Although Madara Uchiha certainly had a motive after all, if retrieving the Rinnegan immediately proved impossible, he could simply gather the Tailed Beasts first. With his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, controlling a wild Tailed Beast without a jinchūriki was far easier than controlling a perfect jinchūriki. A single glance was often enough to suppress a tailed beast's will.
But the question was…
How much time had actually passed?
Had Madara already recovered from Chika's Sage Art: World Nuclear Peace Technique, then immediately rushed off to capture the Tailed Beasts?
That seemed far too efficient.
More importantly, the Land of Fire and the Land of Water were separated by an enormous distance. Without already knowing Isobu's exact location, even someone like Madara shouldn't have been able to find and subdue the Three-Tails so quickly.
The timing simply didn't add up.
That meant there was another possibility…
The Ōtsutsuki Clan had arrived ahead of schedule.
During the Fourth Great Ninja War, the ultimate mastermind was Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
Years later, in the Boruto era, Isshiki Ōtsutsuki emerged from the shadows after secretly remaining in the ninja world for centuries.
Meanwhile, Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki and Kinshiki Ōtsutsuki had been traveling from world to world in search of Kaguya after she stopped reporting back to the clan.
According to Chika's understanding of the original timeline, Momoshiki and Kinshiki shouldn't arrive for another decade or more.
They should still be wandering through space.
So why…
Why were they here now?
Even if Momoshiki and Kinshiki weren't on Kaguya's level individually, they were still genuine members of the Ōtsutsuki Clan.
That alone was enough to make Chika's head ache.
She covered her forehead with one hand, let out a long sigh, and suddenly felt as though she had aged twenty years.
Chika: "Who on earth attracted those two monsters here?"
Zetsu: "That's right… it was me."
While Obito was preparing to revive Madara using the Impure World Reincarnation (Edo Tensei) to salvage their collapsing Moon's Eye Plan, Black Zetsu had already concluded that Madara and Obito alone were no longer enough to reverse the situation.
Everything had gone completely off the rails.
Nagato had defected.
The Akatsuki had fallen apart.
Both Rinnegan had slipped from Obito's control.
Even Madara had been forced to retreat after being struck by Chika's bizarre Sage Art.
If things were already this chaotic…
Why not make them even worse?
As the living manifestation of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's will, Black Zetsu possessed traces of her chakra. Using that connection, he deliberately released enough of Kaguya's chakra signature to attract the attention of Momoshiki and Kinshiki, who had been searching the universe for her.
As expected…
The bait worked.
Several years perhaps even decades ahead of the original timeline…
The two Ōtsutsuki descended upon the ninja world.
Their destination…
The vast lake within the Land of Water, where the Three-Tails, Isobu, had been roaming freely ever since Chika negotiated with it and allowed it to remain wild.
High above the enormous lake, space rippled silently.
Two figures floated in midair.
One wore elegant white robes decorated with black tomoe, his expression calm yet filled with overwhelming arrogance.
The other stood slightly behind him, carrying an enormous crimson weapon across his back, his physique towering like a guardian.
They were none other than Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki…
And Kinshiki Ōtsutsuki.
Momoshiki looked down upon the world beneath him as though observing insects.
"This planet is somewhat different from the others we've harvested," he said indifferently. "Yet the chakra of its lower lifeforms is no different."
Kinshiki respectfully lowered his head.
"Lord Momoshiki, perhaps the traitor Kaguya has been hiding on this world all along."
Momoshiki gave no immediate reply.
Instead, his pale Byakugan quietly swept across the surrounding landscape before finally settling upon the enormous lake beneath them.
A faint smile appeared.
"Interesting…"
"It seems Kaguya was not the only member of our clan to leave traces upon this world."
The instant his words fell…
The surface of the lake exploded.
A gigantic sphere of compressed chakra burst upward from beneath the water.
It was a Tailed Beast Ball.
The black sphere ripped through the air with enough force to distort the surrounding atmosphere as it shot directly toward the two Ōtsutsuki.
Momoshiki merely raised one hand.
At the center of his palm…
A crimson Rinnegan slowly opened.
A terrifying gravitational force erupted instantly.
Rather than colliding with the incoming Tailed Beast Ball, the palm Rinnegan completely absorbed it, swallowing the enormous mass of chakra without leaving behind the slightest ripple.
The destructive attack disappeared as though it had never existed.
Momoshiki glanced at his palm and smiled faintly.
"So this is the chakra of one of the Nine Tailed Beasts."
"Not bad."
At that very moment…
The entire lake erupted violently.
A colossal turtle covered in coral burst from the depths, sending waves hundreds of meters into the sky.
The Three-Tails, Isobu, had appeared.
