Kushina raised her hand to shield her forehead, her long red hair whipping violently in the gale.
She squinted, watching the red streak of light trailing a deep blue chakra flame as it pierced the surface camouflage and shot straight into the sky.
It was a giant beast forged of steel.
The red mecha accelerated amidst the roar of its thrusters, transforming in the blink of an eye into a meteor racing against the flow, tearing through the thick cloud layers above Konoha.
"Is this... our power?"
Kushina lowered her arm and murmured to herself, feeling the residual heat lingering in the air.
On the display screen beside her, dense streams of data flickered frantically.
Orochimaru stood before the console, his hands typing so fast they left afterimages on the keyboard. His golden vertical pupils were fixed on the curves representing the mecha's vital signs.
"Altitude: 10,000 meters. Breaking through the troposphere."
Orochimaru's voice was raspy and calm, carrying an irrepressible fervor. "Outer armor temperature is normal. Chakra shield output at thirty percent. Optical camouflage and chakra stealth devices... activated."
Following his command, the red dot on the screen flickered briefly before completely vanishing from the radar's scanning interface.
If not for the naked eye still being able to see the fading trajectory, it was as if this titan had never existed.
"Stealth system is operational."
Orochimaru licked his lips. "Exquisite. I truly wish I could experience it firsthand."
...
Meanwhile, ten thousand meters above.
Inside the cockpit, red lights flashed as alarms wailed incessantly.
Jiraiya gripped the control stick tightly, pinned against the pilot's seat by the immense G-force. His facial muscles contorted under the pull of gravity.
"That bastard Orochimaru! How is this 'a little bit of pain'? I'm about to throw up breakfast from three days ago!"
Jiraiya roared through gritted teeth, veins bulging on his forehead.
Despite his complaints, his movements remained steady.
Following the steps from his training, he skillfully adjusted the chakra output frequency, pouring his own chakra through the neural interface on his spine and into the mecha's power core.
Jiraiya let out a low shout. The red markings of Sage Mode appeared around his eyes as he channeled more efficient Sage Chakra into the system.
With the infusion of Sage Chakra, the violently shaking fuselage instantly stabilized.
The view outside the cockpit was changing drastically.
The originally azure sky darkened rapidly, turning into a deep ink-blue before fading into an endless abyss of black.
Gravity vanished at that moment.
Jiraiya felt weightless as the pressure that had nearly crushed his bones dissipated instantly.
Looking through the panoramic display, he saw a sight like never before.
Beneath him was the massive blue arc of the horizon; above him was a breathtakingly brilliant sea of stars.
And directly ahead, that grayish-white sphere—the moon—hung quietly in the void, radiating a cold, clear light.
'Is this... space?'
Jiraiya instinctively loosened his grip on the control stick, his pupils dilating slightly.
Even a hero who had traveled the shinobi world for decades felt small in the face of this vast, boundless starry sky.
"Don't daze off, Pervy Sage."
Gamakon's characteristic teasing voice came through the comms. "If you hit an asteroid, our mecha will become space junk."
Inside the ground command center.
Minato Namikaze stood before the main screen, his right index finger lightly touching his temple, sensing the Flying Thunder God formula that was rapidly moving away.
As the distance increased, the difficulty of sensing grew. Even though the Flying Thunder God mark on the mecha had been specially treated to strengthen the connection, it was not easy.
On his shoulder, Gamakon leaned forward, peering closely at the real-time images transmitted to the screen.
In the picture, the grayish-white moon was growing larger and larger.
"Heh heh heh. Junior, you won't be able to handle a fated opportunity like this."
Seeing Jiraiya pilot the Gundam into the sky, heading straight for the moon, Gamakon let out a series of strange laughs.
Minato turned his head, looking helplessly at the toad on his shoulder. "Master Gamakon, please don't speak in such a strange tone at a time like this."
"The atmosphere was right; I couldn't help it."
Gamakon pointed at the screen. "That kid Toneri is currently in a weakened state. Moreover, due to the Otsutsuki clan's arrogance, his defenses toward Earth are practically zero. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Minato nodded, his expression turning serious again.
He kept his nerves taut, his sensory perception spanning tens of thousands of kilometers, locking onto the formula on Jiraiya's body.
If he sensed any danger or if the mecha showed signs of breaking apart, he would immediately activate the Flying Thunder God Technique to save his teacher.
Ostensibly, this mission was merely to survey the current state of the moon and test the mecha's space-faring capabilities.
The formal seizure operation was scheduled for next time.
However, with the help of the stealth device, they were confident they could evade Toneri's perception even at a close distance.
'If things go smoothly...'
Minato murmured to himself, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. 'I could also use the Flying Thunder God to transport everyone to the moon, break the seals directly, and settle this once and for all.'
After all, speed was essential.
Since they were already at the door, if the door wasn't locked, why wouldn't they go in?
"Heads up!"
Orochimaru's voice interrupted Minato's thoughts. "Unit Zero has entered the moon's gravitational pull and is performing a deceleration maneuver. Three hundred kilometers from the lunar surface."
"Sensei, what's your status?" Minato asked into the comms.
"Feels great!"
Jiraiya's excited voice came through the transmitter. "This big guy's maneuverability in a vacuum is even better than on the ground! I can already see the lunar surface! All those craters look like Tsunade's wallet after she loses a bet!"
"..."
Minato automatically filtered out the second half of the sentence. "Activate maximum stealth mode. Do not attract the opponent's attention."
"Roger that!"
Under the cover of optical camouflage, the red Unit Zero blended perfectly into the background.
It shut down its main thrusters, relying only on the faint air currents from the attitude control nozzles to glide silently across the lunar surface like a falling leaf.
Inside the cockpit, Jiraiya held his breath, his eyes fixed on the radar screen.
Occasionally, a few red dots would flicker on the screen.
Those were the puppet troops of Toneri Otsutsuki mentioned in the intel.
The expressionless puppets, dressed in ancient-style robes, were mechanically patrolling among the craters.
But their rudimentary chakra sensing systems were completely unable to detect this mecha, which combined the pinnacle of the shinobi world's technology with Sage Art seals.
Unit Zero swept past a squad of puppets a hundred meters above their heads without causing any alarm.
"This is the power of technology."
Jiraiya sighed in admiration, then maneuvered the mecha toward the coordinates provided by Gamakon—the entrance to the moon's interior.
According to the intel, the descendants of the Otsutsuki clan did not live on the barren lunar surface but in an artificial space within the moon's interior.
Soon, the entrance to a massive underground cavern appeared in his view.