Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's body swelled rapidly. The forcibly merged Ten-Tails seemed on the verge of cracking apart, threatening to split back into its nine components.
This was unexpected for Kaguya. The Ten-Tails was going out of control.
Well, being sealed for so long, a little mental fog was understandable.
First, a millennium had passed since the Sage of Six Paths, using Yin-Yang Release, divided the Ten-Tails into nine. The consciousnesses of the nine tailed beasts were fiercely independent, especially since someone had recently taken deliberate steps to strengthen their self-awareness.
The principle was like trying to mend a shattered mirror. Once something is split, you can try to glue it back together, but there will always be cracks.
When the Ten-Tails' consciousness stirred, it didn't mean the nine beasts' consciousnesses were erased. No, they were merely dormant. At the slightest disturbance, they'd start struggling. They wanted their chakra back. They wanted to escape the cage of their jinchūriki.
Second, that same "someone" had specifically boosted the tailed beasts' specs. The Ten-Tails' chakra volume now exceeded Kaguya's limit of control.
Even a five percent excess was a guaranteed loss of control.
What Kaguya should have done was discard some chakra. Objectively, discarding chakra risked making the Ten-Tails incomplete. Subjectively? Kaguya was the progenitor of all chakra in the Shinobi World, a glutton who wanted to devour every last bit of it. Asking her to give some up now was pure fantasy.
Isshiki Ōtsutsuki watched this unfold, feeling no pity. What ill intentions could he possibly have? He just wanted to finish her while she was down.
Isshiki swung his arm. Dozens of square metal pillars materialized in mid-air. They fell. In an instant, they pierced the tailed-beast-fused Kaguya, pinning the colossal body to the earth.
Isshiki's signature abilities, powered by his unique eye, were Sukunahikona and Daikokuten. The former allowed him to shrink or enlarge objects—or himself.
The attacks were physical. The principles were anything but.
He'd shrink things, store them in a pocket dimension, then retrieve, enlarge, and hurl them in battle. Incredibly convenient.
"Hmph. A monkey in royal robes," Isshiki sneered, looking down at Kaguya just as he had a thousand years ago. "So you ate the Chakra Fruit. What of it? You can't even control the God Tree. A servant remains a servant."
Typical Ōtsutsuki. Gain a slight upper hand, and the posturing begins immediately.
But then, an arm shot out from the fleshy mass enveloping Kaguya. Distracted by the Ten-Tails, her mind was foggy. She aimed by instinct. Chakra detonated.
You want a sniper duel? I brought a howitzer.
Kaguya didn't need to aim. She was throwing out Kekkei Mōra—attacks with severely excessive area coverage.
Eighty Gods Vacuum Fists!
In the rectangular zone ahead, the very atmosphere was compressed into a dense mass by the explosive force. Isshiki, within range, was swatted away—again. Simultaneously, a distant mountain peak directly in the path was obliterated.
Huh. Why "again"? It was almost as if his purpose here was to get slapped around by different people.
Kaguya's current state was all brute force, zero finesse. Her massive chakra made precise control impossible.
Then again, while "precision" was out, "release" was definitely still on the table.
Her offensive power hadn't diminished from her prime. It had increased. This wasn't the standard Ten-Tails. This was the Pro version.
Pride comes before a fall. People rarely learn from their lessons. Kaguya blasted Isshiki once more, a perfect echo of a millennium past.
Kaguya was unwell, but Isshiki forgot he was a cripple. Obesity versus paralysis? Obesity wins every time.
Isshiki's flying pillars had pinned Kaguya, but they'd also inadvertently stabilized the Ten-Tails' chaotic chakra. Seizing the chance, Kaguya felt her control returning.
Her body shrank. Quickly, she resumed her human form.
Not all Ōtsutsuki are equal. Isshiki had decent regeneration. But Kaguya was immortal, unkillable. The gaping wounds from the pillars closed within a few breaths, leaving no trace.
