Uchiha Shin had prepared everything. A spatial trap had already been constructed, woven into the very fabric of the dimensional boundary between stars.
The moment Kinshiki Ōtsutsuki and Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki entered the solar system, the space around them twisted violently.
Crack!
The sharp sound of fractured space echoed.
The blackness of the universe was ripped away, instantly transforming into a bleak, eerie landscape—like some forsaken battlefield from another era.
"The World Gate has activated. All parameters aligned."
From within the shadows, Uchiha Shin's eyes glinted with a wild light.
The next second, the void burst open with a swarm of gray bone spears—thousands of them—raining down with genocidal intent.
"Lord Momoshiki, danger incoming!"
Unlike the arrogant Momoshiki, Kinshiki's battle-hardened senses screamed with urgency.
Years of bloodshed had honed his instincts. He instantly detected the ripple of spatial chakra and moved.
"Tengoku Tackle!"
With a thunderous shout, Kinshiki wrapped his massive arms around Momoshiki, shielding him.
His body erupted with purple lightning as he shot forward like a meteor, tearing through the storm of bone needles.
Screech! Screech! Screech!
The jagged gray needles punctured Kinshiki's flesh. Some lodged deep, but most missed their target.
He broke through the deadly ambush, muscles twitching with pain. Still, he landed, eyes burning with resolve.
In the swirling rift ahead, the forms of Uchiha Shin and Kaguya Ōtsutsuki shimmered into visibility.
Kinshiki's jaw clenched. He wanted to curse them out, to shout—but the searing pain and creeping disintegration of his body silenced him.
He let go of Momoshiki.
"Lord Momoshiki... this is it. You must consume me. Just as you once gave me life, I now return it to you."
Kinshiki's voice was gravelly, his massive frame starting to dissolve into pure chakra.
Unlike traitors like Kaguya, Kinshiki had remained loyal to the Ōtsutsuki code. A guardian to the end.
Momoshiki's eyes narrowed. For a brief moment, even he looked... human.
He didn't hesitate.
His right hand lifted—palm out—revealing the crimson Rinnegan embedded in it.
"So be it."
With a deafening roar, the Rinnegan unleashed a vortex. Kinshiki's form shattered, spiraling inward in streams of scarlet chakra, compressed instantly into a divine fruit.
As the fruit formed and landed in Momoshiki's palm, Kaguya visibly grimaced.
If she hadn't survived Isshiki's ambush in the past, this might've been her fate too.
"Eighty Gods Vacuum Fist!"
Without a second thought, Kaguya surged forward, fists glowing with the power of her kekkei mōra taijutsu.
A barrage of enormous chakra fists smashed into the landscape, each blow shattering craters as they closed in on Momoshiki.
But he barely flinched.
Raising one arm, he absorbed the chakra into his palm's Rinnegan. The fists vanished like mist.
In one fluid motion, Momoshiki swallowed the crimson chakra fruit whole. The veins around his eyes pulsed as the transformation began.
A wicked grin twisted his lips.
"Let me return the favor, disgrace of the Ōtsutsuki clan."
"Gaohō Rebirth Canon!" (High Emperor's Regalia of Rebirth)
His left hand lifted.
The scarlet Rinnegan on that palm glowed with otherworldly light, then burst out chakra even more fearsome than Kaguya's barrage.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A hurricane of amplified chakra fists surged forward like mountains crashing into one another.
Kaguya's eyes widened.
It was triple the power she had just used. Her technique had been turned back at her, amplified.
She realized what was happening.
Momoshiki's dual Rinnegan abilities—the right absorbed all chakra-based techniques; the left re-emitted them with enhanced destructive force.
A perfect predator for chakra-based combat.
Just as she realized it, Uchiha Shin had already reacted.
"Deploy World Gate: Phase Shield."
The air in front of him shimmered. Space twisted and thickened into a translucent, sky-high barrier.
The roaring chakra fists slammed into it—and vanished.
They didn't explode. They didn't rebound. They simply blinked out of existence.
The barrier, forged through dimensional warping, redirected the energy into an unknown realm—another world entirely.
Unless Momoshiki could warp dimensions himself, that shield was unbreakable.
Uchiha Shin stared ahead, eyes locked onto the mutating form of Momoshiki.
This was part of his plan.
He had let Momoshiki consume Kinshiki—to study the transformation.
Momoshiki's body now expanded. His frame grew taller, more muscular. Both Rinnegan turned gold, radiating divinity.
"So, the devouring ritual worked... but not beyond expectations."
Uchiha Shin made his calculations.
The new form was powerful—but not yet uncontrollable.
"Eventually, I'll split his body in two. Half will nourish the Ten-Tails. The other... will become my meal."
Turning to Kaguya, he shouted:
"Feint from the side! Don't use chakra-based jutsu, you'll just power him up!"
Kaguya, frustrated, clenched her fists but backed off. Her massive chakra reserves would only fuel Momoshiki further unless she used forbidden techniques like "All-Killing Ash Bones."
Without specialized attacks, she could do more harm than good.
She retreated to observe.
Now it was Uchiha Shin's turn to strike.
He didn't rely on ninjutsu. He wouldn't give Momoshiki any chakra to absorb.
Fortunately for him...
"I'm no slouch in taijutsu either."
"Electromagnetic Armament – Overdrive Mode!"
His body glowed, as if ignited by a star within.
Every muscle surged, wrapped in arcs of lightning. It was like his cells were miniature reactors, running on electromagnetic combustion.
Pure speed. Pure power.
"HAH! You dare defy a god, mongrel?!"
Momoshiki floated above him, golden eyes narrowed, disgusted that a mortal dared challenge a divine being.
The fact that Kaguya had submitted to this Earthling made him laugh. A disgrace to the Ōtsutsuki legacy.
"Pathetic traitor. Weak womb. Useless parasite!"
But Uchiha Shin wasn't listening. He had no need for words.
BOOM!
A thunderclap exploded as he moved, cutting through the air like a railgun.
In less than a second, he was in front of Momoshiki—fist raised, electric aura blazing like the wrath of a thousand storms.
The collision shattered the clouds above them.
—