Hanekawa returned to the vicinity of the sacred tree.
During the waiting period, he didn't idle away the time. Instead, he practiced senjutsu—Senjutsus that would prove essential at his current power level. When strength reached the Six Paths tier, most conventional ninjutsu became obsolete. Senjutsu and dōjutsu dominated the battlefield at this level.
He felt a twinge of regret. Should've visited Mount Myōboku and Ryūchi Cave before the time jump, he thought. With his current strength, extracting their sage arts would have been trivial.
The thought of the three holy places crossed his mind, but he quickly dismissed it. The timeline was too early. The three sage regions probably didn't even understand chakra yet, let alone senjutsu or Sage Mode.
The wait wasn't long.
A week later, the sacred tree underwent a dramatic transformation. Like a blooming flower, its petals unfurled to reveal the fruit nestled within.
"One step left," Hanekawa murmured.
He formed hand seals and sank into the earth. After gaining White Zetsu's recognition as his master, he'd extracted the Mayfly Technique—a jutsu that let him move through soil undetected. Combined with his S-Rank entry "Second Generation Shadow," which boosted concealment jutsu by 200%, even Isshiki and Kaguya would struggle to sense him without active perception.
Hanekawa approached the sacred tree silently.
Isshiki Ōtsutsuki and Kaguya Ōtsutsuki were already there.
He'd encountered Kaguya before, but this was his first time seeing Isshiki in person. The man wore white robes, his gray hair crowned by a long curved horn like half a diadem. Like all Ōtsutsuki, he had pale skin and a Byakugan. But as the "protected one," his strength naturally exceeded the "guardian's."
His left eye was pure white—a standard Byakugan. His right eye, however, had transformed into something else entirely: a golden wheel pattern with eight triangles radiating outward.
"It's time, Kaguya," Isshiki said.
"Yes." Kaguya's response was emotionless. She'd already accepted her fate, her expression serene.
Isshiki showed no doubt. His gaze fixed on the ripening fruit, eyes gleaming with barely contained excitement. A thousand years of waiting. Finally.
Then his eyes widened.
A spike of chakra pierced through his body.
"Kaguya, what are you doing?" Isshiki's voice carried genuine disbelief.
Kaguya didn't answer. She simply clenched her fists, and the chakra around her sharpened into a blade, slicing through his form. Blood sprayed across the ground.
Both his legs were severed.
"Ahhh!" Isshiki's scream echoed across the landscape. The pain was unprecedented, nearly overwhelming even his Ōtsutsuki physiology. But his survival instinct kicked in. I have to escape. Now.
Daikokuten!
Isshiki's right eye trembled violently. The air cracked.
Countless black chakra rods materialized like a rain of arrows, each one capable of piercing flesh and disrupting chakra flow. They descended on Kaguya in a devastating barrage.
She stepped back, her fists becoming a blur. Shadow after shadow of her strikes knocked the rods aside. When she thought she'd blocked his Daikokuten, a terrible sound cut through the air—something massive moving at lethal speed.
A giant black cube materialized, hurtling toward her with crushing force.
Kaguya raised her hands. Invisible chakra coalesced into a shield.
The cube hit.
The explosion was catastrophic. The force sent her flying backward, her body carving a deep crater into the earth.
Isshiki, legless and bleeding, raised his hands again. The scattered chakra rods rose from the ground like swords, stabbing downward at Kaguya's position.
Then the earth itself moved.
Senjutsu: Wood Style: Ranking Technique!
A massive wooden face erupted from the ground, its fang-like structure absorbing every chakra rod in an instant. The rods dissolved into splinters and sawdust.
"Who?!" Isshiki's face went pale. He looked around frantically but saw no one.
Kaguya struggled to her feet, pain radiating through her body. Hanekawa.
It had to be. Before they'd planted the tree, they'd thoroughly surveyed the ninja world. No one possessed the strength to threaten them—not even the so-called gods. But Hanekawa was different. She'd never been certain she could kill him.
Isshiki's Byakugan activated, veins bulging around his eye sockets as he scanned the area.
His hair stood on end.
Beneath him, the ground cracked. A hand emerged.
Sukunahikona!
At the critical moment, Isshiki activated his right eye's technique. His body shrank, becoming dust-like, and vanished.
Two eye techniques, Hanekawa noted as he emerged from the earth. Sukunahikona allowed him to shrink anything and restore it later—though not living beings. Daikokuten let him shrink objects and store them in a pocket dimension.
Hanekawa clapped his hands together.
Sealing formulas exploded outward in all directions, spreading across a one-kilometer radius. The air shimmered as an invisible barrier materialized.
Dragon Vein Seal!
Four shadow clones positioned at cardinal points drove Flying Thunder God kunai into the ground. All the sealing formulas connected, forming a unified barrier.
Hanekawa exhaled slowly. Got him.
He'd known about Isshiki's eye techniques in advance. There was no way he'd let the man escape so easily. The sealing barrier would trap him—whether he hid as dust or retreated into another dimension, he couldn't leave.
In the original timeline, Isshiki had managed to escape despite his injuries. He'd only survived because he'd met Jigen and been parasitized by him. But that wouldn't happen now.
Kaguya watched him warily, maintaining distance.
