[On the Moon]
Otsutsuki Toneri suddenly jolted awake.
"Ha… ha…"
He panted heavily, big beads of sweat dripping down his forehead, and the clothes on his back were already soaked through by cold, bone-piercing sweat, as if he had just had a nightmare.
But Toneri knew very clearly, that wasn't a dream.
Everything was real.
In order to ensure timely control over the puppet, he had practically abandoned most of the senses of his real body on the moon, pouring his entire mind into the puppet created from his father's corpse.
So at the moment when the "guillotine blade" came down, the sensation of his head falling off was especially real.
However, what Toneri feared wasn't that fake death, but the calm, emotionless words Ryosuke said right before parting, ("Wait for me on the moon.")
Ryosuke had already mastered the technology to reach the moon.
"If he really crosses three hundred and eighty thousand kilometers and reaches the moon…"
Toneri swallowed hard, "What should I do?"
Before today, Toneri had always been confident.
He regarded the humans in the ninja world as primitive monkeys.
Maybe some of them could swing wooden sticks (ninjutsu), maybe a few monkeys were unusually strong (Ryosuke, the Five Kage).
But monkeys were still monkeys.
Lower-class creatures.
As long as he put in a bit of effort, he could rule the world.
That was what Toneri had believed.
And then Ryosuke walked straight up, didn't say a word, and slapped Toneri so hard he was stunned, shattering all his delusions.
"Hyuga Hiashi's Byakugan was even stronger than I expected. The fusion of the Tenseigan has already reached its final stage."
"If Ryosuke wants to ride a rocket and fly here, he'll need at least three days, which is enough for me to complete the fusion."
"With the completed Tenseigan, combined with the moon being my home ground, the power I can unleash will definitely be stronger than the puppet, but…"
Toneri recalled the scene of their battle earlier, and his heart trembled.
"Can I really win?"
He fell into deep thought. Suddenly, he remembered something, shivered violently, and rushed out of the room, heading to the core formation at the center of the moon to shut down the space passage between the moon and the ninja world.
Although the Otsutsuki clan had the ability to travel through space, a round trip of three hundred eighty thousand kilometers was simply too much of a waste of time.
Ancestor Hamura had created a lake on the moon, and inside it was a teleportation array. As long as you passed through the water, you could quickly shuttle between the ninja world and the moon.
Otherwise, no matter how fast Toneri flew, there was no way he could destroy Kaitian-2 one moment and then arrive in the Land of Fire in just twenty-four hours.
After shutting down the teleportation array, Toneri subconsciously felt relieved. Then he became angry at his own fearfulness, and when he thought of his father, whose head had been chopped off by Ryosuke, he remembered the memories of relying on his father during childhood.
All at once, Toneri was filled with grief and fury.
He rushed to the moon's surface and stared fiercely at the distant blue planet. His gaze seemed to pierce through all three hundred eighty thousand kilometers and land directly on Ryosuke.
"If I don't execute this brute, I swear I'm not human!"
Toneri formed a plan. "With my ability to control gravity, I'll control the moon and ram it straight into the ninja world!"
"When that happens, everyone in the ninja world will die in earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. Ryosuke is also human."
"He will definitely die!"
The more Toneri thought about it, the more perfect this plan seemed.
Destroy this false world created by the Sage of Six Paths, kill Ryosuke without taking any damage, and avoid having to roll around in the mud fighting lower-class creatures, maintaining the elegance of the Otsutsuki.
"Yes, that's exactly it..."
"I advise you not to do that." A strange voice came from the deep pit beneath his feet.
"Who?!"
Toneri shouted.
"It's me." Hidan, lying in the pit, raised a hand and politely waved at Toneri.
"You're not dead?"
Toneri remembered very clearly that he personally snapped Hidan's neck.
"Ahahaha."
Hidan scratched his head and said proudly, "Looks like Lord Evil God's protection still works even on the moon."
Before he finished speaking, Toneri summoned two sharp meteors, each as thick as an arm, and smashed them down with a boom.
'Anyone related to Ryosuke must die!'
When the dust faded, the meteors had pierced through Hidan's chest, yet Toneri frowned deeply.
Not just because Hidan was still alive, but because this guy was even showing a slightly embarrassed expression as he said, "You really are quite hospitable."
Hospitable… Was this bastard mocking him?
Already full of rage, Toneri decided to get serious.
He refused to believe he couldn't kill the monster in front of him.
"Don't rush. We're on the same side."
Lying in the rubble, Hidan spread his arms and said, "We have a common enemy, Ryosuke."
"What?"
Toneri didn't understand what this guy was talking about. Didn't he arrive here on Ryosuke's ship?
But the next moment, he saw Hidan lift his chin at him and ask, "You got beaten up by Ryosuke, right?"
"You... how do you know?!"
"A day ago, when you saw me, you still approached me on your own and arrogantly declared your pre-battle words. But after only twenty-four hours, the moment you heard an unfamiliar voice, you instinctively stepped back, creating distance."
Toneri looked down at himself.
Only then did he realize he had retreated dozens of steps.
"No need to feel embarrassed. Anyone who survives a round against Ryosuke develops a natural instinct, 'Keep your distance, never enter Ryosuke's attack radius.'"
As Hidan spoke, he pulled the shattered rock out of his chest, and the wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The sight made Toneri's eyelids twitch. He had seen similar abilities on Ryosuke.
"Who exactly are you?"
"Me?"
Hidan patted the dust off himself and said, "My name is Hidan. I come from the ninja world's last organization resisting Ryosuke's tyranny. I smuggled myself onto the moon using a flying device, just to discuss a collaboration with you."
"The last organization resisting Ryosuke's tyranny."
Toneri's expression shifted slightly. He felt the man before him was becoming increasingly mysterious. For someone who always regarded humans, other than Hinata, as lower-class creatures, Toneri even spoke with a hint of respect, "Your organization's name is…"
Hidan lifted his chin, confident and proud, "The Evil God Great White Snake."
Toneri's mouth opened, but he didn't speak.
After a moment of silence, he decided to continue the earlier topic, "You said earlier I shouldn't use the moon to crash into the ninja world. Why?"
"Because Ryosuke's research institute has been studying anti-air weapons this whole time. Quite a few of them can penetrate and blow up the moon. From three hundred eighty thousand kilometers away, maybe not, but if you move the moon closer… boom!"
Hidan spread his hand and made an explosion gesture.
When collaborating with an extraterrestrial force he'd never met, Hidan couldn't rely on empty promises or worthless sincerity.
Before departure, the White Snake Sage and Obito had given him plenty of crucial intel, preparations specifically for recruiting Toneri.
But hearing Toneri swear "If I don't execute this brute, I swear I'm not human," Hidan realized much of that preparation was unnecessary.
So he simply went straight to the point, "You should just join the Evil God Great White Snake. With your power and our intelligence advantage, we'll definitely find a way to kill Ryosuke."
Toneri frowned slightly, sensing something off, "I tried to kill you twice, and you still want me in your organization? Don't you hold grudges?"
"What grudge?"
Hidan froze. "You've treated me so well; where would the grudge come from?"
"Besides, the White Snake Sage has learned that in the near future, the ninja world will face a crisis of 'Absolute Darkness.' The known future will be severed. Maybe… that will be our chance to act."
"Wait!"
Toneri's eyes widened. "You just said…"
"Absolute Darkness?!"