Shinobi World, Rōran—
Sakazuki had just received word that Aramaki had successfully taken Konohagakure, and that even the Nine-Tails had submitted willingly.
"Though it's a bit late, it's still good news."
"With this, Fire, Wind, Earth, and Lightning have all been conquered. Only the Land of Water and a few smaller nations and minor shinobi villages remain."
Sakazuki sat at his desk,
Gazing out the window at the towering spires and vast yellow sands beyond.
After a brief moment, he looked away, picked up his Den-Den Mushi, and made a call.
"Hello?"
It was Kuzan, with the sound of fierce winds howling in the background.
"Aramaki's mission is complete."
"Ara-ara~ That's great. I'll be bringing this so-called 'God of Shinobi' back with me," Kuzan replied before hanging up without waiting for a response.
"Hmph, Senju Hashirama, huh? Just a dead man. What's the point in meeting him?"
Sakazuki curled his lip with disdain.
What mattered more to him—
Was the request made by the Nine-Tails:
To be fully released from Uzumaki Kushina's body?
To that end, he had looked into the matter of jinchūriki.
Ever since Sunagakure and the Third Raikage had joined the World Government,
They had been receiving large quantities of intel related to ninjutsu on a daily basis.
Special personnel were assigned to compile this data into categorized volumes.
The copies were then sent to three key locations on the Starfish World's mainland:
One to Umigakure, located within the Land of Wano.
Another to the Tree of Omniscience within Academy City.
And the last entered the Star Den-Den Mushi Network System as a digital backup.
"Extracting a Tailed Beast kills the jinchūriki?" Sakazuki frowned slightly.
Of course, it wasn't that he cared about the lives of the jinchūriki.
But this would definitely require clearance from higher up.
"Fine. For now, we have the One-Tails jinchūriki from Sunagakure, the Four- and Five-Tails jinchūriki defeated by Crocodile, the Two-Tails jinchūriki captured by Umigakure, the Eight-Tails from Kumogakure, and now the Nine-Tails. It's time to make a report."
Sakazuki immediately picked up his Den-Den Mushi again and called his superior, Marshal Raymond.
"Hmm, well done. For now, have all the jinchūriki relocated to Rōran. Then send teams to search for the Three-Tails, Six-Tails, and Seven-Tails. I'll speak with Kong myself."
"Understood."
Sakazuki nodded.
[BOOM!!]
Just as he placed the receiver back onto the Den-Den Mushi—
A thunderous explosion shook the world outside his window.
"…Hmm?"
Sakazuki sprang to his feet, thinking Rōran was under air raid again.
But through the glass, he saw a brilliant bolt of blue lightning shoot straight into the sky.
"That guy… Hmph. Arrogant little punk—has no sense of protocol!"
Sakazuki cursed, his face dark with irritation.
He had, of course, been informed ahead of time about Enel's arrival.
But by standard protocol—
Even as a newly appointed Lieutenant General, Enel should have at least reported in first, even if he didn't belong to Army Headquarters.
Yet after having a meal in the mess hall below—
Enel completely ignored Sakazuki, a full General, and simply took off for this world's moon on his own.
To Sakazuki, this was the epitome of pirate behavior—
No structure, no discipline!
But from Enel's perspective, Sakazuki was just an Army General.
He himself was a Lieutenant General of the Air Force—there was no reason he needed to report to him at all.
As one of the Ōka Shichibukai under Lord Imu's direct command,
The only ones who could stand on equal footing with him in rank were the Five Elders and those elusive members of the God's Knights—whom even he had only heard rumors about, never seen in person.
[Knock-knock-knock-knock!]
Just then, a series of rapid, urgent knocks sounded at the office door.
"Come in."
Sakazuki turned, puzzled, as Shiryu entered through the doorway.
"General Akainu, we've just received an emergency report from Cipher Pol."
"A black creature with wings has released the sealed monster Mōryō from the underground altar in the Land of Demons."
"The high priestess of the Land of Demons was severely wounded trying to stop the creature, but for some reason ended up following it voluntarily to the Land of Swamps."
"Now, a massive number of stone golems are pouring out from underground in the Land of Demons. They're advancing steadily toward our current position in the Land of Wind. It's said they've already crossed into the borders of the Land of Bears."
Shiryu's expression was somewhat strange as he recited the contents of the report.
