Chapter 331 – When the Sun Casts a Shadow, Everyone Feels the Pain
"So… he really won?"
Hashirama Senju and the others were panting heavily now, all of them staring up at the figure in the sky with complicated expressions.
The sight of the collapsing full moon alone was enough to chill them to the bone.
They couldn't clearly see how the distant battle had unfolded. Even with their extraordinary sensory abilities, they simply couldn't pierce through that warped, distorted space.
Yet just dealing with Ōtsutsuki Kaguya here had already pushed them to their limits.
"This Ōtsutsuki Kaguya… she's easier to deal with than we imagined. She lacks combat experience, but…"
They clenched their fists, silently acknowledging the truth. Even so, subduing her quickly was utterly unrealistic.
That overwhelming power, coupled with her ability to freely traverse space, made her an absolute nightmare to handle.
Even if they could attempt to lock onto her spatial movements, it would take time—and the collateral damage from the Ten-Tails' battle nearby forced them to fight with extreme caution.
What they hadn't expected was that the battle between the Ōtsutsuki themselves would end so fast—so violently.
"Ōtsutsuki Genshiki… truly extraordinary."
Sasuke, Naruto, Hashirama, Madara, Tobirama, Minato—along with Kakashi, Guy, and the others—all wore grave expressions.
This man was fundamentally different from anyone else.
---
"So, you've resolved things on your end?"
Kaguya didn't look well either. Being pushed into such a sorry state by these "mortals" was something she had never anticipated.
Of course, a few of them could hardly be called mere mortals anymore.
The powers of Indra and Ashura blazed within them—forces that clearly transcended human limits.
More importantly, she could feel it: hidden within their power were elements that genuinely threatened her.
"Mm. Though it seems you're not having an easy time here either."
Kitagawa Gen drifted over slowly, speaking with a faintly amused tone.
Kaguya's gaze immediately locked onto her "good son," her expression darkening.
"Just as I suspected. Hagoromo never intended to spare me from the very beginning. The power he granted them was specifically designed to counter me!"
"…"
Gen tilted his head. There was no way to deny that—because it was true.
He reacted instantly, however, tilting his head again with a chuckle.
"Why don't you reflect on yourself instead? You're far stronger than them, yet you ended up in such a mess. Isn't that your own problem?"
"You—!"
Kaguya opened her mouth to retort, but in the blink of an eye Gen had already appeared right beside her.
She stiffened instinctively and took a step back.
"…"
Gen fell silent for a moment, staring at her.
Isn't this woman overreacting a bit…?
---
Buzz—
Suddenly, space rippled violently behind him. In the next instant, a figure burst out of the distorted void!
"Ōtsutsuki Genshiki!"
With a furious roar, a black rod shot toward Gen's back.
Gen didn't even turn around. He merely shook his head slightly and shifted his body to the side.
Slash—
A silver flash cut through space. The attacker's body split open with a massive gash, crashing face-first toward the ground.
At that very moment, space warped again!
"Now—die!"
Sharp bone spikes tore through the air, accompanied by an overwhelming gravitational pull that seemed to drag Gen in place.
Yet, impossibly, Gen calmly reached out and caught the bone spike with his bare hand.
"Good timing," he said lightly, "but the power's far too weak."
Before the words even finished, his blade swept gracefully.
Another figure plummeted from the sky.
Gen then swung the captured spine outward, ensnaring another body and yanking it directly in front of him.
"And those eyes… they don't really belong to you, do they?"
Buzz—
Another slash. Even a violent repulsive force failed to stop it.
---
"Obito?"
"Nagato?"
"And that one… Kimimaro?"
Naruto and the others stared at the three figures falling from the sky, their expressions complicated and unsettled.
They hadn't expected these three to be revived through Edo Tensei as well.
---
"Gen! We're here!"
Deidara flew in from the sky alongside the Second Tsuchikage and Ōnoki.
Ōnoki, who should have been waiting in the rear, clearly had no intention of sitting idle any longer.
"Tch. Who would've thought the ninja world still had this many damn messes—and this many absurd people," muttered the Second Mizukage as he arrived alongside Mei Terumi.
