Winter had arrived in the Land of Fire, and the season's first snow drifted lazily through the air.
The Hidden Leaf Village had recently undergone a significant event. The Hokage had even dispatched Lord Orochimaru to the Land of Iron, though the specifics remained classified. The only public knowledge was that it involved the Raikage of the Hidden Cloud.
Of course, Aburame Tetsumaru—who held a total monopoly over the Land of Fire's telecommunications—knew exactly what was happening. Despite the best efforts of the Hokage and Danzo to keep things under wraps, Tetsumaru was a transmigrator. A few stray clues were all he needed to piece the puzzle together, to say nothing of the countless "confidential" phone calls he had intercepted.
Essentially, a notorious "Bloodline Thief" had resurfaced, destroying a small nation's hidden village to steal their unique bloodline limits and secret jutsu. However, the thief had been sloppy; a few orphans managed to escape and fled all the way to Konoha to beg for asylum.
The Third Hokage, ever the opportunist, accepted the refugees with a wide grin. It was a move that earned the village both prestige and new talent. As for the Raikage's blustering protests, Hiruzen simply tuned them out. The howls of a defeated dog held no weight.
When the Raikage finally agreed to settle the dispute through negotiation, the Hokage confidently agreed to act as a mediator, suggesting that both parties meet in Konoha.
No one expected the Raikage to be so bold. He hadn't come to talk; he had come to strike. His target? The Uzumaki bloodline, the absolute pinnacle of sealing arts in the Shinobi World.
What followed was the "Kushina Kidnapping Incident." However, because this occurred several years later than in the original timeline, the event didn't just end differently—it started differently.
The Cloud Jonin responsible for the abduction was no longer dealing with a young, helpless girl. Instead, he slammed head-first into a fully grown "Red-Hot Habanero"—the strongest Jinchuriki, who could strip the Nine-Tails' chakra for her own use at will.
People often claimed that "Perfect Jinchuriki" were the strongest, but that was merely a compromise made by ninjas who couldn't truly suppress their Tailed Beasts. The true peak of power was being able to completely dominate the beast, treating the massive "pet" as a oversized battery where every drop of chakra remained under the ninja's absolute control.
When the Cloud Jonin snuck into Kushina's room, he was immediately intercepted by her roommate, Minato Namikaze. Minato broke the man's spirit in a single exchange, and a furious Kushina finished him off with a single blow.
What followed was a superficial string of diplomatic bickering, while in the shadows, ninjas from both sides clashed violently along the borders of the Land of Hot Water. Countless shinobi were buried in the darkness during those skirmishes.
Ultimately, the Cloud bowed their heads. They released the captives from the small ninja village, promised to allow their reconstruction, and guaranteed no further incursions. Reparations were out of the question, and an apology was even less likely.
However, Danzo managed to squeeze enough compensation out of the deal to cover the costs of the conflict and provide pensions for the fallen ninjas. As a result, he officially regained his title of "Hokage's Assistant," which had been revoked for some time.
Tetsumaru monitored the entire event through his network. Snail Phones had even made their way into the Hidden Cloud—though those were the one-time, pre-paid models.
To Tetsumaru, the whole affair was dreadfully boring. Aside from the brief window involving the "Tomato and Fried Egg" duo (Kushina and Minato), his only concern was the fact that his snails were being resold in the Land of Lightning at such exorbitant prices that he wasn't the one doing the harvesting.
On the day the first snow fell in Konoha, the war in the heavens reached a critical juncture. The total number of puppets the Otsutsuki had deployed into orbit reached forty thousand. The front lines had been pushed to a point 110,000 kilometers from the Shinobi World—only 20,000 kilometers away from the midpoint of the transit.
On the other side, the Swarm's scale was even more staggering. The Armed Satellite Bugs had been completely phased out in favor of Sky Insects. Over a hundred thousand Sky Insects acted as a screen for nineteen pairs of Thunder Giant Insects as they engaged the Otsutsuki puppet army.
By now, the figure-eight Earth-Moon transition orbit was clogged with soldiers and a growing field of debris. On clear nights, the flashes of combat could be seen with the naked eye. The rhythm of battle had long since shifted from "turn-based" to real-time attrition.
The sixty-meter-long abdomens of the Thunder Giant Insects crackled with electricity. The light permeated their carapaces, coalescing into irregular plasma lightning orbs. Then, their tails split open, launching the plasma into the void.
Another Thunder Giant Insect stood head-to-head and foot-to-foot with the first, performing the exact same firing motion. However, it launched only a scattered, disorganized burst of plasma that dissipated within a hundred meters.
