"What… is this?"
Deep within the moon, the Second Elder was leading Toneri away in haste.
But the sudden roar of chakra made him falter for a moment. He had no idea what had just happened.
Yet, as he felt the trembling ground beneath his feet and saw the sky above changing color, he too realized the crisis at hand.
"Grandfather… it feels like a Tenseigan."
Ōtsutsuki Toneri could see nothing, but his senses were razor-sharp. He could not help but speak.
"Yes, it is the Tenseigan. But now is not the time to dwell on that."
The Second Elder sighed, shook his head, and spoke quickly.
"An enemy has come. We need to hide. Don't worry—it will be fine."
"But…"
Toneri wanted to say more, but the Second Elder was already pulling him along.
Toneri could only feel helpless, for what he had sensed was no ordinary Tenseigan!
...
"What happened? What's going on?"
Inside the Hamura Shrine, the Great Elder rushed in, his eyes full of disbelief as he looked at the Third Elder.
"What's happening with the Tenseigan? What is that chakra?"
"It's over."
The Third Elder muttered under his breath. His face was ashen as he looked toward the Great Elder and spoke in a low voice.
"That man… he came for the Sealed One. And more than that—"
"The Sealed One?"
The Great Elder's face changed at once. He understood exactly what that meant.
"Yes. And the most fatal thing is…"
The Third Elder's words faltered, but he still forced himself to speak solemnly.
"He also possesses the Tenseigan!"
"…"
The Great Elder was utterly speechless. Never had he imagined that another could possess the Tenseigan as well.
But this was no time to dwell on such thoughts. In one swift stride, he rushed before the Giant Tenseigan and began forming hand seals with all speed.
"There's no point in overthinking. Focus on what lies before us!"
With his seals completed, the chakra within his body surged in a roar. Under his control, the raging Tenseigan slowly quieted, its agitation settling into stillness.
Drawing in a deep breath, he ignored his body's exhaustion and gently closed his eyes. Though his face was grim, the Third Elder did the same.
In that instant, the two of them seemed to merge with the Tenseigan itself.
As the Tenseigan's chakra spread out, Kitagawa Gen, flying in from the distance, suddenly paused.
His gaze shifted slightly, and in that moment it was as though he could see the two old men.
"Another one?"
Kitagawa Gen arched a brow, his tone tinged with amusement.
"Yet another with a trace of that bloodline. I must say, you lower beings truly are entertaining."
"A man of the heavens…"
The Great Elder spoke heavily. After a moment of silence, he continued.
"Why has Your Excellency come here?"
"Why waste time with words? Don't you already know?"
Kitagawa Gen gave a light shake of his head, his voice calm and dismissive.
"And even if I demand it of you, will you hand it over, lower being?"
"Lower being…"
The Great Elder was at a loss for words. Such a bitter mockery.
Once, he too had faced the people of the shinobi world with arrogant mockery, calling them lower beings.
Yet now, he himself was being called such by a man of the heavens.
He fell silent for a long while before finally sighing and speaking.
"Perhaps, to Your Excellency, we truly are lower beings. But—"
All at once, his hands moved, forming seals again. Before him, the massive Tenseigan erupted with a roaring surge of chakra.
"No matter what, we will stop you—no matter the cost!"
[Boom—]
Outside the Hamura Shrine, Kitagawa Gen, who was flying swiftly closer, raised his brow.
He seemed to sense something. Casting his gaze outward, he saw the surrounding floating islands begin to shatter.
In the next moment, countless fragments of rock converged together, and a giant resembling a mountain quietly emerged!
The giant's face looked aged, and on its chest was a carved magatama pattern.
The instant the giant saw Kitagawa Gen, it swung its colossal hand.
[Boom—]
The ground shook, mountains quaked, sand and stone flew, and the entire moon seemed to tremble!
Billowing smoke and an immense shockwave swept through the moon's interior in an instant. Even within the Hamura Shrine, the Great Elder and the Third Elder swayed slightly where they stood.
"Did it work?"
The Third Elder spoke in disbelief. But at once, he noticed the Great Elder's face had gone pale.
Focusing his mind into the Tenseigan, his own expression instantly changed.
"Impossible… impossible… he…"
Through the Tenseigan, he clearly saw Kitagawa Gen facing the "Ancestor Statue"—and taking that strike head-on!
What was more—
—the Ancestor Statue's entire hand had been shattered, while that man still looked utterly unfazed?
"Not bad at all."
Kitagawa Gen nodded at the giant before him. Its strength was no weaker than any tailed beast's, perhaps even greater.
And most crucially, under the Tenseigan's control, this thing could continuously repair itself.
That piqued his interest, for it seemed this was also one of the Tenseigan's abilities.
He wondered if he could seize control for himself.
[Boom—]
As the thought crossed his mind, Kitagawa Gen was already moving. Forced, the Great Elder had no choice but to drive the Ancestor Statue to move as well.
