Uchiha Chiga shook his head in mild annoyance. With a flick of his wrist, he stuffed the white orb of compressed corpses into his Door-Door Space.
"Forget it," he muttered. "Barely worth keeping."
Before the echo of his words faded, a thunderous roar boomed across the heavens.
"Bastard! What have you done!?"
The voice was so deep and powerful that it stirred violent winds, the skies above instantly darkening.
Chiga's eyes narrowed, though he felt no fear. Instead, his lips curved into the faintest smirk.
"I was just thinking I'd need something stronger. Heaven really does favor me."
A blinding flash split the clouds as a massive bolt of lightning crashed down.
The golden arcs struck Chiga directly, wrapping his body in violent current. Yet instead of pain, a look of serene enjoyment crossed his face.
"Pathetic," he thought. "To use lightning against me, a lightning user… you're only recharging me."
The ground beneath him quaked violently. Crimson cracks split open as molten lava erupted, swallowing Chiga whole. For a moment, the battlefield was drowned in glowing magma.
Then, from the molten sea, a golden radiance pierced through. Chiga rose calmly from within, unharmed. His gaze swept the darkened sky, cold and sharp.
"Enough hiding. Show yourself."
The space above him distorted, twisting until the vague shape of a human face appeared. Its features were indistinct, but its eyes and mouth glowed faintly as it spoke.
"You… you are not of my clan. Who are you?"
"My name is Uchiha Chiga."
"Uchiha?" the voice echoed disdainfully. "Never heard of it. I am the Great Elder of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, Ōtsutsuki Kōshi."
"Oh, the Great Elder?" Chiga raised an eyebrow, mocking. "For a moment, I thought you were the Clan Head. What a disappointment."
His words struck like daggers. Kōshi's face twisted with rage, and his full form emerged.
He descended in a flowing white robe, its hem exaggeratedly long. His eyes were unlike the Byakugan common to his people. Instead, he bore a pair of pitch-black Rinnegan with white ripple patterns glowing inside.
Kōshi's fury burned, not from grief over his slain kin, but from the loss of his tools. The Ōtsutsuki who had fallen here were nothing more than laborers, farmers of the divine trees. They were disposable. What stung him was the collapse of his system.
For countless years, they had harvested the fruits. In exchange, he had tossed them scraps of elixirs, keeping them eager, grateful, and obedient. Now, all of that had been destroyed in a single day.
Kōshi's hand rose, and the sky turned black. Countless rods materialized, sharp and jagged, descending like a deadly rain. They weren't ordinary chakra receivers, but Truth-Seeking Orbs transformed into weapons.
White ripples pulsed within his eyes, and dark chains suddenly snaked around Chiga, binding him tightly.
But Chiga did not resist. He stood still, letting the chains constrict tighter and tighter.
Kōshi sneered. With a wave of his hand, the rain of black rods fell.
Yet before they could strike, the Divine Escort expanded outward, forming a radiant golden shield above Chiga. The rods disintegrated on contact, turning to ash.
Then, as though acting of its own will, the weapon split into countless shining blades, slicing apart the chains.
Chiga's expression remained unreadable. He had already anticipated this.
The fusion of his Rinnegan and Tenseigan had granted him a new power: the ability to imbue objects with life. The Divine Escort no longer needed his command. It moved on its own, instinctively shielding its master.
Kōshi's eyes narrowed. "That weapon… it blocked my Truth-Seeking Orbs?"
Chiga stroked the Divine Escort gently, as one would a loyal pet. It shimmered before reverting into its ring form. His golden gaze lifted back to the Elder.
"Is that all, old dog?"
Enraged, Kōshi's eyes widened, and a black void yawned open before him. It devoured Chiga's golden eye-beams, redirecting them into another dimension.
But when the void closed, Chiga had already vanished from below—only to reappear right in front of him.
Kōshi flinched, but too late. The golden blade of the Divine Escort sliced through one of his arms, severing it cleanly.
He grimaced but remained composed. With the countless divine tree fruits he had consumed, his regenerative power was monstrous. Losing an arm was nothing.
Yet seconds passed, and no flesh grew back. Golden flames burned along the severed edge, preventing regeneration. The pain deepened, twisting his expression further.
Snarling, Kōshi thrust out his remaining hand. The air cracked like glass, shards of space splintering outward. The fractures spread, pulling at Chiga with immense suction, threatening to drag him into the void.
But Chiga did not move. His body remained rooted, completely unfazed by the pull.
Kōshi's chest tightened. His power, his consumption of countless fruits, his arrogance—none of it seemed to matter. This Uchiha, who had appeared from nowhere, stood beyond his comprehension.
Chiga's voice broke the silence.
"Tell me, Great Elder… is there only one of you in the Ōtsutsuki Clan?"
Kōshi answered only with a cold snort. Once, there had been three Elders. But he had long since killed the other two, unwilling to share the divine fruits with anyone.
Chiga sighed, uninterested in pressing further. His palm opened, and a swirling vortex of darkness formed within it.
From that void, a monstrous roar erupted. The colossal form of the Ten-Tails emerged, its many eyes glaring as its shadow blotted out the battlefield.
The beast crashed onto the ground, its presence suffocating. Then, with a deafening cry, it dissolved into a pool of writhing black liquid, sinking into the soil itself.
---