Kaguya didn't plan on staying in this dimension for long. The magma here couldn't hurt her. As long as her power remained unsealed, she wasn't foolish enough to die in a place she herself had created.
A major reason she didn't want to linger was the terrifying vitality she sensed from the other party. If she couldn't finish Karin in one blow, killing her would become extremely difficult.
Besides, there was a nagging suspicion that Karin had played some sort of trick on her—done something to her behind the scenes. Kaguya was never good at scheming or plotting. In a way, she was quite simple-minded.
Realizing that even the beings she had split off weren't behaving normally, Kaguya finally stepped into the black portal. If she couldn't kill them outright, then at least she could trap them here and let them slowly perish.
After firming up her decision, she thought it best to visit the space where Zixu had been banished. But before leaving, she activated the "Child's Eye" technique, stealing a portion of Karin's chakra as a precaution. Then, without hesitation, she headed straight toward Zixu's sealed space.
The dimension was sealed in frozen silence—ice and snow blanketed the entire world. If Zixu had lived in ancient times, he might've had plenty to talk about with creatures from the Ice Age.
His body radiated heat like a small furnace. Every step left scorched prints on the icy ground. He had tried activating the iron sphere engraved with the Flying Thunder God technique countless times, but the spatial barriers here were tighter than he had anticipated. The technique was useless.
"Tch... Not having spatial ability is a damn disadvantage," Zixu muttered with a frown. He was genuinely trapped in this blizzard-ridden wasteland. Death seemed like a real possibility.
"Keep moving. If this isn't a closed space, I'll find a way out. And if it is… then I'll just break the barrier."
As he trudged forward, mentally calculating escape options, he was caught off guard when Kaguya appeared ahead of him—this time making no effort to hide her presence. She worried he might feign ignorance and spring a trap on her, so she attacked the moment she materialized.
She hadn't come unprepared. During her passage through the black portal, she had silently condensed dozens of tiny gray bones. After three failed attempts to eliminate him, frustration boiled within her. This time, she was determined to get rid of Zixu.
Her long white hair lashed out, launching invisible fist-shaped blasts that shattered the ice on impact. Her physical abilities were no joke either.
"She's dumb, but she's strong. I'll give her that," Zixu muttered through gritted teeth as shards of ice exploded around him. Her gray bones shot toward him in waves.
Zixu held his ground amid the storm of ice crystals. The clash of lava heat and frozen terrain created a violent reaction—a hissing, steaming cycle where melted water instantly froze again, only to melt moments later. This brutal loop repeated endlessly.
Lightning release was mostly ineffective in this climate. His wind barrier was already stretched thin. When Kaguya got serious, her strength was overwhelming.
Being the progenitor of chakra, Kaguya's resilience was on a different level. Zixu didn't dare to risk using his Kekkei Genkai fusion recklessly. Even if his attack carried the power of the fruit, merging it with chakra would weaken its effectiveness against her. After careful thought, he decided not to use that particular trump card.
To Kaguya's own surprise, the more she fought, the more it felt like her combat instincts were sharpening. She hadn't expected to suppress the strongest-looking opponent among them.
She didn't overthink it. She kept condensing more gray bones in secret and widened her White Eye. Zixu suddenly felt his chakra being disrupted—dragged down by her technique. Without Chinano's support, he was completely exposed.
"Now!" A rare gleam of excitement sparked in Kaguya's eyes. Though she remained still, Black Zetsu—hiding in her sleeve—moved through a small rift in space. It opened beneath a broken piece of ice right under Zixu's feet.
The gray bones pierced through space, emerging from the black void beneath him. Zixu, frozen mid-movement by the chakra drain, didn't react. In that moment, not even a god could have saved him.
Kaguya's lips curved into a satisfied smile. Her gloom from earlier vanished. The gray bones speared through Zixu's body cleanly.
"It's over…"
Anyone pierced by those bones would disintegrate into ash in seconds. No jutsu could stop it. It was fatal—absolute.
Zixu's sturdy body couldn't resist. His arm, the one he used to block the attack, crumbled first. His body began to break down, turning to ash from within.
This technique wasn't like Dust Release, which decomposed things gradually. Kaguya's technique altered the very nature of matter from the inside. It was a completely different level.
But the disintegration didn't last.
Suddenly, Zixu—his body halfway gone—grinned.
Then, with lightning speed, a long black rod stabbed into the hidden Black Zetsu and pinned it to the ground.
What Kaguya had struck… was only a clone.
Before she could react, her body froze.
The surrounding space locked up like solid steel.
Zixu had been waiting for her to slip up—and when she did, he pounced.
The wind, the snow, Black Zetsu's cries—all vanished. With one hand, Zixu gripped Kaguya's pale neck. A sealing jutsu began spreading rapidly from his palm.
But Kaguya struggled wildly, like a fish jolted by electricity. Even with all his preparation, she still managed to break free. Her power surged in a chaotic burst. The Tailed Beasts' forms flickered across her body, their chakra erupting violently.
Not only did Truth-Seeking Orbs swirl around her, but she also launched multiple Tailed Beast Bombs at Zixu in rapid succession.
Everything happened in seconds.
Zixu didn't try to tank it head-on. His Three Body Technique, honed since childhood, kicked in instantly. He grabbed the still-writhing Black Zetsu and dashed for cover—but there was nowhere to hide. Just endless ice.
As he debated whether his body could endure the massive black sphere engulfing the entire realm, a green light gate flashed open.
Chinano appeared—flanked by Karin and Hatsuizumi.
Zixu didn't waste time asking questions. He followed them straight through the green portal.
Ten minutes later, the chaos finally subsided.
Kaguya reverted to her original form and surveyed the ruined dimension. The glacier world had been reduced to a smoldering sea of fire. She looked around, stunned.
She had seen Zixu and the others escape earlier, yet couldn't understand how she had been fooled so easily.
Was it always like this during his era?
Was she… really just too naïve?