Regardless of sneak attacks or dirty tactics, Kaguya had defeated Isshiki a thousand years ago. A thousand years later, the "loser" label still fit him perfectly.
On the sidelines, the Five Kage watched, jaws slack. A casual strike from Kaguya held that much power?
"It seems she truly is the Rabbit Goddess," someone whispered. "Could any ninja unleash such a technique?"
"Then… who is the brave warrior facing this 'Goddess of Destruction'?"
"Brave? That's a hero."
"If he can defeat Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, then yes. But… he doesn't seem up to it."
"Not up to it? Believe first, question later."
"What should we do? Assist him?"
"Assist? We watch. You actually think he's one of us?"
Their tones were laced with sarcasm and mockery. Anyone with eyes could see the deep history between the attacker and Kaguya. This was a dog-eat-dog fight. Let them bite each other. Only a fool would interrupt now.
If Isshiki were perfectly rational, he'd flee. But you can't expect someone who's schemed for a millennium to keep running when his mortal enemy is right there.
Isshiki rushed back in and clashed with Kaguya.
He soon pinpointed her weakness: she was clumsy. Maintaining her human form was a struggle. Agile movement? Impossible.
She was a stationary artillery piece. Immense firepower, but no mobility? A sitting duck.
Isshiki pointed. Two hemispherical lids, one above, one below, slammed together, trapping Kaguya inside.
"The brave warrior… won? Does he become a hero now?"
"Won? Really?"
No. At their level, the Five Kage couldn't accurately judge the battle.
The next moment, Isshiki's sealing pot began to expand… Wait. No. That wasn't it.
A black sphere swelled, overtaking the pot, expanding endlessly.
As for Kaguya… She had stats where others had brains, mechanics where others had stats, and zero brains where others had mechanics. Her on-paper strength was absurd.
"Holy shit," Qianyu muttered from his hiding spot, finally losing his composure. "Expansive Truth-Seeking Ball!"
Kaguya, sealed for ages, gets hit with another seal the moment she's free? That's just triggering her trauma.
When trauma hits, Kaguya panics. Panicked, she unleashes her ultimate move. Consequences be damned.
Isshiki couldn't handle an Expansive Truth-Seeking Ball. He pulled back. But then, a force slammed into him from behind.
It happened too fast. Isshiki's reaction speed was always lacking. Why else would he have fallen to Kaguya's sneak attack, despite having a personal pocket dimension?
The impact altered his retreat path, adding a sharp angle. The lower half of his body grazed the edge of the expanding black orb.
Hey, guess what? Isshiki seemed destined, fated, to lose his lower half. Again.
Sorry. I'm on a tight schedule, Qianyu offered a silent apology. With a casual wave, a massive Yomotsu Hirasaka portal tore open. He manipulated the opening, "swallowing" the still-smallish Expansive Truth-Seeking Ball from below like a bag.
Only Kekkei Mōra counters Kekkei Mōra. Qianyu had just teleported the thing away.
"What's happening? Another warrior?""Lord Qianyu…"
Qianyu's appearance finally let the Leaf shinobi release a held breath.
As the Hokage watched Qianyu, the Tsuchikage suddenly looked up, sensing something.
"Look! The sky… the moon…"
Everyone looked up. The bright moonlight was being swiftly devoured. The expanding curvature of darkness was chilling.
Qianyu had dumped the Expansive Truth-Seeking Ball—and Kaguya inside—onto the moon. After all, the moon was Kaguya's "old home."
Kaguya didn't need to waste chakra destroying it. But this place had sealed her. She hated it. So she obliterated it on a whim.
In an instant, only a pitch-black void remained above them.
"This… can't be described as altering the terrain anymore.""This is celestial annihilation…"
Before Qianyu, a spatial rift opened again. Kaguya Ōtsutsuki stepped through.
"Who are you?" Her voice was cold. "Why can you use my Yomotsu Hirasaka?"
