Jigen's anger was not without reason.
It was five years of accumulated hatred.
Five years ago, in Amegakure.
That was the closest Jigen had ever come to death in a battle on this planet.
Shura's Taijutsu was strange and powerful. Every punch and every kick contained terrifying power. His physical constitution was even comparable to that of an Otsutsuki warrior!
What shocked Jigen most was his endless array of Ninjutsu. Some resembled the Chakra Techniques used by the Ninja of this planet, yet carried a type of Chakra that even he couldn't understand, that even his Kama couldn't absorb!
The battle lasted an entire night.
A core area of Amegakure was reduced to ruins in that battle.
Even Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki who called himself a god and had just killed Hanzo the Salamander to take his place, could not intervene.
And Jigen himself paid a heavy price.
He was forced to prematurely activate the second stage of Kama, forcibly extracting the potential of this vessel that was already on the verge of its limits, just to barely gain the strength to temporarily suppress Shura!
But even so, he still lost.
Not in terms of strength… if he activated his reincarnation, even if this vessel couldn't fully bear his power, he had absolute confidence he could kill the opponent.
But he lost because of 'time'.
This vessel named 'Jigen' was already on the verge of collapse from forcibly bearing the soul of Otsutsuki Isshiki.
Activating the second stage of Kama only accelerated this process.
When the battle reached its most intense moment, Jigen could clearly feel that this body had reached its limit. Every cell was crying out in agony. The black mark on his abdomen was expanding and cracking. This body was entering the edge of collapse.
He was forced to retreat, opening a different dimension to absorb the Chakra of the Juvenile Ten-Tails to replenish this body's consumption.
However, somehow, Shura had followed him into that different dimension.
Then, under Jigen's gaze of his eyes nearly splitting, Shura stole the Ten-Tails.
That was Jigen's only hope to regain his strength and take revenge on Kaguya!
From that day on, the name 'Shura' became a shameful mark etched into the depths of Jigen's soul.
He mobilized all the forces of the organization under his command, used all the secret agents hidden in various countries, sparing no expense to search for Shura's whereabouts.
And when the intelligence that Shura was the ruler of the Land of Stars reached Jigen's ears, he almost crushed the wine glass in his hand.
That thief who stole the Ten-Tails, that ant who brought him such great humiliation, had actually openly established a country and become a so-called ruler?
Jigen's first reaction was to immediately go to the Land of Stars, tear Shura to pieces, and retrieve the Ten-Tails.
But he couldn't.
Because this vessel named 'Jigen' was on the verge of collapse.
The overexertion from the battle five years ago had left this body with little vitality.
Jigen estimated that in his current state, if he were to activate 'Reincarnation' and completely transfer the soul and power of Otsutsuki Isshiki into a new vessel, he could at most maintain his lifespan for three days.
Three days.
He would need to find Shura, kill him, retrieve the Ten-Tails, and find a more perfect vessel within those three days.
This was almost an impossible mission.
If any link went wrong, he could be doomed forever.
So Jigen endured.
He forced himself to calm down and devoted all his energy to the creation of a 'new vessel'.
He instructed Amado, the scientist who had formally joined his ranks, to speed up the research progress of the 'artificial human' project, sparing no expense to create a 'perfect vessel' that could perfectly bear the power of Isshiki.
He needed time.
As long as the 'artificial human' project succeeded, creating a vessel that could perfectly withstand the Otsutsuki's power, he would then make Shura pay a thousandfold.
However, plans never keep up with changes.
Urashiki appeared.
This lighthearted, arrogant Otsutsuki barged into Amado's laboratory like an uninvited guest and found Jigen.
Urashiki did not explain his own origins, merely claiming that while pursuing the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki, he had discovered the existence of a 'suspected perfect vessel' that had ended up in Konoha Village.
Jigen's first reaction was suspicion.
A perfect 'vessel'?
On this planet, how could a 'vessel' capable of perfectly bearing the Otsutsuki's power be born?
Unless...
That 'vessel' was connected to the Otsutsuki.
Then, connecting Urashiki's description of the 'vessel' displaying terrifying strength that could easily suppress Urashiki's time abilities...
A name involuntarily surfaced in Jigen's mind.
Shura.
If that 'perfect vessel' was closely related to Shura...
Then everything would make sense.
Why Shura could master so many strange Ninjutsu.
Why Shura knew he had a second Ten-Tails.
Why Shura knew the secrets of the Otsutsuki Clan.
Because, he was fundamentally not a 'native' of this planet.
He was an Otsutsuki 'creation'.
This speculation made Jigen both excited and angry.
Excited because, if Shura really was an Otsutsuki 'creation', then his body very likely contained the Otsutsuki's genes, even soul data.
To Jigen, this was even more precious 'material' than the Ten-Tails.
Angry because, if Shura really was an Otsutsuki 'creation', then behind him was likely the scheme of another Otsutsuki.
And that clansman, very likely, was... Kaguya!
Only Kaguya would leave contingencies on this planet.
Only Kaguya would scheme against him so thoroughly.
"Kaguya... you bitch..."
Jigen's teeth ground together, his hollow eyes burning with venomous flames.
"A thousand years have passed, and you still won't leave me alone?"
So, when Urashiki proposed the invitation to 'cooperate', Jigen agreed almost without hesitation.
He wanted to go to Konoha himself to confirm the true identity of that 'vessel'.
And now, the answer was revealed.
Looking at the boy before him, enveloped in dark red Chakra, at the ten slowly swaying tails behind him, feeling the vast, suffocating, terrifying aura mixed with Ten-Tails Chakra...
Jigen smiled.
That smile was full of the pleasure of imminent revenge, and of overflowing killing intent.
"It really is you..."
"Five years." Jigen murmured, each word seeming squeezed from between his teeth.
