"So, basically, we just need to feed Boruto to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to revive Kaguya? Is that the plan?" Sasuke asked again, needing to absolutely confirm the details.
"That's not exactly the only way," Makoto shook his head slightly.
"If we throw him in along with the Karma, the probability of success skyrockets. However, without the Karma attached, it becomes really uncertain."
In the original timeline, Boruto and Kawaki could serve as sacrifices for the Ten-Tails specifically because their "superiors"—Momoshiki and Isshiki—had removed themselves from the equation.
One gave up the chance to revive, and the other died completely.
This made the boys the "sole heirs" by default.
(Code's White Karma is trash, so it doesn't count.)
Moreover, they had never been separated from their Karma.
The half-extracted Karma made them half-Otsutsuki—so where the hell was the other half? It was stored right there in the Karma on their bodies.
But the current Boruto is different.
He was merely "infused" with Karma power by Momoshiki.
That means his half-Otsutsuki cells are truly just half.
Sasuke thought for a moment, processing the grim mechanics of it all.
"Then let's start as soon as possible. I'll keep watch. If Kaguya isn't reasonable or isn't as you described, then..."
Sasuke's idea was to stand by as insurance.
If Kaguya couldn't be persuaded by Makoto to become an ally, he would step in and handle her.
However, halfway through his sentence, Sasuke abruptly remembered a painful fact: he wasn't actually a match for Kaguya.
Never mind his current weakened state—even at his peak, he needed to join forces with Naruto to just barely seal her away.
'Damn, that was awkward.'
"Alright, I'll notify someone to come."
Fortunately, Makoto didn't dwell on Sasuke's unfinished sentence or his bruised ego.
This matter couldn't afford delay anyway.
If they procrastinated and Boruto ended up disappearing into the void before they could use him, wouldn't that be a massive waste of resources?
"Okay." Sasuke silently moved aside to wait.
With the total defeat of Boruto and Momoshiki, he could clearly feel that the temporal chaos was about to erase them from existence.
The only reason he could still physically remain here hinged on Boruto acting as the "anchor point."
Sasuke now somewhat understood why Makoto referred to their future world simply as "Boruto."
Perhaps Boruto really was the new "Child of Prophecy" of their era.
But quite frankly, Sasuke didn't give a shit.
Naruto was the former Child of Prophecy.
The Great Toad Sage said he would bring lasting peace, but what actually happened?
Uchiha Madara firmly believed in the stone tablet left by the Sage of Six Paths, treating it like gospel, but look where that got him.
Screw believing in the so-called wisdom of predecessors, you should only trust your own judgment!
Destiny should be held in your own hands.
Makoto notified both sides—those watching the live broadcast and the internal members of Akatsuki.
He informed the organization members about the upcoming attempt to resurrect Kaguya, allowing those who wanted to witness the spectacle to come and observe.
This was mainly to notify Black Zetsu, since even in the original plan of collecting Tailed Beasts and using Infinite Tsukuyomi to resurrect Kaguya, Black Zetsu was needed as a catalyst and medium.
After waiting for a while, everyone had arrived and taken their positions.
The people from Amegakure were brought over directly by Tobirama Senju using the Flying Thunder God technique.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen returned to Konoha, dragging the confused Naruto and Shikamaru along with him.
Hiruzen understood clearly that given Naruto's personality, no amount of talking would help.
Since Naruto had formed bonds with Boruto, that idiot would definitely try to stop the sacrifice if he knew what was about to happen.
So the best approach was simply to keep him in the dark.
Coincidentally, by taking Naruto back to the village, he could also meet with Tsunade and inform her about his situation, helping her view Makoto's existence correctly and avoid making any further stupid mistakes.
Nagato summoned the massive the gedo mazou.
Since the statue had previously "eaten its fill" at the Dragon Vein, it fortunately didn't try to suck Nagato dry of his Chakra this time.
After completing the summoning, Nagato looked at Makoto, ready for the next step.
"Well then..."
"Wait a moment." Sasuke stepped forward, interrupting Makoto before he could proceed.
"Before we do this, I want to return something to my brother."
Under everyone's stunned gaze, Sasuke reached directly for his own eyeball with one hand, fingers poised to dig it out.
"Nani?" Even Itachi was shocked by Sasuke's sudden, violent action.
Just as he was about to move, he saw Makoto flicker appear beside Sasuke and grab his arm to stop him.
Itachi then breathed a massive sigh of relief.
"Why?" Sasuke frowned, looking at Makoto in genuine confusion.
He didn't understand why the hell Makoto was stopping him.
Since he was going to disappear anyway, why not let him return the eye he had transplanted from his brother? His earlier question to Makoto about whether things could be preserved was precisely for this purpose.
"I'm just stopping you from using such a primitive, bloody method as gouging out your eyeball. Look at Nagato... oh, sorry, look at this." Makoto was about to tell Sasuke to look at Nagato, but suddenly remembered that Nagato had recovered after absorbing the Eight-Tails' Chakra and looked healthy again.
So, he corrected himself and took out a photograph instead—an old picture of Nagato.
"I..." Sasuke looked at the skinny Nagato in the photo.
The man looked like a skeleton wrapped in skin, like he had been exploited for ten days and nights straight until his kidneys exploded.
He had seen Nagato's appearance in the Genjutsu where Tobi told the story, assuming Nagato looked that way because of using the Rinne Rebirth technique, but apparently, he looked like a dried-up corpse naturally?
"Think about it seriously. It took the massive Chakra reserves and life force of an Uzumaki just to barely use the Rinnegan without dying. Do you want your already ill brother to transplant these eyes? Are you afraid he won't die fast enough or something?" Makoto's blunt truth made Sasuke break out in a cold sweat.
It was true—he had been too emotional and hadn't considered the consequences.
Not just his brother, but even he himself needed to consume massive amounts of Chakra just to use the Rinnegan's techniques.
His current weakened state was partly due to Urashiki draining his Chakra, and partly because the Rinnegan itself consumed enormous energy just to function.
"Then who should get it? The current me? Or Naruto? We can't just let it go to waste." Sasuke's mind was momentarily in disarray, trying to find a logical solution.
"The current you will still have opportunities to awaken the Rinnegan in the future, possibly even a more perfected version than what you've awakened now. There's no need for a transplantation that would force premature growth. As for Naruto? Do you honestly think he would want your eyes?"
If it weren't for the eyes above, maybe Naruto would consider taking them, but knowing him, he'd probably refuse.
"That's true, so what should we do?"
"Come here."
"..."
Makoto raised his hand and swept it across Sasuke's eye socket, extracting a small, glowing disc.
Simultaneously, Sasuke's purple Rinnegan instantly turned a dull ash-gray.
"Good grief, I can only extract one eye at a time." Makoto looked at the small disc in his hand, which was engraved with a tomoe-patterned Rinnegan, feeling somewhat speechless at the limitation.
Indeed, this technique works best on the Otsutsuki Clan directly.
When extracting abilities from Sasuke, the two eyes have to be taken separately.
"Never mind, I don't think the other one is necessary either." Makoto waved his hand dismissively.
The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan with Kagutsuchi's power is completely inadequate against the Otsutsuki level threats anyway.
Its value is basically no different from an ordinary Sharingan in the grand scheme of things.
"Thank you." Sasuke expressed his gratitude and stepped back to the side.
"Then, let's begin." Makoto grabbed Boruto, who had already completely given up on thinking or resisting, flew into the sky, and tossed him straight into the gaping mouth of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.