Seeing this, Black Zetsu's viscous body trembled with excitement, releasing a low, almost soundless chuckle filled with malicious delight.
"Heh… hehehe…"
"Do you see that, you foolish, lowly insects?"
"Mother… Mother is reclaiming her power!"
"Your end… has come!"
No longer attempting to harass the soldiers, Black Zetsu retreated deeper into the shadows, preparing to witness the glorious resurgence of its "mother."
And the miserable fate of those who had dared offend her.
—
The image within the Heavenly Curtain seemed to freeze for a moment.
Below stood the horrified, faltering pursuers and a collapsing Tenji.
Above floated Kaguya, wrapped in sacred radiance, like a deity descending upon the mortal realm.
The God Tree towered between heaven and earth, as though bearing witness to both the beginning and the end.
Across the shinobi world, those watching felt a heavy complexity settle in their chests.
They all understood.
A woman who might once have carried hope had been driven—by betrayal and by the cruelty of the world—into an abyss from which there would be no return.
"Damn that Tenji! Spineless trash! How could he betray Kaguya like that?!" A hot-tempered shinobi clenched his fists and cursed aloud.
"Exactly," another sighed, anger and regret intertwined. "If I'd married a woman like Kaguya, I'd cherish her beyond measure. How could I ever let her fall to this?"
"You all know I always stand with my own, right or wrong," someone else muttered darkly. "But today? After seeing this? Tenji and the rest… they deserve to die."
All across the shinobi world, condemnation of Tenji echoed.
Contempt for betrayal. Sympathy for the wronged. Fury at a tragedy that might have been avoided.
—
Within the Heavenly Curtain, the story moved forward without mercy.
Kaguya rose higher and higher, as though drawn upward by the invisible pull of the God Tree itself, ascending into the vast canopy shrouded in dense chakra.
The scene zoomed in.
Suspended among the branches hung a strange fruit—dark crimson, as though it contained the distilled essence of life and sin.
Without hesitation, Kaguya reached out, plucked the Chakra Fruit, and swallowed it.
"BOOM—!"
An indescribable torrent of power erupted from within her.
Her white hair lashed wildly. The light surrounding her shifted—from sacred purity to a blinding brilliance infused with overwhelming force.
Then—
On her smooth forehead, the skin split open.
A new eye burst forth.
A crimson eye marked with concentric ripples—the Rinne Sharingan.
Divine majesty replaced warmth. Inhuman coldness supplanted everything else.
At this moment, Kaguya had not only reclaimed her power—she had surpassed it.
She was the Progenitor of Chakra.
Slowly, she lowered her head.
Her Byakugan and newly awakened Rinne Sharingan gazed down upon the tiny figures below—like ants beneath a god.
Her eyes settled upon Tenji.
"Mortal."
Her voice echoed like a decree from the abyss.
"You have driven me to this… You deserve death."
In the next instant, the Rinne Sharingan on her forehead flared with resplendent light.
The sky itself seemed to become her domain. A colossal projection bearing her likeness spread across the sky , its great eye blazing.
"Infinite Tsukuyomi."
A pale, frigid radiance—cold enough to seize the soul—poured down from the enormous eye in the sky, flooding the land below.
Soldiers. Officers. Tenji.
Cries and struggles lasted only a heartbeat.
The moment the light struck them, the pattern of the Rinne Sharingan appeared within their eyes.
Then—
They froze.
Expressions locked in place. Movements ceased.
Like puppets with severed strings, they lost all self-awareness, standing rigid within a sea of white light.
In the final instant before Tenji's consciousness was swallowed by the endless radiance—before he fell into eternal illusion—his fading gaze seemed to pierce through the light toward the figure in the sky.
The last fragment of him—the part that had once been her husband—formed a silent question as it vanished:
"Kaguya… who… are you…?"
—
Soon, all were bound by the God Tree's roots, wrapped and suspended.
The colossal projection in the sky slowly faded.
The real Kaguya hovered atop the God Tree, her presence so overwhelming it seemed to eclipse heaven and earth.
She surveyed the lifeless "statues" below with utter indifference.
There was no joy in her revenge.
No sorrow.
Only the cold detachment of an absolute being.
She descended slowly from the summit and stepped upon the silent earth bathed in pale light.
Black Zetsu, which had hidden safely away, hurried over, wriggling toward her with barely concealed excitement.
"Mother! Are you alright? That's wonderful! Those wretched insects have all—"
Kaguya shook her head, cutting it off.
There was no satisfaction on her face. Instead, her brows were faintly drawn together, a shadow lingering in her expression.
Black Zetsu immediately sensed something amiss.
"Mother… what's wrong? Haven't you reclaimed your power? Those who offended you have received eternal punishment."
Kaguya was silent for a long moment.
Then she sighed softly, her fingers brushing unconsciously across the crimson Rinne Sharingan on her forehead.
She lifted her gaze toward the vast sky—once simply open space, now perhaps a reminder of unseen watchers.
Her voice carried exhaustion… and unease.
"I consumed… the fruit that was meant to be offered to the clan."
She paused.
"The clan will not permit this. They will discover it. And they will… deliver punishment."
Black Zetsu's body rippled, and it quickly protested with fervor.
"This isn't your fault, Mother! Those wretched natives forced your hand! They drove you into a corner—you only acted to protect yourself!"
Kaguya did not respond.
Her expression remained clouded.
—
The days that followed passed like a fast-forwarded sequence.
Kaguya did not leave.
She remained beneath the towering God Tree, sitting in quiet repose.
Yet more often than not, she would raise her head to stare at the sky.
Within her pale and crimson eyes lingered unmistakable anxiety about the future.
It was fear.
Fear rooted in blood.
Fear of the Ōtsutsuki Clan.
Across the shinobi world, as the viewers gradually recovered from the shock and dread of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, discussion erupted once more.
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