Chapter 329 — Naruto: Let's End This
"Heavenly Throne… left vacant…"
Naruto whispered the words unconsciously.
He knew that line.
He'd heard it before.
And the last person who said it—
Naruto's eyes widened with fear and confusion as he slowly turned toward the calm, arms-crossed figure beside him:
Kitagawa Gen.
Gen always said strange things, but as Naruto's first real friend—
the first person to ever acknowledge him—
Naruto remembered every word.
He once thought Gen's talk about the "throne" was some dramatic metaphor…
maybe even a challenge to the Hokage title.
But now—
Hearing the same words come from Ōtsutsuki Genshiki was terrifying.
The stance.
The tone.
Even that absent-minded motion of brushing his hair while looking up at the sky—
Even though their voices were different, something inside Naruto froze.
No way…
No way…
"What's wrong, Naruto?"
Sasuke sensed his trembling and leaned closer.
Gen, amused, tilted his head with a smirk.
"Oi. Don't tell me you're scared?"
"I—"
Naruto opened his mouth, but no words came.
He only stared upward…
at Genshiki's mask glowing under the moonlight.
His fists tightened.
Ino's reaction was even more dramatic—
she stared at the moonlit figure, breath catching, not even realizing she was biting her lip.
"Ino, you okay?" Choji asked with worry.
Shikamaru frowned. "You look pale. What's up?"
"I… I don't know," Ino whispered. Her hands shook.
"I just… I want to know what's behind that mask."
Up above—
"Stand at the summit…"
Even the three battered Ōtsutsuki froze.
That declaration echoed inside their minds like a curse.
They had always suspected this Gen was ambitious…
But not this ambitious.
And now, with time to process everything he'd shown them—
They finally understood.
"Kekkei Mōra…
He really condensed it…
He used it to transcend…
To reach a higher plane of existence…"
Kekkei Mōra was the evolution of one's very lifeform—
the essence behind fruit devouring, behind the Dan, behind the entire Ōtsutsuki evolutionary system.
Everything suddenly made sense.
"This guy… he's really climbed the first steps of the 'Godhood Path'…"
Then—
"Farewell, seniors."
Gen lifted his gaze, voice eerily calm.
"As fellow clansmen, you were entertaining.
Yet our wills do not align."
"But your energy, your intentions, your ambitions—
I will carry them with me."
"For I said it before: I will not hoard glory.
Every Ōtsutsuki who contributed to my rise…
will be remembered at the summit."
His chakra surged—
an overwhelming presence that made every heart seize in fear.
Just the pressure alone told everyone:
The three Ōtsutsuki never stood a chance.
Black Zetsu panicked completely.
"We can't let this happen! Do something—seal Mother if you have to!"
"…"
Hagoromo and Hamura stared at him in disbelief.
This creature had opposed them for centuries—
and now he begged them to stop Kaguya?
Gen's God Tree avatar blinked, stunned by Zetsu's sudden courage—or stupidity.
Did that thing not realize Kaguya already hated him?
Zetsu turned to the entire Allied Shinobi Forces, screaming:
"If you don't act now, it'll be too late!"
"He's right," Sasuke muttered.
"We can't keep standing here."
Hashirama exhaled heavily.
Minato tensed.
Even Madara finally stirred awake.
"Tch…"
"Madara! You okay?" Hashirama rushed to his side.
"I'm fine," Madara said weakly.
"Or… close to dying. Losing the Ten-Tails does that."
Gen shrugged. "He'll live. Probably."
He looked to Hagoromo.
"So? What now?"
"…"
The Sage stared at Gen's clone with a twitching eye.
You're asking me?
You created this chaos!
And you're clearly planning something!
Before he could respond, Hamura stepped forward.
"We can fix Madara's condition," he said quietly.
"But for the world… for Mother… there is only one mission."
Sasuke, Hashirama, and Naruto all listened intently.
"What is it, Great Sage?" Hashirama asked.
Hamura pointed toward the sky—toward the golden figure preparing to strike.
"Stop Ōtsutsuki Genshiki."
"We will lend you our power.
But the fate of the ninja world—
and even Mother's survival—
rests with you."
Hagoromo groaned internally.
Sure enough… his brother had started again.
Still—
he had no choice.
The situation was already out of control.
Chakra poured from both brothers as they stepped forward.
But among all this…
Naruto stood silent. Eyes narrowed. Thinking.
Something was deeply wrong—
---
Meanwhile — The Three Ōtsutsuki
"We need a plan!" Urashiki hissed.
They were healing rapidly, but the oppressive force of Gen's presence left them suffocating.
"We have to get Kaguya involved!" Momoshiki growled.
"Yes. She can't escape this fate—she must fight."
Isshiki nodded.
Then Urashiki suddenly looked toward the sea.
"The… the Plow."
"The Plow?!"
Momoshiki's eyes widened.
The legendary tool of Ōtsutsuki Shibai—
a device capable of rewinding time itself.
But it had vanished ages ago.
"You know where it is?" Isshiki demanded.
"I sensed its presence earlier."
He didn't tell them everything—
if he did, they might abandon him.
"With it, we can escape into another timeline.
And maybe…"
Isshiki and Momoshiki's expressions hardened.
"… we kill Genshiki in the past."
"… we ascend before he ever rises."
"The throne will be ours."
Then—
"You're done talking?"
Gen's voice cut through space like a blade.
"If you've finished your last words…
let's begin your journey."
"No need to fear death.
Walk with me toward the throne, and you will not be forgotten."
His golden sword ignited the world.
Flames. Lightning. Tempests. Torrential energy.
Reality warped.
"MOVE!" Isshiki roared.
He tore open a spatial doorway—barely shrinking Gen's attack with Sukunahikona.
