After the Buddha's nirvana, the True Dharma will last five hundred years and the Imitative Dharma will last one thousand years. After these fifteen hundred years, Sakyamuni's Dharma will perish completely."
The Latter Dharma is not mentioned here. According to another authority, since the nuns did not observe the eight rules of deference, and were lax and negligent, the True Dharma was not prolonged, Therefore we shall not rely on this theory.
Further, it is stated in the Nirvana Sutra:
"In the Latter Dharma there is a group of 120,000 great bodhisattvas who keep the Dharma, ensuring that it will not perish."
Since this refers to bodhisattvas of superior rank, it will not be used either.