"BOOM!!!"
A dull, earth-shaking roar exploded within the silent lunar space.
Takuno's fist, wrapped in the "Unrivaled Strength," smashed fiercely against the transparent barrier enclosing the artificial sun.
At the point of impact, the surface of the indestructible barrier instantly underwent a violent, twisted distortion!
The transparent wall of energy acted like a lake surface into which a colossal boulder had been cast, rapidly rippling outward with visible circular waves of energy.
These ripples expanded and overlapped at an astonishing speed, and the fluctuations of energy became surging and tempestuous, as if the entire barrier were groaning in agony.
"Crack... crackle..."
A dense series of minute yet heart-palpitating cracking sounds rang out.
Under the continuous impact of Takuno's strength that surpassed all limits, the barrier finally reached its breaking threshold.
Countless fine cracks emerged out of thin air like a spiderweb, spreading rapidly until they instantly covered the entire surface of the barrier within his line of sight.
In the next second, accompanied by a crisp, ear-piercing shriek of shattering energy, this solid barrier that had once protected the artificial sun crumbled completely!
The fragments turned into specks of crystal light dross, drifting slowly and annihilating within the lunar environment.
Takuno's figure suffered no impediment, breaking through the residual energy turbulence of the shattered barrier to continue his forward surge.
His gaze pierced through the dissipating light dust, finally locking clearly onto the core behind the barrier:
A colossal palace towering within the interior of the artificial sun, radiating a cold, austere aura.
However, the calm lasted for only a single breath.
"Buzz!"
From the depths of the palace came a wave of low humming that made one's scalp tingle.
Immediately following, as if opening the gates of hell, endless human-shaped puppets poured frantically out from the various passages and doorways of the palace like an alarmed swarm of iron locusts!
Their movements were swift yet carried a mechanical stiffness, lunging toward him to kill with absolute clarity of purpose.
And that was not all!
Almost at the exact same time, the outer walls, towers, and even the ground of the palace flipped open soundlessly, revealing pitch-black gun muzzles hidden within.
Row after row of peculiarly shaped fixed machine guns completed their aiming lock in an instant, their cold metal barrels pointing in unison at Takuno, who had broken in alone.
"Rat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat!!!"
Without any warning, the harsh sound of gunfire abruptly tore apart the dead silence of the Moon!
Countless blistering bullets carrying sharp sounds of breaking air poured down toward Takuno in a sky-blotting torrent!
Facing this sudden eruption of technological firepower that far exceeded his expectations, a trace of imperceptible surprise flitted across Takuno's eyes, but it vanished in a flash, leaving not a shred of panic on his face.
While evading and shifting like a ghost amidst the storm of bullets, his mind raced with rapid thoughts.
The Moon... shouldn't there only be the descendants of Ōtsutsuki Hamura's lineage here? How did their technology tree branch out so 'peculiarly'? To the point of developing to such a scale?
As for the situation on the ninja continent, firearms were difficult to popularize there largely because powerful ninjutsu held a dominant position.
The lethality of ordinary firearms often appeared stretched thin before a ninja, and their greatest advantage was merely allowing ordinary people without chakra to grasp a certain degree of military power.
Clearly, the Ōtsutsuki branch on the Moon had poured a massive amount of their wisdom and resources into these "external things," the study of technological creations.
This was true not only for these automated machine gun weapons, but also for these locust-like puppets surging before him.
In Takuno's memory, the Ōtsutsuki clan excelled at manufacturing high-grade human-shaped puppets that possessed a certain degree of autonomous "spiritual intelligence."
Speaking solely of combat capability, these puppets might not compare to the top-tier combat puppets of Granny Chiyo from the Hidden Sand Village, but in terms of functional diversity, autonomy, and the precise technology likely contained within them, they probably far surpassed them.
Thinking up to this point, not only was there no fear in Takuno's eyes, but a thick light of interest ignited instead.
The manufacturing craftsmanship of these puppets—if I can obtain the relevant technology...
A notion rapidly took shape within his heart.
If he migrated his secret laboratory to this lunar base in the future, then manufacturing a batch of such high-grade puppets to serve as assistants would undoubtedly be an excellent choice.
They were tireless, absolutely obedient, and more importantly...
One would never have to worry about betrayal!
The corner of Takuno's mouth curved into a cold arc.
This meant that even if his laboratory stored the most forbidden powers or research data, there would be no need to worry that these "assistants" would harbor secondary thoughts, secretly stealing or abusing them.
They would be the perfect tools.
However, all blueprints required a foundation in reality.
Takuno licked his somewhat dry lips, and the trace of interest in his eyes was instantly replaced by a sharp, piercing battle intent, locking firmly onto the deepest part of that austere palace ahead.
