Otsutsuki Kaguya's figure slowly emerged from the endless darkness.
Her cold, ancient Byakugan looked calmly at Uchiha Hikaru before her.
"Hikaru, let Nagato become the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki and activate the Infinite Tsukuyomi. After that, I'll possess him and complete my resurrection."
Kaguya spoke calmly as she made her suggestion.
Hikaru slightly raised her eyes and looked at her. After a moment of silence, she asked, "Sister Kaguya, if we defeat the Great Sage, what do you plan to do?"
The corners of Kaguya's lips lifted slightly, and a cold look flashed through her eyes.
"I'll strip him of his power, kill him, and make him pay. I'll rule the mortal world again."
Hearing that, a complicated, unreadable emotion flashed through Hikaru's eyes.
She quietly looked at Kaguya, her gaze seeming to hide many unspoken secrets.
"The mortal world is yours. The Great Sage is mine."
Hikaru suddenly spoke, her voice cold and firm.
Kaguya's eyes instantly turned icy as she looked sharply at her.
"Hikaru? What do you mean?"
Hikaru didn't avoid her gaze and continued coldly, "I'm taking the Great Sage away from here. We'll go somewhere no one knows and live there. Sister, don't come disturb us."
Clear shock flashed across Kaguya's eyes.
She carefully looked at Hikaru, as if seeing the girl she had once lived with on Mount Myoboku all over again.
During those days on Mount Myoboku, Hikaru had never shown any special affection toward Arisu. Kaguya knew Hikaru probably thought well of him, but...
"You like Arisu?"
Kaguya asked directly, disbelief in her voice.
Hikaru didn't answer.
She simply stood there quietly, silent as an abyss.
Kaguya gently shook her head and said flatly, "That man isn't right for you."
Hikaru raised her head. Her eyes were steady, with a trace of obsession.
"Then I'll lock him up."
The air seemed to freeze.
Looking at the "little sister" she once knew, complicated emotions surged in Kaguya's eyes, shock, disappointment, and a faint trace of caution.
She had never imagined that Hikaru had hidden such persistent, almost insane feelings in her heart.
Kaguya glanced at her and said calmly, her voice carrying a chill, "Defeat him first. Then we'll talk."
Hikaru stood silently in the darkness without another word.
Her figure seemed to merge with the surrounding shadows. Only her eyes still flickered with complicated emotions.
Kaguya gave her one last deep look. Shock, disappointment, caution, and an indescribable feeling were all mixed together in that gaze.
She said nothing more. Her figure gradually blended into the night and quietly disappeared.
The night breeze brushed past.
Hikaru stood there alone for a long time.
After Kaguya had completely disappeared, she slowly took off the black robe she was wearing, revealing the thin clothes underneath.
Her movements trembled slightly as the emotions she had been suppressing finally found an outlet.
"Arisu..."
Imagining Arisu's face, Hikaru's eyes gradually filled with obsession, pain, and deep longing. One hand slowly moved over her own body, and her breathing gradually became quick and uneven.
———
Within a distorted alternate dimension.
At its center, a Ten-Tails so enormous that it blocked out the sky was firmly suppressed inside a pitch-black vortex.
Suddenly, the space silently split open, and a stable portal slowly unfolded.
With his hands behind his back, Yukio stepped out through the portal, his face carrying an easy calm.
The moment the Ten-Tails saw him, its massive body trembled slightly. It opened its huge mouth and let out low, urgent howls.
Yukio stopped, slightly raised his head to look at the enormous figure, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
It floated quietly at the center of a massive network formed by a special sealing technique. Its body writhed like a lump of chaos, radiating overwhelming chakra.
"So this is what Father searched for all this time. I never expected I'd find it so easily..."
The corners of Yukio's lips rose slightly.
The Ten-Tails was a taboo among taboos, the ultimate weapon Otsutsuki Isshiki had left behind in this world.
His father had once said he had searched for the Ten-Tails.
But fate worked in strange ways.
During that unexpected expedition, he had only been following clues about Otsutsuki ruins, yet he had accidentally discovered this existence that had been sealed away for many years.
His father had no idea he had quietly taken control of this power.
"The Divine Tree..."
"I'll raise you into the Divine Tree and drain every bit of chakra from this world. By then, humanity will lose ninjutsu and the source of war. I'll build a society without chakra with my own hands, a truly equal and pure world, ruled by laws instead of power."
Yukio reached out and gently placed his palm against the edge of the seal, feeling the Ten-Tails' violent chakra, which he had gradually brought under control.
The plan had already taken shape in his mind.
Now the ninja world was full of undercurrents. The Akatsuki was eager to make its move and stir up war.
Yukio had no intention of acting now.
He intended to reap the benefits.
Once the Akatsuki had thrown the world into chaos and everything was one step away from completion, he would appear with overwhelming force, seize the fruits of victory in one stroke, and take control of the entire situation.
His father might not agree with such a radical plan.
He might even do everything he could to stop it.
But Yukio had already made up his mind...
Act first. Explain later.
"Just wait."
"The war outside is about to begin. My father will take care of everything, and I... I want to use the Akatsuki to help collect chakra."
Yukio paused, his gaze passing through the void.
"When the time comes, I'll personally bring the age of shinobi to an end and build a world without chakra!"
The alternate dimension fell into brief silence, with only the Ten-Tails' low whimpers echoing through it.
Yukio's figure gradually faded from the alternate dimension before disappearing completely.
At the same time, within the dim world created by the Impure World Reincarnation.
Indra and Ashura's bodies lit up with strange summoning light at the same time, trying to forcibly pull their souls back to the living world.
Ashura frowned slightly. With only the slightest exertion of strength, his aura became as steady as a mountain.
The summoning light was instantly suppressed, rapidly dimming until only a faint trace remained, flickering at his fingertips.
"With my strength, as long as I refuse, no one can forcefully summon me back.", Ashura muttered.
Indra, however, did the exact opposite.
A playful smile curved his lips. Not only did he not resist, he instead deliberately relaxed his suppression over his own power.
The deep blue light instantly flared, burning across his body like fire fed with oil, making his handsome face flicker between light and shadow.
"Brother! Break free!"
"You're strong enough to refuse it! Don't let that damned Impure World Reincarnation drag you away!"
Ashura suddenly turned and shouted urgently.
Hearing that, Indra chuckled.
He tilted his head back slightly, allowing the light to completely envelop him.