Chapter 273 – The Fruit and the Pill: A Monumental Gain
Crack—!
Thunder rolled across the sky.
Lightning split the storm clouds above the Land of Rain, and torrents of rain crashed against the iron rooftops of the Akatsuki base.
Inside one dimly lit chamber, time itself seemed frozen.
Nagato, Black Zetsu, Obito, Orochimaru, and even the ever-proud Uchiha Madara sat in silence.
The air was thick with dread.
No one spoke—because for once, none of them could quite grasp what had just happened.
---
'The Gods Who Devour Their Own'
After what felt like an eternity, Madara finally broke the silence. His deep voice carried the weight of disbelief.
"So you're telling me… this Ōtsutsuki Genshiki possesses not only greater strength—
but also a far grander ambition?"
Obito's eyes flickered uncertainly.
He hesitated, then nodded.
"He mentioned the Divine Tree, the Chakra Fruit, and… sacrifice."
"But his true goal…"
Madara's gaze sharpened.
"Was to kill his own kin—to consume their power."
Obito exhaled slowly.
"Yes. He said someone had already done it before him… a being named Ōtsutsuki Isshiki."
Madara's expression darkened.
"To be revered by that monster… Isshiki must be cruel beyond comprehension."
Obito nodded grimly.
"He said Isshiki was the one who made him realize that devouring their own kind is the Ōtsutsuki's Path to Godhood."
By this point, Obito's voice had gone hollow.
He'd seen many atrocities in his life—but this… this was different.
It wasn't that he objected to fratricide; after all, he himself had conspired with Itachi to slaughter their own clan.
But what terrified him was something else entirely—
"How can that man still be getting stronger?"
If such a being existed,
what hope was there left for his dream of a perfect world?
Nagato's Rinnegan glowed faintly in the shadows.
"The Divine Tree, the Fruit… What exactly are they?"
He turned his gaze on Black Zetsu.
"And this Isshiki—who is he? Could he be another name for the Rabbit Goddess?"
"No…"
Zetsu blurted instinctively before catching himself.
"I—I'm not certain. There are no records mentioning him."
He spoke calmly, but inside, his mind was spiraling into panic.
What the hell is happening?
I leave for a few days, and Genshiki goes berserk, spills every cosmic secret, and starts murdering his kin?!
And worse—
He wanted to skip the whole "Divine Tree" process and go straight to devouring his own kind?!
To Black Zetsu, this wasn't a myth. It was a horror story.
Because his mother—Kaguya—was also an Ōtsutsuki.
"How did Isshiki become the pioneer of cannibalistic enlightenment?"
He remembered Isshiki as a pitiful creature—
and now, apparently, he'd become the spark that lit a genocidal theology.
Zetsu shuddered.
Maybe it was time to abandon this world entirely.
Better to stay sealed forever than end up eaten alive by his "cousins."
Madara's voice cut through the tension.
"Now Genshiki has succeeded. He's even stronger—and the First Hokage has returned from the dead. How troublesome."
Obito clenched his fists.
"Even so, I won't give up. As long as we have the Ten Tails, we still have a chance."
Nagato frowned slightly.
"The Ten Tails… The Sage of Six Paths was its Jinchūriki, wasn't he? Then perhaps…"
His eyes gleamed.
"If I become the Ten Tails' vessel, I could wield power equal to those so-called gods."
Madara's lips curled into a cold smile.
"Exactly. Only by merging with the Ten Tails can one fulfill the Sage's vision—
and create a world of true peace."
The room fell silent again, the rain outside intensifying like a heartbeat.
Three men, three dreams—yet all their eyes fixed upon the same godlike prize: the Ten Tails.
But inside Obito's mind, another voice seethed.
"Idiots. All of them."
It was Isshiki's consciousness, echoing with venom.
"Do they truly believe the Ten Tails can defeat the Ōtsutsuki?"
"And damn that Genshiki—he does something insane, and now I get blamed for it?!"
He recalled Urashiki's dying curse,
and the way these mortals now whispered his name with fear.
"And that fool Urashiki—how could he lose so miserably…"
But his anger slowly twisted into intrigue.
"Still… that technique Genshiki used at the end. That wasn't ninjutsu—it felt divine.
A Shinjutsu."
Isshiki's golden pupils narrowed in thought.
"Could it be… he's already done it?"
"Has he truly ascended that so-called Path to Godhood?"
Meanwhile, in another part of the base,
Akatsuki members who weren't on missions were gathered together, gossiping over what they'd just heard.
Kakuzu crossed his arms.
"So this Ōtsutsuki slaughtered his own kind… just to grow stronger? Monstrous."
Hidan cackled.
"Hah! Coming from you, that's rich. How many people have you killed, old man?"
Kakuzu shrugged.
"Strangers. Never my own kin."
His gaze shifted, landing squarely on Itachi.
"So, tell me, Uchiha Itachi—how does it feel to murder your entire clan?"
The room fell silent.
Itachi's crimson eyes turned toward him—cold, unreadable.
"Boring."
The single word silenced them all.
---
Elsewhere – The Land of Water
In the ruins of the Land of Water,
Tobirama scowled, still seething.
"That damned Obito—still as slippery as ever."
Hashirama sighed beside him.
"Forget him. That Ōtsutsuki Genshiki is the real problem. Ruthless—and ambitious beyond measure."
Tobirama nodded sharply.
"To hunt and devour his own kin… that level of cruelty defies reason."
