Chapter 328 — Then Let Me Stand at the Summit
"Damn it…"
The moon—dyed crimson—shone with a blinding radiance, and an endless, suffocating power poured down from the heavens.
The once-blurred silhouette in the light grew clearer and clearer.
Long silver hair.
Horns on her forehead.
A presence colder than the void itself.
"Kaguya… she's really descending?!"
Feeling that oppressive aura intensify, the faces of the three revived Ōtsutsuki twisted deeply.
It wasn't just Kaguya's arrival that made their stomachs churn—
It was him.
Ōtsutsuki Genshiki.
"Why is this bastard so strong?!"
Even after experiencing his brutality firsthand—
Even after being three against one—
There was no comfort, no sense of advantage.
Three-on-one.
They were still being overwhelmed.
There was only one possible explanation.
"He absorbed our power… and evolved again—into a completely different realm!"
All three stared blankly at Genshiki's figure suspended in the sky, overwhelmed by the pressure he exuded.
Then suddenly—
"…You've awakened the Kekkei Mōra, haven't you?"
Isshiki voiced the question they had all been too afraid to ask.
Momoshiki and Urashiki froze.
They had suspected.
They had noticed.
They simply lacked the courage to give the assumption shape.
Kekkei Mōra—the domain beyond all bloodlines.
The realm of Shibai.
"Correct. I've already condensed the Kekkei Mōra."
Gen's tone was calm, almost casual.
After his earlier conversations with Kaguya, he now fully understood the significance of this power—
and he had no reason to hide it.
"Of course, I should thank you two—Momoshiki, Urashiki. Without the energy you gifted me… I wouldn't have gotten this far."
The moment those words landed, the trio's composure shattered.
Especially Momoshiki—
His expression twisted with a mix of fear… and rage.
"So to obtain it… you must devour someone who already has the Kekkei Mōra?!"
"No," Gen answered, shaking his head.
"But it requires something… similar."
Before they could fully process the meaning, Gen vanished.
"Careful!"
Isshiki reacted instantly—
A millennium of hiding among deceitful shinobi had taught him one thing:
Humans were never more dangerous than when they sensed an opening.
And Ōtsutsuki Gen…
He had learned that lesson all too well.
"How shameless!"
Momoshiki and Urashiki tried to retreat, but—
Gen was already beside Urashiki.
His movements were faster.
Sharper.
Crueler.
"It's not the devouring that matters," Gen said quietly.
"It's the efficiency—how completely one converts foreign power into their own."
His golden blade swung toward Urashiki.
"Damn it—he's targeting me first?!"
Urashiki roared, unleashing a massive surge of violet chakra.
It spiraled wildly—
and in moments, condensed into a colossal serpent thousands of meters long.
But Gen didn't even blink.
"After absorbing your power, Urashiki, I was already close to completion. I simply hadn't processed the excess yet."
The serpent lunged.
Gen sighed softly—almost nostalgic.
"…It reminds me of Manda. Haven't seen him in years. Wonder if he died."
His blade fell.
Golden light washed over the serpent.
It screamed as its body cracked and shattered under the pressure.
"And then came Momoshiki."
Gen's gaze shifted toward Momoshiki—
whose golden Rinnegan was glowing with frantic intensity.
"En'iwa!"
Momoshiki roared, slamming his black staff into the earth.
A deafening rumble erupted.
A massive stone ape—identical to the one Gen once summoned—rose from the ground and charged.
"But unfortunately…"
Gen raised his sword again.
"…your resolve didn't match mine, Momoshiki."
His blade crashed into the ape, shattering it piece by piece.
Even as Momoshiki repaired it desperately, the summoned beast couldn't withstand Gen's pressure.
"But that's fine.
The path to the Heavenly Throne is always a lonely climb."
"Don't get ahead of yourself."
Isshiki's voice appeared behind him.
"You think you can stand above us?! Who do you think you are?!"
He swung—
A black rod aimed straight for Gen's spine.
BOOM.
The impact unleashed an explosion so massive it sent tidal waves crashing across the ocean.
A wall of water hundreds of meters tall rushed toward the coast.