Its enormous crimson eyes remained fixed upon the two figures floating overhead.
Its instincts screamed only one thing.
Danger.
Extreme danger.
Especially the white-robed man who had effortlessly absorbed its Tailed Beast Ball using a Rinnegan unlike any Isobu had ever seen.
Momoshiki slowly extended his other hand.
A second crimson Rinnegan opened within his opposite palm.
"The God Tree's nourishment…"
"I'll accept it as well."
With a casual flick of his wrist…
The chakra he had absorbed was released once more.
However, after passing through the pair of palm Rinnegan, the Tailed Beast Ball was no longer the same attack.
Its destructive power had multiplied several times over, hurtling toward Isobu with overwhelming force.
Chapter 154: The Ōtsutsuki Attack! (Part 2)The Ōtsutsuki Clan possessed the Rinnegan, but unlike the shinobi of the ninja world, they used it to perform Shinjutsu (Divine Techniques). The technique Momoshiki had just displayed was his Shinjutsu: Takamimusubinokami.
This Divine Technique could absorb virtually any ninjutsu without restriction, including techniques infused with Senjutsu Chakra. Unlike the ordinary Preta Path of the Rinnegan, Momoshiki did not risk turning into stone by absorbing Sage Chakra.
The reason was simple.
Takamimusubinokami did not absorb chakra into Momoshiki's body. Instead, it stored the absorbed ninjutsu inside a unique extradimensional space. When he chose to release it, he merely retrieved the stored attack, often amplifying its power several times over.
Against ordinary shinobi, it was an almost perfect counter.
Simple.
Direct.
Overwhelming.
"Here."
Momoshiki smiled faintly as he swung the hand holding the compressed Tailed Beast Ball toward the Three-Tails.
The already enormous Tailed Beast Ball instantly expanded several times in size before hurtling toward Isobu.
The sky itself seemed to darken beneath its shadow.
Facing an attack of that magnitude, Isobu had nowhere to dodge. It could only open its massive jaws once more and hastily gather chakra for another Tailed Beast Ball.
Unfortunately…
Its own attack was completely outmatched.
Boom!!
The two Tailed Beast Balls collided.
For less than a second, Isobu's Tailed Beast Ball resisted.
Then it was completely overwhelmed.
The amplified attack tore through it and exploded directly above the lake.
The entire body of water erupted violently, sending enormous columns of water hundreds of meters into the air. Gigantic waves spread across the surrounding coastline, while countless fish and aquatic creatures were blasted into the sky.
Meanwhile, Momoshiki and Kinshiki remained suspended high above the explosion, their robes not even fluttering.
"As nourishment for the Divine Tree…"
Momoshiki looked down calmly.
"This one is rather disappointing."
He gave a faint snort.
"I wonder which fool divided the Divine Tree's chakra into nine separate beasts."
"This one appears to be among the weakest."
Kinshiki silently nodded beside him.
The Ōtsutsuki Clan was a race that existed far beyond the shinobi world.
Every member was born possessing power that ordinary humans could scarcely imagine, requiring no decades of cultivation like the people of the Five Great Nations.
Even death itself was not the end.
Through the clan's secret technique, Karma, an Ōtsutsuki could overwrite another person's body and eventually achieve complete resurrection. Unlike Orochimaru's Living Corpse Reincarnation, Karma transferred not only consciousness but gradually rewrote the vessel's body into that of a true Ōtsutsuki.
Body.
Mind.
Soul.
Everything was completely replaced.
Having long transcended ordinary life and death, the Ōtsutsuki pursued only one goal.
Evolution.
Their method was equally simple.
Travel to a planet.
Plant a Divine Tree.
Allow it to absorb every living creature's chakra.
Harvest the Chakra Fruit.
Consume it.
Grow stronger.
Then repeat the process endlessly…
Until reaching the realm known only in legend
The Ōtsutsuki God.
Kinshiki respectfully lowered his head.
"Lord Momoshiki."
"Shall I continue collecting the Divine Tree's nourishment for you?"
"I can retrieve the remaining chakra."
Momoshiki casually waved him off.
"There is no hurry."
Although harvesting the tailed beasts would take little effort, he had just sensed two unusual chakra signatures somewhere on this planet.
One was extremely faint…
Yet it undeniably carried the aura of an Ōtsutsuki.
The other…
Was even more intriguing.
It wasn't the chakra of a pure Ōtsutsuki.
Nor was it entirely human.
Instead…
It resembled the chakra of someone descended from both an Ōtsutsuki and the inhabitants of this world.
Momoshiki slowly narrowed his eyes.
"So…"
"There are still some interesting people left on this planet."
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