The earth-shattering battle was nearing its end. In the end, Uchiha Obito was no match for Yuki Yoru, and could only rely on the power of Kamui to dodge and flee, desperately avoiding Yoru's relentless pursuit.
But at this level of combat, a space–time ninjutsu like Kamui was already far from sufficient. If not for the Moon's Eye boosting him, Obito wouldn't have been able to escape Yoru's hunt at all. And even with that power, it was barely enough.
During one chase, Obito's shoulder was pierced clean through by a Heilig Pfeil (Sacred Destruction Arrows), and his body was torn out of the dimensional space, crashing heavily to the ground.
The searing pain wracked his senses, but his attention was focused entirely behind him.
This won't work…
Running was hopeless. The shinobi world was so small—unless he abandoned it entirely and fled into space.
But could a man born and raised in the shinobi world, one who made the peace of that world his mission and his dream, ever abandon it all to escape into the void? Impossible.
He could only fight back.
Ordinary moves won't work. Against him, I'll need something special…
Casting a glance behind him at the ever-closing Yuki Yoru, Obito wracked his mind for a way to turn the tables. But before he could act, the shrill whistle of arrows ripped through the air—one after another, Heilig Pfeile flew straight at him.
Gritting his teeth, Obito countered. Behind him, his Truth-Seeking Orbs collided with several arrows, detonating in a burst of force, while he swung the Sword of Nunoboko in reverse to block two more.
Even so, two arrows pierced his shoulder and abdomen, leaving deep wounds that slowed him down significantly.
"Where exactly do you think you're running to?"
The cold voice came from behind. Obito's body froze mid-stride as Yoru's black blade came slashing down.
Obito raised his arm to block, but in the clash of strength, he was overwhelmed and smashed into the ground with a single blow.
Yoru looked down at the smoke-filled crater below, a calm smile on his face.
"Still resisting, Obito? Hand over the Ten-Tails."
From the smoke below, there was no response.
Seeing this, Yoru gave a soft sigh. He swept his palm across the air before him, and a pitch-black spiritual bow formed, exuding a suffocating aura of power. A single glowing arrow—the Heilig Pfeil (Sacred Destruction Arrows)—rested on the string.
Heaven and earth quaked.
All creation shuddered.
The holy light of destruction blazed ever brighter, as though it would consume every last trace of brilliance in the world.
But just as Yoru was about to release it, a deep rumble shook the ground below. The smoke curled inward as if being devoured, the earth itself collapsing into itself.
Then—out floated a black sphere, like a void that sought to erase all existence.
"This is…"
Yoru's eyes narrowed, as Obito's furious roar thundered in his ears.
With his hands clasped together, Obito unleashed his chakra like a dam bursting, pouring forth without limit. With a final shout, his power erupted.
"Die, Yuki Yoru!!"
"Six Paths Technique: Chibaku Tensei!!"
The Heilig Pfeil, capable of piercing heaven and earth, streaked across the sky, penetrating all things.
And against it rose the legendary jutsu—the same that once sealed the Rabbit Goddess and birthed the moon itself—Six Paths Chibaku Tensei, swallowing everything in its path.
The two powers collided in midair.
"This is it!"
From the shadows, Black Zetsu vanished in an instant, shooting straight toward Obito at the very moment Chibaku Tensei erupted.
The two forces compressed into a shining orb, flickering with strange, shifting colors visible to the naked eye. Around it warped not only space itself, but a peculiar distortion of something even deeper—an energy known only as Nothingness.
A few breaths later, that twisted energy finally erupted in full.
An incomparably dazzling white light illuminated the entire world, rising as a pillar that pierced straight into the heavens.
For an instant, it felt as though the world itself had been frozen in place. Then—an overwhelming force, vast enough to overturn heaven and earth, burst from that pillar. The sky collapsed, the earth crumbled, all creation perished.
Wherever the aftershocks spread, it was as if the Creator had picked up an eraser and wiped clean this canvas called "the world." Everything was annihilated.
When the ripples finally faded, what remained was an abyss of unspeakable terror. Churning magma surged forth as though testifying to the dreadful clash, as if the very crust of the earth had been shattered.
"What a frightening collision that was."
Yuki Yoru's figure slowly emerged, his Mizukage robes completely intact, snapping in the wind.
By contrast, Uchiha Obito was in a wretched state.
Half-kneeling in midair, the protective Truth-Seeking Orbs around him shattered layer by layer, scattering like dust in the wind. Though his body—tempered by the Kekkei Mōra—had long since transcended the mortal, it was now in dire condition. His energy reserves were nearly spent, and much of his flesh had collapsed, exposing strange structures of raw chakra beneath.
He no longer had the qualifications to continue fighting Yoru in this war.
"No… I will not fall here…"
"Obito, I'll help you!"
Obito's chest rose and fell heavily, trying desperately to hold on.
At that moment, a lump of mud slithered silently onto his body, merging with half of him.
It was Black Zetsu.
"Black Zetsu…"
Obito murmured, as if recalling the time after the Kannabi Bridge incident. Back then, he had slowly grown by relying on Tobi's power. But now? How could Black Zetsu's strength alone possibly stand against Yuki Yoru?
He started to speak, but suddenly realized his body was moving on its own, leaping backward just in time to dodge a Heilig Pfeil that shot past.
"This won't work, Black Zetsu… we have to retreat…"
"Retreat?" Black Zetsu's voice shifted, its tone utterly changed. "You're mistaken, Obito. We can win this war. Hand your body over to me completely!"
"What do you mean?"
Obito's brow furrowed deeply. But this wasn't the time to think. If Black Zetsu—the so-called "Indra"—truly had a way, then Obito had no choice but to trust him.
