Within the Sky Curtain—
From a relatively safe distance, Kabuto Yakushi looked back cautiously at the newborn "little moon" suspended in the sky, lingering fear still gripping him.
"Karin… is she really… gone?"
His thoughts were unsettled.
Though Karin was unstable—borderline deranged—her bizarre abilities and keen perception of "special existences" were of irreplaceable value to his research.
At the center of the battlefield, Indra and Asura's spiritual forms had dimmed to the extreme, as if they might disperse with the wind at any moment.
"A mere fiend. Overestimating herself."
Though Indra's figure was now faint and battered, the pride and disdain in his tone remained unchanged.
Beside him, Asura was even more translucent—almost nothing more than a faint golden outline.
"Brother," he said wearily, "this forced manifestation and joint technique have drained us severely… We should return to our vessels and recuperate. We must not further damage our essence. To seal that creature… the cost was grave."
Regret lingered in his voice.
Clearly, being forcibly dragged into manifestation by Karin's abyssal aura—and then compelled to use Six Paths: Planetary Devastation, a technique that consumed their very origin—had imposed tremendous strain on their consciousnesses bound to their reincarnated hosts.
Indra's expression darkened.
He knew full well the loss they had incurred—but faced with Karin's provocation, he would rather pay an immense price to seal her than tolerate her existence.
He gave a cold snort and finally nodded, preparing to return with Asura to their vessels—Naruto and Sasuke—and sink into deeper dormancy to recover.
However—
Just as their fading forms turned toward the unconscious boys below—
The change came.
BZZZZZ—!!!
An indescribably vast, chaotic, blasphemous aura erupted from the "little moon" at the center of the sky.
It surged outward like an ancient beast awakening, violent and unrestrained.
The sheer intensity of it—its malice, its corruption—far surpassed anything Karin had displayed before.
The heavens responded.
The sky, which had only just calmed, darkened again. Thunder roared. Lightning split the clouds.
"What—?!"
"How is this possible?!"
Indra and Asura's fading forms stiffened instantly. Both turned back, ancient eyes wide with disbelief, locking onto the very satellite they had sealed with their own hands.
"A pair of ancient relics—your power doesn't even compare to my Demon God!"
Karin's voice—wild, malicious, brimming with manic delight—pierced through layers of rock and echoed across heaven and earth.
It was unmistakably hers.
Then—
Before the horrified eyes of Indra, Asura, Kabuto, and every observer—
Cracks spread violently across the surface of the small moon.
Dark crimson light—twisted like serpents—burst through the fissures.
The seal… was breaking.
And it had barely been formed.
For the first time, true gravity—and faint disbelief—appeared on Indra and Asura's faces.
This "fiend"… and whatever stood behind her—
What kind of existence were they?
Even Six Paths: Planetary Devastation could not truly contain her?
BOOM—!!!
The newly formed satellite exploded.
Not from external impact—but from within, as if overwhelmed by an energy it could not contain.
Chunks of rock, earth, and residual chakra rained down like meteors, smashing into the already devastated landscape and carving it into deeper ruin.
And at the center of the explosion—
Amid swirling dust and violent energy currents—
A figure stood unscathed in midair.
Karin.
She tilted her head, wearing an exaggerated expression that blended mock fright, teasing amusement, and blatant ridicule.
"Aww~ That technique of yours was pretty impressive! You almost scared me there! I thought I was really about to get locked in solitary confinement!"
Her mock "fear," paired with her completely unharmed—and even stronger—state, was insult incarnate.
"You—!" Indra's already-fading form fluctuated violently with rage. His Sharingan blazed as though flames might spill from them. "Are you mocking me?!"
Pride like his had never suffered such humiliation.
Especially at the hands of a being he regarded as a mere fiend.
"Oh? Not at all~" Karin waved her hand dismissively. Though her tone remained light, her eyes gradually cooled.
"I'm sincerely complimenting you."
"That technique—Planetary Devastation, right? Very impressive. Ingenious design. Using Yin and Yang Release to that extent? As a chakra-sealing method, I doubt many could endure it."
Then her tone shifted—light, yet edged with contempt.
"But…"
She pointed at the dark crimson energy flowing over her body, then tapped her temple.
"What does that have to do with me?"
"What?!" Asura's already pale expression turned even grimmer.
Even Indra's fury faltered, replaced by uncertainty.
Karin's words revealed something crucial—and terrifying.
"Your technique is powerful, sure," she continued casually, as though discussing the weather. "But what it targets—what it seals—what it disrupts… is the chakra system, right? It works on energy structure, spiritual linkage, chakra origin—your whole framework."
She spread her hands. The crimson energy coiled across her palms like a living thing.
"But my power… doesn't seem to operate on chakra at all."
"Your Yin–Yang sealing can lock down the 'container'—but my power isn't water inside that container. It's… something else entirely."
"So your technique? Its effect on me was greatly reduced. Maybe even… useless."
"That's impossible!" Asura and Indra stared at her, expressions shifting rapidly. "No power system is completely unaffected!"
Karin shrugged.
"Then maybe I'm just that strong. Broke out with one punch."
She looked at their stunned silence—and seemed disappointed.
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