The sacrifice continued.
Deep beneath the surface of the Ninja World, countless strands of natural energy intertwined like an enormous net, wrapping themselves around the three Otsutsuki.
Maishiki had already fallen silent.
Shiki's consciousness had long since become sluggish after being dragged through Kaguya's Acid World and subsequently buried beneath Chinatsu's power.
Only Reishi remained.
And he was still resisting.
"Damn it!"
Reishi's roar shook the earth.
His body was already covered in wounds, yet his expression remained vicious. Black chakra surged around him as he desperately activated one divine technique after another.
Gravity.
Corrosive Blood.
Frozen Space.
Amatsukami.
One after another, terrifying powers erupted.
But every divine technique that appeared was swallowed by the surrounding natural energy.
The moment Reishi tried to destroy the earth beneath him, the earth regenerated.
When he attempted to freeze space, the surrounding space itself rejected his authority.
When he tried to annihilate the natural energy with Amatsukami, the annihilated portion was immediately replenished by the endless power of the Ninja World.
It was an opponent that could not be defeated.
Not because Reishi lacked strength.
But because he was fighting an entire world.
"This is impossible!"
Reishi's eyes widened.
"I am an Otsutsuki!"
His voice was filled with disbelief.
"I have consumed countless Chakra Fruits! I have slaughtered entire worlds! I am one of the strongest members of the clan!"
The natural energy continued flowing.
"You cannot kill me!"
Silence.
No answer came.
Because the Ninja World itself had no reason to answer him.
Reishi suddenly realized something terrifying.
Chinatsu wasn't standing outside the battlefield controlling everything.
She wasn't even controlling the natural energy anymore.
She was the natural energy.
The distinction had already disappeared.
"You…"
Reishi's pupils contracted.
"You've become the world's will."
At the center of this vast network of natural energy, Chinatsu's consciousness slowly opened its eyes.
There was no physical body.
No hands.
No feet.
No ordinary senses.
Yet she could perceive everything.
The wind blowing through the forests.
The movement of water beneath the earth.
The beating hearts of countless living beings.
The chakra circulating through shinobi.
Even the smallest insects crawling beneath the soil.
Everything was connected.
And Chinatsu stood at the center of it all.
"You're finally starting to understand."
Her voice echoed through Reishi's consciousness.
Reishi gritted his teeth.
"Then release me!"
"No."
The answer was immediate.
"You invaded this world."
"You planted Divine Trees."
"You consumed its Chakra Fruits."
"You killed its people."
"You treated entire worlds as farms."
Chinatsu's consciousness remained calm.
"So now…"
"Return what you took."
Reishi's expression became hideous.
"I'll never surrender!"
"Then resist."
Chinatsu's voice remained strangely gentle.
"Let's see how long you can last."
Boom!
The entire Ninja World trembled.
Mountains shook.
Forests swayed.
Rivers surged.
Across the world, countless shinobi suddenly looked toward the horizon.
They couldn't see the battlefield.
But they could feel something.
A terrifying pressure.
And beneath that pressure was something else.
A strange vitality.
As though the world itself had suddenly awakened.
Inside the sealed space, Reishi's resistance became increasingly desperate.
His chakra exploded outward.
His body transformed.
The Otsutsuki blood within him boiled.
"Omnipotence!"
Countless divine techniques appeared simultaneously.
The sky darkened.
The earth cracked.
Flames descended.
Ice spread.
Gravity distorted the surrounding space.
Corrosive blood rained down.
A black sphere of annihilation emerged.
For a moment, the entire underground space looked as though it would be destroyed.
But then
Everything stopped.
Not because Reishi had stopped.
Because Chinatsu had spoken.
"Enough."
One word.
The world responded.
The flames disappeared.
The ice shattered.
The gravity vanished.
The corrosive blood evaporated.
The black sphere of annihilation cracked apart.
Reishi stared in horror.
His strongest techniques had been erased without even touching Chinatsu.
"How…"
He fell to one knee.
For the first time in his life, genuine despair appeared in his eyes.
He suddenly understood the difference between himself and Chinatsu.
The Otsutsuki accumulated power.
They stole it.
They consumed it.
They transformed it into their own strength.
But Chinatsu had done something completely different.
She had given herself to the world.
She had become part of it.
And in exchange
The world had accepted her.
"You sacrificed your humanity for this?"
