Lights shone brightly across the land.
Months after the victory, the shinobi world had transformed into a realm that never slept. Cities were filled with celebration, laughter, and the lingering warmth of peace that had once seemed impossible.
Not long ago, even the envoys of the Shinigami Clan had arrived to deliver a decisive message. The war between the Ōtsutsuki Clan and the shinobi world had been temporarily suspended. The strength displayed by the shinobi world had earned recognition from the great powers scattered across the universe.
More importantly, the Shinigami Clan had formally acknowledged the shinobi world as a true ally.
If the Ōtsutsuki Clan dared to launch a full-scale invasion, they would not be facing the shinobi world alone. They would face the combined might of the Shinigami Clan, its affiliated forces, and every allied shinobi.
A thousand-year peace treaty had been established.
For a normal shinobi, a thousand years was an unimaginable span of time, long enough to be considered eternity. But for ancient races that had existed for countless eras, a thousand years was merely a brief pause.
Everyone understood one thing. The hatred between the shinobi world and the Ōtsutsuki Clan ran too deep. Like fire and water, they could never truly coexist. When the time came, war would inevitably return.
Even so, one name now carried overwhelming weight across the stars.
Uzumaki Naruto.
Although the recent war had involved terrifying beings such as Ōtsutsuki Shiki, the conflict had not truly crippled the Ōtsutsuki Clan. Not even a tenth of their full strength had been lost.
Most of their forces had remained stationed elsewhere, guarding against other powerful races. Among them were entities that had reached the peak of the Demigod realm, and even existences that stood at the level of True Gods.
They could not afford to leave their territories undefended.
Still, the balance of the universe had shifted.
The rise of the shinobi world, once insignificant, had disrupted a long-standing equilibrium. What had once been predictable was now uncertain.
And at the center of it all stood Naruto.
After fully assimilating the gains from his battle with Ōtsutsuki Shiki, Naruto's strength had advanced yet again. His cultivation had reached the peak of the Demigod Seventh Revolution.
His growth was simply too fast.
Pushing further now would risk destabilizing his foundation, so Naruto chose patience. To him, raw combat strength mattered more than reckless advancement. With his lifespan, he had more than enough time to refine his path.
A Demigod could live up to one hundred thousand years. Each breakthrough extended that lifespan further.
As for True Gods, their limits remained unknown. Some claimed they were eternal, free from death itself.
Perhaps that was why beings like Ōtsutsuki Shiki pursued that realm so obsessively.
But Naruto understood something deeper.
Even so-called eternity might still exist within the bounds of fate.
Only true transcendence lay beyond it.
...
Within the capital of the shinobi world, inside a grand residence, Naruto sat across from Uchiha Shisui.
The atmosphere was calm, yet heavy.
"Shisui, what we are facing has only just begun."
Naruto spoke slowly, recounting the final words of Ōtsutsuki Shiki.
Shisui's expression gradually turned solemn.
The weight of those words was undeniable, yet what troubled him more was something else entirely.
Confusion.
"The End of Era Calamity… what exactly is it?" Shisui asked.
Naruto shook his head slightly.
"I don't know. But I can feel it. Whatever it is, it's tied to the truth of this world."
"The truth of the world?"
Shisui frowned. To him, the world was already vast and filled with unknowns. What truth could exist beyond everything they already knew?
Silence fell between them.
Each was lost in thought.
Only Naruto understood that this mystery might be connected to the very reason he existed in this world.
His transmigration was not a coincidence.
After a long pause, Naruto spoke again.
"Maybe… there's someone who knows."
...
On the moon, within a quiet and magnificent palace, Naruto stood before a woman of unparalleled beauty.
Her long robes flowed like moonlight itself. Her presence was elegant, noble, and distant, like a celestial being who did not belong to the mortal world.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
"Aren't you going to say something?" Naruto asked calmly.
Kaguya glanced at him, her expression unreadable.
"What more is there for this concubine to say?"
In recent years, she had lived in seclusion, rarely setting foot in the shinobi world. After the war, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo and Ōtsutsuki Hamura had built this palace for her on the moon as a gesture of atonement.
She had accepted it and remained here ever since.
Naruto looked at her quietly.
His gaze was sharp, as though it could see through everything.
Then, he spoke a single name.
"Madara."
In an instant, the atmosphere changed.
The gentle and noble aura surrounding Kaguya shattered. A terrifying pressure surged outward, cold and domineering.
Her eyes turned sharp.
"When did you find out?"
Naruto smiled faintly.
"Not long ago."
Three months had passed since the final battle.
Naruto had already investigated Uchiha Madara's power before this.
What he found was strange, yet undeniably powerful.
More importantly, Madara's Rinnegan had regressed once again, returning to a Sharingan form marked with tomoe.
The Nine-Tomoe Sharingan.
"If I hadn't accidentally sensed a trace of Madara's power within you, I might never have believed it," Naruto said calmly. "You've lived in seclusion all these years, yet your strength has quietly reached the level of Demigod Eight Revolutions. You've hidden yourself well."
His gaze sharpened.
"So tell me… should I call you Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, or something else?"
His eyes were like blades, piercing straight through her facade.
Even Kaguya, in her current state, felt an involuntary tremor under that pressure.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Clear applause echoed through the silent palace.
The woman before him slowly straightened, and the gentle, distant aura she once carried vanished completely. In its place rose something far more overwhelming.
Noble. Commanding. Absolute.
It was a kind of dominance Naruto had rarely seen, especially from someone who appeared so composed and elegant.
"As expected of a transmigrator who could rise to this level in just a hundred years," she said slowly, her tone carrying faint amusement. "You truly are exceptional. You even managed to surprise this concubine."
Naruto's pupils shrank.
For the first time in a long while, his composure cracked.
That single word struck deeper than any attack.
Transmigrator.
It was his greatest secret. The foundation of everything he was.
Yet now, it had been revealed so casually.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked, his voice low but filled with unmistakable shock.
For a brief moment, his mind churned violently.
Even during the greatest crises of the shinobi world, he had never lost control like this. But now, faced with someone who could expose the truth of his existence with a single sentence, he felt a rare sense of unease.
Still, that instability lasted only a moment.
Naruto had endured too much to remain shaken for long.
His breathing steadied, and his expression returned to calm, as if nothing had happened.
Seeing this, the woman wearing Kaguya's form curved her lips slightly.
A faint smile appeared.
She stood there, poised and radiant, like a perfectly ripened fruit, beautiful on the surface yet hiding something far more dangerous beneath.