Surging chakra raged wildly across the snowfield. Within that storm of energy, the two figures inside were being driven into constant transformation and evolution.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzō were of the same age. At sixty-five, they were already considered ancient in the shinobi world.
Danzō's condition was slightly better—thanks to Hashirama's cells, his body looked like that of a man in his early thirties, still vigorous. Hiruzen, however, had long since shown his years: white-haired, wrinkled, and frail.
Yet, as the ritual pressed forward, Hiruzen's snow-white hair gradually darkened back to black. Even the wrinkles on his his face quietly receded and vanished.
There was no need to mention Danzo's situation, as it was even better.
"Ugh!"
Suddenly, a pained cry tore from Hiruzen's throat. His rejuvenating body swelled and twisted grotesquely, warping into something monstrous.
Seeing this, Jigen on the high platform slowly raised his hand. A special formation appeared in the snow beneath the two of them. The formation emitted a faint light, and under this light, Hiruzen Sarutobi's deformities quickly faded away like spring snow.
After Hiruzen Sarutobi's state returned to normal, the formation gradually disappeared, and the evolution of the two people on the snow continued.
"This technique… it truly has merit. If it had been Nagato here, he really might have become a proper vessel."
Murmuring under his breath, Jigen's eyes flickered with a trace of regret as he felt the ever-growing power emanating from the two men.
If only he had tightened his control over Nagato a little more, the outcome could have been entirely different…
…No. Abandoning Nagato was the right choice. The boy wasn't just targeted by Yuki Yoru—he was also under the constant surveillance of that wretched Kaguya's descendants.
If he had directly abducted Nagato, the gaze of the entire shinobi world would have fallen upon him.
"A pity. Still, that other one… could serve as a fine vessel as well."
Recalling Nagato's earlier words, the image of Obito Uchiha surfaced in Cixian's mind.
According to his intelligence, Obito was also performing the Chimera Technique at this moment, and it was a special version from that bitch Kaguya's third son.
There was no doubt that Obito, who had been specially treated by Black Zetsu, would have his power greatly enhanced once he succeeded. Even if he couldn't reach the level of Kaguya's two sons, it shouldn't be a problem for him to catch up to the level of the two descendants of Kaguya's eldest son.
That level of power would already be sufficient to become his vessel, enough to contain his chakra.
But it was not time to act rashly.
Yuki Yoru now loomed over the shinobi world with overwhelming pressureBlack Zetsu's eagerness to move, and Hagoromo and Hamura watched covetously.
Jizen's eyes grew deep and hollow. He had been wandering across this world for over a thousand years—he could afford to wait. The only reason he entered the stage now was because of Yoru's frighteningly rapid growth… and the increasingly bizarre currents in the shinobi world, which left him unsettled.
Under such conditions, he had no choice but to step in early and accelerate his resurrection.
"When the two of you are complete," Jizen schemed in silence, "the first move will be to trigger a full-scale war between Obito and Yuki Yoru. At the very least… I must force those two wretched sons of hers to show themselves."
...
Relying on the power of Izanagi, Obito suppressed the threat his own soul posed to him and began fully embracing the transformation that the ritual brought.
The first and most immediate change—
was his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Obito, who had absorbed a vast amount of knowledge from Madara Uchiha, naturally understood the existence of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. This pair of eyes, which surpassed the Mangekyō Sharingan and was rumored to have broken the curse of blindness, could only be born from the fusion of the Mangekyō Sharingan of two biological siblings.
Throughout the records of the Uchiha clan, aside from Madara Uchiha, no one else had been able to do it. Not even Hikari Uchiha, who was considered the ultimate weapon.
And now, with the promotion of the power of All Things in Creation, he had obtained this pair of eyes that had broken the taboo.
Not only that, he could feel it even more.
The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan was just the beginning of this ritual!
After Obito solved the biggest problem that had plagued Hiruko, the 'soul fusion,' the progress of Obito's ritual greatly improved. The power of All Things in Creation contained within his body also became more and more concentrated.
