Kiyosuke, Naruto, and Minato charged forward together.
Facing the three of them, Ōtsutsuki Toneri showed no fear at all. Countless puppets rushed out, blocking their path.
"As long as I possess the power of the Tenseigan, these puppets will never disappear. How about it? Do you like this little gift?"
Ōtsutsuki Toneri smiled faintly as he commanded the puppets to attack.
"What a pain."
Kiyosuke lifted his finger, and bursts of blazing flame shot out, piercing through several puppets in an instant.
"This level of opponent isn't even enough to make us go all out. What are you thinking? I'll beat that arrogance out of you until you cry—better grit your teeth!"
"Kiyosuke!"
Minato threw out a kunai, and Kiyosuke instantly vanished—teleported behind Ōtsutsuki Toneri. From the very start, Minato had marked Kiyosuke's clothes with a Flying Thunder God seal for just this moment.
Kiyosuke threw a punch. Flames burst out in every direction, but an invisible repulsive wall stopped the blow.
"Give it up," Toneri said calmly. "With your strength, you'll never defeat me. You might as well—"
Before he could finish his self-proclaimed victory speech, Kiyosuke's power ripped through the repulsive barrier by sheer force.
He grinned. "The last guy who acted all high and mighty like you got his face smashed in by me. You won't be any different."
"Impossible! How can you possess this kind of power?! You're just a human!"
"Human?" Kiyosuke's grin widened, mocking. "Who decided humans can't have power? I don't understand your nonsense."
That wild, unrestrained smile stung Toneri's pride. He raised his palm, summoning a green sphere of chakra that instantly blasted Kiyosuke's head off.
"Hahaha! Just a mere mortal!"
"This guy's an idiot, huh? There's no way something like that would work on Kiyosuke-san," Naruto said with a laugh. He'd already seen it happen too many times to be surprised.
Minato smiled faintly. "After all, he doesn't know about Kiyosuke's ability."
"Kiyosuke-sensei can be so mischievous sometimes," Hinata murmured softly.
"He deserves a beating anyway!" Kushina yelled furiously, still angry about Toneri kidnapping her future daughter-in-law. "Kiyosuke! Smash that bastard good!"
"But of course."
The "headless corpse" spoke, and under Toneri's horrified gaze, a new head reformed atop Kiyosuke's shoulders. His handsome face carried a teasing smirk.
"Time to die, kid. I'll show you what true power looks like."
Bang!
His fist crashed squarely into Toneri's equally handsome face. The sheer force sent him smashing through several walls before he flew clean out of the palace.
"Uh-oh… I might've overdone it. Did I just kill him?"
Kiyosuke stared at his fist, a bit uncertain. Yeah, maybe he'd used too much strength that time.
"I doubt it," Minato said. "But let's retrieve Hanabi-san's Byakugan first."
"Yeah, good point."
Just as they finished speaking, the three turned toward the massive hole Toneri had been blasted through. Naruto's body tensed as he said, "This feeling… it's weird."
"Yeah… that pressure… it's terrifying."
"Don't tell me the Tenseigan's already completed," Kiyosuke muttered. His words made everyone's hearts sink. From what he'd described earlier, the Tenseigan's power was extraordinary—and they might not stand a chance.
"I should thank you," Toneri's voice echoed from the darkness. "You helped me complete the final stage of awakening. The Tenseigan's evolution takes time—but your punch sped up the process. Was it reacting to the host's danger? As expected of the Tenseigan."
"So my punch actually made things worse, huh?" Kiyosuke stared at his hand again. "Why can't I ever control myself? Kinda feel like hitting him a few more times though!"
"I won't let you take Hinata away," Toneri declared coldly, stepping out from the shadows. "She will be my wife."
His icy blue eyes glowed with a white radiance as he formed hand seals. In an instant, green chakra wrapped around his body, radiating a dazzling emerald light.
Not only that—an elegant single horn began growing from his forehead. The edges of his chakra burned like fire.
Tenseigan Chakra Mode.
Having completely mastered the Tenseigan, Toneri now wielded a form of unimaginable destructive power.
Naruto didn't hesitate. He dashed forward, his fist swinging straight at Toneri—but Toneri caught it easily.
The two of them clashed in close combat.
Toneri's taijutsu resembled the Hyūga clan's Gentle Fist in some ways, though it was distinct. After their bloodlines diverged long ago, both lineages evolved different styles—similar only in foundation.
Naruto's taijutsu, refined under Kiyosuke and Jiraiya's guidance, focused purely on efficient and decisive strikes.
Even so, he was falling behind.
Toneri could target chakra points too—and with the Tenseigan's ability to see through chakra networks, he completely suppressed Naruto.
Even with Kurama's help breaking the seals on his tenketsu, Naruto was still being overwhelmed.
"Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!!!"
From Toneri's palm, several Truth-Seeking Orbs burst out, spinning rapidly to form a green vortex of destruction.
The blast struck Naruto head-on, blowing him away in an instant—and half the palace along with him.
Minato reacted immediately, teleporting everyone to safety on the open ground outside the ruins.
"Where's Naruto?"
Hinata activated her Byakugan, scanning the area. Finally, she found him near the statue of Ōtsutsuki Hamura.
"His vital signs are stable." She exhaled in relief.
Kiyosuke frowned. "That's no fun at all."
As he spoke, the massive stone statue of Ōtsutsuki Hamura suddenly moved. Its colossal arm, made entirely of rock, swung down at Naruto with crushing force.
"Kurama!!!"
The Nine-Tails appeared in an instant, smashing its fist into the statue and sending it flying. Then, separating from Naruto, the giant fox began trading blows with the enormous effigy.
A tailed beast could manifest outside its host as long as it wasn't forcibly extracted or breaking free from its seal—so long as its link with the jinchūriki remained intact.
Mid-battle, Kurama noticed a gaping hole nearby. With a snarl, it grabbed the stone statue and hurled it straight into the opening.
"Kiyosuke-sensei," Hinata pointed toward a floating island in the distance. "Inside that palace is the device controlling the moon's descent. If we destroy it, the moon will stop falling."
"Got it."
Kiyosuke nodded, his body turning into a streak of light as he shot toward the floating island.
Boom!
In Toneri's stunned gaze, Kiyosuke shattered the palace to pieces, revealing a glowing golden mechanism within.
"That's the work of my clan! I won't let you touch it!"
Toneri shot into the sky—but Minato was faster.
He appeared behind Toneri in an instant, slamming a Rasengan into his back and sending him crashing down from the heavens.