Chapter 193: One of the Five Shadow Guardians of the Shadow Emperor — Evilmoku!
"Looks like you're all quite interested in the Ten Tails," Amado said. "But don't be in a rush. Let's go through things one by one. First, the Ōtsutsuki. To put it simply, the Ōtsutsuki are troublesome extraterrestrials. They don't belong to the shinobi world — they come from beyond it. And they have only one goal: to devour the life of entire planets."
"What does 'devour the life of entire planets' mean?" Shikamaru asked.
"In short, it means absorbing all the chakra from every living being on a planet. The method is simple: they plant a Divine Tree. The roots of the tree gradually spread across the planet, drawing out chakra from every living creature to cultivate a chakra fruit."
"If the Ōtsutsuki really pull that off… what would become of us?" Sasuke asked from the side.
"We'd all be completely wiped out, of course," Amado replied matter-of-factly. "As for why the Ōtsutsuki do this — obviously, it's to evolve their clan. Though I can't confirm it, I suspect that there are even more terrifying species in the universe than the Ōtsutsuki…"
"Even more terrifying than the Ōtsutsuki…" Naruto murmured, a heavy expression clouding his face.
"Go on, Amado," Shikamaru urged.
"Next is the Ten Tails. Jigen possesses a Ten Tails, but it's not the same one you fought before… In fact, I don't know much about this one. What I do know is that whenever the Ōtsutsuki invade a planet, they always use a Ten Tails — because the Ten Tails is the seedling of the Divine Tree used to cultivate the chakra fruit."
"Then there's Jigen. Actually, Jigen himself isn't an Ōtsutsuki. Like Kawaki, he's merely a vessel for the Ōtsutsuki. Residing inside Jigen is none other than Ōtsutsuki Isshiki."
"Back then, Ōtsutsuki Isshiki came to this world with Ōtsutsuki Kaguya. But for unknown reasons, the two had a falling out. After being ambushed and gravely wounded by Kaguya, Isshiki parasitized Jigen's body in order to survive."
"Anyone parasitized by an Ōtsutsuki receives a Kāma. The Kāma is, in essence, a compressed backup file of the Ōtsutsuki. Over time, that compressed data gradually decompresses. Once it reaches one hundred percent, the Ōtsutsuki can be resurrected by overwriting the host."
"If Jigen is Isshiki's vessel, then who is Kawaki a vessel for?" Sasuke asked suddenly.
"He's Isshiki's vessel too, of course. In fact, Jigen was quite an inadequate vessel. That's why Isshiki selected Kawaki as a new one — and injected a portion of his data into him in advance. This allowed Kawaki's body to adapt over time, laying the groundwork for a future transfer… That's all I know."
"And one more thing — I'd like to show you all a little performance. Could someone remove my glasses?"
"What are you planning?" Shikamaru asked warily. He hadn't forgotten that the man in front of him was highly proficient in scientific ninja tools.
"Relax. It's just a livestream."
"Livestream?"
In the end, Amado's glasses were removed and placed on the table, projecting onto the wall like a screen.
"That person… it's Koji Kashin!" Shikamaru exclaimed as he looked at the figure on screen.
"And Jigen… along with Gray Wolf…" Sasuke added.
"Koji Kashin was the only one in Kara who assisted me," Amado explained. "In fact, it's thanks to the serious injuries you dealt to Jigen that I was able to escape — and gave Koji the opportunity to try killing him."
Kara Organization Base
Flames engulfed the body of an old man as Koji Kashin approached Gray Wolf from behind.
"Where is Jigen…"
"He's right in front of you," Gray Wolf said, staring at the monstrous figure inside the nutrient tank.
Jigen lay dormant in the tank.
"Jigen…"
"This new body belongs to Evilmoku — one of the five Shadow Guardians under the Shadow Emperor, leader of the cosmic dark force OMG," Gray Wolf said excitedly.
"Is that so? Looks like I arrived just in time." Koji Kashin's arm easily pierced through Gray Wolf's chest.
"That's right." Even with a massive hole in his chest, Gray Wolf nodded without a care. "You're just in time…"
The nutrient tank suddenly opened, spilling out its green liquid.
"Now then, Evilmoku, take some time to get used to your new body."
Gray Wolf finally perished after speaking his last words.
"Gray Wolf's dead?" Naruto asked, confused. In his impression, Orochimaru wasn't someone who would die so easily.
"No, that was just a clone of Gray Wolf," Amado shook his head. "In fact, what convinced me that there are more terrifying beings in the universe than the Ōtsutsuki… was this cosmic dark force known as OMG."
Driven by intense curiosity about the mysterious universe, Orochimaru had long since colluded with OMG. Back when S.H.I.E.L.D. cooperated with OMG, Orochimaru was the representative they sent.
Koji Kashin threw three kunai at Evilmoku, but they all bounced off his body.
"Is that all you've got, Koji Kashin?"
"Ōtsutsuki Isshiki… I never imagined you'd willingly become such a monster."
"Monster? No — Ether Beasts are the true evolutionary pinnacle of the Ōtsutsuki! You'll never understand that feeling until you've experienced it yourself! And from now on, I go by the name… Evilmoku!"
Shadow energy gathered in Evilmoku's hand, eventually forming a longsword.
In a flash, Evilmoku disappeared and reappeared behind Koji Kashin, slashing vertically with his sword — but he merely cleaved a log in half.
Substitution Jutsu…
"So it was a substitution," Evilmoku said, turning to look at the real Koji Kashin — only to be met with an oncoming burst of toad oil.
"Fire Release: Flame Bomb!"
"Useless," Evilmoku said calmly, unbothered by the flames burning on his body. "While transferring into an Ether Beast's body caused me to lose the bloodline power of the Ōtsutsuki, I gained the abilities of an Ether Beast in return."
Unlike ordinary Ether Beasts, Evilmoku was one of the five elite Shadow Guardians under the Shadow Emperor. He possessed greater resistance to jutsu.
He had total immunity to ninjutsu and a thirty-percent damage reduction against taijutsu.
"Damn it!"
Faced with Evilmoku calmly strolling toward him, Koji Kashin had no choice but to retreat and widen the gap — tossing out several small toads in the process.
The leaping toads quickly latched onto Evilmoku's body and exploded.
"I already told you… it's useless…" Evilmoku said mid-stride, before suddenly freezing as the ground beneath him turned into a swamp.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld… Evilmoku, if ninjutsu doesn't work on you… then how about…" Koji Kashin performed a summoning jutsu, calling forth flames. "The natural fire from the distant Mount Blaze!"