Severely struck by the current situation, Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki glared at Ryoma, fury surging through him. Blood trickled down his face, distorting his features into something feral.
The earlier chakra shockwave—he hadn't absorbed it completely. The residual force had injured him.
He had always considered himself a god. When had he ever suffered such humiliation? And from a single punch no less—one that had drawn blood. That alone was enough to etch this moment into eternity.
"What the hell are you?!"
Momoshiki's voice came out through clenched teeth.
Ryoma didn't answer.
Instead, he vanished.
In the instant they had clashed earlier, Ryoma had already placed a Flying Thunder God mark on Momoshiki—just as he had done with Kinshiki. No matter where Momoshiki fled, escape was no longer an option.
"What speed…!"
Momoshiki's gaze still lingered on Ryoma's previous position. By the time he reacted, it was too late.
A colossal wooden palm descended from the sky and slammed into him.
"Boom!"
His body was sent flying, tumbling violently through the air, smashing through dozens of mountains along the way.
Ryoma followed relentlessly, using the Flying Thunder God Technique to pursue him without pause.
Struggling to regain control midair, Momoshiki forced his body to stabilize. With the combined perception of the Byakugan and Rinnegan, he could barely track Ryoma's movements.
"Flame Bird!"
"Inugami!"
At his command, two massive constructs appeared—one above, one below.
A blazing phoenix formed of fire spread its wings across the sky, while a grotesque hound made of mud and stone rose from the earth, snarling as it lunged upward.
They moved to intercept Ryoma.
With a single motion, Ryoma raised his hand.
A condensed blue chakra blade formed—and in the next instant, both constructs were cleaved cleanly in half.
Now fully aware of Ryoma's strength, Momoshiki no longer dared to underestimate him.
Even a second's delay could mean death.
He flashed toward the unconscious Kinshiki, grabbing him by the head.
"Kinshiki… I need your power."
Among the Ōtsutsuki, hierarchy was absolute. The strong devoured the weak. That was their law.
Before long, Kinshiki's body compressed into a chakra fruit—then was swallowed whole.
A terrifying surge of chakra erupted.
Flames engulfed Momoshiki's body.
The next moment—
A massive arm, several meters thick and stretching dozens of meters long, shot forward and grabbed toward Ryoma.
The pressure it carried was suffocating.
Ryoma stepped back—vanishing just as the attack struck.
"BOOM!!"
The earth trembled violently.
A towering giant rose from the ground.
Over a hundred meters tall, its body was formed from jagged stone, cracks glowing with molten fire. It looked less like a construct and more like a demon dragged straight out of hell.
Momoshiki stood at its crown, his body gradually merging into it.
A Lava Golem.
A fusion of Fire and Earth Release, vastly amplified by Kinshiki's chakra.
Even under normal circumstances, such a construct could rival the Nine-Tails. Now, it was on an entirely different level.
Each step it took shook the land.
Wind howled.
"Inferior creature… regret defying me!"
Momoshiki laughed wildly as the giant raised its fist and brought it crashing down.
Ryoma formed a hand seal.
Behind him, something vast unfolded.
A towering wooden statue emerged—its presence alone overwhelming the battlefield.
Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands.
A massive wooden arm rose and met the descending fist head-on.
The difference in scale was absolute.
If the Lava Golem was immense, the Thousand-Armed Statue was monstrous.
"What—?!"
Momoshiki's pupils shrank in disbelief.
Ryoma pushed forward.
A force like the heavens collapsing surged through the battlefield.
In an instant—
The Lava Golem's arm shattered into countless fragments.
"Shinsu Senju: Top Transformed Buddha!"
A thousand colossal arms moved in unison.
Then—
They struck.
Again.
And again.
And again.
An endless barrage descended upon the Lava Golem and Momoshiki himself.
Each strike carried overwhelming physical force—far beyond mere chakra constructs.
Stone cracked.
Shattered.
Disintegrated.
Within seconds, the massive body of the golem was reduced to dust under the relentless assault.
Momoshiki understood.
He had reached his limit.
The attack before him wasn't purely chakra—it was physical force given form. Even if he absorbed the Wood Release chakra, the impact itself would still destroy him.
From a tactical standpoint…
Absorption was useless.
A flicker of madness appeared in his eyes.
This was his last chance.
A desperate gamble.
With his palms pressed together, the two purple Rinnegan embedded in them locked onto Ryoma.
At the same time, the Rinnegan on his forehead resonated with those in his hands, forming a synchronized triad.
"Takamikazuchi no Mikoto!"
All the chakra Momoshiki had absorbed and refined—every elemental nature, every amplified attack—merged into a single, catastrophic force. The energy condensed into a destructive beam and shot toward Ryoma, meeting the descending Shinsu Senju: Top Transformed Buddha head-on.
"BOOM—!!!"
The instant they collided, the earth overturned like a shattered plate.
A massive shockwave erupted from the point of impact, sweeping across the land and tearing through everything in its path. The devastation spread for hundreds of kilometers.
"AAAAAAAH—!!"
Momoshiki screamed.
He was completely overwhelmed.
The Buddha's overwhelming physical force crushed through his attack, tearing apart his body piece by piece. His flesh began to disintegrate under the relentless barrage.
Yet even at the brink of death—
He made one final move.
Forcing his collapsing body forward, Momoshiki slammed his palm against Ryoma's chest.
A strange chakra instantly seeped into Ryoma's body.
The next moment—
Momoshiki's body crumbled into nothingness.
"…So that's it."
Ryoma's gaze turned cold as realization struck.
This was an ability of the Ōtsutsuki Clan.
A parasitic seal—
Kāma.
By embedding it into a target, an Ōtsutsuki could convert the host into a "vessel" for resurrection. Over time, the host's consciousness would be overwritten, and the Ōtsutsuki would be reborn through them.
"So you were trying to take my body."
Without hesitation, Ryoma mobilized his chakra and targeted the foreign presence within him.
Inside—
Momoshiki's remaining consciousness trembled.
"Impossible—wait, stop!!"
He was horrified.
Once the Kāma was implanted, the host should have no means of harming him. And yet—
Ryoma's power was devouring him.
"Damn it…!"
Within seconds—
The last remnants of Momoshiki were completely erased.
As soon as it ended, a sharp pain pierced Ryoma's mind.
"…Tch."
He pressed a hand to his head.
"I absorbed too much."
He had yet to fully process Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's memories—and now Momoshiki's had been added on top of that.
Even with a mind far beyond human limits, the sheer volume was overwhelming.
Without wasting time, Ryoma sat down cross-legged, closing his eyes.
He began sorting through the flood of memories—
Doing everything he could to bring order to the chaos within his mind.
(End of Chapter)
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