Hanekawa returned to the vicinity of the sacred tree.
He didn't idle during the wait. He trained — specifically, senjutsu. At the Six Paths power tier, conventional ninjutsu became increasingly obsolete. Senjutsu and dōjutsu were what mattered now.
A week passed. Then the sacred tree changed.
Like a flower blooming in slow motion, its massive petals unfurled, revealing the fruit cradled at its center.
One step left.
Hanekawa formed hand seals and sank into the earth. The Mayfly Technique — extracted from White Zetsu after gaining his recognition as master — let him move through soil like a ghost. Combined with his S-Rank entry "Second Generation Nabekage," which amplified concealment jutsu by 200%, even Isshiki and Kaguya would struggle to detect him without active, focused perception.
He approached silently.
They were already there.
He'd seen Kaguya before. Isshiki was new. The man wore white robes, gray hair crowned by a long curved horn like half a diadem. Pale skin. Byakugan. Like all Ōtsutsuki — but as the protected one, his strength naturally exceeded the guardian's. That was the rule. You couldn't sacrifice someone stronger than yourself.
His left eye was a standard white Byakugan. His right had transformed into something else entirely — a golden wheel pattern with eight radiating triangles.
"It's time, Kaguya," Isshiki said.
"Yes." Her voice was empty. She'd already accepted her fate, her expression perfectly still.
Isshiki showed no doubt. His gaze drifted to the ripening fruit, eyes gleaming with barely restrained excitement. A thousand years. Finally.
Then his eyes widened.
Chakra — sharp and precise — pierced through his body.
"Kaguya, what are you doing?"
She didn't answer. She simply clenched her fists, and the chakra around her hardened into a blade, slicing clean through his form. Blood hit the ground in a wide arc.
Both legs. Severed.
"Ahhh!"
The scream tore across the landscape. Even Isshiki's Ōtsutsuki physiology nearly buckled under the pain. But survival instinct overrode everything.
Escape. Now.
Daikokuten!
His right eye trembled. The air split open.
Countless black chakra rods materialized from nothing — a downpour of arrows, each capable of disrupting chakra flow and sealing acupoints. They descended on Kaguya in a relentless barrage.
She stepped back, her fists blurring. Strike after strike knocked the rods away. When she thought she'd cleared his Daikokuten, a terrible sound cut through the air — something massive accelerating toward her.
A giant black cube. Hurtling with lethal force.
Kaguya raised both hands. Chakra coalesced into a solid invisible shield.
The cube hit.
The explosion was catastrophic. The force launched her backward, her body carving a deep crater into the earth.
Isshiki, legless and bleeding, raised his hands again. The scattered chakra rods reversed direction, rising from the ground like drawn swords, driving downward toward Kaguya's position.
Then the earth itself moved.
Senjutsu — Wood Style: Rising Fang!
The ground fractured. A massive wooden ghost face erupted from below, 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 scanned the area frantically. Nothing. No one.
Kaguya dragged herself upright, pain radiating through her body. Her first thought was immediate.
Hanekawa.
Before they'd planted the sacred tree, they had surveyed the entire ninja world thoroughly. No one here could threaten them — not even the so-called gods. A wave of the hand was all it would take to kill anyone they'd found. But Hanekawa was different. She had never been certain she could kill him.
Isshiki activated his Byakugan, veins bulging around his eye sockets as he swept the area.
His hair stood on end.
Beneath him, the ground cracked. A hand emerged.
Sukunahikona!
At the critical moment, Isshiki's right eye activated. His body shrank — dust-like — and vanished.
Hanekawa emerged from the earth, expression calm, and clapped the dirt from his hands.
Sealing formulas detonated outward in every direction, spreading across a full kilometer radius. The air shimmered.
Dragon Vein Seal!
Four shadow clones, positioned in advance at the cardinal points, drove Flying Thunder God kunai into the ground. All the formulas connected simultaneously.
An invisible barrier locked into place.
Hanekawa exhaled slowly. Got him.
He'd known about Isshiki's eye techniques beforehand. There was no way he'd let him escape so easily. The barrier would hold him — whether he hid using Sukunahikona or retreated into another dimension, he couldn't leave.
