Ōtsutsuki weren't just strong.
They cheated.
Between their Truth-Seeking Orbs and their warped, instinctive mastery of space-time ninjutsu, they treated the battlefield like a board they already owned. If this one decided to flee, he'd vanish before anyone could blink.
Raizen knew that better than anyone.
Which was exactly why he hadn't brought Hashirama or Madara last time. The more chakra signatures on the battlefield, the more routes an Ōtsutsuki had to hijack. One slip, one panicked escape… and all of Raizen's intel vanished forever.
So the plan now needed to be brutal.
Precise.
Inescapable.
"First rule," Raizen muttered under his breath as he sifted through sealing diagrams in his mind. "You kill a space-time user by killing their space-time."
The easiest way to explain the Ōtsutsuki's instant movement was something between Flying Thunder God and a warped, divine version of Kamui: they didn't travel; they became the destination. Restricting that kind of freedom meant controlling the battlefield on a level most shinobi didn't even dare imagine.
He imagined a tight circle of Flying Thunder God marks forming a cage.
An absolute boundary.
"If I pair Flying Thunder God with Kamui… I can hijack his dimensional exit."
The thought hit like lightning.
Flying Thunder God was, at its core, a space-time enchantment.
Kamui was pure dimensional distortion.
Together?
Raizen could transform an entire stretch of land into a trap.
A place where any space-time jump redirected straight into Kamui's pocket dimension.
Meaning:
If the Ōtsutsuki tried to teleport away, he'd automatically warp where Raizen wanted him.
And once inside the Kamui space, where Raizen controlled the rules…
the godling would be nothing more than a pinned insect.
"This could work," Raizen whispered, heart thudding once. "This actually might work."
And the best part?
If a Truth-Seeking Orb hit the Flying Thunder God barrier, Raizen could have Kamui swallow it on contact.
Instant deletion.
Instant disarmament.
With both dimensional escapes and god-tier attacks neutralized, Raizen could turn the battlefield into a quiet execution chamber.
"If it weren't for the intel I need, I'd already have cut him in half," he muttered. The bitterness in his chest didn't fade.
But he couldn't kill the Ōtsutsuki outright.
Not yet.
Because Raizen still didn't know the full scope of their clan, their home world, or their routes to the ninja continent. He'd only scraped the surface. If one had appeared, more could follow. And if truth matched the murals carved in those ancient ruins… then the ninja world was nothing but livestock.
So he hid on the island.
Watched the godling heal.
Gathered what he could.
And quietly prepared a slaughterhouse.
Meanwhile, far from the sea, the world was shaking.
Madara's Search
Madara tore across nations like a storm front, instincts sharper than logic.
He didn't know where Raizen was.
But the Land of Water tugged at him with an inexplicable pull.
Standing on a tiny boat, wind battering his hair and cloak, he stared across endless blue.
"I don't know where you are, Raizen… but something on this sea reeks of you."
His Mangekyō spun once, reflecting steel-blue waves.
Then he rowed on.
Konoha's Crisis
While Madara chased shadows, Hashirama drowned in politics.
The council chamber felt too small, too hot, too full of angry clans trying to shout the world into order.
Hyūga Tennin stood, voice ringing.
"We cannot hand over the tailed beasts! If other nations get them, the balance will shatter!"
Three days earlier, the First Raikage had sent a formal demand:
Surrender one tailed beast to the Land of Lightning.
Hashirama ignored it.
But then the other Great Nations sent demands of their own.
Even the minor villages began circling, emboldened by Konoha's instability after Raizen vanished.
Hashirama rubbed his temples, exhausted.
"If we refuse everyone, what then?" he murmured.
Konoha held multiple tailed beasts… but no Jinchūriki.
No vessel.
No control.
And without Raizen as deterrence, other nations sensed weakness.
"We all know the truth," an elder growled. "The only reason they dare act like this… is because Hokage-sama is gone."
A heavy silence followed.
Raizen had crushed Raikage before.
He had walked with Hashirama and Madara.
As long as he existed, no one dared poke Konoha.
But now?
Everyone wanted a piece of the Will of Fire.
Hashirama closed his eyes briefly. He understood Raizen's plan for tail beast redistribution. He even agreed with it in theory. But he also believed in balance—the five great powers restraining one another to prevent war.
Sending out tailed beasts could strengthen that balance.
But what if the first village to receive one demanded more?
What if they used them to break peace instead of maintain it?
Hashirama exhaled slowly.
"I need to negotiate first," he said quietly. "No rash decisions. We stall for time… and pray Raizen returns."
But the fear in the room said otherwise.
Time was the one thing they no longer had.