"Don't come any closer!!!"
Deep underground, Otsutsuki Reishi's furious roar echoed through the darkness.
Unfortunately, there was no one close enough to hear it.
And even if someone had been there, they probably wouldn't have understood what he was shouting through the mouthful of dirt.
"Chinatsu! I know what you're trying to do!"
Reishi struggled violently beneath the earth, his chakra exploding outward as he desperately attempted to break free.
"You won't get even a tiny bit of anything from me!"
Standing above him, Chinatsu calmly looked down.
"Open your eyes and look at your current situation."
She paused.
"I've already taken it."
"And not just a little bit."
Reishi's face twisted.
"You've blocked my eyes with mud! How the hell am I supposed to open them?!"
"..."
Chinatsu fell silent.
She suddenly realized that arguing with someone buried underground wasn't particularly productive.
Of course, this was merely a joke.
Even though Reishi's Byakugan gave him an extraordinary field of vision, his eyes were currently completely covered by dirt. But that didn't mean he couldn't sense what was happening.
He could clearly feel it.
The chakra inside his body was disappearing.
Not being destroyed.
Not being stolen.
It was being transformed.
His chakra was slowly being stripped of its Otsutsuki characteristics and returned to the natural energy of the Ninja World.
Every second, Reishi became weaker.
And every second, the Ninja World became stronger.
That was precisely why Reishi was desperately resisting.
He knew that once the transformation was complete, there would be nothing left.
"Stop!"
Reishi roared.
"I refuse!"
Chinatsu remained expressionless.
"You can refuse all you want."
"..."
"I don't mind waiting."
If Reishi stopped resisting, Chinatsu estimated that the entire process could be completed within approximately a week.
Unfortunately, Reishi was stubborn.
Very stubborn.
With his desperate resistance, Chinatsu estimated that it might take more than a month.
Fortunately…
She had patience.
After all, she had already been forced to develop that patience because of a certain troublesome man named Shimura Danzō.
Compared to dealing with Danzō's nonsense, waiting for Reishi to slowly exhaust himself wasn't particularly troublesome.
Besides, the other two Otsutsuki were already completely exhausted.
Shiki had been beaten until his face was swollen.
Mai Shiki was still sealed within the Chibaku Tensei.
If all three of them had remained in peak condition and worked together, Chinatsu could still have won.
But the process would have been considerably more troublesome.
Now?
She only needed to wait.
Chinatsu stood motionless.
Wind passed around her.
Rain fell.
The sun rose and set.
Days passed.
Yet Chinatsu remained like a stone statue.
Fortunately, this place was an abandoned wasteland where almost nobody came.
Otherwise, someone seeing a beautiful girl standing motionless in the middle of nowhere for days would probably think something was wrong.
Of course…
There was another reason nobody came.
Kaguya was here.
Anyone unfortunate enough to wander into this place would probably become the one with a problem.
"Why isn't it finished yet?"
Kaguya sat nearby, resting her chin on her hand.
"It's too slow."
"Reishi is too stubborn."
Chinatsu sighed.
"Let's wait a little longer."
Kaguya frowned.
"Couldn't we have knocked him unconscious first?"
"Or sealed him?"
"Then absorbed him afterward?"
"..."
Chinatsu froze.
A few seconds passed.
"Ah."
Kaguya slowly turned toward her.
Chinatsu's expression became slightly awkward.
"Right."
"..."
Kaguya stared at her.
Chinatsu looked away.
"That would have been easier."
"Much easier."
"Yes."
"Then why didn't you do it?"
"..."
Chinatsu couldn't answer.
She had simply overlooked it.
Kaguya sighed.
For the first time, she felt that this supposedly omnipotent woman was surprisingly careless.
If Reishi had been beaten unconscious like Shiki, or sealed like Mai, this process would probably have been finished long ago.
How careless.
Kaguya silently shook her head.
But strangely…
She didn't dislike it.
During these days of waiting, the relationship between the two had changed.
Perhaps because they had fought together.
Perhaps because Kaguya had witnessed Chinatsu nearly losing herself to nature.
Or perhaps because the threat of the Otsutsuki main family had finally been removed.
Whatever the reason, Kaguya had gradually begun talking about things she had never spoken about before.
The Otsutsuki main family.
The terrifying hierarchy of the clan.
How she and Isshiki had been sent to the Ninja World.
How they were expected to cultivate the Divine Tree.
How she had eventually betrayed the clan.
These were scars buried deep within Kaguya's heart.
Even Hagoromo and Hamura had never heard everything.
Yet now…
She could speak about them.
And Chinatsu listened.
She didn't judge.
She didn't interrupt.
