As Enel let out a thunderous Thunder God roar—
A long, serpentine thunder dragon rose into the sky.
In the blink of an eye, it plunged into the ranks of combat puppets, wreaking havoc.
But that was only the beginning.
In his Thunder God form, Enel turned into a storm of lightning—
And instantly reappeared above the heads of fifty or so Ōtsutsuki clan members.
In the next instant—
Under the shocked and furious gazes of Ōtsutsuki Yūmi and the others—
A ferocious beast formed from lightning and a massive thunder bird appeared on either side of the Thunder God, then swooped toward them from both flanks.
"Aaaaahhhh!"
"Ahhhh!"
"NO!!"
Ōtsutsuki Masato, who had just arrived, let out a furious and desperate scream.
Ōtsutsuki Seiji and the dozen others arriving from another direction froze in their tracks, stunned and overwhelmed.
[Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!]
Soon—
Over fifty Ōtsutsuki, including Yūmi, collapsed one after another, bodies smoking, eyes rolled back, charred and limp, electric currents still arcing wildly across their scorched skin. Their fates unknown.
"Not bad. Only about ten of them lost their heartbeats."
Having returned to his normal form, Enel swept his gaze across the scene with a satisfied smile.
But then his expression chilled.
He quickly glanced toward Ōtsutsuki Masato, who was preparing to activate the Tenseigan.
"Are you really going to keep fighting?"
"…"
Masato's face turned deathly pale.
Even the Tenseigan, which had just begun to glow violet again, seemed to quiet down.
"Look at your clansmen."
Enel sat cross-legged in midair, casually picking his ear with one finger as he addressed Masato in a detached voice.
"They suffered this pain—lost their lives—because you, their clan leader, refused to submit."
"Y-You! You're the one who attacked us! And now you spew such shameless words?!"
Masato shouted in fury.
"But if you had chosen to surrender earlier—would any of them have died?"
Enel raised the same finger he'd used to pick his ear—
And pointed at a nearby Ōtsutsuki whose heartbeat had already vanished.
"…"
Masato fell silent, unable to respond.
"So, what's it going to be now?"
"Are you going to just stand there—watching—while I kill the rest of them, one by one?"
Enel curled his lips into a cold smile.
"This isn't the outcome you want, is it?"
"Then surrender obediently. Bow your head and submit to the World Government!"
Ōtsutsuki Masato fell into silence.
His gaze swept across the fallen bodies of his clansmen—
Then paused on the faces of Seiji and the others, etched with pain, despair, fear, and helplessness.
Finally, his thoughts turned to the wife he had left at home—and to the few remaining women of the clan.
At last—
Ōtsutsuki Masato made his decision—as a clan leader, and as a husband.
There was still hope.
As long as they lived—there was always hope.
And in that moment, a faint pang of regret surfaced in his heart…
Regret for destroying the Main Family a few months ago.
But he also knew—
Without that ruthless act, the Tenseigan would never have emerged.
And without it, even if they'd had another thousand or two clansmen, they still wouldn't have been able to resist someone like Enel.
Against strength on this level, numbers meant nothing.
Just as the Tenseigan could obliterate them with ease—
By contrast, having it in hand was the only bargaining chip that made Enel hesitate.
"Haaaah—"
"What do I have to do… to show I submit?"
Masato let out a long sigh and asked calmly.
At the same time, the Tenseigan in his hand dimmed and ceased glowing.
"Clan Leader!"
"Clan Leader!"
The dozen or so still-conscious Ōtsutsuki, led by Seiji, cried out in alarm.
But Masato simply raised a hand, signaling them to stop speaking.
"Heh heh heh heh~"
A smug smile tugged at Enel's lips.
He pulled out a Den-Den Mushi and placed it in his palm, then pointed at the ground before him.
"Simple. Kneel down on both knees—and, facing this Den-Den Mushi, make a public declaration of your clan's submission to the World Government."
"What?!"
"How dare you!"
"We're the Ōtsutsuki Clan—the noblest, most powerful family in the entire shinobi world!"
"Even if we are going to join you, we deserve to be treated with dignity!"
The clan members behind Seiji all started shouting indignantly.
"Tch."
Enel's eyes turned icy as he raised a finger—
And pointed directly at the loudest of the protestors.
"No!"
Masato and Seiji's faces went pale with alarm.
They both opened their mouths to shout—but it was already too late.
A bolt of blinding blue lightning shot out and struck its target with perfect precision.
"AaaaAAAAHH!!"
The man screamed in agony under the searing glare of electricity—
Until his charred body crumpled to the ground like a smoldering sack, dead on the spot.
"What are you doing, Enel?!"
Masato roared in fury, the Tenseigan in his hand glowing violet once more.
"You need to understand your position."
Enel's gaze and tone were colder than ever as he looked down on them.
"This is surrender—not recruitment."
"And you... still haven't knelt."
Masato clenched his teeth hard.
Then, under the pressure of Enel's stare—
He slowly, gradually, painfully bent both knees.
"Clan Leader..."
Seiji and the others clenched their fists, their eyes filled with tears.
[THUD!]
Ōtsutsuki Masato fell to his knees.
Staring into the Den-Den Mushi, his voice trembled as he began to speak: "I—I, Ōtsutsuki Masato… as the head of the Ōtsutsuki Clan… hereby formally surrender… to the World Government. I beg the World Government to accept… our submission."
The moment he finished speaking, Masato's body slumped slightly, as if all the strength had drained from him.
His eyes stared vacantly at the gray lunar surface.
In that moment, their pride—
Had been utterly trampled beneath Enel's feet.
...
The Ōtsutsuki clan on the moon above the Shinobi World had submitted.
