The massive phantom of chakra slowly solidified, piece by piece, until it took on a human form.
"Your strength is indeed terrifying," Black Zetsu declared coldly, standing on the phantom's shoulder. "Even Uchiha Madara in his Six Paths form was no match for you. But it ends here."
Kaito's gaze never wavered as he stared at the figure before him. "Yes, it's over. I've been waiting for this day for a long time."
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's body was still condensing, her overwhelming presence filling the battlefield. Yet Kaito's expression remained calm—utterly calm. There was no panic, no fear. Only a quiet inevitability, as though he had foreseen it all.
That serenity sent a chill down Black Zetsu's spine. For the first time, it felt something it could not explain: fear.
"Impossible… impossible!" it muttered, trembling.
Grinding its teeth, Black Zetsu forced confidence into its voice. "It doesn't matter what tricks you have. Mother will be resurrected. Before her, you're nothing more than a clown!"
"She is the true progenitor of chakra, the one who began the shinobi world—"
"Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, correct?" Kaito cut in, his voice flat.
His interruption stunned Black Zetsu. That gaze of his carried no arrogance or disdain, only endless calm, a calm so profound it became terrifying.
"You…" Black Zetsu's voice quavered.
Kaito's words struck like thunder. "To save your mother, you manipulated history itself. You fueled hatred between Indra and Ashura, sparked war between the Uchiha and Senju, and twisted the course of the shinobi world. Should I call you Black Zetsu? Or should I call you the third son of Kaguya, brother of Hagoromo and Hamura?"
Boom!
The revelation shattered Black Zetsu's composure. Though it had no body, it felt as if sweat poured from every pore. Its voice trembled. "T-that's impossible! How could you know this? Even Hagoromo… even he didn't know I existed! Who… who are you?!"
In desperation, Black Zetsu looked to Kaguya's form, which was nearly complete. Its tone hardened. "It doesn't matter. Mother is almost here. You can't stop her!"
Kaito only shook his head. A faint smile touched his lips. "You really think she could be summoned without my permission? That you could survive this long without me allowing it?"
His voice grew colder. "My strength has already surpassed the Six Paths. I know everything. Do you really believe I didn't stop you because I couldn't?"
Boom!
The words struck Black Zetsu like lightning. Its mind roared with thunder, a gnawing terror it could not contain. Every step of its plan—Naruto and Sasuke's survival, Madara's resurrection, the Rinnegan's awakening—had flowed too smoothly. Almost unnaturally so.
"No… no… it can't be…" Black Zetsu whispered, horrified. Its gaze locked on Kaito as if seeing an ancient enemy. "…You… you're—!"
Before it could finish, Kaito moved.
In an instant, he appeared before Black Zetsu. His hand flicked, releasing dark-gray lightning that split into two sharp arrows.
"She's been resurrected. That means your role is over."
Boom!
The arrows pierced Black Zetsu. Cracks spread rapidly across its inky body. Its face froze in a mask of horror as the cracks deepened, and with a final shatter, it exploded like broken glass.
The manipulator of centuries, Black Zetsu—the will of Kaguya herself—was erased.
Kaito's voice was quiet, yet mocking. "Don't worry. When I defeat your mother, I'll write your story myself and spread it across the shinobi world."
"Damn you!"
The furious voice echoed from above. Kaguya's form, now nearly complete, absorbed the remnants of Black Zetsu. Chakra rivers quickened, surging wildly into her.
Silver hair flowed like a waterfall, pale limbs took form, and white robes adorned with tomoe patterns solidified around her divine figure. Finally, three thousand strands of shimmering hair drifted like threads of moonlight.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, progenitor of chakra, had returned.
Her pale Byakugan eyes locked onto Kaito. Though her voice was cold, it carried neither grief for Black Zetsu nor hesitation. "You… dared to kill my son before my very eyes."
"Thank you for the compliment, Kaguya," Kaito replied indifferently, his tone mocking yet calm.
"You are the first," she continued icily, "to speak to me in such a manner… and the first to commit such insolence."
"Really? Then I'll consider it an honor," Kaito said without flinching. "So, great goddess… tell me. What do you plan to do with me?"
Kaguya did not answer. Instead, murderous intent erupted from her body. The very world seemed to respond to her will.
Snow began to fall from a darkened sky, as if the heavens themselves bent to her presence.
The battle between the strongest of men and the mother of chakra was about to begin.
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