In the original timeline, Isshiki had escaped despite his injuries. He'd only survived by meeting Jigen and parasitizing him. That meeting would never happen now.
Kaguya maintained her distance, watching him with cold caution.
"What? You still don't trust me?" Hanekawa asked.
"You have too many abilities," she replied. "Trust is difficult."
"If I wanted you dead, I wouldn't have saved you." He shook his head. "Think about what would have happened if I'd killed you instead."
Kaguya went still. Even with Isshiki crippled, adding Hanekawa to the equation meant she'd likely lose that fight.
"But why help me?" she said. "We've met once. Apart from the fruit, I can't imagine a reason."
"Actually, there is one." Hanekawa coughed lightly. "Reproduction."
Kaguya's expression faltered. "What?"
"My lineage far exceeds anyone native to this world," Hanekawa said, keeping his face absolutely straight. "They're not qualified to bear my offspring."
I genuinely cannot believe I'm saying this.
"You met me once and decided I'm qualified?" Her voice was ice.
"I have no interest in reproduction," she said flatly.
"No need to refuse immediately. Let's deal with him first."
Kaguya glanced at the barrier. "Do you understand Sukunahikona?" She'd noticed how familiar he seemed with Isshiki's techniques. 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."
She didn't fully understand the sealing mechanics, but the principle was clear. "He's injured. Not dead."
"True. But his real form will have to emerge eventually." Hanekawa smiled. "And 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."
The look on her face right now.
Kaguya tilted her head, processing. In Ōtsutsuki culture, there was no framework for conspiracy — only absolute strength. That was precisely why Isshiki hadn't anticipated her betrayal.
But she had one remaining concern.
"How do I know you won't attack me while I'm sacrificing to the tree?"
"I won't," Hanekawa said, pointing at the barrier. "But he will. The moment you begin consuming the fruit, he permanently loses his chance. He'll have to break the seal — which means revealing himself. When he does, I'm his first target, not you. If I attack you, he attacks me. We both have reasons to hold."
Kaguya processed the logic quietly. It was sound. After she consumed the fruit and gained the full Rinnegan, Isshiki would have no path 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."
She said it the way someone might agree to share a meal.
Hanekawa's mouth twitched. Does she have any idea what that actually entails?
Probably not. She'd been destined to be a sacrifice from the start — abstinent by nature, never taught such things. In a strange way, her naivety was completely genuine.
"I accept," Hanekawa said with a smile.
I genuinely feel like I'm tricking a child.
Kaguya waved her hand casually. Isshiki's severed legs floated upward and drifted toward the sacred tree, absorbed into its bark without resistance.
The tree detonated in scarlet light.
A wave of aura rolled outward — indescribable, overwhelming. The final form of the Ten-Tails. The Divine Tree, awakening.
Kaguya leaped and flew toward the fruit.
Inside the barrier, chakra erupted violently.
Isshiki released Sukunahikona. His true form returned — or what was left of it. Half a body. His eyes were red with rage as he took in the scene.
Sealed. Trapped. And now she's going to take it.
His original plan had been to escape through Sukunahikona, but Hanekawa's appearance had shattered that. Still, he wasn't finished. Hanekawa's goal had to be the fruit too — if they turned on each other, an opening might appear.
What he hadn't accounted for was Hanekawa simply letting her have it.
Once Kaguya consumed the fruit and her power surged, hiding in Sukunahikona would become impossible.
Isshiki raised his hands without hesitation.
Daikokuten!
Four giant black cubes slammed into the sealing barrier. Cracks spread instantly. Simultaneously, black and red chakra surged from his form as a circular portal began to materialize.
I'll consume it before she does.
A deafening crack echoed across the landscape. The barrier fractured further.
But Hanekawa had anticipated this. His focus had never left Isshiki.
The moment the black-red chakra appeared, he vanished.
Flying Thunder God Technique.
He materialized directly behind Isshiki.
Shinra Tensei!
Hanekawa grabbed Isshiki's shoulders. His Rinnegan spun, and the space around them twisted into an invisible crushing vortex.
"What?!"