This synchronized dance allowed the two giant insects to cancel out each other's recoil, maintaining their relative position in orbit without drifting. The only casualty was the Giant Worm sandwiched between them to act as a buffer; it was squeezed into a thin, lifeless sheet by the sheer pressure.
The plasma lightning orbs glided silently through the void, leaving a trail of ionized gas as they slammed into the puppet swarm.
The endless ranks of puppets attempted to evade using thrusters, while high-level puppets used Ninjutsu to deflect the fire. Those whose energy reserves were depleted or who failed to dodge were vaporized instantly, turning into streaks of ash in the vacuum.
As the lightning orbs passed, the puppets quickly filled the gaps, forming a regular formation. They initiated the Four-Fire Collection Array, focusing the light beams of two thousand puppets into a combined counter-strike.
A beam of light four meters in diameter swept through the Swarm. Thousands of Sky Insects were reduced to wisps of smoke, dissipating in a radial pattern and carving a four-kilometer-wide void out of the Swarm.
After the exchange of heavy fire, both sides closed the distance. The Swarm fired volleys of needle-sharp flechettes the size of a man's middle finger from their tails. The puppet army responded with a dense mist of senbon. After one round of short-range fire, the two armies collided, engaging in a brutal melee.
Eighty thousand Sky Insects clashed with over twenty thousand puppets. They tore at each other with ninja blades, mechanical parts, explosive tags, pincers, and impact hammers, all to buy time for their respective heavy artillery to cool down.
Generally, the Otsutsuki held the upper hand, but their rate of advancement was slowing to a crawl. Over the past two months, the puppet army had pushed seventy thousand kilometers; yesterday, they managed only 140 kilometers. Today, they might not even hit 100.
A severe lack of war materials was crippling the Otsutsuki's combat effectiveness, leading many of them to wonder: How can we be this weak?
It was inevitable. The Moon of the Shinobi World was not a natural celestial body; it was created by the Sage of the Six Paths' pinnacle Sealing Jutsu. Not only was the body smaller, but it was composed of surface material from the Shinobi World—rich in soil, but devoid of mineral veins.
Even if there were minerals, they wouldn't dare mine them. The Otsutsuki had forgotten exactly who was sealed beneath their feet, but legends of the "Demon Beneath the Moon" still persisted.
The vast majority of the materials sustaining their war effort had been accumulated over a thousand years, and more than half of it was already gone. A month ago, the Great Elder had opened the Earth-Moon Gate, awakening their ancient allies on the surface to purchase supplies.
While this channel was providing an increasing flow of supplies, the secret of the Earth-Moon Gate was slowly leaking. The Great Elder was torn between necessity and security.
War consumes resources at a staggering rate, and interstellar warfare exceeds the scale of ninja wars by several orders of magnitude. The scale of the Otsutsuki's purchases was so massive—essentially sweeping the Shinobi World for all available ore—that Tetsumaru noticed the anomaly almost immediately.
He realized with sharp clarity that the Otsutsuki had opened a path to the surface because they were running out of money and materials.
The Earth-Moon Gate was a shortcut that led straight to the Otsutsuki's back. Even if he couldn't use it to stage a surprise attack, he could at least cut off their supply lines. He couldn't let such an opportunity pass.
Leveraging the merchant magnates he traded with, Tetsumaru placed a ten-million-Ryo bounty on the location of this "Door of Life."
"Great Elder, please let me go. Our situation is worsening. If we don't make a change, we are destined to lose."
"The risk is too great... too great." The Great Elder's hands trembled. He was being asked to send one of his old comrades directly into the line of fire. He wasn't like the Five Kage; despite the enhancement of the puppets, the void remained incredibly dangerous.
The Otsutsuki clan had truly fallen. They hadn't produced a genuine powerhouse in over a century—not even someone on the level of Hashirama Senju.
But now, someone had to step forward. Someone had to merge directly with a puppet to trigger a "Hero Unit" combat mode and break the stalemate on the front lines. Otherwise, the clan would be crushed by the sheer weight of attrition.
We cannot let the surface-dwellers overwhelm us. It's time to gamble everything.
"As an Elder of the Otsutsuki, to sacrifice myself for the clan is my supreme honor." The hot-tempered Elder's face was now a mask of resolve. "I believe that even if I fall, another will stand in my place. The Otsutsuki clan will endure."
"Brother, if you fall, I will carry on your will." Another elder stood and embraced him.
"Brothers... I'm going."
In the transition orbit's temporary space station, Tetsumaru collapsed onto the floor of the gravity chamber after an eight-hour shift. He contacted the monitoring room on the surface to convene a general meeting.
"Brothers, I believe the turning point of the war is here. It's time for the counter-offensive."