From a short distance away, Gen—the man in question—rubbed his temples with an awkward smile.
"Ahem… I think you might be misunderstanding something here."
Their condemnation right in front of him was getting a little uncomfortable.
"Besides," he added dryly,
"we're not even Ōtsutsuki. How can we judge their customs or logic?
Maybe what looks cruel to us… actually saved countless worlds."
And in truth—he wasn't wrong.
From the perspective of the Ōtsutsuki, Genshiki was a heretic and a monster.
But from the eyes of every other lifeform across the stars—
he was a savior.
Instead of consuming entire planets, he'd chosen to prey on his own kind.
Each Ōtsutsuki he devoured meant one less world destroyed.
"In a way," Gen thought, smiling faintly,
"I'm saving lives, aren't I?"
Tobirama frowned deeply.
"Don't fool yourself, Gen. Never trust gods or their kind.
The Sage of Six Paths drenched the world in blood for a thousand years—
all to prepare humanity against them."
Hashirama nodded gravely.
"He's right. You must be careful. That Genshiki… he seems to favor you.
If he ever turns his gaze your way…"
He trailed off, unable to finish.
Both brothers wore grim expressions.
Gen could only give a helpless laugh.
"You two really make it sound like I'm the villain here.
I'm trying to save this world…"
But no one seemed convinced.
Somewhere between godhood and damnation,
Gen stood smiling—
half hero, half devil,
and perhaps the only man in history who could be both at once.
How did things end up like this?
Even Tobirama Senju—usually the most rational among them—was struggling to process it all.
But he quickly pushed aside the confusion, his sharp mind already shifting to strategy.
"Still," he said, adjusting his tone, "this incident wasn't without gain."
His crimson eyes flickered toward Gen, who clearly wasn't eager to discuss what had just happened.
"At least now we know something crucial—Ōtsutsuki Genshiki has a terrible relationship with the rest of his clan. That's a weakness we could exploit."
Hashirama nodded slowly, still replaying the battle in his mind.
"We also saw just how powerful he is… he overwhelmed another Ōtsutsuki completely from start to finish."
He paused, eyes narrowing.
"His attacks—no, his techniques—were unstoppable. He could even absorb his opponent's ninjutsu. That kind of ability…"
"And his final strike," Tobirama added grimly, "he literally sliced the other one clean in half."
"Terrifying," Hashirama murmured.
Gen, standing beside them, nodded solemnly—but inwardly, he was grinning.
His new Divine Technique had worked beautifully.
---
The Power of "Yomi-no-Tsukuni"
"Yomi-no-Tsukuni."
That was the name of his newly mastered Shinjutsu—a technique he'd only practiced, never unleashed in real combat.
Until now.
He'd used it for the first time against Urashiki, to completely nullify the latter's Time Reversal ability—and it worked to perfection.
"Costly," he muttered to himself, "but worth it."
Even against an opponent as close to "fully optimized" as an Ōtsutsuki could get, one clean strike under the right conditions had been enough to annihilate him.
Kaguya Ōtsutsuki had proven long ago that even gods could fall—and Gen was happy to follow that example.
Urashiki?
He never stood a chance.
Cut clean in two, gone before he realized he'd lost.
"Not bad at all," Gen mused, a sly grin forming. "Five Gojo Points, easy."
If Isshiki could reincarnate into someone else's body… then Urashiki was probably doing the same thing right now—
rotting away inside some poor fool's body as a Parasite Monk.
"Not that it's a bad thing," Gen said thoughtfully.
"Actually… it might be useful."
Ōtsutsuki could resurrect themselves endlessly.
So why not take advantage of that?
Why not… hunt them again and again?
If they were strong—good.
If not—
"The more, the merrier."
And Tobirama was right—this time, his rewards were nothing short of monumental.
"Let's see…" Gen thought aloud, counting with a finger.
"The 'White Kāma' user—secured. Next comes extracting and researching it.
Urashiki's life force—condensed into a Divine Pill."
He smirked.
"Collected his body too. Oh, and the Six-Tails' chakra. That means…"
His eyes lit up.
"I can plant a Divine Tree."
Every Ōtsutsuki's obsession—the Tree of Chakra, the source of the Fruit.
And even for him, the mystery of that Fruit's power was too tempting to ignore.
Now he had all the ingredients: body, chakra, and life essence.
"No matter what happens," he whispered, eyes gleaming,
"I have to try."
As he sank into thought, Hashirama chuckled, nudging his brother.
"By the way… did you notice the way the Fifth Mizukage was looking at him?"
Tobirama arched a brow.
"If I didn't know better," he said seriously, "I'd say this could be an excellent way to deepen the alliance between Konoha and Kirigakure."
"What are you two talking about?" Gen rolled his eyes, half exasperated, half amused.
"You make it sound like I'm about to get engaged."
He shook his head and turned away.
"Enough politics. I'm going for a walk. I've been to the Land of Water before—but this time, I think I'll actually relax."
And with that, he vanished.
When he reappeared, it was within the vast, otherworldly space of Amenominaka.
Urashiki's bisected corpse lay suspended in stasis,
his White Kāma sealed beside it.
And high above the massive, glowing World Tree canopy,
floated a radiant orb pulsing with divine golden light—
the Pill born from Urashiki's life force.
Gen's gaze lingered on it, his voice dropping to a reverent whisper.
"The most important thing of all…"
The golden pill shimmered like a miniature sun—
the promise of ascension,
the seed of godhood itself.
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