Lin Yu collected Isshiki's corpse, vowing to fulfill his promise of dissecting it in the laboratory.
With a casual sweep of his hand, a dark spatial portal materialized before him. Now possessing his new dojutsu, he no longer needed to rely on the Immortal Dark Flame to pinpoint his teleportation destination. This was one of his Space-Time Eye techniques.
Traversal allowed him to move between different dimensions, even forcibly invading others' spaces, as long as he could sense them.
This ability could be combined with the Time Realm of the Rinnegan, enabling him to silently transport targets within the barrier into another dimension.
Precognition, similar to the prophetess Shion's ability, but Lin Yu could only glimpse brief visions of his own future death.
Space-Time Leap, a jump from the past to the future, altering destiny and reversing death!
This was why Lin Yu named his eyes the Space-Time Eyes. The new dojutsu, paired with the Time Realm, rendered him immortal as long as he could foresee his own demise within a certain timeline.
For instance, if past Lin Yu foresaw his death in ten seconds, at the first second, Lin Yu could activate the Time Realm. The remaining nine seconds would then allow nine different timelines of Lin Yu to utilize Space-Time Leap, arriving at the tenth second to re-activate the Time Realm and resurrect himself.
Of course, no jutsu in this world was flawless. While it sounded like nine Lin Yus could leap through time to save him, if an enemy didn't even grant him a second to breathe, the past Lin Yu wouldn't be able to execute Space-Time Leap.
The solution was simple: deny Lin Yu even a single second of opportunity from the moment of precognition until his death, forcing each Lin Yu in every timeline to focus only on their own survival.
However, with the fusion of the Tenseigan and Rinnegan, Lin Yu, now fully in the Six Paths level, found it incredibly difficult to be utterly overwhelmed.
"Isshiki is dead, so this dimension now belongs to me."
Lin Yu left a chakra mark here, finally possessing his own "storage space" after decades.
His space was also different from others; while most awakened their dojutsu to gain space, Lin Yu was like a bandit, specifically plundering others' dimensions.
Without lingering in the desolate dimension, Lin Yu returned to the ninja world with Isshiki's corpse.
...
In the charred, deep pit, two figures and a fox were pinned to the ground by black rods. Kurama glared with blood-red, demonic eyes, spitting at Uchiha Madara.
"Madara, you old bastard, I haven't settled our old scores yet, and you dare to trick me again!"
Uchiha Madara responded indifferently, "I am already dead."
"So what if you're dead! Don't think I'm afraid of you now. Let me tell you, I have plenty of people backing me up!"
Kurama exhaled a chilling breath, his hatred for Uchiha Madara undiminished. How dare he treat it like a summoning beast! Just because he was dead didn't mean it was over; Kurama held grudges fiercely!
Hashirama Senju tried to mediate, "Madara, don't treat the Nine-Tails like a tool. They're quite cute."
"Damn it! And you, Hashirama Senju! I am the leader of the Nine Great Tailed Beasts, not a pet you can just capture and keep!"
Kurama held no good feelings for either of them. One controlled it with his Sharingan, and the other captured it like a pet.
Neither of them were good people. It planned to manipulate Uzumaki Lin Yu into beating both these old geezers!
Hashirama Senju chuckled awkwardly, "Your power was too great, so I had to capture you all to prevent you from causing harm to the ninja world."
"Idiotic! Who wants to cause destruction!"
The more Kurama thought about it, the angrier it became. It even blurted out the English Lin Yu had taught it. If its nine tails weren't restrained, it would have definitely given both these old men a good thrashing.
Suddenly, the black rods restraining them began to disappear, dissolving into dust that scattered in the air.
"Huh? What's happening!" Kurama was terrified. Why was this happening precisely after it had spoken so recklessly?
Hashirama Senju said, "It's probably because that Ōtsutsuki has been defeated, so the black rods he created are dissipating."
Kurama silently retreated a few steps. Of course, it knew this was a sign of Isshiki's defeat, but that wasn't its main concern. Luckily, Hashirama was rather dim-witted; it might be able to sneak away.
Uchiha Madara ignored Kurama's unspoken thoughts, his gaze cold as he looked in the direction Isshiki had left. He slowly uttered a few words.