This news was immediately delivered to Imu.
"So that brat Enel moved that fast?"
"Good thing the accident I feared didn't occur."
Imu reclined comfortably in his seat.
His gaze calmly rested ahead, on Historia, who stood among several millennium dragons.
Previously, Imu had two major concerns regarding the Ōtsutsuki clan on the moon.
The first was the Tenseigan itself.
Although based on his memory, the current Tenseigan should be an incomplete version—
Who could say how powerful even an incomplete Tenseigan might be?
The second concern was Ōtsutsuki Hamura.
Though the original work clearly stated that he had long passed away—
In the Shinobi World, physical death didn't necessarily mean eradication.
Especially since Hamura was a true-born member of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
For their kind, the physical body was merely a vessel that could be swapped at any time.
And with the existence of Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo—
Imu speculated that Hamura's soul either resided within the Tenseigan, or accompanied his brother in the Pure Land.
Regardless of which theory was true, the implications would be immense.
If Hamura's soul were inside the Tenseigan—
Then Enel, upon arriving on the moon, might have encountered him.
Imu didn't think Enel could defeat Hamura.
He'd probably even struggle to escape.
That's why, when he dispatched Enel this time,
He had already mentally prepared for the possibility that Enel would be severely injured—or even sacrifice himself.
After all, there was no more suitable candidate at the moment.
But if it were the latter scenario—
And Hamura's soul resided in the Pure Land,
Then it would come down to whether the King of the Dead could withstand the might of those two brothers.
Now, with news of the moon-based Ōtsutsuki clan's submission—
It could be taken as near confirmation that Hamura was most likely peacefully secluded in the Pure Land.
At this point,
Imu no longer had any interest in worrying about the King of the Dead.
If he could truly defeat both Ōtsutsuki Hamura and Hagoromo and seize the Shinobi World's Pure Land—
Then their alliance would continue on friendly terms.
But if he were defeated—well, in any system of governance, the presence of two claimants to power inevitably leads to conflict.
"Still, I need to think about how to handle these Ōtsutsuki clan members."
"First, we'll change their surname to Hyūga."
Their bloodline had degraded to such an extent, yet they still had the nerve to call themselves Ōtsutsuki?
And if they also called themselves Ōtsutsuki, wouldn't it cause confusion when they encountered the real Ōtsutsuki in the future?
So the surname had to be changed—whether they liked it or not.
"As for the relocation site, there's no question—it has to be Starfish World."
Imu muttered to himself, "Ōtsutsuki Toneri's birth, education, and development must all take place on Starfish. Only then can his worldview be shaped correctly, and his allegiance clearly defined."
The same applied to Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke.
The three of them could be considered the 'Three Chosen Children of Fate' within the Shinobi World.
From what Imu had gathered across the worlds he had entered, the majority of canonical events he remembered seemed destined to recur in one form or another—unless a drastic change occurred that could break the 'path' of fate.
As for the chakra within their bodies—especially the Ōtsutsuki chakra in Toneri—
Whether or not it could become a tracking risk wasn't something to worry about.
The Star Map had already proven capable of severing the connection between 'Truth' and Director Isaac.
It could just as easily cut off any potential bloodline-linked chakra signals.
Right now, unless someone like those space pirates managed to observe the planet from close range—
There was virtually no way for the outside world to detect Starfish World by any other means.
Then came a report from Sakazuki—
Regarding the Black Demon incident in the Land of Demons, and the White Demon incident in the Land of Iron.
Reports said a massive horde of humanoid white-skinned monsters had emerged from underground in the Mountain Graveyard.
The armored samurai of the Land of Iron—
Were currently fighting with everything they had to hold back the tens of thousands of these creatures.
Due to proximity—
Crocodile, who happened to be in the Land of Earth, immediately took charge of the situation.
According to CIPHER POL's reports—
After gaining a general understanding of the events,
Crocodile ordered the Third Raikage to lead the nearly 5,000 Kumogakure ninja he had brought along to reinforce the Land of Iron.
He also instructed the young A to return to Kumogakure immediately—
To summon more Kumo shinobi and the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki for deployment to the front lines.
In short—
The situation in the Land of Iron would be handled by Kumogakure.
Meanwhile, for the Mōryō Army invading from the west in the Land of Demons—
Crocodile issued orders to the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, stationed in the Land of Birds, along with elite jōnin Kitsuchi—
To lead Sunagakure and Iwagakure ninja, respectively, in a pincer counterattack.
As for the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki—his health was in such poor condition—
That he was currently en route back to Iwagakure. But he still hoped to meet Crocodile in person.
All things considered—
Under Crocodile's command,
The crises in both the Land of Iron and the Land of Demons now had temporary countermeasures in place.
And true to his philosophy—it was all resolved using people from the Shinobi World to settle matters of the Shinobi World.
Just when Imu thought things would proceed smoothly—
And that his subordinates could fully handle the situation—
He received unexpected news from Esdeath, who was supposed to be stationed in the Land of Snow.
Upon hearing about the Land of Demons, she had immediately boarded her ship and flown straight there.
Reportedly, her reasoning was:
"The Land of Demons is too close to the Land of Snow. It poses a serious threat to both the country and our environmental transformation device project. So it's my duty to eliminate those black-winged monsters!"
When Imu read that line in the report, he was speechless.
As expected—
That woman just had to stir up trouble.
Thankfully, Esdeath's current strength was considerable, and Guren was accompanying her.
Compared to that,
What truly concerned Imu more were the white-skinned monsters appearing in the Land of Iron.
Upon reviewing the footage, he immediately recognized them.
"So that's what this is. You're the one behind all of this, huh…"
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