At the bustling gates of Hidden Rain Village,
Rinjin sat on the guard station steps, partnered with Sakumo, staring at his fingers while muttering under his breath.
After more than half a month of experimentation and years of hands-on experience,
Flying Thunder God Technique 3.0 had reached its final development stage.
Rinjin could now effortlessly use spatial power to trim his fingernails.
Sure, they looked like they'd been gnawed by a rabid dog, but his ability to control chakra transfer with surgical precision proved just how far he'd pushed this technique.
Next step: simultaneously tear open all eight gates in his body, unleashing every ounce of potential buried in his deepest core.
When that moment came, he could seamlessly switch between his four combat modes:
Mode A: Sage Mode— Massive ranged output boost, minor defense increase.
Mode B: Lightning Release Chakra Mode— Massive speed and defense boost, minor attack power increase.
Mode C: Eight Gates— Extreme speed and attack boost, plus complete genjutsu immunity.
Mode D: Giant Mode— Massive speed and reaction decrease, minor defense drop, but devastating destructive power increase.
Except for the eighth Gate of Death, these four modes were completely compatible.
Which meant that with all four modes active simultaneously, he'd become an absolute war machine.
Rinjin scratched his head at the thought, feeling deeply satisfied.
After half a lifetime of grinding, he'd finally completed his endgame build. Time to go absolutely wild.
....
The next morning, Rinjin and Sakumo slipped out of Hidden Rain Village while dawn was still breaking.
Though they'd agreed to debut as a boy band with the Akatsuki later,
some team coordination training was essential first.
For coordination training, Rinjin claimed he had the perfect spot in mind.
Dressed in black training gear, they crossed the Wakanai Bridge leading into Fire Country.
Half a day later, Rinjin led Dog-bro to a deep, isolated cave.
Staring at the cave that continuously leaked damp, bone-chilling air, Sakumo's expression darkened.
"Rinjin, where the hell are we going?!
I'm warning you—I'm not stepping foot in any shady places!"
"Chill out, just trust me!"
Rinjin clapped Sakumo's shoulder with complete confidence and strolled into the cave first.
The cavern plunged into pitch blackness, with only scattered mushrooms on the walls providing weak blue bioluminescence.
Seeing this eerie scene, Sakumo instinctively sidled closer to Rinjin.
His subtle movement didn't escape Rinjin, whose hair had somehow shifted to green.
"Dog-bro... are you... scared of the dark?"
"HAH?!" Sakumo shrieked like a startled cat.
"Me, scared of the dark?! What kind of joke is that?!"
"Then why are your legs trembling?"
"Bullshit! You're the one... the one trembling! Quit screwing around—where are we actually going?!"
Rinjin smirked mischievously, filing this information away for later, then peered into the cave's depths with pitch-black eyes.
"Just a bit further ahead~
Last time I wandered through here, I found a lake inside this cave.
The water was so crystal clear it was almost terrifying.
So I figured I'd jump in for a quick bath, but guess what happened?"
"What happened?" Sakumo asked, playing along while subtly putting even more distance between them.
"Turns out I got teleported straight to the moon."
Sakumo's brow creased, then his face twisted into a pained grimace.
"You're telling me our destination is the fucking moon???"
"Yep!" Rinjin nodded enthusiastically and added:
"There are aliens up there. I'm planning to snag a few for some research."
Watching Rinjin's eyes practically glow with excitement, Sakumo helplessly buried his face in his hands.
Soon, under Rinjin's guidance, they navigated the winding, treacherous cave and dove into the jade-colored lake nestled in the mountain's heart.
As familiar spatial distortion rippled across their skin...
When awareness returned, a desolate silver-gray world stretched endlessly before them.
Gazing toward the horizon where earth met sky, a semicircular curve was clearly visible to the naked eye.
Looking up, Sakumo's jaw dropped.
Directly overhead hung a vibrant blue planet teeming with life.
"This... this... we actually... actually... actually made it to the moon!"
Having studied ninja world maps, Sakumo instantly recognized the planet above as their home—
the light-to-deep amber on the left, the lush emerald center, and the deep sapphire-black on the right...
Meanwhile, Rinjin ignored Sakumo's amazement completely, scanning their surroundings.
For some reason, his teleportation point seemed different from his previous arrival location.
But priority one remained the same—locate the Ōtsutsuki clan!
With that thought, Rinjin sprang to his feet and dusted the silver-yellow particles off his pants.
"Dog-bro, quit gawking. Let's move!"
His voice snapped Sakumo back to reality. He nodded immediately, jumped up, and fell into step behind Rinjin.
...
On the moon's dark side,
within the palace left by Ōtsutsuki Hamura,
a group of pale-skinned middle-aged men in flowing white robes with monk's shoulder wraps were engaged in calm discussion.
"War, always war!
The world created by the Sage of Six Paths knows nothing but endless conflict year after year."
"Not our problem!" The eldest man pressed his clasped fists before his mouth and nose.
"Right, right, not our problem. But ancestor Kaguya-hime's body was summoned away—shouldn't we care about that, Lord Patriarch?"
The patriarch shot the younger man a cold glance. After prolonged silence, he still shook his head:
"We will not interfere!
Our ancestor's will was to guard the moon and observe the world created by the Sage of Six Paths.
Since our ancestor never explicitly commanded us to meddle in the affairs of the Sage's world, we have no obligation to interfere."
Disdain flashed through the younger man's eyes.
"Lord Patriarch, the Sage of Six Paths' world has been ravaged by chaos for a millennium with zero signs of peace.
Obviously, he failed spectacularly.
And that world no longer contains any Ōtsutsuki bloodline!
So why not obliterate that failed experiment?
Perhaps that's precisely why our ancestor wanted us observing that world~"
The patriarch snorted coldly, turning his full attention to the young man:
"Are you suggesting we destroy the Sage of Six Paths' failed world, then return there openly?
Since Kaguya-hime's body exists in that world, we might as well relocate there to guard her remains???"
The young man immediately bowed his head in silence.
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