"What? You still don't trust me?" Hanekawa asked, glancing at her.
"You have too many abilities," Kaguya replied coldly. "Trust is difficult."
"If I wanted you dead, I wouldn't have saved you. Think about it—if I'd killed you instead, what would happen?"
Kaguya went still. Even with Isshiki severely injured, adding Hanekawa to the equation meant she'd likely lose.
"But why help me?" she asked. "We've met once. Apart from the fruit, I can't imagine your motivation."
"Actually, there is one." Hanekawa coughed lightly. "Reproduction."
Kaguya's eyes widened. "What?"
"Although I'm mixed-blood, my lineage far exceeds any native of the ninja world. They're not qualified to bear my offspring."
I can't believe I'm saying this with a straight face, Hanekawa thought.
"You met me once and decided I'm qualified?" Kaguya's voice was ice.
"I have no interest in reproduction," she said flatly.
Hanekawa shrugged. "No need to refuse immediately. Let's deal with him first."
"Do you understand Sukunahikona?" Kaguya asked, studying the barrier. Hanekawa seemed intimately familiar with Isshiki's abilities. Another reason not to trust him.
"It's a Rinnegan ability," Hanekawa said casually. "He's simply unlucky—his technique happens to be countered by mine."
Kaguya didn't fully understand the sealing mechanics, but she grasped the principle. "He's injured but not dead."
"True. But his real form will have to emerge eventually." Hanekawa smiled. "I have a way to force him out sooner."
"How?"
"Sacrifice half his body to ripen the fruit. Then consume it yourself."
Kaguya's eyes narrowed. "You truly have no interest in the fruit?"
"I've already stated my purpose," Hanekawa said with absolute sincerity. "When you grow stronger, your offspring will be stronger too."
Kaguya tilted her head, considering. In Ōtsutsuki culture, there was no concept of conspiracy—only absolute strength. That's why Isshiki hadn't anticipated her betrayal.
"But how do I know you won't attack me while I'm sacrificing to the tree?" she asked.
"I won't," Hanekawa pointed at the barrier. "He will. Once you start consuming the fruit, he'll lose his chance forever. He'll have to break the seal, which means revealing himself. When he does, I'll be his first target—not you. If I attack you, he attacks me."
Kaguya processed this logic. It was sound. After she consumed the fruit and gained the Rinnegan, Isshiki would have no opportunity left. He'd be forced to act, and Hanekawa would be his priority.
"If I consume the fruit safely," Kaguya said slowly, "I will consider reproducing with you."
It sounded like she was agreeing to something as simple as eating.
Hanekawa's mouth twitched. Does she have any idea what reproduction actually entails?
Then again, Kaguya had been destined to become a sacrifice. She was abstinent by nature and had never learned about such things. In a way, her naivety was genuine.
"I accept," Hanekawa said with a smile. I feel like I'm tricking a child.
Kaguya waved her hand casually. Isshiki's severed legs flew toward the sacred tree and were absorbed.
The tree erupted in scarlet light.
The final form of the Ten-Tails—the Divine Tree—was awakening.
Kaguya leaped upward, flying toward the fruit.
Within the barrier, chakra fluctuated violently.
Isshiki released Sukunahikona, restoring his true form—or what remained of it. Half a body. His eyes were bloodshot with rage.
I was sealed. Trapped. And now Kaguya will consume the fruit.
His original plan had been to escape using Sukunahikona, but Hanekawa's appearance had ruined everything. Still, he wasn't finished. Hanekawa's goal must be the fruit too. If the two of them fought, he might find an opening.
What he didn't expect was for Hanekawa to simply... let Kaguya have it.
Once she consumed the fruit and her power skyrocketed, hiding in Sukunahikona would be impossible.
Isshiki raised his hands without hesitation.
Daikokuten!
Four giant black cubes smashed into the sealing barrier, creating massive cracks. Simultaneously, black and red chakra surged from his form as a circular portal began to open.
I'll consume the fruit before she does.
A deafening sound echoed across the landscape.
The barrier cracked further under the assault.
But Hanekawa had anticipated this. His focus had never wavered from Isshiki.
The moment the black-red chakra appeared, Hanekawa vanished.
Flying Thunder God Technique.
He materialized behind Isshiki.
Shinra Tensei!
Hanekawa grabbed Isshiki's shoulders. His Rinnegan spun violently, and space twisted around them, forming an invisible vortex.
"What?!" Isshiki felt an overwhelming pull just as he was about to enter the portal. He looked back and froze.
Hanekawa smiled faintly.
The spatial distortion reached its peak.
Isshiki was sucked directly into the Kamui space.
"As expected," Hanekawa said, breathing out slowly, "ninja warfare is intelligence warfare."
Isshiki hadn't known about Flying Thunder God or Kamui. The combination had been lethal. Space-time ninjutsu was rare enough; possessing two simultaneously was virtually unheard of. And Isshiki, crippled and exhausted, couldn't escape once pulled in.
He'd used his portal already and couldn't manifest it again. His speed was gone. Fate had sealed his doom.
Hanekawa waited, standing on the Thousand Handed Buddha statue's palm.
Minutes passed. Then half an hour.
Finally, the relevant entry appeared.
Isshiki's half-body fell from the space, broken and barely alive.
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