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Kaguya's gaze fell on the bloodshot rims of Hagoromo's eyes. Her voice carried a thin veneer of calculated compassion.
"Do you see now? This is the price of defying me. You killed Hamura with your own hands. You're alone now—but if you come back to me… perhaps I can find a way to bring him back."
"YOU forced my hand!"
Hagoromo's voice tore from his throat like a wound ripping open.
"You're the one who treats human lives like dirt! You controlled Hamura with your jutsu—you killed him! Not me!"
The pressure radiating from his Rinnegan surged violently.
Kaguya's brow twisted, fury sparking in her eyes.
She genuinely could not comprehend why her own son would turn against family—for the sake of creatures whose lives flickered out in the blink of an eye.
"You were born above them! Why waste your devotion on these insects? You could live for millennia—long enough to watch entire civilizations rise and crumble! Five hundred years from now, everyone you care about will be dust. What will you have left??"
Before her last word faded, Kaguya launched herself at Hagoromo like an arrow loosed from a bow. Chakra condensed at her fingertips into a razor-edged blade of pure energy, screaming through the air with world-splitting force.
If words won't work—she'd simply reclaim the chakra she gave him.
The blade was a heartbeat from Hagoromo's face when—
SNAP!
A sharp, crystalline sound split the air.
A hand—strong, sure, every knuckle defined—shot out from nowhere and clamped around Kaguya's wrist. An iron grip. Immovable. Her strike froze mid-flight.
"He still has me."
Manji's voice was flat, unhurried—his gaze settling calmly on Kaguya's stunned face.
"!!!!!!"
Kaguya's pupils contracted to needlepoints. Her chakra destabilized in an instant.
She wrenched her eyes upward—and when she recognized the face before her, every drop of color drained from her skin.
"You??"
"You're NOT DEAD??"
The words burst from Kaguya Ōtsutsuki like a struck nerve.
The man standing before her was tall and poised. Black-and-red robes snapping in the wind. Dark hair drifting with the gusts. The same devastatingly handsome features from all those years ago—fair skin, striking eyes—though now tempered by a quiet gravity that only centuries of living could carve into a man's face.
It was Manji. The man she was certain had been reduced to ash.
"MASTER!"
Hagoromo's eyes locked onto the newcomer—and the despair that had been crushing his chest shattered instantly, replaced by blazing, uncontainable relief. His voice shook with emotion.
Manji's gaze flicked to the Rinnegan burning in Hagoromo's eyes—those concentric rings pulsing with earth-shaking power—and he gave a single, calm instruction:
"Use the Talisman. Save Hamura."
"Leave your mother to me. It's time she and I had a rematch."
Before Kaguya could react—Manji's wrist flexed, and a torrent of Sage chakra roared through his grip and slammed into her arm.
"Why aren't you dead?? How can you possibly be alive??"
Kaguya stammered, staring at Manji as though she were seeing a ghost—because she was.
The All-Killing Ash Bone. The Infinite Tsukuyomi. How could anyone survive both??
"Heh, surprised to see me, Kaguya?"
"Time for round two."
Manji's smile was cold as steel.
Without waiting for her reply, he pivoted—closed the distance in a blur—and drove his right fist straight at her face, Sage chakra howling around his knuckles!
WHOOSH!!!
Kaguya recoiled, narrowly leaning clear—while simultaneously lashing her left palm toward Manji's ribs, the edge of her strike sharp enough to split stone.
BOOM————!
Gold-green and luminous white chakra collided with a deafening explosion.
In the span of a single breath—Manji and Kaguya had already exchanged hundreds of blows.
Palm strikes, fist shadows, bursts of technique-light wove together into an impossibly dense web of violence. The speed was beyond anything mortal eyes could track—only the crushing, suffocating pressure of their clash gave any indication of the catastrophe unfolding.
BAM-BAM-BAM——!
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK————!!!
Their figures dissolved into overlapping afterimages, the percussion of physical combat hammering the air like war drums.
Manji's style blended Mount Myōboku's fluid precision with the Monkey King Clan's devastating raw power—every punch, every kick sheathed in overwhelming Sage force.
Wherever his palm strikes passed, the ground erupted—stone slabs pulverized to powder, dust clouds rising like geysers.
Kaguya wielded the Divine Tree's power, her physical combat honed to perfection, her fruit-enhanced body virtually unbreakable—and yet under Manji's relentless Sage Art assault, she was being driven back.
Within a hundred exchanges, her sleeves had been shredded by shockwaves. A thin line of blood trailed from the corner of her mouth.
