Unlike past battles, the current Momoshiki wanted to halt the eruption of a long-range, wide-area chakra cannon blast.
But stopping it was no easier than trying to halt a moon-sized planet in motion.
In previous fights, his use of Time Freeze only paused his opponent or their attacks — a far cry from what was needed now.
Still, at this point, there was no other option.
A wave of invisible distortion burst outward from Momoshiki as the center, spreading rapidly in all directions. It cut through the torrents of chakra energy and sank deep into the surface of the shinobi world.
Crack.
With a crisp sound, Time Freeze activated. In that moment, deep cracks appeared in both his Tenseigan and the red Rinnegan embedded in his palms.
The two most iconic and powerful dōjutsu of the Ōtsutsuki clan had both suffered backlash from overusing divine techniques.
This meant that for a long time to come, Momoshiki's ocular abilities would be severely weakened.
He might even lose his eyes — and his dōjutsu — forever if he used Time Freeze again.
Fortunately, the cost was worth it.
Within the frozen space-time, Momoshiki moved, shifting his badly burned body and the shredded biological armor away from the attack range.
If not for the armor that had been pre-modified by Toneri, he wouldn't have even had time to react, let alone activate Time Freeze — he would have been vaporized on the spot.
Even so, this wasn't enough to make him retreat. On the contrary, it only fueled his determination to annihilate the shinobi world.
Forget about attracting the attention of the Ōtsutsuki Clan.
Forget about finding out the truth behind Urashiki's death, recovering Karasuki, or even seizing the opportunity to become a god.
None of it mattered anymore.
Momoshiki had only one thought left — to reduce everything on this decaying planet to ashes.
To turn all so-called gods and every last rebel into nourishment for himself.
He would offer this entire world as a blood sacrifice, and through it, ascend to godhood — casting the shinobi world into an eternal, hopeless abyss!
Momoshiki moved quickly, attempting to break into the shinobi world once again.
...
To the shinobi observing from the surface, the chakra cannon had first struck and severely wounded Momoshiki — only for him to vanish in an instant and reappear in a different location.
The chakra cannon, now in its activated state, was immediately shut down, recalibrated, and aimed again.
Right now, Momoshiki was the perfect target to practice on.
If they could snipe him beyond the planet's edge today, then one day, when facing the main forces of the Ōtsutsuki clan, the shinobi world would also be able to stand its ground — and hold the line among the stars!
The chakra cannon fired again. This time, it no longer relied on backup power or supporting ninja.
Neji took the initiative — using the Breathing Art of the Sage Path to attune to the cannon's chakra frequency and bring it into resonance with the world itself. Instantly, limitless energy surged into the weapon.
It was as if the cannon had gained sentience. It split into three groups, each unleashing a barrage at the now-atmosphere-bound Momoshiki.
Chakra Beads!
A bluish arc-shaped shield of chakra appeared. Momoshiki wrung the last drops of Toneri's chakra dry, forging one final layer of defense.
But even the Chakra Beads couldn't withstand the impact of an energy blast on par with the entire shinobi world for long.
They were soon depleted, and Toneri's body visibly shriveled — only the parts that had been modified by the God Tree's cells still standing firm like a skeleton...
Momoshiki tried to dodge again, but with three groups — over a thousand chakra cannons each — firing in rotation, dodging was a luxury he couldn't afford.
Left with no choice, he used one hand to summon his Truth-Seeking Orbs to absorb massive damage, and the other to activate his red Rinnegan — unleashing Takamimusubinokami to absorb the attacks and reflect them back.
This method put an enormous strain on the Rinnegan — but it was the only way left.
The reflected energy, now multiplied, countered the chakra cannon blasts head-on...
But just then, Neji remotely forced the cannon into Overdrive Mode — boosting output by tenfold.
Several cannons exploded on the spot from the overload.
But Momoshiki fared far worse. His entire body was engulfed in the overwhelming energy and eventually crashed down in the Land of Water.
...
"Quick, I can still sense his life force!"
Neji immediately gave the alert, ordering the Shinobi Allied Forces in the Land of Water to begin evacuation.
Civilians in the region, upon hearing the news, spontaneously boarded ferries — trying to flee as quickly as possible so as not to burden the coming battle.
Beyond the local evacuations...
Sasuke and Neji, the two top combatants of the shinobi world, were the first to arrive on the scene. Elite squads of Kage-level shinobi and promising new-generation ninja followed closely behind, carrying powerful sealing techniques.
Where Momoshiki had fallen, dozens of kilometers had been scorched into craters and blackened earth from the impact.
Even wider regions around it hadn't been spared — every structure protruding from the ground had been utterly leveled!
The shockwave from this crash far surpassed the Super Almighty Push that once destroyed Konoha — by hundreds of times.
At the center of the crater...
A white sphere, billowing smoke and radiating deadly heat, slowly rotated.
"Is that... Momoshiki?"
A hundred kilometers away, several ninja perched on a mountainside hid cautiously in tall grass. One extended a telescope with trembling hands, forcing himself to watch.
...
In the crater's heart, Sasuke and Neji looked grim.
Their incredible sensory abilities were blaring with warning — not only had Momoshiki's life force not diminished, it was growing stronger.
And mingled within it was something strange — but unmistakably familiar:
The God Tree.
Cracks formed on the surface of the white orb. More fissures followed, spreading rapidly across the sphere.
Crack.
With a sharp sound, the sphere shattered — revealing a half-tree, half-human monstrosity.
Apart from a grotesquely abstract, semi-wooden face, and a pair of massive curved horns on its head...
Plus a single eye socket forcibly crammed with both a pair of Rinnegan and a pair of Tenseigan — a distorted trace of Momoshiki's former appearance could barely be made out.
The rest of his body had become a gigantic wooden figure, roaring continuously, pounding its chest in rage.
To survive the bombardment of the chakra cannon, Momoshiki had fully abandoned Ōtsutsuki pride — choosing to fuse completely with Toneri and the God Tree.
This wasn't a jinchūriki-style merge.
It was a forceful absorption — shattering and recombining his own cells with those of the God Tree — a direct leap to godhood, acquiring power equal to a deity!
But this also meant... the transformation was irreversible.
"Die — all of you!!"
Momoshiki was utterly consumed with fury.
Looking at his grotesque, monstrous body, he couldn't even admit it was his own.
And yet, the surging, swelling power inside him was exactly what he had sought all along.
Caught in this overwhelming contradiction...
Momoshiki's soul could no longer fully control his God Tree-formed body — only raw emotion kept him barely able to direct its rage toward the enemy before him.
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