Because his perception told him with absolute clarity that at the core of that palace, two streams of chakra aura completely distinct from the surrounding puppets were currently lying dormant!
Toneri... as well as his father!
That's right, that old fellow is indeed still alive!
The final trace of doubt in Takuno's heart dissolved.
Whether coveting the puppet technology or occupying the lunar base, the prerequisite for everything must be built upon thoroughly settling this father-and-son duo who controlled the Moon!
While thinking, Takuno's physical form turned into an uncatchable afterimage amidst the dense barrage and the siege of the puppets, every twist and turn precisely grazing past the attacks.
The sharp shrieks of air being torn, the clicking sounds of puppet joints turning, and the exploding roars of firearms trapped him firmly in the center.
"Tsk, truly never-ending!" Takuno's brow furrowed tightly as a surge of irritability rose in his heart.
The individual strength of these puppets was not worth mentioning in his eyes, and their movements were also slightly mechanical and sluggish, but their numbers were simply too terrifying.
Looking out as far as his eyesight could reach, every place was filled with bodies forged of cold metal, layer upon layer like a tide, surging boundlessly.
Even more troublesome was that they seemed to have been programmed with a certain command to pursue until death, ignoring damage and knowing only to attack.
"Susanoo!"
A black chakra giant once rose abruptly from the ground, its greatsword sweeping across to slash over a hundred puppets into scrap iron.
However, this giant whose majesty was enough to destroy mountains and break ridges appeared lacking in capability when facing this metal torrent that rolled endlessly like a "locust plague."
Every swing of the greatsword was like smashing into a viscous swamp; it crushed one patch, and more immediately filled the vacancy.
"I cannot waste time clearing them out bit by bit like this."
As thoughts shifted like lightning, Takuno's figure suddenly blurred, and in the next instant, he was like an arrow released from a bowstring, immediately breaking free from the vortex where the puppet groups were densest, hovering steadily high in the sky above the palace dome.
A piercing gale blew against the lapels of his clothes, and below was a scene that made one's scalp tingle.
Thousands upon thousands of puppet heads raised in unison, their "eyes" flashing with red light locking onto him once more.
Following that, countless figures悍然 rose from the ground, densely lunging toward him again, forming a reverse metal torrent in the air!
Takuno looked down upon this frenzied and spectacular scene of pursuit, his gaze cold as iron.
He no longer hesitated, and the vast chakra within his body erupted with a crash!
In an instant, a suffocatingly heavy pressure permeated outward.
The sky, without any omen, darkened.
With Takuno as the center, pitch-black energy diffused rapidly like ink dripping into clear water!
A heavy thundercloud that could not be thinned out spread frantically, its expansion speed far exceeding imagination.
In the blink of an eye, the entire ancient and grand palace complex, along with the vast surrounding area spanning several kilometers, was completely swallowed by this boundless, sky-blotting pitch-black thundercloud!
Between heaven and earth, there remained only the pale lightning occasionally darting within the cloud layers, and the doomsday-like scene reflected within the eyes of the puppets below.
Deep within the palace.
Toneri's father, who had been observing the battle situation through a secret technique, had all the blood drain completely from his aged face covered in the furrows of time, which was now filled with unmaskable horror and disbelief.
His withered fingers unconsciously gripped the armrests of his seat.
"This kind of power..." he whispered in a lost voice, his tone carrying a trace of imperceptible trembling.
The terrifying scene of the thundercloud blotting out the sun before him, and the destructive energy contained within it, far exceeded his prior estimates, and even overturned his cognition of this invader's strength.
In truth, regarding Takuno's arrival, alert had long since risen in his heart.
Tracing back to his return journey from that secret descent to Earth many years ago to visit the "Byakugan Princess," an ethereal sensation of being spied upon had followed him like a shadow.
He had specially stayed on Earth for a long time, laying traps and investigating carefully, yet had consistently failed to capture any anomalous trail.
At that time, he merely thought he was old and overthinking.
"So... it was actually true!" Light dawned completely within the heart of Toneri's father, bitterness and regret interweaving, "The tracker back then... was this fellow!"
Only at this moment did he thoroughly confirm that the trace of unease back then was no illusion, but the trail left behind by this powerful enemy who was currently turning the Moon upside down!
And what he did not know was that the Takuno of that time clearly knew the unfathomable power contained within the target's body was by no means something the then-him could confront head-on.
Therefore, even though the target had already departed, he had bided his time with extraordinary patience for a considerable period, confirming the other party had absolutely no possibility of returning before daring to reveal himself cautiously, ultimately finding that secret passage leading to the Moon.
To Takuno, when facing an opponent whose strength far exceeded his own, no amount of caution could be considered excessive.
Toneri stood quietly; those eye sockets that should have been the windows to the soul were completely empty at this moment.
