"This is…!"
The moment Isamu saw the pattern, his eyes widened in surprise. Then a smile slowly spread across his face.
The symbol carved into the stone was the Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan. At its center was a sword-shaped slot, clearly meant to hold a blade—but it was already empty.
There was no need to guess who had taken it.
Indra.
What truly excited Isamu was that this symbol was identical to the one inside the Ōtsutsuki shrine on the small island in the South Sea.
Just as I thought…
His guess had been correct all along.
This really was the South Sea island. The space-time passage had to be here.
Previously, after entering the Tomb of the Six Paths, he hadn't found the Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan symbol inside the shrine outside, making him question whether this place and the island from the future were actually the same location.
Now, after seeing this pattern, he was finally certain.
"Isamu, did you find something?" Garuda asked curiously after noticing his expression.
"I think… I may have found the way home."
The words slipped out before he realized it.
Immediately, Isamu shut his mouth.
He hadn't intended to reveal that he wasn't from this era. If Garuda discovered the truth, how would she react?
Fortunately, she didn't seem to think anything of it.
"You're going home?" Garuda tilted her head. "Come to think of it, you've never told me where your home is."
She pursed her lips before speaking softly.
"If possible… could you take me with you? I'd like to meet your parents."
Her innocent request made Isamu feel even more awkward.
She had completely misunderstood what he meant.
Still, he chose not to explain.
The space-time passage hadn't opened yet anyway. There was no point discussing it until then.
BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!
A series of earth-shaking explosions echoed across the horizon.
The ground trembled violently beneath their feet as enormous cracks spread through the earth.
Caught off guard, Isamu and Garuda stumbled before quickly regaining their balance.
They rushed outside.
The sight before them left both of them speechless.
Two gigantic figures—each nearly 800 meters tall—were locked in battle.
One was a colossal Susanoo.
The other was an enormous wooden construct.
Towering waves hundreds of meters high crashed around them as the sea roared across the battlefield.
"They're fighting this fiercely already…"
Watching Indra, whose Chakra surged endlessly from his body, Isamu immediately understood.
After obtaining what had been left for him, Indra's strength had increased dramatically.
So even the Six Paths Sage never truly abandoned him…
After all, Indra was still his son.
Even the Six Paths Sage could not completely cast aside his own child.
It reminded Isamu of Madara.
No matter how cold or ruthless Madara appeared, deep inside, he had always cared about his family.
Previously, Indra's Susanoo had reached a limit of roughly 700 meters.
Now it stood at 800 meters.
However, Isamu knew this still wasn't Indra's true limit.
If Indra awakened and fully utilized that Rinnegan, even Ashura's True Several Thousand Hands would struggle against him.
Likewise, the fact that Ashura could also create an 800-meter wooden giant proved that he had been concealing his true strength all along.
The massive tsunami looked terrifying, but beside the two giants, it only reached their thighs.
It posed no threat whatsoever.
"So that's why I couldn't find the sea earlier…"
Isamu rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"The continent itself became the ocean because of Indra and Ashura's battle."
Everything finally made sense.
Now he wasn't in a hurry anymore.
The brothers' strengths were nearly equal.
He wanted to witness the conclusion of the legendary rivalry with his own eyes.
"Isamu, let's stop them!" Garuda pleaded anxiously.
"If this continues, the entire continent will sink beneath the sea!"
"What?"
Fate had already begun moving forward.
Neither Indra nor Ashura had any intention of holding back.
Today, only one of them would survive.
No one could stop this battle.
One represented the Eye of the Sage—the embodiment of power.
The other represented the Sage Body—the embodiment of love.
Whether it was power or love, their collision produced only one result.
The earth shattered.
Countless torrents of seawater rushed inland.
Ancient forests disappeared beneath the waves.
Innumerable lives were lost because of their battle.
Their followers were also locked in fierce combat.
After obtaining divine artifacts and treasures from the tomb, many of them had grown considerably stronger.
Every clash devastated the battlefield.
Shouts of battle and screams of death echoed endlessly.
Volcanoes erupted one after another.
Blood stained the battlefield crimson.
No one knew how many lives had already been lost.
"Isamu…"
Standing beside the Tomb of the Six Paths, Garuda anxiously paced back and forth.
She wanted to stop the battle, but Isamu had already explained why it was impossible.
Both Indra and Ashura had become completely consumed by their determination.
No amount of persuasion would work now.
If they intervened, the conflict would only escalate.
Once Isamu, Garuda, and Mandala joined the fight alongside Indra and Ashura, every one of the world's strongest fighters would be battling at once.
At that point…
It truly could become the end of the world.
After hearing his reasoning, even Garuda reluctantly accepted that there was nothing they could do except watch.
"Has it already been a full day…"
Looking up at the sky, Isamu quietly muttered.
The sun had long since disappeared below the horizon.
It was around midnight.
Yet instead of darkness, the heavens were brilliantly illuminated by erupting volcanoes and the immense Chakra radiating from Indra and Ashura.
Ashura's strength had reached the mid Six Paths High Tier.
Indra had reached the early Six Paths High Tier.
The gap between them was only a single minor realm—much like the difference that once existed between Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo and Ōtsutsuki Hamura.
With power on that level, devastating thousands of miles of land was entirely possible.
By now, after an entire day of continuous battle, thousands of miles of land had vanished beneath the sea.
A vast ocean had replaced the continent.
Such overwhelming power was almost unimaginable to people living a thousand years later.
Fortunately, both brothers had deliberately avoided damaging the Tomb of the Six Paths.
Within several dozen kilometers of the tomb, everything remained intact.
The small island in the South Sea had also fully emerged.
One familiar landmark after another gradually appeared before Isamu's eyes.
Everything required for the opening of the space-time passage was slowly falling into place—
As though guided by fate itself.