"So he prepared a way out in advance. This guy really is cautious."
Watching Isshiki leave, Seiryū clicked his tongue.
Fullbring: Heaven's Chain, Birdcage could seal the space within its range, preventing Space-Time Ninjutsu from functioning.
However, no technique was truly unbreakable.
As long as the opposing space-time power was strong enough, it could still break through the spatial seal created by Heaven's Chain, Birdcage.
Isshiki had clearly prepared an escape route beforehand. By using space-time power from both inside and outside the barrier at the same time, he had forcibly torn through the restrictions of Heaven's Chain, Birdcage.
"But this works too. If I can fight a true Kekkei Mōra-level opponent, perhaps I'll be able to understand the principles behind Kekkei Mōra and complete the final mission."
Seiryū murmured.
After releasing Heaven's Chain, Birdcage, Seiryū suddenly sensed something.
His gaze immediately turned toward Konoha, and his eyebrows rose slightly.
"This Chakra is... Orochimaru? No. Kaguya Ōtsutsuki?"
This Chakra was not at the Six Paths level.
It was Kekkei Mōra!
How many Kekkei Mōra-level beings were there in the shinobi world?
There was only one remaining possibility.
Kaguya!
"So she really was resurrected after all. Did Orochimaru invade Konoha while I was away? Heh."
A meaningful smile appeared on Seiryū's face.
With a thought, he locked onto Tsunade's location and vanished using the Flying Raijin Jutsu.
'Swish!'
The instant Seiryū appeared, his perception swept across the entire area, taking in everything around him.
This was inside the Forest of Death.
At the moment, the entire area was in ruins.
Broken trees were scattered across the ground, the earth was covered in craters and scars, and the Forest of Death looked as though a violent storm had torn through it.
Finally, Seiryū's gaze settled on a woman hovering half a meter above the ground.
She was beautiful enough to seem almost divine.
Her skin was pale, her long white hair reached down to her feet, her eyes were Byakugan, and a scarlet tomoe Rinnegan was open in the center of her forehead.
She looked like a goddess who had descended into the world, possessing an indescribable beauty and an almost sacred presence.
The Progenitor of Chakra.
The Rabbit Goddess.
Kaguya Ōtsutsuki!
"Kaguya has been resurrected. It must have something to do with Orochimaru."
Seiryū activated Vollständig: Heavenly Eye and examined the surrounding area in greater detail.
In one location, he found Orochimaru lying on the verge of death.
"She didn't resurrect through Orochimaru's body? What exactly happened here?"
Seiryū was somewhat curious.
Kaguya had not used Orochimaru, the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, as the vessel for her resurrection?
'Swish!'
A figure approached.
It was Tsunade.
When she saw Seiryū appear, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief before quickly moving to his side.
"What happened with those two Ōtsutsuki?"
She naturally knew about the earlier attack by Urashiki and Isshiki.
Later, the battlefield had moved far away from Konoha, and she had intended to bring others to help.
However, Orochimaru had appeared as well.
Although Tsunade had been worried about Seiryū's battle, Orochimaru was also the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki and could not be ignored.
Several of Konoha's strongest shinobi had joined forces to fight Orochimaru and the shinobi he had summoned through Edo Tensei.
"I managed to take one of them out, but the other escaped. Then I sensed what was happening here and came back."
Seiryū glanced toward the dying Orochimaru and the resurrected Kaguya.
"So what exactly happened here?"
Tsunade's expression became serious.
"It's difficult to explain everything quickly. The most important problem right now is figuring out how to deal with Kaguya."
Because Sasuke from another space-time was here, they were not unfamiliar with Kaguya.
"Open your mind. I'll read your memories."
Seiryū remembered that there was a Bakudō capable of reading memories.
He was curious about the situation and wanted to understand exactly what had happened.
"All right."
Tsunade did not refuse.
Given her relationship with Seiryū, there was no reason to make an issue out of something as minor as having her memories read.