Isshiki felt an overwhelming pull just as he reached for the portal. He looked back — and froze.
Hanekawa smiled faintly.
The spatial distortion peaked.
Isshiki was pulled directly into the Kamui dimension.
"As expected," Hanekawa said quietly, exhaling. "Ninja warfare is intelligence warfare."
Isshiki hadn't known about Flying Thunder God. He hadn't known about Kamui. The combination had been decisive. Space-time ninjutsu was rare enough on its own — possessing two simultaneously was virtually unheard of. And Isshiki, crippled and drained, had no means of escape once pulled in.
He'd already used his portal. His legs were gone. His speed was zero.
Fate, Hanekawa thought, had a sense of humor.
He entered Kamui space after him.
"Who are you?" Isshiki's voice was raw with fury. He lay on the ground, ruined. "How do you have the Rinnegan?"
He wasn't resigned — he was furious. A thousand years of waiting, destroyed by Kaguya's betrayal and a half-blood who had no business existing. If not for Hanekawa, he could have escaped even injured. He would have found another host. He would have survived.
"There's nothing useful left to say," Hanekawa said, genuine curiosity flickering in his eyes.
What entries will drop for killing an Ōtsutsuki?
"You want to kill me?" Isshiki's voice turned dangerous despite his broken state. "It won't be that simple. I'll turn you into a weapon."
His only remaining option — drive the wedge into Hanekawa's body, take over his form, and be reborn.
"Is that so," Hanekawa said mildly.
He brought his hands together.
Senjutsu — Wood Style: True Thousand Hands!
Chakra erupted from him in a torrent. The Kamui dimension itself shuddered. Every surface trembled under the pressure.
From nothing, a Thousand-Armed Kannon statue materialized — colossal beyond comprehension, its scale rivaling the sacred tree, its countless arms poised and waiting.
Isshiki's expression collapsed.
"What — what is that? Why is there natural energy?!"
He had no framework for it. Senjutsu, Wood Style, the statue itself — none of it existed in Ōtsutsuki understanding. After arriving in the ninja world, he'd encountered humans who used natural energy. They were weak. Negligible compared to the sacred tree.
He had never imagined it could look like this.
Daikokuten!
Isshiki gritted his teeth and attacked. He wasn't going to die without a fight.
Massive black cubes launched like meteors, hurtling toward Hanekawa with crushing force.
Hanekawa didn't move.
The Thousand-Armed Kannon extended one giant hand — and caught the cube.
With a simple twist of its wrist, the cube reversed direction.
Isshiki's face went white.
How? How does it have that kind of raw physical strength?
Sukunahikona!
His right eye trembled. The returning cube shrank, neutralized before impact.
Before he could breathe, the statue began to move.
Senjutsu — Wood Style: Hands of the Buddha!
Countless arms drew back simultaneously, fists clenching. The motion alone sent shockwaves rippling through the air — massive concussive blasts before a single strike landed.
Then the fists came down.
The impact was absolute.
Isshiki felt the wall of compressed force hit him like the world itself had fallen.
Sukunahikona!
He turned his eye desperately on the statue. His right eye vibrated at its limit.
Blood ran down his face.
The statue shrank — slowly. Far too slowly.
"Faster!"
Isshiki roared through gritted teeth, chakra hemorrhaging from the effort. His condition deteriorated rapidly with every passing second.
The statue, reduced but unstoppable, brought its fists down one final time.
The impact buried him completely.
Wind screamed. Light distorted. The ground shattered beneath the force.
Hanekawa watched without blinking.
Senjutsu was a product of later generations. But today, for the first time, it had taught the Ōtsutsuki a lesson they wouldn't forget.
He waited. Minutes passed. Then half an hour.
Isshiki's entire combat philosophy had been built around two abilities — Daikokuten and Daikokuten. Like the Nine-Tails relying on the Tailed Beast Ball, or Kaguya relying entirely on her Rinnegan's bloodline web. When those abilities were overwhelmed, there was nothing left underneath.
Finally, the entry notification appeared.
What remained of Isshiki Ōtsutsuki fell from the space — barely a third of a body, broken and still.