In Kaguya's dimension, flames covered the ground. The land was torn apart, with rubble and shattered rocks scattered everywhere. Wild chakra surged through the entire space, making it feel as if the world had plunged into chaos.
Adult Sasuke wiped the dust off his face, smiling as he looked down.
"That's it? You're giving up already? Come on, Isshiki, show some fight. A man shouldn't admit he's weak."
Below, a massive crater—large enough to rival a lunar impact—scarred the ground. Giant boulders were scattered around, and at the very center, a tiny figure lay motionless. Compared to the crater, he looked as small as an ant, his body cracked and covered in blood.
Isshiki lay there, his head horn completely shattered by Sasuke. His body was riddled with wounds, and even his clothes had burned away, leaving only his pants. But despite everything, his expression remained indifferent.
He twitched his fingers slightly, his cold gaze locking onto Sasuke in the sky.
"You really are strong. I'll admit that. Right now, I'm no match for you."
"That's all?" Sasuke slowly descended, hovering above Isshiki. His purple Rinnegan eyes reflected Isshiki's battered form.
"I could probably seal you away right now."
"You can't." Isshiki's voice was calm. "If you sealed me here, then our fight in the future would never happen. And if that fight never happens, then you wouldn't exist. Time doesn't break its own rules."
"You, of all people, talking about how time can't be changed?" Sasuke let out a short laugh. "Did I hear that right?"
After all, the Karasuki (the artifact known as the Plow) was literally designed to let people travel through time. Whether it could change the past was unknown, because… well, ever heard of a time paradox?
Sasuke actually agreed with Isshiki, but that didn't stop him from mocking him.
Isshiki remained emotionless. "It's *because* I have the Karasuki that I understand this. Uchiha Sasuke, don't tell me you've never tried to change the past? Did you succeed?"
The smile on adult Sasuke's face slowly faded.
He *had* tried. A long time ago, he had traveled even further back and warned his father to be wary of Uchiha Itachi. But nothing had changed. Because once they left, Aunt Kushina had used a powerful sealing jutsu to completely wipe their memories.
For the people of that era, no one had ever returned from the future. No one had experienced anything out of the ordinary. And Roran… well, history recorded that the Land of Wind's storms had destroyed it.
"Our fight lasts a whole day, and in the end, you win," Isshiki muttered. He could finally move again, slowly pushing himself up.
"But even then, you still can't kill me. And because of my anger toward you, I will attack this world in the future."
"This… is 'time.'" He staggered to his feet, his body so weak that even his Kāma mark started fading.
"No matter how complicated something seems, at its core, it's just an imprint left on time. And those imprints link together, forming a chain of events that cannot be broken."
"Height, length, hours, minutes, seconds—none of these truly matter. Because in this world, the only thing that can truly measure anything… is time."
"Time is the *only* real unit of measurement. Everything else exists just to make things easier for humans to understand."
"Humans have never been the rulers of this world. Only 'time' holds that power." Isshiki's eyes were cold. "You and I are nothing more than tiny marks in the flow of time. We've existed since time began, and you can't change anything."
"Surrendering to time, accepting some so-called inevitable fate—so that's the Otsutsuki way?" Sasuke's expression grew colder.
"No, the only thing that can make us surrender is ourselves." Isshiki looked at Sasuke. "Our clan's goal is to surpass time and become true gods. You, on the other hand, are nothing but a speck in the endless flow of time."
"Just like Urashiki said… nothing more than lower lifeforms."
Seeing Isshiki's arrogant expression, Sasuke suddenly let out a cold laugh. "Time itself may be unchangeable, but the outcome isn't. The real variable in time isn't you Otsutsuki—it's every single choice we make in every moment."
"And that so-called 'unchangeable' fate you're talking about? It's just one piece of a larger puzzle. If any piece changes, the entire path shifts in a different direction."
"You probably don't know this, but I've seen a world where the future was rewritten." Sasuke smirked, a proud glint in his eyes. "I've seen a world where Kaguya won—where she crushed you, Momoshiki, Urashiki, and Kinshiki all by herself."
"I've also seen a world where you succeeded. You planted a second Divine Tree, fed me and Boruto to it, harvested the fruit, devoured it, wiped out all the shinobi, and then left this world behind."
Sasuke tossed a kunai up and down in his hand. "You Otsutsuki act like you know everything, but in reality? Your vision is narrower than you think. You see nothing beyond your so-called 'godhood.'"
"You call us lower lifeforms, but to me, you arrogant fools are the real lower lifeforms."
Isshiki's face darkened.
There was no way he could win a battle of words against Sasuke, a man who had survived years of Naruto and Kurama's combined verbal onslaughts.
"Well, anyway, just keep thinking the way you do now." Sasuke landed right in front of Isshiki, his Rinnegan swirling.
But—Isshiki's body turned transparent. Sasuke's attack completely missed.
Isshiki stared at him, his expression grim. "Say whatever you want. Next time we meet, I'll fight you with everything I have. And if you're still like this, you're dead."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, watching as Isshiki disappeared before him.
In an instant, he was alone in Kaguya's dimension.
"Isshiki had this kind of ability?" Sasuke thought for a moment, then sighed. "Kurama, when will your intel ever be reliable?"
Not that it mattered—he hadn't expected to kill Isshiki anyway. That guy was far more troublesome than Urashiki.
Taking a deep breath, Sasuke retracted the Kāma mark on his body. The horn on his head disappeared, and he returned to his normal appearance.
He glanced at his shoulder, then chuckled. "Urashiki, your power is actually pretty useful."
Yes, this was Urashiki's Karma.
—
Above the Dragon Vein, everyone was gathered, staring at Naruto, Sasuke… and the centipede standing within it.
Naruto looked at the queen with an apologetic expression. "Sorry, Your Majesty… We couldn't protect Roran."
Roran was gone. After enduring massive ninjutsu clashes, monster attacks, earthquakes, storms, and finally a meteor crash, there was no way it could have survived. Even Konohagakure would have been blown to the sky by all that.
The Queen of Roran gently shook her head and smiled warmly. "Roran may have fallen, but we are still alive. Roran was never just a city—it's us, the people."
Naruto let out a sheepish laugh.
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