Chapter 258: What Level Am I? It's Really Not That Serious!
In a massive crater, a swirling spatial portal suddenly formed. Kū, unconscious, appeared first, landing on the ground, followed closely by Obito, who looked up at the sky.
"A false sky?"
Seeing a massive hole punched through what had appeared to be a blue sky with white clouds, Obito couldn't help but feel bewildered.
What hadn't he seen?
The Rinnegan, the Gedo Statue, virtual reality—all these things that seemed like myth and legend—he had witnessed them all. Any ninja from the world who heard about it would surely marvel at his vast experiences.
But a hole punched through the sky… that was new to Obito!
Damn, the Otsutsuki on the moon really knew how to put on a show.
Their strength was a performance, and even their living space was fake. He had thought this was the moon's surface, but it turned out the moon was hollow inside.
Had the Sage of Six Paths created the moon back then just to provide the Otsutsuki with a hollow planet to live in?
That's just too considerate…
"From now on, I'll need to be extra cautious when dealing with Otsutsuki Shinichi. The descendants of Otsutsuki Hamura… cannot be underestimated."
Obito took a deep breath, glanced at Otsutsuki Shinichi, who was entangled with Shadow in the sky, and then turned his gaze to Kū on the ground, raising an eyebrow and replacing his serious expression with a slight smile.
Although a group had escaped, it wasn't a total loss.
This boy named Kū, who could use Dust Release and bore a striking resemblance to Ōnoki—if he wasn't Ōnoki's illegitimate child, he must possess secrets tied to Iwagakure's core.
Perhaps, under his command, he could also have a Dust Release user of his own.
...
"Get out of my way!"
Otsutsuki Shinichi's eyes were red with fury as he tried to head toward the Ōtsutsuki residence.
His wife and child were there, as were the last of the Otsutsuki clan. He had to save them! Shadow, watching him, continued to taunt like a classic villain.
"Then try harder! Is this all you've got? They are your last remaining family, and you are the strongest of the Otsutsuki. If you don't get there, they'll all die!"
"Do you want to see their corpses later and regret it, or are you just scared to die and using me as an excuse to stay here? Afraid to face Lord Fuji?"
"If you hadn't opposed my lord, none of this would've happened. Are you regretting it now?"
Shadow's constant barrage of maddening words caused Otsutsuki Shinichi to lose his composure.
As a high and mighty Otsutsuki, when had he ever been ridiculed like this? And with Shadow taking his appearance and speaking as if he didn't care about his own wife and child, it fueled Shinichi's anger even more.
His fists clenched, nails nearly digging into his palms, his mind a chaotic mix of rage and sorrow, pushing him to the brink of sanity.
"Die already!" Otsutsuki Shinichi's palms gathered chakra orbs one after another, hurling them at Shadow, but they were all dodged, leaving the ground further ravaged.
Shadow, sensing the growing turmoil in Shinichi, saw the red in his eyes and knew the moment was right.
In their next clash, Shadow didn't dodge Shinichi's attack. Instead, his form was blasted apart, some black liquid landing on Shinichi's body.
Caught off guard, Otsutsuki Shinichi's pupils widened as he suddenly felt the world spin, and he found himself in a mental space.
He landed on a vast blue sea, a golden Tenseigan appearing behind him. In front of him, Shadow, still in his form, stood opposite, with an even larger golden Tenseigan behind him, more than three times the size of Shinichi's.
"Your precious Tenseigan will disappear today."
Shadow sneered, and the Tenseigan behind him shot a golden beam. The Tenseigan behind Shinichi, uncontrollably, did the same.
The two beams clashed midair, neither yielding.
At that moment, Otsutsuki Shinichi was horrified to find that his connection to the Tenseigan had vanished.
No, not vanished—the Tenseigan could no longer provide him with power! "What is this? What have you done to the Tenseigan?"
"Mutual annihilation."
Shadow answered coldly, "Just as equal forces can cancel each other out, chakra of the same quantity and quality can also negate each other."
"I've brought you here, where our connections to the Tenseigan form physical entities that clash and negate each other's power. Now, neither of us can use the power of the Giant Tenseigan."
"What's the point? Without the Giant Tenseigan, how can you…"
Realization dawned on Otsutsuki Shinichi mid-sentence.
This was a mental space, his opponent's domain. Shadow no longer needed to overpower him.
In contrast, those outside needed the power of the Giant Tenseigan far more! Without the Tenseigan, how would his kin face Hyuga Fuji…
Otsutsuki Shinichi clenched his teeth, glaring at Shadow with all his might.
Shadow smiled faintly. "Lord Fuji is just being cautious. The Giant Tenseigan is a massive chakra cluster. If it were to explode out of desperation, it could be troublesome."
Though Lord Fuji had space-time ninjutsu to avoid being caught in the blast, the unpredictable aftermath of such an explosion, releasing all its power in an instant, could have unforeseen consequences, especially since the Tenseigan's power was enough to move the moon.
It was a force not to be underestimated. If it accidentally released something—or someone—it would be bad.
...
Was it necessary? Really? What am I, at what level? What level do you think I'm at? You're using the Truth-Seeking Orbs, gifts from the ancestor, against us. You're overestimating us! It's not necessary, really!
At the altar's center, the Otsutsuki woman looked at her fallen kin and then at Hyuga Fuji approaching her, her face filled with bitterness.
To her surprise, Hyuga Fuji didn't immediately kill her like he had her kin. Instead, he seemed intrigued, asking:
"You're the only female Otsutsuki here, right?"
"W-what do you want?" The woman shrank back instinctively, seeing the way Fuji regarded her like a specimen.
"Your child, his name is Toneri?"
"!!!"
From the sudden shift in the woman's expression, Fuji got his answer and smiled lightly, asking no further. The Truth-Seeking Orbs beside him instantly surged toward her.
Facing the approaching orbs, the woman tried to draw power from the Giant Tenseigan but received no response, her eyes widening in disbelief.
Why wasn't the Tenseigan responding? Could it be that the threat Shinichi was facing was so strong that he needed all of the Tenseigan's power? As this thought crossed her mind, the woman looked at the Truth-Seeking Orbs closing in, feeling a wave of despair.
Was there any point in resisting? None! Those were Truth-Seeking Orbs—there was no way to block them! Just like her fallen kin, the orb pierced her heart, and she collapsed, her eyes losing their luster.
(End of chapter)