Sometimes she simply comforted Kaguya like an older sister.
The irony wasn't lost on either of them.
Kaguya had existed for thousands of years.
Chinatsu's actual age was…
Well.
That was complicated.
Very complicated.
It was better not to calculate it.
"What are you going to do in the future?"
Chinatsu suddenly asked.
"Once everything in the Ninja World settles down, you can leave."
"You don't need to worry about the main family anymore."
Kaguya fell silent.
What should she do?
She didn't know.
Once, she had feared the Otsutsuki so deeply that she had become willing to sacrifice countless ordinary lives just to survive.
That fear had eventually led to her being sealed by her own sons.
But now…
The main family's threat had been temporarily resolved.
And Kaguya was no longer the same woman she had once been.
She didn't know where she belonged anymore.
Seeing her silence, Chinatsu didn't press her.
There was no need to decide everything immediately.
Kaguya was immortal.
She had time.
"Then take your time thinking about it."
Chinatsu smiled.
"Until you figure it out, just stay at my place."
She paused mischievously.
"It's not exactly unfamiliar to you, right?"
"You've lived inside my heart for five years, Miss Kaguya~"
Kaguya's face instantly turned red.
She remembered the beginning.
The iron cage.
Her hands gripping the bars.
Her hatred.
Her helplessness.
And this annoying woman smiling at her from outside.
"Hmph!"
Kaguya turned her head away.
"Even if I die, I'd rather die than get along with someone like you!"
Chinatsu laughed.
"Really?"
"Absolutely!"
"So we're enemies?"
"..."
Kaguya's cheeks became even redder.
"Not exactly."
Chinatsu smiled.
"Then we're friends?"
"Don't push your luck!"
"But we're not enemies anymore."
"..."
Kaguya crossed her arms.
"Fine."
Chinatsu's smile widened.
"So good~"
Kaguya's face turned crimson.
She immediately looked away.
"Annoying woman."
Meanwhile, across the Ninja World, changes continued.
Konoha.
Might Guy suddenly stopped.
His ten-thousandth push-up had been interrupted.
Guy stared at his arms.
Something felt different.
His body felt…
Light.
Powerful.
Healthy.
He clenched his fists.
Then
Whoosh!
He threw several punches into the air.
The wind exploded.
Guy's eyes widened.
"What's this feeling?"
The hidden injuries accumulated throughout his years of training had disappeared.
The pain in his joints.
The strain in his muscles.
The damage that he had simply endured because there was no way to reverse it.
Gone.
Completely gone.
Guy's eyes began burning with the familiar flames of youth.
"Could it be…"
He grinned.
"Even my body has become younger?!"
His youthful spirit erupted.
For a moment, Guy genuinely considered opening the Eighth Gate.
Fortunately, common sense stopped him.
Barely.
But Guy wasn't the only one experiencing changes.
Across the Ninja World, countless people experienced similar transformations.
Old injuries healed.
Bodies became stronger.
Chakra became purer.
Plants grew faster.
Animals became healthier.
The barren lands of the Land of Wind gradually began turning green.
The Land of Lightning's mountains became more vibrant.
Water emerged from places where it had never existed before.
The Ninja World was awakening.
Its potential had always existed.
It had simply never been properly nourished.
Now, Chinatsu had removed the chains.
And the world began revealing what it truly possessed.
But such a massive change could not remain unnoticed.
Somewhere beyond the Ninja World.
In the vast territory of the Otsutsuki main family.
Several Otsutsuki opened their eyes simultaneously.
They sensed it.
A world that should have been exhausted.
A world that had already produced several Chakra Fruits.
A world that should have been ripe for harvesting…
Was becoming stronger.
Much stronger.
Greedy gazes gathered.
"Otsutsuki A: I'll do it!"
"Otsutsuki B: I'll do it!"
"Otsutsuki C: Let me go!"
"Otsutsuki D: Get out of my way! I should be the one going!"
Arguments erupted.
The Ninja World had become an enormous treasure.
A world containing an extraordinary amount of natural energy.
A world that had somehow absorbed the power of three powerful Otsutsuki.
To them, this was an irresistible opportunity.
The Otsutsuki began preparing.
They had no idea what awaited them.
Because at the center of that world stood someone who had already become its will.
Someone who had been waiting.
Someone who had no intention of allowing the Ninja World to become another victim of the Otsutsuki.
And deep underground…
Reishi suddenly felt an inexplicable chill.
"..."
He struggled harder.
Then, as though he had sensed something terrifying, he desperately shouted
"Don't come any closer!!!"
But nobody was coming closer.
They were already inside.
And the Ninja World…
Was waiting.