He could not witness the external scenes, but the sharp perception connected by bloodline and the tense aura permeating the air also made him face a formidable enemy.
"Father..." Toneri's voice carried a trace of imperceptible tightness, "Is there... an invader? Has the enemy come?"
A heavy sigh echoed within the hall, breaking the oppressive silence.
Toneri's father looked upon his son's face, complex emotions surging into his heart.
With matters having reached this point, concealment no longer held meaning.
"Yes, Toneri." He answered in a deep voice, his tone carrying an unmaskable gravity and bitterness, "Someone... has broken into our domain."
Even without being able to see, Toneri still "heard" that heavy bitterness from the depths of his father's words, causing his heart to tighten.
"The other party... is very powerful?"
"Powerful... exceptionally powerful." Toneri's father did not deny it.
However, in the next second, an unquestionable resolve replaced the heaviness.
"But!" His voice carried the strength of clenching iron, "Rest assured, nothing will go wrong! I will never allow anyone to threaten you!"
Before his words faded, a resolute light had already ignited within the eyes of Toneri's father.
He spoke no more, his hands instantly tracing profound and complex seals before him.
As the final hand seal completed, at the core of the great hall, that strictly guarded source point of energy suddenly exploded with a dazzling, magnificent golden brilliance!
That light rushed stormily toward Toneri's father, instantly wrapping his entire body.
If Takuno could see the scene at this core right now, he would surely discover that this was the source of the dread he had harbored for a long time—precisely the colossal golden Tenseigan radiating a terrifying power!
It resembled a sleeping sun, currently awakened due to the summoning, its majestic power continuously pouring into the body of Toneri's father.
By borrowing this supreme ocular power derived from the ancestors, the strength of Toneri's father instantly climbed to the peak.
He lacked any hesitation, forming seals once more.
This time, an invisible, colossal wave of energy rapidly diffused outward with him as the center, enclosing the entire palace along with its core area tightly without a single seam.
Toneri's father furrowed his brow tightly, "looking" gravely toward that tumbling, ceaseless ink-colored thundercloud outside the palace dome.
He could clearly perceive that within the depths of those thick lead clouds, a power to destroy heaven and earth was frantically gathering.
This layer of barrier was precisely the defensive line he had constructed to resist that impending wrath of thunder!
The boundless ink-colored thunderclouds tumbled and roared around Takuno's body, and thick, pale-blue electrical arcs coursed and leaped around him like living entities, emitting a heart-palpitating "crackle" of popping.
He seemed to have transformed into the core of this thunderstorm, the wild energy agitating his robes and the tips of his hair.
Without a shred of hesitation, his hands clapped together like lightning before his chest, the seals already complete.
Right at the instant the seals formed.
"BOOM!!!"
A terrifying lightning bolt that could not be described with words tore through the clouds heavy as lead, striking down fiercely from above the high heavens!
This was no longer ordinary lightning; its massive diameter was like a sky-supporting pillar collapsing, instantly completely engulfing the densely packed puppet army below.
As far as vision could reach, there was entirely a sea of thunder light.
Light—an incomparable, dazzling light!
Its brilliance was so grand it was as if a giant flashbang covering an area of dozens of kilometers had been cast over the entire world, brutally erasing all shadows and outlines, leaving behind only pure, piercing light.
On the ninja continent, many people accustomed to looking up at the starry sky at night also noticed with astonishment at this moment that a certain region on the surface of that cold moon had suddenly become exceptionally bright.
This anomaly was brief and bizarre, but it was too distant after all; ordinary people merely felt a trace of doubt cross their hearts before returning to daily calm, with no one knowing that this abnormal glow of the moon was actually an earth-shattering slaughter being staged upon the Moon.
Situated at the center of the thunder light, Takuno's vision was also completely stripped away by this boundless light.
Even with his eyesight, he lost all external scenes at this moment, the world remaining only this pure brilliance.
This bolt of lightning summoned by him was completely distinct from the Susanoo that still required shielding oneself.
It abandoned all defensive postures, abandoned all shape transformations, leaving behind only the most violent and purest will of attack!
Its existence had but a single meaning: destruction!
True, if discussing the ultimate crystallization of energy convergence and the armor-piercing threshold of single-point penetration, it might be unable to compare with Susanoo.
But at this moment, when facing this puppet legion that was massive in number yet possessed a relatively fragile individual defense, what need was there for that level of armor-piercing threshold?
This Lightning Release driven by borrowing the power of Senjutsu that Takuno had created on the spot was precisely the most perfect answer!
It discarded ultimate sharpness in exchange for an ultra-wide range of lethality covering the entire battlefield!
Then let it be called...
"Sage Art: Lightning Release: Heavenly Judgement Thunder Hell!"