The ship hovered at the top of the massive hollow.
Below was an ancient palace built on a barren surface.
Inside the internal passageways, Shinju stood at the very front.
Behind him stood Hashirama and Madara.
Further back were Tobirama, Minato, and the rest of the corps members.
Shinju stepped out first—his body dropped straight down from ten thousand meters in the air.
The sensation of weightlessness hit instantly, then was instantly neutralized by the functions of the combat suit.
His body shot like a spear toward the palace below.
Right after him, Hashirama, Madara, and every member of the Legends Corps leapt out as well.
Dozens of black figures followed, plunging down together.
Toneri was still drunk on the feeling of power the enormous Tenseigan (Reincarnation Eye) gave him.
This eye—gathered from countless Byakugan (White Eye)—was the key to fulfilling his "destiny," his final weapon to judge those vile shinobi on the surface.
Then suddenly, a sensation of being watched made every hair on his body stand on end.
Not an illusion.
A vast energy source was rapidly approaching from directly above his head.
Toneri snapped his head up.
His eyes clearly caught those black dots plunging down at extreme speed.
Who were these people?
How did they get in?
The Moon's barrier, the puppets guarding the palace—why had there been no alarm at all?
He could clearly sense their chakra.
Every intruder's chakra was like an ocean.
Especially the ones in front—their chakra reserves made even him, a descendant of the Otsutsuki, feel his heart clench.
This couldn't be power a mortal could possess.
Shinju's feet landed steadily on the plaza before the palace.
Immediately after—
Hashirama and Madara landed behind him, one on each side.
The impact of their landing was even more outrageous than Shinju's—so heavy the entire plaza trembled.
Then came more dull booms.
The Legends Corps members silently finished setting up their formation, completely encircling Toneri and the palace behind him.
The whole process took less than ten seconds.
The invaders who fell from the heavens stared at him with icy eyes.
Toneri felt it become hard to breathe.
He forced himself to calm down.
He was the last descendant of the Otsutsuki, the god who would carry out destiny.
He could not show fear before these mortals.
He straightened his back and made his voice sound as lofty and arrogant as possible.
"Who are you?"
His voice echoed across the empty plaza, sounding thin.
"To dare intrude upon the sacred domain of the Otsutsuki!"
Shinju's gaze passed over Toneri's shoulder, toward the altar inside the palace.
A girl in a kimono was restrained there, laid on a cold stone platform.
Her eyes were covered with a strip of white cloth, as if she'd already lost consciousness.
Hanabi.
Shinju's eyes changed.
Toneri noticed where he was looking.
"So you came for the descendant of this caged bird. What—want to save her? You surface insects are worthy of—"
He didn't get to finish.
Because Shinju finally spoke.
"Demolish this place."
"Bring that girl back."
The instant those words fell, the eyes Madara had kept closed snapped open.
The crimson three-tomoe Sharingan instantly transformed into a gorgeous, eerie Mangekyo pattern—then shifted again, turning into Rinnegan with concentric ripples.
He bared his teeth, grinning with feverish battle intent.
Beside him, Hashirama smiled too.
The two exchanged a glance—everything was understood without a word.
"Finally, we can cut loose and make a real mess!" Hashirama's voice was brimming with excitement.
He clasped his hands together hard before his chest.
"Pa!"
"Mokuton: Jukai Kōtan (Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence)!"
The ground began to quake violently.
Centered on Hashirama, countless thick roots burst madly out of rifts in the ground.
Solid rock was as fragile as crackers before them.
In the time of a single breath, a vast forest rose from nothing on the Moon.
Giant vines and trees surged forward with overwhelming destructive force, sweeping toward the palace behind Toneri.
The palace walls were pierced with ease.
Exquisite statues were pulverized instantly.
Stone pillars supporting the structure were strangled and snapped one after another.
Toneri stared at the scene like a miracle, horrified.
What kind of power was this?
Creating a forest in a place with no water, no soil—
And it wasn't over.
On the other side, blue chakra flared skyward from Madara's body.
Giant ribs rose up, wrapping around him.
Then meridians, flesh, armor—
A towering blue giant appeared on the plaza.
Perfect Susanoo!
That enormous war-god looked down at the tiny Toneri with utter indifference.
In its hand, a massive chakra tachi rapidly formed.
The blade shimmered with danger. Just its existence twisted the space around it.
"Mortal… witness the power of a god."
Madara's voice rumbled from within Susanoo, carrying a judgmental superiority.
The colossal chakra blade was raised high, then hacked down toward Toneri—and toward the palace being swallowed by trees behind him!
There were no flashy special effects, but the might of the strike was beyond doubt.
Toneri's proud puppet army, faced with that slash and the frenzied forest, was nothing more than paper toys—ripped apart with ease.
Everything he guarded.
The sacred domain he took pride in—
Was being utterly destroyed by two men who looked like gods and demons.
"Impossible…"
Toneri muttered.
"How can mere mortals… possess power this great?!"
He couldn't die here!
His "destiny" wasn't complete yet!
Toneri rushed toward the altar at top speed, ignoring the vines tearing the palace apart.
His target—
Hanabi's eyes.
He yanked off the white cloth covering her eyes, revealing those pure Byakugan (White Eye).
Without the slightest hesitation, Toneri plunged both hands into his own eye sockets.
Blood sprayed.
He dug out his own eyes.
Then, with hands dripping blood, he forcibly ripped Hanabi's eyes from her sockets.
He pressed the Byakugan belonging to the main house into his own hollow, bleeding sockets.
A brand-new power erupted within him.
His eyes became pale-blue luminous orbs, golden patterns blooming within the pupils.
The gigantic Tenseigan (Reincarnation Eye)!
A green chakra cloak rapidly formed around his body, and several black Gudōdama (Truth-Seeking Orbs) appeared floating behind him.
Tenseigan Chakra Mode—activated!
And at that moment, Madara's slash came down.
Half the palace—along with a chunk of the plaza—was carved straight out of the Moon's surface.
Dust billowed, then cleared.
Toneri hovered in midair, green flames swirling around him—completely unharmed.
He lowered his head, staring at his hands, savoring that unprecedented power surging through his body.
"Then let you see it!"
"The true power of the Otsutsuki!"
Hashirama's forest continued to spread.
Madara's Susanoo raised its blade once more.
A battle of gods continued on this barren star.
(End of Chapter)
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