Reishi whispered.
Chinatsu was silent for a moment.
Then she answered.
"I didn't sacrifice it."
"I simply chose a different way to live."
Reishi laughed bitterly.
"Different way to live?"
"You can't leave this world anymore!"
"You'll never see the other worlds."
"You'll never reach the Otsutsuki clan's homeland."
"You'll be trapped here forever!"
Chinatsu smiled.
"Then I'll stay here."
Reishi froze.
"Why?"
"Because my family is here."
"My friends are here."
"My home is here."
"And that's enough."
Reishi's face twisted.
He couldn't understand.
To an Otsutsuki, the world was a resource.
To Chinatsu, it was home.
That difference was impossible to bridge.
"Madwoman…"
Reishi lowered his head.
"You really are a madwoman."
Chinatsu chuckled.
"You're not the first person to tell me that."
Then she raised her hand.
The entire Ninja World responded.
Countless strands of natural energy gathered around Reishi, forming an enormous vortex.
Reishi's body began to dissolve.
"NO!!!"
He struggled violently.
His chakra exploded again.
But this time, there was no resistance.
His body gradually turned into pure energy.
His chakra.
His blood.
His power.
His countless years of cultivation.
Everything began returning to the world.
"Remember this!"
Reishi's voice echoed throughout the battlefield.
"The Otsutsuki clan will come!"
"They will find you!"
"And when they do "
Chinatsu interrupted him.
"I know."
Her expression remained peaceful.
"That's why I'm preparing."
Reishi's eyes widened.
"What?"
Chinatsu smiled.
"Welcome to the Ninja World."
"From today onward…"
"The Otsutsuki will no longer be hunting here."
"They'll be hunted."
Boom!!!
The vortex completely swallowed Reishi.
His consciousness disappeared.
His chakra dispersed.
His enormous power became natural energy and flowed into the Ninja World.
For several seconds
Everything became completely silent.
Then the world trembled.
Not violently.
Almost peacefully.
The forests expanded.
The rivers became clearer.
The sky became brighter.
The desert continued transforming.
And countless living creatures felt an inexplicable sense of comfort.
The sacrifice was complete.
Far away.
Kaguya suddenly opened her eyes.
Her connection with Chinatsu became clearer.
"Finished?"
Chinatsu's voice appeared inside her mind.
"Yes."
Kaguya remained silent for a moment.
Then she asked quietly.
"Are you still yourself?"
Chinatsu smiled.
"Of course."
Kaguya lowered her head.
For some reason, her eyes became slightly moist.
"Then… welcome back."
A faint smile appeared on Chinatsu's face.
"Thank you."
At that moment
Naruto and Sasuke, who had been waiting in the Land of Whirlpools, suddenly looked toward the sky.
The clouds parted.
A familiar chakra descended upon them.
Naruto's eyes widened.
"Sasuke!"
"I know."
The two immediately rushed forward.
A figure gradually appeared in the distance.
Black hair.
Familiar face.
Familiar smile.
Chinatsu slowly descended from the sky.
Naruto couldn't hold himself back.
"Chinatsu-NEE!!!"
He rushed forward and hugged her.
Sasuke followed shortly afterward, though he maintained his usual composure.
Chinatsu laughed softly and rubbed Naruto's hair.
"I'm back."
Sasuke looked at her carefully.
"You're really okay?"
"Completely."
Chinatsu smiled.
Then she suddenly stretched out both hands and grabbed Naruto and Sasuke by their cheeks.
"You two…"
"Do you know how worried you made me?"
Naruto froze.
Sasuke's face twitched.
"But we were the ones getting beaten!"
"You still worried me."
"That's unfair!"
Naruto protested.
Chinatsu smiled.
"Life isn't fair."
Sasuke sighed.
"She's back."
Naruto nodded.
"Yeah."
The two exchanged a smile.
The nightmare was over.
But none of them noticed
High above the Ninja World, beyond the limits of ordinary perception, a tiny crack appeared in space.
A faint white eye opened within the darkness.
It observed the world.
Observed the restored nature.
Observed the enormous chakra fluctuations left behind by the Otsutsuki sacrifices.
Then
It slowly closed.
A voice whispered from beyond the void.
"So…"
"The Ninja World has produced another anomaly."
And somewhere in the distant universe
Something began moving toward them.