"This time, no matter how hard it gets, we're not backing down!"
In the distance, massive toads and enormous serpents charged forward together, with Katsuyu moving swiftly between them.
Standing atop them were Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru—the Legendary Sannin reunited at last, regardless of past allegiances.
Gaara and Chiyo rushed in as well, and even many members of the Akatsuki had joined the fray.
They gathered rapidly, eyes fixed on the two figures in the sky, while the outer layers of the Allied Shinobi Forces tightened their encirclement.
Everyone knew how terrifying their enemies were. They had all felt it firsthand.
And yet—no one chose to retreat.
"Everyone…"
Naruto watched the scene, his gaze wavering slightly.
Sasuke stood with his arms crossed, appearing calm—but his clenched fists betrayed his true feelings.
"This is how it should be!" Hashirama said with a smile. "Everyone standing together!"
Madara snorted, but deep down… wasn't this the very sight he had always yearned for?
---
"You even prepared a surprise?"
Gen's God Tree clone smiled faintly and spoke quietly to the Sage of Six Paths.
"Isn't this exactly what you wanted?" Hagoromo replied softly, audible only to the two of them. His tone carried a trace of melancholy.
"To make the world feel pain—pain brought by the Ōtsutsuki. But doesn't that pain apply to you as well?"
"…"
Gen nearly rolled his eyes. Do I look like I'm suffering?
He was gaining plenty—and having a great time, at that.
Still, he nodded cooperatively.
"Yes. Everyone needs to realize this. No more childish games."
He then looked up and smiled.
"So—I'm going to add a little extra. Ready?"
"The God Tree?" Hagoromo glanced at the towering tree nearby.
Gen's Ten-Tails had already devoured Kaguya's Ten-Tails during Naruto's battle with her, taking on its current form.
Wasn't that enough?
"Wait…"
Hagoromo suddenly realized something, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"You… don't tell me—"
"Relax. I'm not interested in hanging everyone from trees," Gen said calmly.
"But…"
His voice turned low and distant.
"It's time to show them what true despair—and true fear—really look like."
---
Above them, Gen's true body suddenly began clapping, a faint smile on his face.
"Interesting."
He stood in the sky as the shattered moon continued to collapse, torrents of energy raining down toward the earth.
No one knew how long it would take for the moon's destruction to fully impact the shinobi world—but everyone understood that it would be a catastrophic disaster.
And yet, no one had the luxury to care.
All eyes were fixed on Ōtsutsuki Genshiki and Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
This was their greatest crisis at the moment.
Only by dealing with him would they have any chance to address anything else.
---
"The living and the dead, beasts and sheep, good and evil, survival and extinction—are all moving forward together now?"
Ōtsutsuki Genshiki seemed utterly unmoved by the scene before him. His tone remained relaxed, even tinged with quiet reflection.
"People always use beliefs to draw lines between themselves. And yet today, things that should stand in absolute opposition have all gathered here. Truly astonishing."
"That is the will we all share!"
Might Guy shouted at the top of his lungs. Kakashi stared up at the figure in the sky and spoke firmly.
"That's right. No matter how powerful you are, we will never be your livestock. We've endured too much to ever bow our heads!"
"You outsiders will never make us submit!"
Obito, Nagato, and Kimimaro forced themselves to their feet. The fury and killing intent in their eyes were almost tangible.
"Arrogant bastard…"
Sasuke, Madara, and the others looked grim, but none of them wavered.
"Even if we die, we will never submit!"
"This is the will of all of us!"
The roar surged straight into the heavens. A resolute will gathered among them—unyielding, unbreakable.
No one would bow.
No one would simply give up.
---
"Is that so?"
Gen tilted his head slightly, then shifted his gaze toward the God Tree beside him.
"Then I'm quite curious—how exactly do you intend to stop me?"
In that instant, the colossal tree that pierced the heavens stirred.
Endless chakra unfurled from its trunk, spreading outward in vast, surging waves.
"What… is this?"
At that moment, everyone felt an instinctive shudder from the depths of their souls.
That boundless chakra expanded like a rising tide. Even sensing it was enough to suffocate them.
