600. River of Souls
A/N:- Another milestone of 600 chapters. This story has come a long way, either in a good way or a bad way; I don't know since it's for you readers to decide. But I will give it my all. Perhaps I am not a good storyteller but I at least tried. So, please forgive me for my mistakes.
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Whoosh...
When the massive hand was about to cover the entire Redaku island,
KABOOM!
A beam of light pierces through the dark sky of the shinobi world, bringing it with a blazing ray of light.
BOOM...
The ray of light pierces through the body of the massive Susanoo, dispersing it into motes of light. Several thousand motes of light scatter across the sky, dispelling the looming darkness and suppressing the terrifying aura.
"Nii-san!"
The glow in Ayaka's eyes vanishes, and the blue barrier protecting the entire island disperses. Ayaka falls unconscious.
"AYAKA!"
Akira and Aiko quickly support her.
The six strange eyes floating around Ayaka rise in the air and shoot through space, leaving a blue trail of energy.
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On the battlefield,
Seiryū holds the Gōhei in his hand and throws it towards Shutendōji.
"Another artifact with purifying powers?!" He glances at the incoming Gōhei and sees through its nature with a single gaze.
"Useless effort!"
He ignores the Gōhei since it doesn't pose a threat to him.
However, the Gōhei instead of striking Shutendōji, flies past him and collides with the small nebula-like orb levitating behind him.
Bang…
A powerful explosion occurs as the Gōhei releases all of its power and disintegrates into white light.
A barrier envelopes Shutendōji and blocks the light. There is not even a ripple on the barrier from the attack.
Suddenly, the expression of Shutendōji, who was about to grab the entire Donut Island, changes. He raises his head and glances at the sky of the shinobi world.
A gigantic sigil of the Dharma wheel shrouds the entire dimension. Another layer of Chaos wheel stacks on top of the Dharma wheel.
"Hmm... this aura!" Shutendōji's expression changes slightly.
Bzzt... crackle…
Black and white lightning flicker between the two wheels. The gates of universal balance open to reveal a massive lance of light. The lance travels at light speed and penetrates through Shutendōji's massive Avatar.
The powerful laws within the lance, erase the metaphysical concept of Avatar, destroying it.
BANG...
The nebulae-like orb behind Shutendōji shatter and a figure flies out of it. The two massive dharma wheels in the sky appear behind him.
Izuna opens his eyes to reveal a sigil of a Dharma wheel with eight spokes in his right eye and another sigil of a chaos wheel with eight arrows in all directions in his left eye.
"Order and Chaos Authority: NULLIFICATION!"
Izuna mutters and the powerful pressure shrouding the entire dimension vanishes.
"Interesting! Very interesting!"
"So, you forged a Primordial Origin weapon using the eyes of the Lord Chaos and Lord Order; allowing you to tap into their divinity at the cost of some strain on your body. Not a bad method, if I have to say. However,..."
Suddenly, Shutendōji's expression turns serious.
"What can a weakling like you do with such a power when you can't even wield a fraction of it?"
A gleam flashed across Shutendōji's eyes.
Crack... crack...
Numerous cracks appear on the two Dharma wheel projections in the sky.
Whoosh...
Shutendōji flies out of the planet and levitates into space, confronting Izuna. The pressure on Izuna increases by several manifolds as Shutendōji gets closer to him.
BANG... BANG...
The two-dharma wheel projection in the sky shatters into countless motes of light, snuffing out the last ray of light and hope in the world. Utter darkness shrouds the entire dimension.
The dharma wheel patterns in Izuna's eyes also vanish. His body suffers a severe backlash and numerous bloody cracks spread across his body.
Izuna's blood and vitality drain rapidly. His hairs turn white and his body shrivels up like an old man. Izuna's skin slowly peels off from his body, revealing his skeleton and internal organs.
A black aura of death escapes from his body and slowly corrodes his organs.
"That's the power of Abyss!" Seiryū recognizes the black aura as an Abyssal power. The light of life in Izuna's eyes slowly fades away. The last flames of life slowly flicker, being on the verge of extinguishment.
"What a pity to waste such a specimen!" Shutendōji shakes his head. His expression returns to normal.
"This world hides several mysteries. I will bring it to the Otsutsuki clan to study it in detail."
Once again, he extends his palm towards the shinobi world. His huge Avatar appears again, this time several thousand times bigger than before.
An expression of despair flashes across Seiryū's eyes. He clenches his fists and gums until they bleed.
"Looks like this is the end!"
Tsunade, Mei, Kushina, and others glance at the massive hand with bleak eyes. Slowly, darkness envelops them as the Shutendōji's Avatar's massive palm grabs the entire planet. He seals the planet in a black orb. Starlight flickers across the black orb, creating a galaxy.
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"Looks like this is the end of my journey!"
Izuna's soul detaches from his body and floats across a sea of stars, flickering and radiating with several hues.
'This scene looks familiar!'
He mumbles to himself as he attempts to recall a forgotten memory.
'I remember now. This is the river of reincarnation! So, I have truly died.' His last hope of survival fades away.
'Perhaps this is fate!' He closes his eyes and feels the flow of the reincarnation river. The whispers of several souls echo in his ears.
'What am I thinking? I don't even have ears.' Izuna chuckles and witnesses his reincarnation for the second time.
'Second time?!'
"Ah! I remember now." A memory that was buried deep within the depths of his memory's surfaces.
'This is my second life! I have already died once and reincarnated.'
Izuna recalls his first experience of dying and then aimlessly wandering across the river of reincarnation, waiting for a second chance at life.
"Looks like I failed!" More memories surface in his mind.
"Don't fail again!" Izuna glances at the river of reincarnation and mutters to himself.
"Time is a river with many eddies. I have seen its headwaters. And I have seen its currents reach the sea. I have seen its vortexes, and I have felt its flow. Nothing is eternal, not even the..." A shadow detaches from his soul and vanishes into the river of time flowing with the river of reincarnation.
"A lingering memory! An obsession with the past!" The faint whispers of souls turn coherent for an instant.
Izuna closes his eyes and drifts alongside the river of reincarnation.
After an indefinite period, he regains consciousness.
"Where am I?"
Izuna slowly opens his eyes and looks at the vast stretch of whiteness in his vision.
"This looks familiar!" He chuckles.
"So, is this another setting where I reincarnate again, but this time in a different world?" He shakes his head.
"Let's see who will I meet this time?" He turns his head around.
"AH!"
A young, beautiful, fair-skinned girl with thigh-length navy blue hair tied in two messy low pigtails with a square fringe hanging just above her crystal blue eyes stares into Izuna's eyes.
Izuna's facial expression freezes and the words that he is about to speak are stuck in his mouth.
"So, this is your real appearance!"
The girl moves closer to him, her nose almost touching his. Her crystal blue staring into his soul.
"AH!"
Suddenly, the girl slips and her head slams into his forehead.
Bang…
The impact makes Izuna see stars.
"Am I hallucinating?" Izuna wonders before he passes out again.
"I am sorry! I am sorry!" The girl panics. She grabs Izuna and shakes him violently.
"I didn't mean it!"
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