were scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan, shining with cold light and filled with killing intent.
This was a battle that was almost a dead end.
Dozens of scarlet Sharingan locked onto Sarutobi at the same time, predicting his every movement.
The Great Fireball Technique burst out from all directions. Waves of red flames covered the sky and completely sealed off Sarutobi's retreat.
"Hahaha, hey hey hey, old man, can't keep going anymore, right?"
Sarutobi's face turned serious. His thin hands quickly formed seals.
Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall rose instantly from the ground.
But the fire style of the three-tomoe Uchiha was far stronger than ordinary people. The thick earth wall quickly cracked and collapsed under the burning flames.
The heat waves burned his skin painfully. He staggered back several steps, already breathing heavily.
"Old thing, go meet Hagoromo!"
The Uchiha clan members pressed their advantage. Kunai and shuriken poured down like heavy rain, while the Sharingan's genjutsu wrapped toward Sarutobi like an invisible net.
"Hehehe, how many years have you even practiced ninjutsu?! When your former clan leader was teaching ninjutsu, you didn't even know where you were!"
"Break!"
Sarutobi's hundred-year-old body was no longer as agile as in his youth. Relying on a hundred years of Ninja Sect experience, he forcefully broke the genjutsu.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
The wind burst out and blew away most of the hidden weapons, but several kunai still scraped across his arms. Blood instantly soaked through his clothes.
"Old thing, die!"
The Uchiha clan members shouted loudly. Several of them used Dragon Flame Technique at the same time. Several fire dragons twisted through the air and rushed toward Sarutobi.
Sarutobi gritted his teeth and endured the pain. Chakra surged wildly.
Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique burst out. The water dragon and fire dragons collided violently, and steam filled the entire battlefield.
But his aged body could no longer handle such intense chakra consumption.
"Cough cough cough…"
Sarutobi's chest rose violently. Blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, and even the hands forming seals began to tremble slightly.
Dozens of Uchiha clan members rushed close at that moment. With the support of the three-tomoe Sharingan, their taijutsu was fierce and tricky. Fists and kicks rained down toward Sarutobi like a storm.
Sarutobi struggled to defend. His old body kept taking heavy blows, and his clothes were torn apart.
But he was the hundred-year veteran of the Ninja Sect, the final barrier protecting the Ninja Sect.
"I cannot fall!", Sarutobi suddenly roared loudly.
Using up all the remaining chakra in his body, his hands formed the secret sealing hand signs of the Ninja Sect.
"Sealing Technique: Four Direction Demon-Sealing Formation!!!!"
A pale golden sealing technique instantly rose from the ground, forming a cage that tightly trapped dozens of Uchiha clan members. The Sharingan's genjutsu and taijutsu all became useless before the secret sealing technique.
Sarutobi used the last bit of his strength.
His palm pressed onto the core of the sealing formation, and the technique suddenly tightened.
Dozens of Uchiha experts stiffened at once. Their chakra was completely sealed, and they all collapsed onto the ground, losing the ability to resist.
The battle ended.
"Next, the future of the Ninja Sect will be left to you…"
Sarutobi's gaze became distant.
Sarutobi could no longer hold on. His knees heavily fell onto the burned black ground, blood flowing from wounds all over his body.
"But everything was worth it!"
Sarutobi felt heroic in his heart. Even though he would die, the Ninja Sect had been saved.
It was worth it.
"I will face the ancestor openly!"
"I will face Hagoromo openly!"
"I will face Ashura openly!"
"The Ninja Sect has still been saved!"