"Are the supplies and troops ready? I've lost track of the numbers."
"We have a reserve of 150,000 Sky Insects. More importantly, we have 600 Thunder Giant Insects—enough for a '3x100' three-stage volley."
"Artillery is the god of war, and its status is built on scale. We've been intentionally spreading them out until now. A sudden shift in style will catch them completely off-guard."
"It's time to push them back. Seeing the Otsutsuki inch closer every day is bad for my blood pressure."
"Shall we vote on the counter-offensive now?"
"No. According to our division of labor, you are on the front lines, main body. You have full authority to decide. We don't have the energy to grasp the situation up there in real-time. Our job is to keep you supplied with enough meat and metal."
"Correct. Division of labor maximizes our combat power."
"We're counting on you."
"We won't make the mistake of a 'meddling headmaster' micro-managing from the rear."
"Hahaha! We can't exactly say 'Eighty thousand versus sixty thousand, the advantage is mine'—we don't have that many troops yet."
The habitual banter—much like browsing a group chat in his previous life—relaxed Tetsumaru's mind. Before he knew it, he had fallen fast asleep.
The Otsutsuki puppet army suddenly retreated, pulling back into a formation designed to welcome a V.I.P.
This unprecedented reaction startled Tetsumaru, who was watching from behind the Swarm. He dropped his work and shifted his full attention to the front line.
A puppet glowing with blue light—its craftsmanship clearly far superior to the rank-and-file—stepped forward from the rear. Without a word, the puppet crouched into a charging stance. A split second later, it vanished.
By the time Tetsumaru found the puppet again, it had already charged to within four hundred meters of the Thunder Giant Insects. It had carved a perfectly straight tunnel of gore through the Swarm; not a single Sky Insect could obstruct it for even a second.
Sky Insects were specialized for space combat; their combat specs had been sacrificed for survival in the void. If they were forced to fight on the ground, they would struggle against even a Genin.
With the Otsutsuki suddenly revealing such a powerful unit, Tetsumaru's orbital swarm had no breed capable of countering it.
Countless Sky Insects tried to swarm the intruder, but they couldn't even keep up with its movements. They could only watch as it plunged into the body of a Thunder Giant Insect. Minutes later, the puppet emerged drenched in blood, dragging a massive, still-beating heart behind it.
For the next forty-five minutes, the Super Puppet repeated the process, destroying nine pairs of Thunder Giant Insects before finally retreating to a strange wooden ship at the rear of the puppet army.
The Swarm had lost nearly half of its heavy firepower. Facing the superior fire of the puppet army, they were being slaughtered, forced into a slow retreat—though not a single bug actually turned tail.
Tetsumaru transmitted the recorded footage back to the Land of Tea and waited for the general assembly to convene. His ears were ringing. He wasn't afraid of the puppet itself; he was afraid of what its appearance meant.
"A formidable Otsutsuki. This puppet looks similar to Toneri Otsutsuki's puppets from the future."
"Maybe even stronger. That blue glow is clearly Tenseigan chakra enhancement."
"The puppet has its own chakra and can use Nintaijutsu? Incredible."
Tetsumaru slapped his cheeks to wake himself up. "It's not that the puppet has chakra. One of the Otsutsuki elders has merged himself directly with the puppet."
"...That's hardcore."
"It seems the Otsutsuki realize they're losing. They're gambling their lives now."
"Indeed. A puppet of that intensity and a pilot willing to step up at this stage... that's no ordinary soldier."
"Maybe the Clan Head himself went out, hahaha."
"Idiot."
"Wait... oh, crap."
A heavy silence fell over the call. Everyone understood the implication.
Finally, an avatar spoke up: "It seems my resolve is the quickest. I'll be the one to go."
"I'm from the industrial group, in charge of the copper processing project. Someone needs to take over for me; it's fairly important."
Space combat was new to both Tetsumaru and the Otsutsuki. After making what minor technical adjustments they could, both sides had simultaneously abandoned the pursuit of victory through technology. Instead, they had turned toward the path of overwhelming numbers.
The resource-starved Otsutsuki had blinked first, deploying a powerful "Hero Unit" that was invincible on a battlefield where the average combat power was low. This forced Tetsumaru's side to produce a unit capable of matching it.
Without the luxury of time for research, their only option was for an avatar to merge with Bio-Armor to create their own "Hero Unit."
This meant that an avatar would be going into battle with their life on the line.
In the days of Shadow Clones, this would have been an easy choice. But in the era of Avatars, it meant Tetsumaru was deciding whether or not to lose a part of himself forever.
Tetsumaru passed the test of resolve—but he knew he might never see that version of himself again.
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