"Ahh…" In the end, Six Paths Madara still fell to Black Zetsu. His body underwent a violent change—first swelling, then slowly deforming as time passed.
Meruem simply watched in silence. He knew Madara's transformation was merely the prelude to breaking Kaguya's seal, with Six Paths Madara as the sacrificial offering—akin to the sacrifice needed for Edo Tensei, only on a higher level.
Clad in white, with long white horns like the Ox-King's sprouting from her head, and even white pupils—those were Byakugan. On her forehead, just like Six Paths Madara, a Rinne Sharingan opened.
A towering woman finally appeared—Kaguya, mother of the Sage of Six Paths. The instant she emerged, heaven and earth changed color. Even the seasons around them shifted: one patch of ground teemed with spring grass, another blazed with summer heat, leaves turned autumn-yellow nearby, and in yet another spot, snow fell.
Four seasons in one place—you could imagine that Kaguya's power had already reached the point of influencing the seasons themselves. Such an ability was absolutely beyond a mere Six Paths Madara. Note that Kaguya had done nothing at all upon arrival.
"An impressive woman… That magnitude of chakra really is extraordinary. I'd thought Six Paths Madara and Kaguya were about the same… Guess you can't take what you skim in the manga too seriously. The only way Naruto and Sasuke beat someone like this is plot armor," Meruem said, for once with a note of admiration as Kaguya descended.
Kaguya's dominance and might exceeded even Meruem's expectations.
"Who are you?" Kaguya idly toyed with her overlong hair. Her whole look skewed white—white hair, white eyes, white clothes—almost pure white save for a string of tomoe-like markings on her garments. Even her skin was pale, like someone with albinism.
But Meruem of course knew Kaguya could hardly have albinism—or even be called human.
"The Ant King, Meruem," Meruem answered succinctly.
"Zla!" Without warning, Kaguya attacked Meruem, her long hair lashing toward him as if alive.
The strike was sudden, but at that speed Meruem evaded with ease.
He wasn't like canon's Naruto and Sasuke; having gained Hamura's power and the Six Paths, hovering—or even flying—was nothing to him.
"Black Zetsu, you'd best tell your mother this isn't a good look." Meruem fixed on Kaguya's sleeve. "Or is burning bridges a family habit of the Otsutsuki?"
He knew Black Zetsu was hiding right there.
"Keh-heh. I can't stop Mother from doing as she pleases," came Black Zetsu's hoarse voice from the sleeve.
Meruem hadn't expected Black Zetsu to dissuade Kaguya. Though he too intended to use her, Black Zetsu's backstabbing the instant his goal was met left a sour taste.
Is it Kaguya's power that makes you so confident? I admit her strength exceeded my projections.
But it isn't as if I'm out of options.
"Meruem? Never heard of you. Why do you carry Hamura's scent?" Kaguya's tone was that of a superior questioning an inferior, lofty and condescending—irritating Meruem.
"Because I killed him. And while we're at it, your other son, the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki—I killed him too." Meruem decided to return the favor.
"Oh." Meruem was disappointed—Kaguya's reply was utterly calm, as if he'd killed some irrelevant passerby, not her sons.
Then Kaguya stared blankly at the earth.
Oh, come on—your sons are dead!
"Uu…" To Meruem's surprise, after a moment Kaguya suddenly began to weep.
"The earth… reduced to this ruin! This is my precious nursery!" While Meruem thought she wept for her sons, Kaguya said something that left him at a loss.
Suddenly Meruem felt he couldn't keep up with Kaguya's train of thought. This one's on a totally different wavelength.
"Let's end this war!" Kaguya instantly shifted the space where Meruem stood—bringing herself along, of course.
Meruem noticed, but didn't interfere. It wasn't just the two of them here—there were plenty of Allied shinobi and the developing God Tree as well. If it got wrecked, it would be a headache for him.
"This is my space. You cannot beat me here!" In an unknown locale, Kaguya fixed Meruem with an icy stare.
"You only find out by fighting. Don't tell me you expect me to surrender?"
"Chakra belongs to me. Give me your chakra! I will reunify it once more!" In Kaguya's mind, she had saved this world; therefore, anything she did was her due—including taking another's life.
Setting aside where that conclusion came from, her memory still lingered in the era when she had saved the world.
But that was who knows how many ages ago. Never mind that Meruem didn't belong to this world—her salvation had nothing to do with him.
Even if Meruem had been of this world, would he hand everything over to Kaguya? Never mind Meruem—who would?
"Madwoman!" Meruem cursed under his breath at Kaguya's feral look. She'd been sealed too long—must've broken her brain.
If it's a fight you want, a fight you'll get. Why would I fear you?
Though her mind was off, Kaguya's strength didn't lag in the slightest. Her contest of technique against Meruem was on an entirely different level from his fight with Six Paths Madara.
Earth, wind, lightning, fire, water—Kaguya wielded the five natures to perfection. More than that, her combinations had reached a fearsome degree.
Take Ice Release, a fusion of wind and water—Kaguya could easily summon it to freeze Meruem. While that level of freezing couldn't hold him, it still caused no small annoyance mid-fight.
Of course, Kaguya's powers didn't stop there—vitality of Wood Release, the scorching of Boil Release, even the disintegration of Dust Release—she wielded them with ease.
Though those abilities gave Meruem plenty of trouble, he learned more in return.
"Hee-hee. So—that's another way to use Ice Release! And that's the principle of Boil Release. Dust Release—got it." Both had absurd stamina; this wouldn't end quickly. As time passed, Meruem would only grow stronger.
"What terrifying comprehension. Even my sons Hagoromo and Hamura could not compare. No wonder he killed them. But for my immortality, he must die!"
Space–time ninjutsu—Kaguya could roam any space freely. It was one of her proudest talents, the basis for her calling herself a god.
"What?!" A move that had always worked for her—failed against Meruem.
From within the space fissure Kaguya opened, Meruem's fist drove into her abdomen hard enough to make even Kaguya cough blood.
"How did you find me?" Wiping the blood from her lip, Kaguya glared at Meruem.
"Simple—airflow. At your level, you still can't attack without disturbing the air." As a taijutsu monster, Meruem made close-range counters like that look easy. Kaguya had only made things worse for herself.
"Mother—finish him now. We can't waste chakra." Feeling the tide turning against them, Black Zetsu spoke up. He had a bad feeling—Kaguya, his trump card, had taken several losses to Meruem.
"Super-Heavy Space!!" The Rinne Sharingan on Kaguya's forehead flared.
"My body… so heavy!" Meruem, suspended in midair, plunged downward. Gravity had spiked by who knew how many times.
The very ground warped under the change.
But Meruem's body was so tough that even a hard landing left him unharmed.
"Pfft." When Meruem turned to Kaguya, he couldn't help laughing. She had also fallen from the air—landing not far from him. Her own technique had caught her as well.
Pathetic.
"Don't laugh!" Several unknown rod-like objects formed in Kaguya's hand. Meruem, having read the manga, recognized them at a glance—do not touch.
It was a technique more destructive than Dust Release's disintegration.
"You think a mere gravity field can hold me?" Under Kaguya's incredulous gaze, Meruem stood up in that crushing gravity and dodged her rod strike.
"You want to make me bow with gravity?"
"I am Meruem, the Ant King. If you are a god…
then I am a god-slayer!"