"Uzumaki Lin Yu."
Besides Uzumaki Lin Yu, Uchiha Madara couldn't think of anyone else capable of defeating the transformed Ōtsutsuki Isshiki.
It seemed Uzumaki Lin Yu's progress over the years had been even greater than he had imagined.
"Madara, could it be that you know who defeated..."
"Great-grandfather!"
Uchiha Madara was about to say this might be your grandson-in-law, but as if remembering something, his gaze flickered, and he dared not look at Hashirama Senju.
"Little Tsunade?"
Hashirama Senju saw Tsunade walking at the forefront of a group of ninjas and said with relief, "Little Tsunade, I can't believe you've grown so much. You were just a little girl tagging along to the casino with me back then."
Seeing a familiar relative, Tsunade's eyes reddened. "Great-grandfather, are you alright? Have you seen Lin Yu?"
Hashirama Senju chuckled heartily, "He's already dead, how could he be alright? As for the Lin Yu you mentioned, is it Uzumaki Lin Yu?"
Tsunade nodded. The other women beside her also looked at Hashirama Senju with concern, praying that Lin Yu would be safe.
At this moment, the space above them tore open. Lin Yu, with his flowing red hair, emerged carrying Isshiki's corpse. He called out to the ninjas below who had fought so hard,
"Sorry, I'm late. Isshiki is dead, we've won this battle."
A cheer erupted from the many Leaf Village ninjas below. Although most of them hadn't participated in the fight, they were proud of the Fourth Hokage, Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy, Shisui, and others who had fought valiantly.
On the other side, the Akatsuki and the Tailed Beasts stood together, seemingly unable to join the celebratory atmosphere.
Nagato watched for a moment before turning and walking towards the depths of the forest.
"Leader, why are you leaving just like that? We were participants in the battle too!"
Deidara pouted in dissatisfaction. He had used all his clay bombs to stall Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki, only to not even get a chance to celebrate victory.
"Eternal art does not require fleeting beauty. You are still young, and there is a long road ahead of you," Itachi said, dragging his damaged Kazekage puppet as he followed.
"Brother Itachi, you're getting old. Explosions are the true art, hmm!"
Kisame Hoshigaki glanced in Itachi's direction, then shook his head and disappeared into the forest.
Hidan, lying on Kakuzu's back, complained, "Leader, aren't we going to celebrate? I think I need to recover; Kakuzu that bastard stitched up my kidney dozens of times."
Nagato, walking ahead, stopped for a moment.
"Everyone return to the Hidden Rain Village. All personnel will have three days of leave, and the organization will cover all expenses."
"Yay!"
Kakuzu grumbled silently, "The leader is so wasteful!"
"Everyone will have paid leave, except for Kakuzu!"
"Yay!"
...
On the other side, most personnel were already heading back towards Konoha. After all, many of the village's high-ranking officials were severely injured and urgently needed treatment. The other three Kage were also temporarily residing in Konoha, waiting to depart once they recovered.
Lin Yu also greeted Kushina and the others, promising to return to them as soon as he finished here.
"I'm entrusting Isshiki's body to you, Orochimaru. Don't disappoint me!"
Orochimaru carefully sealed Isshiki's body, placing it alongside Urashiki's halved form. He licked his lips excitedly and said, "Lin Yu-kun, I want to return to the base immediately to begin my research."
"Wait, no rush."
Lin Yu looked at Uchiha Madara, who stood a short distance away with a cold expression, acting as if he didn't know him. He said playfully, "Long time no see, Uchiha Madara."
"Hmph! I don't want to see you!"
Lin Yu chuckled, "Do you remember our bet? Now that the person involved is present, how about we..."
Uchiha Madara immediately flashed in front of Orochimaru, grabbed him by the collar, and roared, "Now! Immediately! Release the Reanimation Jutsu!"
Cold sweat dripped down Orochimaru's face. He pursed his lips and said, "I, I can't. You are no longer under my control."
"..."
Uchiha Madara: "This is a sin!"
..................
PS: Happy New Year! I know everyone is busy during the New Year and doesn't have time to read novels, so I've decided to give up on binge-releasing. I'll save the drafts for after the New Year and release them slowly. Do you think I've done a great job!