The memory of that massive, world-spanning tree made Ryoma fall into deep thought.
Sure enough, beyond this planet, there existed worlds hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of times larger. The Ōtsutsuki Clan came from such a place.
At that moment, Ryoma sensed a shift across the earth itself.
"Is it an Uchiha… or Ōtsutsuki Kaguya?"
His eyes narrowed. In the next instant, his figure blurred into a streak of light and shot across the sky.
When Ryoma returned, he immediately felt it, an overwhelmingly sinister chakra.
Not an Uchiha's.
This was Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's presence.
So it had finally happened. Madara Uchiha had been reduced to nothing more than a stepping stone of history.
Times had changed.
There was no need for Ryoma to interfere.
Sasuke and Naruto working together were already enough to deal with Madara.
Even now, with Kaguya reborn, she could not immediately overwhelm the two of them.
"Tree World!"
The earth trembled violently.
Countless massive roots erupted from the ground, tearing through the battlefield. At the same time, countless vines shot outward, binding everyone in their path.
The chakra of those caught was steadily drained, flowing into the God Tree. As immense chakra gathered, the towering tree rapidly shrank, condensing into a single sphere.
"Crack!"
The sphere split apart.
A woman in flowing robes emerged, floating high in the air.
Her skin was pale as snow. Long white hair cascaded down to her feet. From her head extended two sharp, horn-like protrusions, and her Byakugan gazed coldly upon the world. On her forehead, the crimson Rinne Sharingan glowed ominously.
The progenitor of chakra, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki had returned.
"Mother!"
As her manifested will, Black Zetsu called out in excitement before slipping into her sleeve.
"At last… I have returned to this world."
Kaguya's voice was calm and distant, like someone revisiting a place from long ago, tinged faintly with nostalgia.
But then she paused.
Her gaze shifted.
A man stood not far away, black-haired, black-eyed, calmly meeting her eyes.
"What are you?" Kaguya asked, looking down at him from above.
"The one who will destroy you."
Ryoma's voice was steady, cold.
Any trace of unease he once felt toward Kaguya had already vanished. After absorbing her memories and Momoshiki's power, everything had changed.
He now wielded the power of the Six Paths, along with abilities belonging to the Ōtsutsuki themselves.
Even if newly acquired, that alone was enough to counter many of Kaguya's techniques.
High above, Kaguya listened in silence.
Her brows lifted slightly.
Black Zetsu transmitted all of Ryoma's information to her through their shared consciousness.
"I see…"
Her Rinne Sharingan swept over him as she studied him with interest.
"As Zetsu said, your chakra is… quite extraordinary. But why do I also sense Hagoromo's presence within you?"
At the mention of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, Kaguya's expression subtly changed.
A thousand years ago, she had attempted to reclaim the chakra from her sons, Hagoromo and Hamura. Instead, she had been sealed by them.
Now, sensing that same Six Paths power within Ryoma, a trace of caution surfaced.
But only a trace.
Because alongside that caution, there was something else.
Desire.
An unmistakable hunger for chakra.
A thousand years ago, Kaguya descended upon this world to cultivate the fruit of the God Tree. Yet, driven by obsession, she consumed it alone and even turned her hand against her own children.
Her fixation on chakra ran deeper than reason.
Now, after a millennium, she stood before Ryoma, a being overflowing with immense chakra.
And she wanted it.
All of it.
Ryoma could clearly feel the way Kaguya looked at him.
Like prey.
"Want my chakra?"
His aura surged, vast and overwhelming, rippling outward like a storm.
"In that case… come and take it."
Kaguya's gaze turned cold.
"Arrogant."
Kaguya's brows lifted slightly.
In the next instant, an overwhelming pressure erupted from her body.
"Hahaha! In front of your mother, your struggle is meaningless. Submit!" Black Zetsu cackled from within her sleeve.
"Boom!"
Kaguya raised her arm.
The world itself seemed to obey her will.
The space around Ryoma twisted violently. A scorching wave of heat surged in, and beneath him, molten lava churned endlessly, releasing a suffocating stench of sulfur.
In an instant, the battlefield transformed into a hellscape.
The air warped from the heat. Everything burned.
Ryoma's eyes narrowed.
He recognized this technique immediately.
This was Kaguya's ultimate dōjutsu, Amenominaka.
A power that surpassed both Kekkei Genkai and Kekkei Tōta, a Kekkei Mōra born from the fusion of all seven chakra natures: fire, wind, earth, water, lightning, yin, and yang.
With it, Kaguya could freely shift between dimensions, dragging both herself and her target into her personal spaces.
The current one was the lava dimension.
But there were others.
An ice world, a super-gravity realm, an endless desert, a corrosive acid sea, and the core dimension that connected them all.
Six worlds under her absolute control.
The moment the space shifted, Kaguya moved.
Her sleeves fluttered as her hands struck forward.
"Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack."
Chakra condensed into her palms, then erupted outward in countless devastating shockwaves.
Each strike carried overwhelming force, far beyond the Hyūga Clan's Gentle Fist techniques.
In an instant, countless fist-like shockwaves, each as heavy as a mountain, crashed toward Ryoma.
"Susanoo!"
His Mangekyō Sharingan spun.
A towering blue warrior manifested around him, its massive frame shielding his body. The giant ethereal blade rose, intercepting the incoming barrage.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The impact shook the entire dimension.
Blinding blue chakra clashed against Kaguya's attacks, sending violent shockwaves across the lava world.
But before Ryoma could counterattack, the space split open above him and a dark rift formed.
"Yomotsu Hirasaka."
From the portal, crimson magma poured down like a raging waterfall.
"Shinra Tensei!"
A powerful repulsive force erupted outward.
The descending magma was blasted away instantly, scattering in all directions.
With a single beat of its wings, Susanoo surged forward. In the blink of an eye, Ryoma closed the distance.
The massive blade swung down toward Kaguya.
"Ice dimension."
The world shifted again.
In a heartbeat, the scorching hell was replaced by freezing emptiness.
Frost spread across the sky and the temperature plummeted.
Just as the blade neared Kaguya, everything froze and time itself seemed to halt.
Susanoo's massive form was instantly encased in solid ice, trapped within a glacier hundreds of meters thick.
The blue warrior stood motionless, suspended mid-strike.
Kaguya hovered calmly before it, her expression indifferent.
"You are not my opponent."
Her voice was cold, devoid of emotion.
"Die."
(End of Chapter)
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