He then handed Sakazuki the photo that had come attached with the Cipher Pol report.
"…"
Sakazuki stared at the image of a winged black creature hovering in the sky, its entire body wreathed in dragon-shaped violet-black energy.
He fell silent for a long moment. Then, his expression darkening, he gave the order: "Have someone ask the elders of Sunagakure. We need to find out exactly what this thing is."
"Yes, sir!"
Shiryu responded immediately, turned on his heel, and quickly exited the office.
Sakazuki, meanwhile, shook his head in frustration.
One problem after another in this damn Shinobi World.
The Ōtsutsuki from the sky hadn't even been dealt with yet, and now monsters from underground were starting to show up?
Shinobi World, The Moon.
Roughly five months ago—
The branch family of the Ōtsutsuki clan, who believed that the Shinobi World—created by the Sage of Six Paths—had proven a failure due to a thousand years of incessant war, declared that it should be wiped out and rebuilt anew under their own rule.
Relying on the overwhelming power of the Tenseigan—
They successfully defeated and eradicated the main family, who had advocated for peaceful coexistence with the Shinobi World and sought to guide it toward an end to war.
And although they ultimately emerged victorious—
The cost was beyond imagination.
To forge even an incomplete Tenseigan—
It required merging a vast number of Byakugan with those left behind by Ōtsutsuki Hamura after his death.
As a result, more than half of the branch family were sacrificed in pursuit of the Tenseigan.
Then came the complete annihilation of the main family—
After this internal war, the Ōtsutsuki on the moon had been reduced to fewer than a hundred individuals.
And the most frustrating issue of all—
Among these few survivors, the number of women was pitifully low. Not a single young girl remained.
Thus, the current branch family—or rather, now the only Ōtsutsuki family on the moon since the main family no longer existed—
Was led by none other than the present clan head: Ōtsutsuki Masato.
A man nearing fifty, with graying hair and dressed in traditional gray robes.
Ōtsutsuki Masato had originally intended to launch an invasion of the Shinobi World immediately after eliminating the main family, destroying every one of the hidden villages.
But upon realizing the sharp decline in population—and the dire shortage of women—
He was forced to place priority on preserving their bloodline.
After much deliberation, he issued an order for the entire clan to rest and recuperate for thirty years.
Only once a new generation had grown would they then fulfill their ancestral vow.
By then, the Byakugan of the aging elders—
Would naturally be donated to the Tenseigan before death, becoming part of the power to 'create a new Shinobi World'.
"Clan Head, one thousand Combat Puppets have been completed."
At that moment, Ōtsutsuki Masato was seated inside a roughly hewn stone house, his expression solemn as he examined the documents spread across a stone table—intelligence collected from the Shinobi World regarding the World Government.
A familiar voice reached his ears.
It was Ōtsutsuki Seiji, a man with long, jet-black hair and one of the clan's top two fighters, second only to Masato himself.
"Well done."
Ōtsutsuki Masato glanced up briefly, then returned to the documents in his hands.
All of this information had been gathered by clan members using puppets capable of flight, with their spirits attached to them—
Personally entering the Shinobi World and leveraging the Byakugan to conduct surveillance.
"Well, I wouldn't call it exhausting. These days, puppets make other puppets. A far cry from how hard it used to be."
Seiji chuckled as he sat down on a stone chair nearby.
"So—have you decided when to launch the all-out assault on Rōran?"
"The strength of those invaders from another world is formidable. We'll need at least five thousand Combat Puppets, maybe even the power of the Tenseigan itself."
Masato sighed deeply as he set aside the report.
They had long wished to destroy the current Shinobi World and rebuild one without war.
But that didn't mean they would allow foreign forces to do it for them.
The Sage of Six Paths was, after all, their ancestor's elder brother.
Which meant the Shinobi World he created rightfully belonged to the Ōtsutsuki clan.
This conquest attempt by the World Government—
Was, in essence, theft.
In response, Masato had previously dispatched 500 of their newest Combat Puppets, powered and controlled by the Tenseigan, to carry out a probing aerial assault on Rōran.
Only for the entire force to be annihilated.
The strength shown by the World Government was both surprising—and expected.
After all, any force bold enough to invade other worlds couldn't possibly be weak.
Still, Masato and the others remained confident.
So long as the Tenseigan existed, they believed in their ultimate victory.
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