Soon, two opposing forces, each solid as substance, collided again, sending out a deafening thunderclap!
That overwhelming power erupted wildly in all directions, plunging the moon's interior into pitch-black chaos.
Even the artificial sun suspended in the sky seemed unable to endure, flickering unsteadily in that moment.
Vast waves of energy blasted again and again within the moon, the tidal surges of chakra collapsing the floating islands where the Hamura Shrine stood.
The entire moon itself even began to sway.
...
"Ah, the moon looks beautiful tonight!"
In the shinobi world, Naruto lay back with his hands behind his head, gazing at the sky in great spirits.
Even though he had been nagged at by his parents all day, and even beaten around a bit by his mother inside his spiritual world—
—even so, the corners of his mouth still curled upward uncontrollably. His happiness was heartfelt.
"And even Gen was decent today—he didn't trick me. But next time, I'll definitely get even."
Naruto silently repeated the words in his heart. Kushina had told him this, and he also felt it was necessary.
Even though Kitagawa Gen had caused him trouble, he had truly been able to meet his parents!
"Hey, Naruto, it's time for bed!"
Just as he was lost in thought, Kushina's voice suddenly rang in his mind.
"If you don't feel like sleeping, then go train properly like Gen does! Look at yourself, then look at him—do you realize how huge the gap between you two is?!"
"…"
Naruto pressed his lips together. He was happy, but why did his mom always like comparing him to Kitagawa Gen?
"Alright, I get it. I'll sleep right now."
Naruto nodded, but then suddenly furrowed his brows.
"Huh? What's going on?"
"What is it?"
Minato's voice also sounded, his greatest worry being that Naruto might encounter Uchiha Obito.
But Naruto didn't answer right away. He stared up at the moon for a long time before finally muttering under his breath.
"Tonight the moon looks kind of strange… why does it feel like it's moving?"
Naruto wasn't the only one with this feeling. Sarutobi Hiruzen and the two Senju brothers were standing on the Hokage Rock, gazing at the night sky. They were the first to notice the problem.
"There are faint traces of chakra waves. What's happening to the moon?"
Senju Hashirama's brows furrowed tightly; he felt something was wrong. Sarutobi Hiruzen gave a slight nod.
"Indeed. And it seems the moon is shifting."
"Whatever it is, we need to stay alert."
After a moment's thought, Senju Tobirama spoke in a low voice.
"Have the shinobi in the village prepare immediately. Something major may be about to happen."
Meanwhile, within Konoha, another person also looked up at the sky in shock, whispering to himself.
"Damn… the moon is in trouble. Could it be that man?!"
Many across the shinobi world sensed the disturbance, for the moon's tremors were far too obvious.
And inside the moon, Kitagawa Gen's actions continued.
Facing the "Ancestor Statue," he did find it troublesome—but only because it seemed nearly impossible for him to seize control!
"As expected, the Tenseigan's level is still a little too low. I'm still just short of being able to wrest control from that thing."
Kitagawa Gen weighed his thoughts as the "Ancestor Statue" roared once more and launched another attack.
"If I can't seize it, then no point dwelling on it. My warm-up's just about done anyway. So…"
Watching the giant come at him again, Kitagawa Gen tilted his head. In his hand, the chakra prayer beads burst forth in dazzling light.
...
"Great Elder, use that technique."
Inside the Hamura Shrine, the Third Elder stayed silent for a long while before finally speaking in a low voice.
"Lend me the power of the Tenseigan. We must unleash its ultimate strength. Only then…"
"Are you certain?"
The Great Elder fixed his gaze on the Third Elder, hesitation still lingering in his heart.
"This will kill you!"
"We weren't going to live much longer anyway. Better to die in battle than waste away like this!"
The Third Elder was almost carefree. His body trembled, though whether from fear or excitement was hard to say.
"That arrogant man must pay a price. I'll hold him down, you'll support me. Only this way can we win!"
"Win?"
But before his words had even faded, Kitagawa Gen's voice slipped quietly into their ears.
"I'm curious—how will you lower beings choose to act? Well then…"
[Boom—]
In an instant, a tremendous roar erupted.
The sheer force seemed to ignite the very air, tearing open the fabric of space. Then a blinding flash seared through, illuminating everything!
That thunderous detonation caused even the artificial sun within the moon to suddenly collapse into darkness.
Endless blackness spread across the moon's interior, and only a suffocating, searing firelight continued to brew.
In the blink of an eye, that firelight rippled outward in silence, as though sweeping everything around it!
The colossal "Ancestor Statue" shattered amid the fire and thunder, and not even the chakra of the Tenseigan could restore it.
The entire moon plunged into violent tremors. Above, where firelight and darkness intertwined across the heavens, a dazzling radiance of chakra slowly gathered.
Within that apocalyptic lunar void, it floated upward—like a god descending.
"Please me, lower beings."
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