Kaguya stared blankly at the Expansive Truth-Seeking Orb in her hands, her eyes filled with disbelief.
How is this possible? My Expansive Truth-SeekingOrb was actually split apart like this? This has to be a joke, right?
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than, in the next second, a faint cracking sound once again reached her ears.
Under her watchful gaze, the Expansive Truth-Seeking Orb was sliced diagonally in two. One half drifted off to the side, creating a scene that carried an inexplicable sense of awe.
To completely cleave an Expansive Truth-Seeking Orb in half—was this the so-called pinnacle of swordsmanship?
Kaguya had thought that this was the full extent of Ten Thousand Swords Become One, but reality quickly proved her far too conservative.
Crack!
Just as the Expansive Truth-Seeking Orb dissipated due to the strike, Kaguya once again heard that faint cracking sound.
How can this be? The Truth-SeekingOrb is already destroyed; why am I still hearing this sound?
Wait...
Using the 360-degree vision of her Byakugan, Kaguya suddenly noticed something strange behind her. She turned her head with stiff movements, only to see that at some point, a massive fissure had appeared in the sky behind her!
A colossal fissure stretched across the heavens. At this moment, the sky of the Origin Dimension looked like shattered glass, covered in countless fine cracks that continued to spread outward.
Through that enormous rift, Kaguya could even see the interiors of the five great dimensions connected to the Origin Dimension.
...
In the Acid Sea Dimension, Naruto was floating in mid-air, sighing despondently:
"Sasuke, what are we supposed to do now? If that Ōtsutsuki Kaguya never opens this dimension again, won't we end up trapped here forever?"
Sasuke, sitting cross-legged on a platform formed from Truth-Seeking Orbs with his eyes closed, shot him a sidelong glance and replied coldly:
"Can you be quiet? The Six Paths: Planetary Devastation seal that can seal Kaguya is something only the two of us possess. As long as we're still alive, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya won't be able to rest easy.
Just wait a bit longer. She's probably dealing with Lord Hoshiyomi right now. Once she defeats him, she'll come for us next."
Hearing this, Naruto's expression changed drastically.
"Then doesn't that mean Uncle Hoshiyomi is in serious danger right now? We've got to find a way to help him. If something happens to him, think of how heartbroken Ryūshin and Rinne would be."
Sasuke rubbed his temples in frustration.
"You think I don't want to help him? But we can't even protect ourselves right now. Calm down. We hold the only method to seal Kaguya. Even if something happens to Lord Hoshiyomi, we cannot let anything happen to us—or the entire shinobi world is finished. Do you hear me?
Hey, Uzumaki Naruto, I'm talking to you!"
Sasuke explained for quite a while, only to realize that Naruto wasn't paying attention at all. Annoyed, he turned his head—only to see Naruto staring blankly at something behind him.
"What are you staring at? Ōtsutsuki Kaguya could ambush us at any moment—now is not the time to space out—"
Before Sasuke could finish his sentence, Naruto suddenly interrupted him with a shout:
"Sasuke, look over there!"
A vein popped on Sasuke's forehead as he irritably turned around—but in the very next instant, the annoyance on his face was replaced by overwhelming shock.
Before the eyes of the two of them, a distant section of space suddenly cracked open.
Quite literally so—space itself split apart, tearing open a massive rift. Through that enormous fissure, Naruto and Sasuke could see the strangely colored land within, and… standing opposite each other, Kaguya and Hoshiyomi.
Seeing the rift, expressions of wild joy appeared on both Naruto's and Sasuke's faces. The space had opened—they could finally escape this godforsaken place!
With that thought, the two exchanged a glance and immediately controlled their Truth-Seeking Orbs, flying rapidly toward the rift.
...
Within the Origin Dimension, Kaguya instantly sensed Naruto and Sasuke approaching rapidly from behind. Realizing that the two were rushing toward her, her expression changed drastically.
She hurriedly activated Yomotsu Hirasaka, attempting to forcibly close the spatial rift by using her ability to freely open and manipulate dimensions.
All six of these dimensions had been forcibly created by Kaguya using her own power, so using Yomotsu Hirasaka to close the rift was not some impossible fantasy.
However, in order to form the Expansive Truth-Seeking Orb earlier, she had already expended most of her chakra. With her current reserves, she simply could not easily close such a massive spatial rift.
Watching Naruto and Sasuke draw closer and closer to the Origin Dimension, Kaguya's pupils contracted as she made an unwilling decision.
She temporarily sealed her own consciousness, allowing the Ten-Tails—or rather, the Divine Tree—to take control of her body. By doing so, she could accelerate the absorption of chakra from the shinobi world and forcibly close the spatial rift using that immense power.
This method would indeed provide enough chakra to close the rift, but Kaguya herself would have to pay a tremendous price.
By allowing the Divine Tree to control her body, Kaguya would temporarily lose her humanity and transform into a gigantic rabbit-like form.
This was no gentle jade rabbit from ancient myths. At this moment, Kaguya fully transformed into a massive, rabbit-eared demonic beast. There was nothing cute about her terrifying appearance.
The moment she transformed, Kaguya instinctively lashed out, swinging her infinitely extending claws toward Hoshiyomi in the distance. Acting purely on instinct, she sensed the immense chakra within him and attacked him first.
Facing the incoming claws, Hoshiyomi showed no mercy. He raised his hand and released two sword waves, effortlessly severing the claws as they struck.
At the same time, empowered by the chakra absorbed from the ninja world in her rabbit form, Kaguya finally gathered enough chakra to close the rift.
The spatial rift left behind by Ten Thousand Swords Become One began shrinking at a visible rate. Before long, it would completely close.
Yet Naruto and Sasuke were still a short distance away from the rift.
Seeing it about to close, both of them pushed themselves with every ounce of strength they had, desperately rushing forward—but they were still just a little too far.
At the critical moment, Sasuke gritted his teeth. He suddenly dashed forward, wrapped his arms around Naruto's waist, and hurled him ahead with all his strength.
That final throw gave Naruto an extra burst of acceleration, allowing him to pass through the rift at the very last moment.
But once Naruto crossed over, the rift had shrunk to the point where no one else could pass through.
In other words, Sasuke seemed destined to remain forever trapped in the Acid Sea Dimension.
Just as Naruto was overwhelmed with sorrow at being unable to save Sasuke, a white object suddenly flew past him, and at the same time, Hoshiyomi's voice rang out:
"Sasuke, now!"