Manji was dominating her.
"Your strength… is more than double what it was back then!"
Shock and rage warred across Kaguya's face. She dodged a sweeping leg strike and was hurled backward—eyes locked on Manji's advancing figure.
Manji said nothing. He flash-stepped forward—fingertips condensing Sage chakra into razor-thin blades of light—and carved toward every vital point on Kaguya's body.
His movements were impossibly fast. The hem of his black-and-red robe sliced the air, leaving trails of afterimages. Hundreds of exchanges completed between heartbeats, every physical collision detonating with thunderous force.
They fought from the ground to the sky—and Manji drove a full-power fist into Kaguya's blocking palm!
"Sage Art—Multi-Layered Frog Kumite!"
Manji detonated.
The Sage energy erupted on contact, and Kaguya was launched backward like a cannonball, crashing through dozens of ancient trees before cratering the earth in a pit several meters deep.
Before the dust had even begun to settle, Manji was already at her position.
"Sage Art—Kirin!"
His hand shot skyward. Savage lightning chakra gathered in his palm—storm clouds materialized overhead in an instant, thunder splitting the sky.
With a violent sweep of his arm, a massive lightning beast tore free from the clouds and roared down upon Kaguya!
Silver-white electricity, carrying annihilating force, opened its jaws wide and bit down!
KRA-KOOM——!!!
The instant the Lightning Kirin struck earth, the ground convulsed. Cracks spiderwebbed outward in every direction. Every structure within range was leveled to rubble.
Dust and lightning intertwined—forming a hellscape of total destruction.
The aftershocks radiated outward like a tsunami, shaking distant mountains to their foundations.
And yet, Kaguya burst from the smoke.
The Sage Art had dealt significant damage, no question. But she had consumed the Chakra Fruit. Her body was beyond extraordinary.
Tanking a Sage Art Kirin head-on? Painful, but survivable.
She used the recoil to create distance—and stared at Manji's relentlessly advancing silhouette, confusion flooding her eyes.
"If you were alive all this time—why did you never show yourself? Do you have any idea how I—"
"What are you talking about?"
Manji cut her off, his voice razor-cold.
He genuinely could not fathom Kaguya's logic. She was the one who'd broken her word and driven an Ash Bone through his chest—and now she was asking why he hadn't come to visit?
If he had shown up, she would've just tried to kill him again.
'If I come, you'll be unhappy. If I don't come, you're also unhappy. Make up your mind.'
Thoughts flickered—but his hands never stopped. Sage chakra solidified beneath his feet into invisible platforms. He closed the distance again, palm strikes trailing apocalyptic force.
"Enough talk! Take THIS!"
"Sage Art—Gale Palm!"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM——!
The two collided again in midair—and the resulting shockwave radiated outward from the impact point with catastrophic force. The estate below was instantly reduced to fine powder.
The ground split into a web of chasms—bottomless, smoking—while pillars of dust surged skyward, blotting out the sun.
.....
On the ground below, Hagoromo cradled Hamura's cold body, tilting his head skyward—watching those two impossibly fast figures clash in the sky—awe written across every feature.
"Master's power… has already reached this level. He can fight Mother head-on—and even suppress her!"
"But with my Rinnegan… I should be able to match her too."
Hagoromo clenched his fist. He could feel it—the incredible power now coursing through him.
[Note: In the original anime, Kaguya became pregnant through the villagers' blessings and gave birth to the brothers. Canon Hagoromo and Hamura never used Susano'o or conventional ninjutsu—they fought using Truth-Seeking Orbs and Yin-Yang Release. The same applies to Indra and Asura in later arcs: Indra was the one who created ninjutsu, while Asura fought using Truth-Seeking Orbs, Yin-Yang Release, and what appeared to be a Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. This story follows the TV anime continuity.]
Hagoromo quickly pulled the Toad Sage Talisman from his robes. It was warm to the touch, radiating a soft golden glow. Without a second's hesitation, he pressed it against Hamura's forehead.
HMM——!
Brilliant golden light erupted outward, enveloping Hamura's body completely.
The radiance poured through his seven openings—eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth—flooding into his body. The temperature of his skin began to rise. The gaping wound through his chest sealed itself at visible speed. Color returned to his ashen face.
Moments later, the golden light faded—and Hamura's eyes snapped open. His Byakugan blazed to life. He lurched forward, coughing violently, chest heaving—but whole.
Golden light shimmering. The Talisman's power—fulfilled.
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