With a thought, Obito released all control of his body. Black Zetsu seized the chance, taking over fully.
"At last…"
Black Zetsu drew a deep breath, savoring the power flowing within. His hands flew into rapid seals.
In the next moment, the Moon's Eye at his brow snapped open wide, and from Obito's failing body, a surge of terror beyond compare erupted forth.
What… he actually pulled it off?!
Within his consciousness, Obito was stunned. How had Black Zetsu managed this? Where was this level of power coming from?
He was certain he had already squeezed every last drop of strength from his body. So how could there still be more?
Confusion clouded Uchiha Obito's mind.
As that overwhelming power erupted, Yuki Yoru, high above in the heavens, suddenly felt something unusual.
He could clearly sense that along with this explosion of force, an inexplicable connection was gradually manifesting in space. That power seemed like the source of all chakra—the very progenitor.
Lifting his gaze, Yoru saw someone within that distorted space raising their head. Pure white eyes locked with his. Long white hair fell all the way to her ankles, two horns extended from her forehead, her face was expressionless, her gaze ice-cold.
"So, you've come..."
Yuki Yoru muttered, seemingly completely unsurprised by this.
And the instant this vast power erupted from Obito's body, the Six Paths brothers in the shadows also sensed this anomalous power.
"Elder Brother…" Ōtsutsuki Hamura's expression was complicated. Though he had long known this would one day happen, when it truly arrived, waves still stirred in his heart. "Mother's seal… is about to break."
"Yes. I know."
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo gazed into the distance, as though his eyes pierced all space, seeing the progenitor of chakra sealed within.
"For a thousand years, you and I endured the Pure Land, cultivating, comprehending life and death. In strength and in wisdom, we have long surpassed what we were a millennium ago."
"Though Mother is the progenitor, her heart has flaws. For the sake of our design, all this is both reasonable and necessary."
Hamura fell silent. After a moment, he sighed softly.
"I will stand at your side, Brother."
Meanwhile, Obito's body surged with violent chakra. That force not only healed his grievous wounds in an instant, but swelled endlessly within him, stretching his form to the limit.
Obito was overjoyed, instinctively wanting to seize back control of his body, to resume battle with Yuki Yoru for hundreds more rounds.
But soon, he realized something was terribly wrong.
Black Zetsu had no intention of returning his body. The energy within was rising higher and higher, swelling without end, inflating his flesh until it bulged grotesquely.
"Black Zetsu! What are you doing? What is happening?!"
"Keh keh keh…"
Black Zetsu laughed eerily, ignoring Obito. He pushed the Power of All Creation (Shinra Banshō) within the body to its absolute limit.
Stimulated by this power, the Ten-Tails inside Obito went into frenzy, producing chakra without end, swelling Obito's body larger and larger.
And as his form ballooned outward, deep within the sealed space, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya stirred. She seemed to hear a mysterious call. The crack at her brow split open, and within appeared a blood-red eye.
The two Moon's Eyes resonated across space. At that instant, the Rinne Sharingan on Kaguya's forehead fully opened. The aura of her origin chakra appeared from within her. The seal convulsed violently, unleashing an indescribable, endless power.
"What is… happening…?"
Obito roared in agony as his consciousness was crushed into a ball of darkness. At the same time, his bloated, inhuman, spherical white body began to contract.
Within a few breaths, a pure white figure emerged anew. Under the blood moon's glow, she descended upon the world.
"Finally... you've arrived."
Yuki Yoru gazed calmly at the sight, making no move to stop Black Zetsu. This was what he had been waiting for.
"The Rabbit Goddess—Ōtsutsuki Kaguya."
In the shadows, the Six Paths brothers, and even Gamamaru, were all staring at Kaguya beneath the blood moon. They were silent, their expressions complex. It felt as if, in that moment, the entire world had fallen still.
Under the blood moon, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya slowly opened her pure white eyes, taking in the entire world, including Yuki Yoru, within her view.
"The aura of a clan member..."
Kaguya's eyes narrowed slightly.
"You possess the aura of a clan member."
"Ah, those two indeed called themselves Ōtsutsuki. I suppose they're the 'clan' you speak of," Yoru replied calmly. "I killed them and picked up some spoils of war. That should be the source of the aura you sense."
"Killed…?!"
For the first time, Kaguya's tone rippled with emotion. Her pure white eyes flashed with something different. After a pause, she spoke again:
"Where are Hagoromo and Hamura?"
Yoru chuckled faintly.
"Who knows? Those two good little sons of yours are surely plotting something big. As for you, the mother they sealed away a thousand years ago… if need be, I'll just seal you up again. After all, if they could manage it back then, doing it again now shouldn't be a problem."
"Seal…"
Kaguya's aura turned suddenly frigid. The very air seemed to freeze.
Being sealed away for a thousand years by her own sons—this was a taboo subject for her, a wound of humiliation. To hear Yuki Yoru speak of it so lightly was nothing less than an insult.
But now was not the time for rage. Having only just broken free, she had far more important matters at hand.
Casting one more glance at Yoru, Kaguya floated upward. Stretching her arms wide, she unleashed her power. In an instant, the heavens and earth trembled, and from the ground burst forth an unimaginably vast tree, its trunk stretching to the skies—the God Tree, towering over the land.
Yoru smacked his lips as he gazed at the endless form of the tree.
"So, the God Tree… You really can't wait to take back your power, huh?"
"You seem to know many things," Kaguya turned back to him. "And the power within you…"
"It's the power of souls, Mother."
Black Zetsu's voice cut in, timely.
"The power this man wields is the power of souls. Not only him—nowadays, most of the humans in this world carry soul power within them. If you wish to reclaim chakra, you'll likely have to rely on the God Tree to first convert their soul power back into chakra…"