"This chakra…"
Sensing the transformation within Obito, Black Zetsu's dull eyes suddenly gleamed with dazzling light. A surge of hope rose in his heart.
During his ritual, Hiruko, with the power of All Things in Creation, had only been able to awaken his Three-Tomoe Sharingan to the Mangekyō stage, and that was his limit.
But Obito was different.
Even after his eyes transformed into Eternal Mangekyō, the power of All Things in Creation within him had not diminished much at all. In fact, it was strengthening further as the ritual progressed.
Which meant one thing: if the ritual continued—
Obito's eyes would evolve again.
And what lay beyond the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan was none other than the Rinnegan, the eyes of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki himself.
If Obito truly awakened the Rinnegan through this ritual, Black Zetsu would no longer need to stake everything on Madara's brittle, delayed plan, nor would he have to painstakingly search for Nagato, who had been restricted by Yuki Yoru's.
Another pair of Rinnegan meant another safeguard.
"This should… work, right?"
Black Zetsu looked at Obito with hope. The chakra within his body also slowly condensed, trying to ensure that Obito's evolution ritual would succeed.
"Rin!!"
With a guttural roar, the haze clouding Obito's eyes vanished. The Eternal Mangekyō glowed with a chilling, sinister radiance.
The distorted masks of souls that had clung to the surface of his swollen body finally dissolved completely—but his form remained a grotesque, bloated sphere.
Under the normal process, he should now guide this power into harmony with his own chakra, completing the Chimera Technique Ritual. But Obito did not choose that path.
Instead of refining and stabilizing the bloodline power within him, he devoured more chakra—like a leviathan gulping the sea—drinking endlessly, forcing it into his body.
"Not enough. Still not enough!"
"This power alone can't shake Yuki Yoru… it's nowhere near enough!" His whisper became a growl, a roar:
"Zetsu, activate the chakra transmission formation to maximum power!"
"Because you have Izanagi, you're going to push yourself to the limit, huh."
Black Zetsu understood Obito's intent immediately. And because he so desperately yearned for the birth of the Rinnegan, he did not hesitate. He immediately activated the power to the maximum.
The chakra crystals, drained so ferociously, shattered one after another, dissolving into pure chakra energy that poured into the formation.
At the same time, the great gourd filled with endless dark chakra spewed forth a torrent. Stream after stream of blackened chakra, like enormous shadow-dragons, were drawn out and absorbed into Obito's body.
And then came the flood of natural energy, surging like a vast ocean tide!
Obito's already swollen body inflated further, ballooning as though air were being pumped endlessly into it.
An ocean of chakra gathered within him. Even the faint traces that leaked from his nose and mouth condensed into solid form, their density beyond compare.
There was no question now—Obito's chakra had far surpassed that of any jinchūriki. Even the Nine Tails that once ravaged Konoha could not measure up to the power now coursing through him.
And as that colossal chakra poured into his body, the power of All Things in Creation grew denser still. But the pressure it placed on Obito's body was immense.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"
The fusion of chakra tore screams from his throat, shrill and agonized, yet Obito cared nothing for the pain. He devoured chakra with all his might.
Bolstered by such overwhelming power, his eyes were bloodshot, veins spiderwebbing across them, while his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes spun violently, shifting with eerie new distortions.
"It's coming…?!"
Black Zetsu's heart trembled with restless excitement. He knew how impossibly difficult awakening the Rinnegan was. Back then, Madara—under his guidance—had devoured Hashirama's power and, only after grasping the boundary between life and death, awakened the Rinnegan.
Obito's path, however, was different. He was taking a shortcut, relying on outside power. For that reason, the power of All Things in Creation he needed was vastly greater than Madara's.
"Obito! Hold on! If you survive this surge, your eyes will evolve—just like Lord Madara's—into the Rinnegan! But listen—don't use Izanagi! Not yet! Only after the Rinnegan awakens!"
"AAAAH! I! KNOW!!"
With the transmission formation pushed to maximum output, Obito forced himself to absorb the torrent of chakra. His eyes bulged, veins bursting across his skin, as he fought desperately to control the power raging inside him.