Five whole years.
He had been constantly searching for that guy who called himself 'Otsutsuki Rakushiki', but was actually 'Shura'!
Constantly thinking about how to tear him to pieces and retrieve that stolen Juvenile Ten-Tails.
That Juvenile Ten-Tails was the contingency he had prepared for a thousand years, the key to completing his 'full reincarnation' on this planet!
Jigen looked at the boy in the air, enveloped in dark red Chakra, with ten tails slowly swaying behind him.
At those eyes that seemed to look down on ants, even more arrogant than an Otsutsuki!
"You... absorbed it?" Jigen was furious. Even he himself had been reluctant to eat that Juvenile Ten-Tails!
Menma tilted his head, the corner of his mouth curving into a faint, ambiguous smile.
"You mean that little sapling? It tasted pretty good, just a bit low on Chakra. Not enough to fill me up."
"..."
Jigen was silent.
The originally simple black patterns began to spread wildly like living things, in the blink of an eye covering his cheeks, his neck, and finally spreading throughout his body.
A fleshy horn, like a goat's horn, also grew on his left eye and forehead, encircling the top of his head.
Kama... Second Stage!
Jigen's voice became deep, hoarse, like a whisper from the abyss.
"For five years... I've been constantly thinking about how to tear you to pieces."
"Thinking about how to drain every last bit of Chakra from your body, crush your soul, and make you suffer for eternity without reincarnation."
"Now..."
He slowly raised the Chakra black rod in his right hand, pointing straight at Menma in the air.
"I finally... have this opportunity."
Boom—!!!
Terrifying Chakra, like a tsunami, erupted from within Jigen, causing the surrounding space to twist slightly.
On the roof, Boruto, Adult Sasuke, and Jiraiya all let out a simultaneous groan, pushed back repeatedly by the impact of this Chakra's aftermath, barely able to stand.
"Th-That guy..." Boruto's face turned pale, the Kama mark in his palm burning wildly.
Adult Sasuke's Rinnegan was full of gravity.
He stared intently at the black patterns on Jigen's body, and at the horn that had grown thicker, frantically searching his memory for information about this form.
'As expected, an Otsutsuki...'
Although he didn't know what was wrong with him, why he was so different from Momoshiki, Kinshiki, and Urashiki, this appearance was becoming more and more like an Otsutsuki, almost as if he was... evolving!
And compared to Urashiki's flippant demeanor, this Jigen before him was clearly more dangerous!
"Not good..." Jiraiya murmured softly, fine cold sweat appearing on his forehead.
"If these two monsters go all out here, the entire Konoha... could be destroyed."
"We have to find a way... to lure them somewhere else..."
'But how?'
'With their strength, if they really wanted to destroy Konoha, no one could stop them.'
"Isshiki..."
Urashiki's voice interrupted Jiraiya's thoughts.
He had somehow retreated behind Jigen, his white eyes flickering with uncertainty.
"Are you crazy? Your Chakra is almost gone. Activating the second stage of Kama so early, what if..."
"Shut up."
Jigen coldly interrupted him, not looking back.
"This is my business."
"You just need to do your job."
Urashiki choked, his expression somewhat ugly.
He was, after all, an Otsutsuki warrior. Although his status was lower than Jigen's, he wasn't some expendable soldier to be ordered around.
But looking at the terrifying aura emanating from Jigen, and the killing intent almost overflowing from those eyes, he ultimately suppressed his discontent.
'Whatever.'
'My target was just that Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki named Uzumaki Naruto anyway.'
'As for what grudges existed between Isshiki and this kid, it wasn't my problem.'
'However...'
Urashiki's gaze returned to Menma in the air.
Looking at the ten dark red tails, at the vast, suffocating Chakra, a flicker of greed passed through his white eyes.
'Ten-Tails Chakra...'
'And, it was evolved, close to complete form Ten-Tails Chakra.'
'If I could get this 'vessel', if I could drain and absorb the Ten-Tails Chakra within him...'
'Then I, Urashiki, might surpass Momoshiki, surpass Isshiki!'
Thinking this, the corner of Urashiki's mouth unconsciously curled into a greedy smile.
"Isshiki..."
He licked his lips, his voice carrying a hint of excitement.
"Kill him first?"
Jigen didn't answer.
But his actions had already given the answer.
He slowly raised his left hand, his palm aimed at Menma in the air.
The next moment—
Shhh shhh shhh shhh—!!!
Dozens of pitch-black Chakra black rods appeared without warning in the air around Menma, thrusting fiercely at his body from various angles!
"Look out!"
On the roof, Adult Sasuke instinctively exclaimed.
He had just been pierced by these sudden black rods, almost dying.
But these black rods, less than half a meter from Menma, seemed to hit an invisible wall, all stagnating in mid-air, unable to advance further.
The air around Menma rippled like water, layer upon layer of ripples.
"This is..." Adult Sasuke's Rinnegan pupils suddenly contracted.
He saw clearly.
Around Menma's body, a layer of almost invisible transparent barrier, like an eggshell, protected him within.
"Barrier technique?" A flicker of shock passed through Jiraiya's eyes.
In the air, Menma slowly raised his right hand, casually grabbing a Chakra black rod stagnating less than twenty centimeters before his face, playing with it in his hand.
His movement was very casual, as if what he held was not an Yin-Yang Release Chakra black rod capable of piercing the body of a Kage-level figure, but an ordinary tree branch.
"That's it?"
He tilted his head, looking at Jigen, a mocking smile at the corner of his mouth.
"Five years have passed, and this is all the progress you've made?"
"You..." Jigen's teeth ground together, his eyes nearly spitting fire.
Five years ago.
Again, five years ago.
That humiliating night, the night he lost the Ten-Tails, the night he was forced to flee like a stray dog...