"Yomotsu Hirasaka? A kind Ōtsutsuki taught it to me before he died. Do good deeds, and good fortune follows."
"Ōtsutsuki… Urashiki Ōtsutsuki?"
Kaguya had always feared pursuit from her clan. Hearing of another besides Isshiki made her frown.
"Relax. He's dead. Peacefully. Lived to a ripe old age."
"You are… unusual. You carry a presence similar to mine."
"Don't say that. You're several generations my senior."
Counting from the Sage of Six Paths, Kaguya was practically his grandmother.
Kaguya's reappearance and the casual chat with Qianyu made the Leaf shinobi's relief vanish, replaced by renewed dread.
Qianyu's stated goal in reviving Kaguya was to permanently solve the Shinobi World's crises. But watching them talk… Were they discussing how to end the world?
Fortunately, whenever events teeter on the brink, a savior always makes a grand entrance.
As Qianyu and Kaguya conversed, a figure shot toward them. It "split in two," each copy delivering a powerful kick—one aimed at Qianyu, one at Kaguya.
Qianyu saw the familiar blond hair. He didn't counter. He let the kick connect, plummeting to the ground as if struck.
"Hey! Are you the one trying to destroy the world?!"
The one staging this heroic entrance was Naruto Uzumaki. He'd arrived fast. No Flying Thunder God Technique, but he got lucky—a Mount Myōboku toad was nearby. Reverse Summoning gave him rocket-like travel speed.
Qianyu gave him a once-over. The kid was in Sage Mode.
"You think it's me?" Qianyu said from the crater. "You kicked the wrong guy, you know."
"No way! An old man told me—""Whatever. You're here now. The more the merrier."
Qianyu had no time for childish arguments. Before Naruto could say more, blue flames erupted in a radius of several dozen meters centered on Qianyu. Faced with a technique of this scale, what could Sage Mode do?
The blue flames touched Naruto. Poof. A cloud of smoke.
"Huh. A shadow clone."
And Naruto's real body? He'd recklessly charged at Kaguya… and was now caught in a giant hand formed of condensed chakra.
Yet Kaguya didn't harm him immediately. She seemed… stunned. Unconsciously, she reached out, gently touching Naruto's cheek. Two silent tears traced paths down her own face.
So she did know the difference. One was a tool for resurrection. The other… was her son's legacy.
Naruto was imbued with Asura's chakra, bearing the Sage's essence. That faint, almost negligible connection clearly stirred a millennium of grief in Kaguya.
Qianyu watched this reunion across a thousand years, a smirk tugging at his lips. Ah, the melodrama of a thousand-year-old crone.
...
Sasuke moved to help Naruto. The next instant, darkness.
The Sage of Six Paths invaded his mental world.
Compared to Naruto, Sasuke's situation was unique. When he time-traveled to the era of Konoha's founding, the Indra chakra within him vanished.
Because the then-"host" for Indra was Madara Uchiha. In temperament, personality, even ability, Madara was a better fit than Sasuke. Sasuke became the backup.
But when Sasuke returned to his original time, the Indra chakra returned. In this timeline, Madara was long dead. The backup was promoted.
From this timeline's perspective, Sasuke had only vanished for an instant. The Indra chakra never had a chance to transfer.
Finding a suitable vessel isn't easy.
The Sage looked at the faint silhouette behind Sasuke and sighed.
"Old man, who are you?"
Sasuke had improved. He used "old man." The old Sasuke would have been… aggressively blunt.
"Sasuke Uchiha. I am Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, also known as the Sage of Six Paths. Do you know of me?" the Sage said.
Unlike Naruto, Sasuke had studied. His eyes widened. "You're the real Sage of Six Paths? That… woman throwing a tantrum outside is your mother?"
Sasuke's emotional intelligence lasted for exactly one sentence. The second revealed his true colors.
The Sage of Six Paths: "…"
My mother's tantrum. My apologies.
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