"Damn it! Completely unstoppable!"
Once again smashed into the moon's interior with a punch, Neji wearily lowered his arm that he wanted to raise. Not a single part of his body was intact. His Byakugan couldn't even track the opponent's movements; a casual swipe was all it took for him to be unable to defend.
*Bang!*
Another figure fell, smashing a huge crater not far from Neji. It was Choji.
It wasn't just the two of them. Lee, Shikamaru, and the other eleven rookies, knowing they were outmatched, still cooperated with Naruto and Sasuke in their fight against the Otsutsuki. They clearly understood their roles and would never become a burden to their comrades.
No longer forcing himself to fight, Neji collapsed into the deep pit, gazing at the sky, and weakly said, "It's up to you, Naruto!"
*Boom!*
A figure clad in ornate clothing was smashed into the ground with a punch. Naruto, now empowered by the White Fangs, floated in the air, panting heavily. "This punch is for Neji and the others!"
This was the opportunity Neji and Choji had found for him. How could Naruto let them down? Though they had fallen, their fighting spirit had been passed into Naruto's hands.
In the crater, an Otsutsuki with blue six-tomoe Rinnegan touched the blood at the corner of his mouth and chuckled.
"It's been many years since anyone has injured me. You shouldn't resist, ant."
*Whoosh!*
Dust billowed from the ground as Naruto's figure instantly appeared above the Otsutsuki and smashed down with a punch. The ground cracked, but the Otsutsuki had already vanished from his spot.
A cold voice echoed from above Naruto. "Your body is already infinitely close to my clan's. It will be best used to feed the God Tree."
"Shadow Imitation Technique!"
Suddenly, hundreds of shadows tightly bound the Otsutsuki executive. However, the latter remained unfazed. His blue Rinnegan flashed, and the shadows wrapped around him were absorbed into his body, turning into energy.
"Don't lump me in with you Otsutsuki, bastard!"
Naruto, seizing the opening as the opponent absorbed Shikamaru's ninjutsu, activated Sage Mode and unleashed a full-powered punch to the opponent's face, hammering him into the moon's interior.
Shikamaru's face was pale. The current situation was dire. He couldn't find any breakthrough, and no one seemed capable of achieving one.
Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, each facing one Otsutsuki executive, were in the most stable position.
But it was different for the others. The twelve Otsutsuki executives were simply too many and too strong.
To alleviate the pressure, Obito was fighting an Otsutsuki one-on-one. Itachi and Shisui teamed up against another. Kakashi and Might Guy were fighting another; this pair was being completely outmatched, constantly on the defensive, with their lives in peril at any moment.
With Naruto and Sasuke, plus the strength of the others, they managed to hold off two Otsutsuki. On another battlefield, Toneri, along with Gaara and Kimimaro, was also fighting an Otsutsuki.
But there were still four Otsutsuki remaining. Who else could stand against them?!
In front of the palace, four Otsutsuki executives hovered in the air. One of them said coldly, "Is the Ten-Tails' aura coming from here? It seems there's another power present. We can feed it to the God Tree together."
Another person laughed. "The fruit that will be produced this time will surely satisfy us. After all, this is a place that Shibe took a liking to."
At the palace entrance, Jiraiya looked up at the four Otsutsuki in the sky, his face darkening completely.
Was this a joke?! He had only come to guard the door for Orochimaru, and now four Otsutsuki showed up. How could he possibly withstand them?!
"Let the god come."
A cold, chuunibyou voice emerged from the dark entrance. Figures in red cloud black robes began to walk out of the palace gate. The leading Nagato opened his eyes, the purple patterns mesmerizing and alluring. He, Nagato, had once again ascended to godhood!
Inside the palace.
"Did Minato go?"
"He should be there by now. Fourth's Flying Thunder God is faster than mine."
"Can Nagato hold them alone? Even with the Rinnegan cultivated, the gap between them isn't something a pair of eyes can bridge."
Amado stared intently at the experimental data. "These eyes cost us countless efforts, and they were cultivated and awakened by Nagato using his own body. This is vastly different from transplanted Rinnegan; these are Rinnegan exclusive to Nagato!"
"According to the data, that's true, but it's still not enough!" Tobirama Senju greatly admired this scientist named Amado, but Nagato alone wouldn't be able to stop four Otsutsuki.
Orochimaru shed his white protective suit and stretched his limbs, saying softly, "Therefore, we must also get moving."
"No, perhaps it's more accurate to say, it's time to fight for our lives!"
...
On the other side of the moon, a figure enveloped in scorching magma floated in the air. A pair of crimson six-tomoe Rinnegan looked mockingly at the battered Madara Uchiha on the ground.
"Is this all your strength?"
Madara Uchiha spat out a mouthful of blood. His exposed torso was covered in fist imprints and black burns, but the fighting spirit in his eyes had not diminished in the slightest. This was the strongest enemy he had ever encountered.
"Rinnegan... a nice supplement."
"Remember, my name is Otsutsuki Torashiki, ranked second among the executives!"
The scorching figure surged, carrying immense pressure, and smashed towards Madara Uchiha like a falling meteor.
Madara Uchiha chuckled. He used to be the one smashing meteors at others; had he now fallen to the point of being smashed by one?
He tried to dodge, but his body felt as if it were under a hundred times gravity, making his movements incredibly slow. He couldn't possibly evade it in time.
A doujutsu that could control gravity? And that scorching flame, more troublesome than Amaterasu.
The moon was shattered, and the two fell into the moon's interior. A large forest was instantly reduced to ashes by a single spark. In the bare crater, smoke rose from Madara Uchiha's body. If he continued to be passive like this, he would be cooked.
"You're not entirely unlucky. Your companion actually chose Tenshiki. What a foolish decision."
Otsutsuki Tenshiki, the leader with golden Rinnegan, was the leader of their executives.
Madara Uchiha patted his body and stood up again from the pit. His wounds slowly healed, thanks to the regenerative properties of Hashirama's cells, but those black burns healed extremely slowly.
"Oh? Is that so?"
Madara Uchiha took a special kunai from his pocket, tossed it around, and then threw it on the ground.
Torashiki, floating in the sky, was bewildered. Was this the way low-level humans surrendered?
*Whoosh!*
Before Torashiki could ponder, a figure in a white hooded robe instantly landed next to the kunai. Without stopping, they placed an object down and then vanished again.
Minato Namikaze: Beep! Your delivery has arrived, please sign for it!
Shiro, looking bewildered, landed on the ground. He wagged his tail, looking wronged. "Why this fierce person again? It's too much for a beast's mentality!"
Madara Uchiha reached out and grabbed a small piece of blue crystal. With a *thud*, he inserted it into his chest, a bloody and brutal act.
This was a weapon of war researched by Orochimaru and his colleagues, their trump card!
Shiro and the Mini Ten-Tails were not true Ten-Tails, and their chakra was vastly different. However, with the immense chakra from the Greed Minerals – a quantity that even Kaguya would take half a year to a year to absorb – combined with the chakra transmitted by the nine Tailed Beasts.
An artificial Ten-Tails Jinchūriki!
Madara Uchiha grabbed Shiro's tail and taunted Torashiki in the sky, "I agree with what you said earlier. That Tenshiki fellow was very unlucky to encounter Hashirama. After all, even I would try to avoid Hashirama in that state."
As he spoke, immense chakra surged. Two towering beams of light erupted from the moon's surface, a breathtaking power that pressed down on everyone on the moon.
Six Paths Madara... Six Paths Hashirama, has entered the arena!