They fled.
But as they vanished—
Genshiki's eyes followed them with utter certainty.
"You thought I couldn't track you?"
His blade became a miniature sun—
"Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"
He stabbed directly into the fabric of space.
---
Inside the Dimensional Corridor
"DAMN!" Momoshiki screamed, clutching his chest.
The attack had pierced even the inside of the corridor.
He was bleeding. Badly.
"Help! Isshiki—!"
But Isshiki only frowned.
"Why are you running? There is no escape."
Genshiki's voice echoed inside the dimension.
Urashiki snapped.
"DIE!"
His crimson hooks filled the corridor—
only to be instantly incinerated.
The golden blade rushed for him.
"Faster! If I die, none of us get out!" Urashiki howled.
"Shut up!"
Isshiki shrank the attack just in time—
but Urashiki still lost half his body.
And his arm.
Urashiki screamed.
Then—
Isshiki turned to Momoshiki.
Expression blank.
He grabbed him.
"Sorry."
"?!"
Momoshiki froze.
"Don't—DON'T YOU DARE—"
"We lack time and energy.
But you… possess plenty."
"I—Isshiki! WAIT—!!"
"It's better to become part of me
than to be devoured by that monster."
"NOOOOO—!!"
Isshiki activated the Sacrificial Refining Technique.
Momoshiki's torso dissolved—
compressed into a crimson "fruit."
Urashiki watched in horror.
Isshiki devoured it instantly.
His chakra surged—
beyond anything they'd ever felt.
Urashiki trembled.
"They… they all do it…
They really all do it…"
---
Back in the Real World:
Isshiki arrived before Kaguya.
Hashirama, Sasuke, and Madara instinctively took defensive stances.
Naruto remained strangely silent.
Gen's clone studied Isshiki calmly.
Doesn't matter. Once the main body arrives, he's dead.
Isshiki faced the resurrected Kaguya.
"Kaguya… it's been a long time."
Kaguya stared silently—
shocked by his pitiful, ravaged condition.
"The situation is dire.
Our grudges can wait."
"A being has risen—one who hunts us all.
He already devoured us once.
He will consume you too."
"We must join forces.
Or none of us will survive."
Urashiki shivered.
He couldn't take any more of this.
He just wanted out.
Isshiki then turned to Naruto's group.
"Shinobi. Our stances differ, but our doom is shared."
"You saw that power.
Ōtsutsuki Genshiki will kill all of you too."
"Your world will not survive.
Your Sage—Hagoromo—has prepared a thousand years for this moment."
"If he doesn't act now… what meaning would his plan ever have?!"
Everyone instinctively looked at the Sage of Six Paths.
Even Hamura and Black Zetsu stared, stunned.
The great Sage's reputation was known even among the Ōtsutsuki.
Hagoromo closed his eyes in resignation.
He truly couldn't understand—
How did even the Ōtsutsuki fall for this nonsense?
And more importantly—
What exactly is Kitagawa Gen's final plan?!
But he didn't have time to think.
Hum—
A cold pressure swept across the sky as Ōtsutsuki Genshiki descended, staring down at them with disdain.
"How amusing," he sneered.
"You so-called 'higher lifeforms' now stand beside the very lower beings you once scorned?"
"Life always finds its own path," Isshiki spat, teeth clenched.
"And a creature like you—who tramples over all life—will be the one who dies!"
"You talk about dignity?
Aren't these humans 'lower beings' in your eyes?
So stop pretending you're above us!"
Gen raised a brow, amused.
"Then what about Momoshiki, hm?"
He shrugged lightly.
"Everything that happens inside the dimensional corridor?
I saw it all.
Are you sure you're innocent?"
Isshiki froze.
Of course he suspected Gen could observe inside the dimension—
otherwise his attacks wouldn't have been so precise.
But Gen only chuckled.
"It doesn't matter."
His smile widened.
"Killing you isn't difficult.
Even if you 'took care of' Momoshiki, it changes nothing."
"Dust is dust.
One speck or two—
it makes no difference to the naked eye."
Isshiki trembled with rage.
But before he could speak—
"So… to you, nothing matters at all?"
"Hmm?"
Gen blinked in confusion.
Naruto stepped forward, voice uncharacteristically calm.
"Everything in the past—
everything you've ever felt,
everyone you've ever met…"
"Was it all the same to you?"
Gen stared, baffled.
Even his God-Tree clone, and Hagoromo beside it, looked equally confused.
The battlefield fell into a strange silence.
No one understood what Naruto was getting at.
"I get it now."
Naruto inhaled deeply, eyes burning with conviction.
"The ninja world will NEVER just surrender!"
And in that instant—
Dozens of figures flickered into existence beside him.
Gen's eyes narrowed.
He recognized them immediately.
• Tobirama
• Minato
• Kakashi
• Might Guy
All teleported in by Flying Raijin.
In the distance, the Allied Shinobi Forces surged forward with thunderous momentum.
Even several White Zetsu hosts suddenly underwent spiritual transformations—
as if souls were descending into them.
Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade appeared together, racing toward the front lines.
"The shinobi world doesn't give up,"
Naruto roared, golden chakra erupting from him like a sun.
Truth-Seeking Orbs spun into formation behind him.
"We never abandon hope—
not now, not ever!"
Beside him, Sasuke's Susanoo-like lightning surged violently.
His Rinnegan focused sharply on Gen.
"Hmph. Impressive display," Gen laughed softly.
"More than I expected."
But Naruto wasn't done.
He suddenly turned—
not toward Gen—
but toward Gen's God Tree clone standing behind him.
Naruto smiled brightly.
"Gen…"
Gen froze.
"Let's end this—
together."
Gen's smile vanished.
The world held its breath.