"Earth Release! NOW!"
Ninja across the battlefield shouted, but they were too slow—
Until—
"Sage Art · Earth Release · Ten-Thousand-Mile Earth Flow Wall."
Gen's God Tree clone raised an enormous barrier—
stretching like a new Great Wall—
blocking the tsunami entirely.
"Thank the gods…!"
"He saved us again…"
The alliance trembled with relief.
Even Tobirama, watching the devastation, couldn't help cursing softly:
"Just the aftermath of their battle is enough to create natural disasters…?"
Naruto and Sasuke stared toward the sky.
"That place… that's where the real monsters are fighting."
On the battlefield, two enormous summoned beasts—each larger than Hashirama's Sage Buddha with Susanoo armor—clashed violently.
And Genshiki stood far above them, arms crossed, looking down with calm indifference.
"Whether I am worthy or not, Isshiki—
is not for you to decide."
His chakra surged again.
"To face your enthusiasm properly…
I won't hold back either."
A roar tore through the heavens.
Everyone covered their ears as pain shot through their bodies.
The cry was not meant for human ears.
Then—
A colossal beast emerged behind Gen.
"THE TEN-TAILS?!"
This one dwarfed the previous Ten-Tails in size and presence.
Even Black Zetsu was horrified.
"How is anyone supposed to stop this monster?!"
Hagoromo stared in disbelief.
"That Ten-Tails… feels different. More complete. More feral…"
"It's fine," Gen said casually.
And for reasons no one understood—
Hagoromo actually believed him.
"What are you planning now?" the Sage asked nervously.
"Simple," Gen replied with a light smile.
"Release the Ten-Tails… and welcome Kaguya properly."
Hagoromo froze.
"…Welcome?"
"And you, Sage—don't you want to reconcile with your mother?"
Hagoromo's soul almost fled his body.
Before he could respond, Hamura appeared—face pale.
"Big Brother?! Gen?! What are you two planning?!"
The entire alliance stared.
Hagoromo sighed.
"This is my younger brother, Hamura…"
Then glared sharply at Gen.
"Stop talking nonsense. Handle what needs to be handled!"
Naruto blinked.
Sasuke's jaw dropped.
Hagoromo's mother was about to emerge from the moon—
and this was the conversation they were having?
Meanwhile—
Kaguya's silhouette grew clearer.
The seal was breaking.
"We can't let Gen attack her once she arrives," Isshiki snarled.
Momoshiki and Urashiki nodded grimly.
"She must not fall into his hands!"
Gen raised his golden blade, smiling.
"Isshiki, earlier you asked, 'You? Stand at the summit?'"
His body blurred.
A beam of golden light shot upward.
"ATTACK!"
Isshiki roared.
The three Ōtsutsuki surged after him.
Their battle tore the sky apart.
The light of their clashes turned night into day.
Earthquakes erupted worldwide.
Oceans split.
Volcanoes awakened.
This was no longer a fight—
It was a planetary calamity.
Even Gen's Ten-Tails roared, ripping apart the serpent and crushing the stone ape with horrifying ease.
At last, Naruto, Sasuke, Hashirama, and the others reached Madara.
"Madara!"
Hashirama rushed forward.
Black Zetsu yelled desperately:
"Pull the Ten-Tails out! Hurry!!"
Gen appeared without warning, placing his hand on Madara's chest.
A violent surge erupted.
The Ten-Tails screamed, resisting extraction with every fiber of its being.
"…It's afraid," Sasuke whispered.
Gen narrowed his eyes.
"Still resisting?"
He increased the force—
And the Ten-Tails was torn out.
Its chakra pulsed like a heartbeat, gathering in the distance.
"Is it… over?" Naruto asked.
"No," Sasuke muttered.
"Something's still building…"
A blinding column of light surged downward.
And slowly—
A woman emerged within it.
Pale skin.
Long silver hair.
Horns.
A Rinne Sharingan resting beneath a closed brow.
Kaguya Ōtsutsuki hovered above the world like a goddess—
or a calamity.
Her presence alone made breathing difficult.