"How can something be… this terrifying?"
Hashirama's eyes grew unfocused. Even without the tailed beasts, reborn and empowered by the Sage of Six Paths' gift, his strength—and perception—had soared.
Yet this overwhelming sensation brought him pain instead of clarity.
"Damn it… damn it all!"
Naruto clenched his teeth. He could feel it just as clearly—and what hurt most was something else entirely.
"Naruto…"
Kurama's voice echoed inside his mind.
"That God Tree's power is intertwining with him. He—"
"Enough. Don't say it!"
Naruto cut him off harshly.
Before anyone could say more, the massive tree erupted with a beam of light that pierced the heavens.
The radiance spread across the entire sky.
And then—a breeze.
A faint wind descended from above, brushing gently across their faces.
It was icy cold, yet strangely stirring.
Carrying light itself, the wind swept across the distant lands. In that moment, everyone in the shinobi world felt it.
It lingered, endless and flowing—until it reached every corner of the world.
Then it vanished without a trace.
"What… is that?"
Naruto murmured.
And then—he understood.
---
Boom—!
The earth roared as countless vines burst forth from the ground.
Thick, endless tendrils spread outward without limit, as if the colossal tree intended to cover the entire planet.
The God Tree erupted again, its surface glowing with golden radiance.
That light was holy—yet it inspired profound dread.
Everyone froze, staring in disbelief at the colossal tree of light that pierced through the world.
It felt as though it had taken root deep within their hearts.
So vast.
So magnificent.
So sacred—
And yet so utterly despair-inducing.
"So," Kitagawa Gen's voice echoed across the heavens, calm and indifferent,
"are you ready?"
"This… is the final moment."
As he spoke, the crown of the God Tree bloomed open.
Within it appeared a strange fruit.
It emitted a dim, eerie glow, and within it brewed a power far more terrifying than anything before.
Even the slightest attempt to sense it caused dizziness and nausea.
"That is…"
Even Kaguya stared at the fruit in a daze, unable to comprehend how much energy it contained.
"So this is… the true secret behind the Ōtsutsuki's God Trees…"
Madara's face darkened. Hashirama and the others looked no better.
They all understood now.
And with that understanding came an indescribable despair.
"Is this bastard… going to destroy the entire planet?!"
At last, Naruto couldn't hold it in any longer.
Clenching his fists, he looked up at the sky and shouted with everything he had.
"Enough! Do you really not care about any of this?! Are you really going to destroy this world?! Do you truly disdain everything we are?!"
"Naruto…"
Sasuke looked at him in confusion. Kakashi and the others did the same—even Minato struggled to understand his son.
"Gen…"
Naruto turned around, staring at the Kitagawa Gen behind him.
His expression was tangled with pain and confusion. After hesitating for a long time, he finally spoke, his voice trembling, on the verge of tears.
"This isn't real… right? This is all just a nightmare, right? We'll end this together—like we always do… right?"
"Naruto…"
Everyone stared at him in disbelief.
And then—
Their expressions changed completely.
Perhaps the shock had been too great.
Perhaps the chakra flooding the world was simply too vast.
Or perhaps—
They had trusted Kitagawa Gen far too much.
Because only now did they notice it.
Standing behind them, Kitagawa Gen's body was already resonating in perfect harmony with the God Tree.
A chakra so immense it suffocated the world radiated from him.
Even natural energy could no longer suppress it.
Golden motes of light flickered across his body as that overwhelming power thundered within him.
"You…"
Sasuke's breath caught. His face filled with shock.
Hashirama and Tobirama stood frozen, minds blank.
Even Madara—unyielding as he was—could only stare at Gen, completely at a loss for words.
Kakashi and Guy's eyes were wide with disbelief.
After a brief silence, Kitagawa Gen shook his head and laughed softly.
He reached out, gently patting Naruto's cheek, smiling.
"Smile a little," he said quietly.
"After all, if the sun were to cast a shadow—"
Before he could finish, the figure in the sky spoke, his voice calm and cruel.
"Everyone would be heartbroken, wouldn't they… Naruto?"
As his words fell, a supreme terror—and boundless despair—silently surged through every heart.