Kaito shook his head helplessly. He shoved the "pill" into the Door Space and said,
"Forget it, this will do for now!"
The moment his voice fell, a roar suddenly thundered from the skies.
"Bastard! What have you done!?"
The voice was deep and forceful, so much so that it stirred up a hurricane. The sky instantly darkened.
Kaito raised an eyebrow. It wasn't that he was scared by this voice—he was just thinking to himself,
"Speak of the devil… what luck. Heaven's really treating me well today!"
Boom!
A bolt of lightning came crashing down from above, striking him head-on.
Bathed in the electric glow, not a hint of pain appeared on Kaito's face—in fact, he looked like he was enjoying it.
A joke, really. Using lightning against a Rumbling Fruit user was nothing more than recharging him.
Once the lightning faded, the ground beneath him split open. Molten magma gushed out, engulfing his body.
The land was quickly swallowed by lava, and in the midst of that blazing sea, a golden orb of light flickered faintly.
From it, Kaito shot upward. He looked skyward and said coldly,
"Just another coward hiding in the shadows. Get out here!"
The space above him twisted violently, taking shape into a human face.
The face was hazy, with only eyes and a mouth barely distinguishable. It glared down at Kaito and spoke,
"You are not of my clan. Who exactly are you?"
"My name is Uchiha Kaito."
"Uchiha? Never heard of it. I am the Great Elder of the Ōtsutsuki Clan—Ōtsutsuki Kūshiki!"
"Oh, so you're just the Great Elder? I thought you were the clan leader."
Kaito shook his head with open disdain.
The gesture instantly enraged Kūshiki. He no longer hid himself and revealed his true body.
As a Great Elder, his presence was far more imposing than that of an ordinary Ōtsutsuki.
He wore a long white robe that dragged so far it trailed past his feet, almost comically extravagant.
His eyes were strange as well—not the usual Byakugan of the Ōtsutsuki, but pitch-black Rinnegan with white rippling patterns inside.
Kūshiki was furious. After all, every Ōtsutsuki on this planet had just been slaughtered by Kaito.
Not that he cared for his clansmen. Having lived for countless years, any sense of kinship had long since withered away.
What he mourned were his "farmers"—the tools who had been cultivating God's Trees for him.
And what tools they were. Each time they eagerly brought him chakra fruits, and he'd toss them a scrap of pitiful medicine in return. They would thank him endlessly and work even harder to grow more trees.
After years of such exploitation, he had grown fat and powerful—strong enough, he believed, to rival even the clan leader of old, Ōtsutsuki Shibai.
Yet that comfortable existence had been ruined today. With all his local "farmers" slaughtered, Kūshiki was left alone in his homeworld, a solitary commander with no troops.
The thought made his rage boil over. He raised one hand, and countless black rods appeared above him.
These weren't ordinary Yin–Yang constructs. Each was forged from Truth-Seeking Orbs.
The white ripples in his Rinnegan stirred. In the air around Kaito, several dark chains suddenly materialized and bound him tight.
Kaito didn't resist, letting the chains squeeze tighter around him.
Kūshiki sneered. The black rods above formed a curtain of death and rained down.
Kaito still didn't react, but the God of Tides emerged from behind him.
It expanded into a massive golden barrier above Kaito, and every black rod that struck it was instantly incinerated into ash, vanishing without a trace.
Once the assault was nullified, the God of Tides split into countless tiny blades, slicing through the chains binding Kaito.
Kaito quietly watched as the God of Tides busied itself protecting him, exactly as he expected.
This was the new power he gained after merging the Rinnegan with the Tenseigan—the ability to grant life to objects.
The God of Tides was acting entirely on its own, instinctively guarding its master. Kaito hadn't issued a single command.
Unaware of this truth, Kūshiki frowned.
"That's the God of Tides, isn't it? It can actually block my attacks?"
Kaito gently stroked the ring-shaped God of Tides before him, the way one would pet a loyal companion.
He looked up at Kūshiki and mocked,
"Old man, is this all you've got?"
With that, twin beams of golden light shot from Kaito's eyes.
Kūshiki dared not take them head-on. His Rinnegan widened slightly, and a black hole manifested before him, swallowing Kaito's attack into another dimension.
As the beams faded, the black hole snapped shut.
But in that very instant, Kaito appeared right in front of him.
Kūshiki's face changed. He tried to dodge but was a moment too late—Kaito's light-forged blade sliced off one of his arms.
For Kūshiki, who had devoured countless chakra fruits, the loss of a limb was no big deal.
His regeneration was monstrous, practically immortal.
But even after waiting, not the faintest bud of flesh grew back.
Instead, a searing golden light burned at the wound, its heat making Kūshiki's face twist darker and darker.
Snarling, he swung his remaining arm at Kaito.
The space before him shattered like glass, cracks racing outward toward Kaito.
A crushing suction poured out from the rift, trying to drag him in.
But the pull was laughably weak against Kaito. He stood unmoving, not even a step displaced.
Seeing this, dread gnawed at Kūshiki's heart. Kaito's strength was beyond anything he could fathom.
How could it be that, after consuming so many chakra fruits, he was being beaten down by some unknown Uchiha?
Kaito, unhurried, suddenly asked,
"Is the Ōtsutsuki Clan down to just one elder—you?"
Kūshiki only gave a cold snort.
Originally, there had been three elders. But the other two had long been slaughtered by him. There was no way he'd share chakra fruits with anyone else.
Seeing his refusal to answer, Kaito didn't press further.
He opened his hand, and a black vortex swirled in his palm.
Before Kūshiki's shocked eyes, the Ten Tails emerged from within the vortex.
It landed with a thunderous roar that shook the heavens—then dissolved into a vast pool of black liquid, seeping into the earth.