Chapter 396: Graywhite Is Shocked

The words "Ōtsutsuki" struck Hagoromo like three bolts of lightning, sending enormous waves crashing through his heart.

His mother's instinctive terror, her bone-deep fear of being pursued by her clan, and the desperate resolve that had ultimately driven her to consume the Chakra Fruit—

Countless fragments of memory and surging emotions flooded his mind.

His chakra tightened abruptly in response to the violent turmoil in his heart and his overwhelming sense of danger. An almost tangible purple aura burst forth from his body as his Rinnegan locked onto every subtle fluctuation of energy within his opponent.

"This land—the Shinobi World—will not tolerate your recklessness!"

Hagoromo's voice turned even colder, firm and resolute with his determination to protect the newborn world behind him.

"This land?" Ōtsutsuki Graywhite seemed to have heard the most absurd joke imaginable and let out a scornful laugh.

There was no warmth in that laughter—only naked contempt, as though he were looking upon primitive savages.

His pale eyes swept across the barren land below before returning to Hagoromo, as if he were examining some crude creation bound to the soil.

"You actually call this place the Shinobi World?" He deliberately emphasized the words, his mockery unmistakable.

"Do you not know that chakra was originally something the Ōtsutsuki Clan sowed, cultivated, and ultimately harvested?"

"This uncivilized wasteland is hardly worthy of such a name. At most, it is another nursery waiting to mature."

Hagoromo fell silent.

He offered no rebuttal and no argument.

Some of what the man had revealed aligned with fragments of the truth he already knew.

His gaze darkened like the deepest abyss as he forcibly suppressed every turbulent emotion within his heart.

At the same time, however, the pressure radiating from his body began to rise soundlessly!

Vast amounts of natural energy gathered from every direction, merging ever more deeply with the immense chakra within him and undergoing a profound transformation.

The air groaned under the strain, and even space itself seemed to distort slightly beneath the concentration of his power.

A battle to the death was now unavoidable.

"So, you are the bloodline Kaguya left behind." Ōtsutsuki Graywhite sized Hagoromo up and down, his tone as dismissive as though he were evaluating the quality of a piece of loot.

"She secretly consumed the Chakra Fruit, betrayed the clan, and fled here... Still, it seems she left behind something worthwhile." A cold gleam of greed flashed through his pale eyes. "Very well. Devouring you should compensate for some of the losses she caused. Consider it both cleaning house and reclaiming resources."

The instant the word "devouring" left his lips, Hagoromo moved!

He knew how terrifying the Ōtsutsuki Clan could be, and he understood even more clearly that any attempt at probing his opponent would be a fatal luxury.

Facing a true enemy from beyond the heavens, he immediately revealed the greatest trump card he possessed!

"Three Corpses, emerge!"

His shout seemed to invoke some forbidden law buried deep within his soul.

Hagoromo's body suddenly shuddered. Two indistinct phantoms, each radiating a terrifying aura entirely different from the other, were forcibly torn from his body!

The figure on his left resembled Hagoromo himself, but possessed a gentle, jade-like temperament. Clear and tranquil senjutsu radiance flowed around him, as though he embodied the most peaceful vitality of nature itself.

This was the Good Corpse.

The figure on his right, however, radiated boundless hostility. Its features were faintly ferocious, and the chakra surrounding it raged like a storm-tossed sea, overflowing with destruction, conflict, and the most primal desire for power.

Its crimson eyes contained nothing but naked killing intent toward the enemy.

This was the Evil Corpse.

The three figures stood apart—the Good, the Evil, and the Self, represented by Hagoromo himself—instantly forming a mysterious triangular formation.

Their powers did not simply add together. Instead, they resonated and intertwined in a strange manner, forming an endless cycle that continuously sustained itself.

"Impossible!"

For the first time, the calm, detached mask of superiority that Ōtsutsuki Graywhite had maintained was violently shattered!

He cried out in shock, his pale eyes widening as unimaginable disbelief surged within them.

He stared fixedly at the three figures, whose auras were utterly distinct yet shared the same origin, forming a perfect cycle of power. Even his voice became distorted by the sheer intensity of his astonishment.

"You... How can you wield a technique of this level?! This is absolutely not a power that could have originated on this primitive, lowly planet!"

"This is... Kaguya could never have known such a technique! Who are you? Where did you obtain it?!"

The Shinobi World instantly erupted from its stunned silence!

Countless eyes widened as though they were about to pop from their sockets.

"Hey! Isn't that the guy who got swallowed by the Divine River Crab?" A sharp-eyed shinobi suddenly leaped to his feet, pointing at Graywhite's delicate face, now twisted by shock.

"I never expected him to have been around more than a thousand years ago! This guy can really live! Did he survive from the era of the Sage of Six Paths all the way to the present?!"

That shout was like a spark falling into a vat of oil.

"The Sage of Six Paths truly is the Sage of Six Paths!" someone exclaimed excitedly, waving a fist in the air. "That Three Corpses Technique sounds incredible! He splits two bodies off from himself, each as powerful as he is, and the moment they appear, that arrogant Ōtsutsuki brat is completely stunned! That's how it should be! Let him keep acting so high and mighty!"

"Stunned? I'd say he's scared out of his wits!" another person chimed in triumphantly. "Look at Graywhite's expression! His eyes are practically falling out of his head! The way he shouted 'Impossible!'—what happened to all that arrogance? All that contempt? Hahaha!"

"The Sage of Six Paths may have already surpassed Kaguya in strength!" one particularly knowledgeable shinobi analyzed, his voice trembling with excitement.

"Exactly! Just look at how terrified Graywhite is! He can barely even speak properly!"

Voices of agreement rose from every direction. For the moment, the fear inspired by the threat from beyond the heavens was washed away by the sense of security and pride brought by the Sage of Six Paths' astonishing display.

It was as though the people had glimpsed a ray of hope.

The founder of their world was actually this powerful!

Within the Heavenly Curtain—

Hagoromo, the Sage of Six Paths, took in the fleeting panic, shock, and carefully suppressed unease in Ōtsutsuki Graywhite's expression.

His opponent's loss of composure undoubtedly confirmed that the Three Corpses Technique was far beyond anything he had anticipated. It might even have touched upon a blind spot—or a taboo—within the Ōtsutsuki Clan's understanding.

For the first time, the tightly drawn string in Hagoromo's heart loosened by the slightest fraction.

Yet none of it showed on his face. Instead, the coldness in his Rinnegan deepened, like ice that had never melted for ten thousand years.

Taking advantage of the disturbance in his opponent's mind, he spoke again in a cold, commanding voice. His tone carried the unyielding will of one who stood as the world's protector:

"That is none of your concern. This world will not tolerate the likes of you outsiders running rampant!"

Every word seemed to carry the heavier, more profound pressure produced by the resonance of the three bodies, bearing down upon the man before him.

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