He didn't need Zetsu to tell him—he could feel it.
This power was nothing like the Mangekyō. This was something higher, a chakra of an entirely different order.
Obito was intoxicated by it. Even the pain that threatened to tear his swollen body apart no longer seemed unbearable. On the contrary—it had become a dark flavoring to the ecstasy of his evolution.
"Come on! More! Let the storm of chakra rage even fiercer!"
"In this ritual of my transformation, I will shed the mortal shell and rise to the divine—I will stand at the pinnacle of the shinobi world! I will follow in the Sage of Six Paths' footsteps—I will become the true ultimate, beyond even Yuki Yoru!"
"Rin! Kakashi! Watch from the underworld—I've already set foot on the path to the heavens! I will reach the far shore!"
His crazed roars shook the chamber, chakra bursting from him like a storm at its peak. Black Zetsu's gaze sharpened—Obito's scarlet Sharingan pupils, though still blood-red, were twisting, their tomoe and lines warping under the pull of some unseen force.
"It's coming!"
In the blink of an eye, the distortion in Obito's pupils deepened, as though something was dragging the straight lines of the Sharingan into spirals.
The power of All Things in Creation within him surged to its utmost limit. His body convulsed, swelling another size, and then split apart under the unbearable strain.
The agony forced Obito's eyes shut. Black Zetsu thought he was about to collapse, to fall back on Izanagi—
But Obito's eyes snapped open with a piercing cry.
"Rin! Wait for me, Rin!!"
Buzz!!
His tightly closed eyes suddenly opened at this moment. The blood-red eyes were gone. In their place was a pair of eyes with mysterious concentric rings.
The legendary Sage's Eyes, standing at the pinnacle of the Three Great Dōjutsu.
The Rinnegan!
"It worked!"
Black Zetsu froze in place, then erupted in silent joy. In that instant, Obito had achieved a breakthrough—his massive, chakra-swollen body began to writhe, releasing torrents of steam that poured outward.
From within surged an aura both mysterious and unfathomable. Though it had not yet reached the heights of the Sage of Six Paths, the oppressive might radiating from it was enough to make Black Zetsu's heart pound with dread.
He was not only shocked by Obito's power after completing the ritual, but he was also shocked that Obito, in the middle and late stages of the ritual, did not use Izanagi at all and succeeded purely by relying on his own willpower!
"Hiss!!"
The waves of air rolled out. As the mist dispersed, a white robe—woven entirely from chakra—draped itself over Obito's body, adorned with several jet-black magatama.
A pair of pure white horns sprouted from his head—symbols of the noble Ōtsutsuki bloodline. His very presence now exuded a majesty, solemnity, and sacredness that pressed against all who beheld him.
"ZING!"
Obito's expression was cold as he slowly raised his hand, and a torrent of energy gathered within his palm.
This was the power of the Sage of Six Paths.
"You've succeeded, Obito!"
Black Zetsu's voice trembled as he gazed at the man before him—one who had stepped into the Six Paths realm, completing a transformation of life itself.
Just as he had hoped: Hiruko's Chimera Technique Ritual truly could shatter the boundaries of power. And when the sacrificial fusion was replaced with the bloodline of the Mother's descendants, it allowed the caster's lineage to regress endlessly toward the source.
Though Obito's strength still fell far short of Hagoromo and Hamura, and could not compare at all with their Mother—who had transcended into the level of Kekkei Mōra—Six Paths was Six Paths. Even if only just achieved, Obito now stood at the absolute pinnacle of every shinobi alive.
He could already be called the Second Sage of Six Paths—the only one in existence.
"This power…"
Savoring the transformation that elevated his very being, Obito slowly curled his fingers. The Six Paths' energy condensed into a jet-black staff-spear.
As the Yin–Yang Staff struck the air, Obito's gaze burned with exalted authority. He looked upon Black Zetsu, upon the countless White Zetsu, upon the crashing waves against the shore.
And then, his vision seemed to pierce through the coastline itself, across the mist-shrouded islands—
settling at last upon the figure seated upon the Throne of the Dead.
"Yuki Yoru…"