"Bakudō #88."
After reading Tsunade's memories, Seiryū finally understood what had happened.
Orochimaru's objective had been to obtain the Nine-Tails.
To avoid wasting time, he had gone almost all out from the beginning and directly targeted Kushina.
That led to a clash with Minato.
Even though most of the Nine-Tails' Chakra remained within his body, Minato was still no match for Orochimaru.
However, the Flying Raijin Jutsu had many useful applications.
Although Orochimaru managed to drain a considerable amount of the Nine-Tails' Chakra, Minato still succeeded in taking Kushina away from danger.
Afterward, Konoha's strongest shinobi, including Tsunade, Sasuke, and Nagato, sensed the disturbance and arrived one after another.
Sasuke then used Amenotejikara to forcibly move Orochimaru deep into the Forest of Death.
The battle began there.
Konoha against Orochimaru and his Edo Tensei shinobi!
In the end, Orochimaru lost.
After all, Konoha currently possessed several top-level powerhouses, including multiple shinobi whose strength approached the Six Paths level.
There was also Might Duy, who could reach Six Paths-level combat power by opening the Eight Inner Gates Formation.
Facing a lineup even more powerful than the one from the Fourth Shinobi World War, Orochimaru's defeat was hardly surprising.
Furthermore, Sasuke already knew that Kaguya required the body of a Ten-Tails Jinchūriki in order to resurrect.
Naturally, he had prepared a countermeasure.
Using his tomoe Rinnegan, Sasuke forcibly extracted the Ten-Tails from Orochimaru's body.
That should have eliminated the possibility of Kaguya's resurrection.
However, to Sasuke's surprise, even after the Ten-Tails was removed and Orochimaru was no longer its Jinchūriki, Kaguya still resurrected.
She had used the Ten-Tails itself as her body!
"So she resurrected directly through the Ten-Tails? No wonder her Chakra only seems to be around the Six Paths level."
After learning what had happened, Seiryū was surprised as well.
Could Kaguya really be resurrected using only the Ten-Tails?
No wonder her current Chakra was so weak.
It even seemed inferior to Seiryū's.
He almost wanted to complain again.
This was supposed to be Kekkei Mōra?
"Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki's Chakra."
Hovering half a meter above the ground, Kaguya slowly swept her gaze across everyone present.
Her attention first settled on Seiryū, whose Chakra was the strongest, before moving across Tsunade, Sasuke, and Nagato.
All of them possessed traces of Chakra belonging to her rebellious son, Hagoromo.
Only then did Kaguya notice the weakness of her current body.
Her brows furrowed.
"Only this much Chakra."
Weak.
She was far too weak right now!
She did not even possess half the strength she had at her peak!
Black Zetsu, hidden within Kaguya's sleeve, spoke guiltily.
"Mo... Mother, this was the best I could do. I didn't expect Sasuke to forcibly sever the connection between the Ten-Tails and its Jinchūriki."
When Madara had been divided between Orochimaru and Isshiki, Black Zetsu had taken the opportunity to hide inside the Ten-Tails.
It and the Ten-Tails shared the same origin, so it was nearly impossible to detect while it remained hidden.
Black Zetsu had intended to wait until Orochimaru showed an opening, then use the power Kaguya had left behind to resurrect her.
The opportunity eventually came.
But it disappeared almost immediately.
Before Black Zetsu could use that power, Sasuke forcibly extracted the Ten-Tails from Orochimaru and used the Rinnegan to sever the connection between them.
With no other option, Black Zetsu could only use the Ten-Tails itself to forcibly resurrect Kaguya.
This was its only chance.
Regardless of the outcome, it had to try.
It had succeeded.
But Kaguya seemed far too weak.
Weaker than Seiryū.
Weaker than the other two Ōtsutsuki.
What was it supposed to do now?
Black Zetsu felt despair beginning to set in.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)