"She's… beautiful," Hashirama whispered in disbelief.
Naruto stared.
"She looks so young?!"
Sasuke swallowed nervously.
"The Rabbit Goddess… the ancestor of chakra…"
Black Zetsu collapsed to the ground, trembling.
"It's over… It's finally over…
Mother has returned…!"
Gen glanced at Black Zetsu, amused.
Hagoromo clenched his teeth.
"Will you PLEASE stop saying I planned this?!"
But no one heard him.
Because—
Kaguya opened her eyes.
White.
Blindingly white.
A pair of Byakugan that radiated suffocating power—
even more overwhelming than the Rinnegan.
Naruto felt his lungs contract.
Sasuke felt cold sweat pour down his back.
Even compared to Gen's star-like eyes…
She was terrifying.
"What… what is she…?"
No one answered him.
Kaguya's gaze sharpened—
then drifted toward the distant battlefield.
At the same moment, the Ten-Tails extracted from Uchiha Madara finally solidified into its complete form.
ROOOOAR—
The instant it took shape, it let out a terrified scream—
and turned to flee.
But the Ten-Tails born from the God Tree's origin lunged after it with savage fury, slamming a colossal fist into its back.
"What on earth… is happening now?!"
The two Ten-Tails writhed and collided, their battle so abrupt and bizarre that even the veterans of the Allied Forces stood dumbfounded.
But no one had any time to question it.
Because high above—
sound ripped through the sky.
BOOOOM—
Chaotic, frenzied chakra surged across the heavens like a stormy ocean.
Instinctively, every shinobi looked up.
But the chakra in the sky was so dense, so distorted, that nothing could be seen clearly—
not even with Sasuke's Rinnegan.
And then—
Three mangled figures came hurtling down through the clouds.
They struck the earth like fallen meteors—
and carved out a crater hundreds of meters deep and over a kilometer wide.
A blinding cloud of dust swallowed everything.
The Allied Forces were already bleeding from their eyes and ears; the pressure alone was enough to rupture their chakra pathways.
Many were forced to wrap themselves in chakra—hands clamped over their ears—just to stay conscious.
Finally, the violent storm of chakra began to subside.
But not a single soul felt relief.
Because through the thinning dust—
they saw a silhouette floating in the moonlight.
A figure untouched.
Unshaken.
Unscathed.
Holding a golden blade.
Ōtsutsuki Genshiki.
With a hum, his chakra pulsed—
and the dust clouds blew apart.
He hovered in the sky, flawless as ever.
His star-like eyes glimmered through the mask as he looked down on the three fallen Ōtsutsuki.
"Now then… how do you feel, seniors?"
His voice rolled across the heavens.
Isshiki, Urashiki, and Momoshiki struggled to sit upright.
Their bodies were riddled with gashes, limbs torn open, bones shattered.
What terrified them most wasn't the wounds—
It was the realization:
Even their regenerative abilities struggled to repair the damage Gen inflicted.
"You—"
They tried to speak, but no words came.
Only after several breaths did Isshiki manage a hoarse whisper:
"Your so-called Heavenly Throne… is nothing but delusion. You—"
"You're mistaken, Isshiki."
Gen shook his head lightly.
His tone remained calm.
Too calm.
"As I said… this is the difference between us.
Your reach is small.
Your vision is small.
Your ambition is small."
He chuckled softly.
"Even united, the three of you were never capable of defeating me."
"You—!"
The three Ōtsutsuki shook with rage and humiliation, but no rebuttal came.
Gen reached up and brushed aside a strand of his hair.
Then he looked toward the moon.
When he spoke again, his voice was soft—yet somehow echoed across the entire world.
A voice that made even Naruto's blood run cold.
A voice no one could ignore.
"From the very beginning… there has never been a god above us."
"Not you."
"Not me."
"Not even the so-called Gods."
His eyes glimmered.
"But the vacancy atop the heavens… has lasted long enough."
He lifted his golden blade.
Moonlight shone upon him like a coronation.
"So from this day forward—"
With a slow exhale, he declared:
"Let me be the one who stands at the summit."