What was thought to be a simple matter of catching a fish that had slipped through the net turned out to be far more complex; Nagato had another trick up his sleeve.
After Tobi departed, Konan's paper clone revealed itself amidst the sea of explosive tags. Her only task was to ensure the chain of detonations continued. Summoning scrolls required chakra each time, but with all the explosive tags already nearby, the chakra needed was minimal. Now that she was alone, she could act even faster.
Konan's paper clone waved its arms, and the vast sheet of explosive tags, disguised as an ocean, floated into the air, continuously plastering themselves onto the Gedo Statue. A more intense and concentrated series of explosions thundered across the sky. It was a good thing the tags were only made of paper; otherwise, the sound alone would have been enough to deafen someone.
In a short span of time, the Gedo Statue was wracked by ceaseless explosions, blasting the sky into darkness. It was as if a layer of lead-gray ash covered everything, reducing visibility to almost zero. Even with the power of the God Tree, the statue could have withstood several hours of continuous explosions at this frequency.
But under the direction of Konan's paper clone, the explosive tags relentlessly attached themselves to the Gedo Statue. The sheer volume began to make a difference. What did a trillion explosive tags even mean? Even with only a fraction of them detonating, the Gedo Statue was beginning to crumble.
As Tobi anxiously used Kamui to return to their base, chunks of the Gedo Statue's surface tissue began to peel off from the intense heat. The statue, with only a shred of consciousness remaining, opened its mouth and let out a pained roar.
"Gwooo... ahhh..."
The indiscernible sound spread outwards in waves.
This area was near the Land of Whirlpools, so there were few shinobi in the vicinity. Due to the previous war between Kirigakure and Kumogakure, the Land of Water had closed its borders and had not yet reopened for trade. As a result, the region was virtually deserted.
No one heard the Gedo Statue's screams.
Even though her ears couldn't hear and her vision was blurred, Konan's paper clone faithfully carried out the mission left by its original self. Her hands danced continuously, as if conducting a final, deadly symphony. Countless explosive tags flew through the air, attaching themselves to the statue one by one.
Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, hundreds of billions...
The explosions came one after another in a relentless onslaught. Nothing is indestructible. Not even the Gedo Statue. The material on the statue's body was covered by a new wave of explosions before the intense heat could fully incinerate it. It was ultimately carbonized and flaked away.
From the outside, a third of the Gedo Statue had already been destroyed. If this continued, the Gedo Statue was destined for complete annihilation.
The unconscious Gedo Statue let out a strange cry towards the sky. The sound pierced the clouds and reached high into the heavens.
...
Inside the moon.
Within a massive barrier, there was an ocean, islands, and an artificial sun. Beneath the lush greenery, however, there was little sign of life. An immense and ancient palace stood here.
The palace had an archaic style. Passing through a long corridor and heading deeper inside, one would find a stone platform in the very center. The platform was surrounded by an intricate arrangement of stones. And in the center of the platform was a giant Rinnegan, emanating a yellow light. The yellow light bathed the surrounding stones in a golden hue.
As if triggered by some kind of wave, the Rinnegan emitted a soft radiance. The humanoid stone statues standing around it began to tremble. Then, the stone statues transformed into actual puppets.
One of the puppets guarding the area turned its head with a creaking sound. Perhaps because it hadn't moved in a long time, its movements were somewhat sluggish. When its vacant gaze fell upon the shining, giant Rinnegan, something seemed to change. Its mouth opened and closed, and a deep voice emerged from within it.
"...Rin...negan... anomaly..."
There was no one else around. It turned unsteadily, its legs moving slowly but firmly as it headed outside. The creaking of its footsteps gradually quickened until it rushed out of the main gate.
Inside this vast and ancient castle, two elderly men watched as a young boy below was being taught by a puppet that looked remarkably lifelike.
"Those shinobi on Earth are the very culprits who disrupt the peace of the world..."
This puppet was vivid in its appearance, its clothes neat, and its hair impeccably combed. If one didn't look closely, it would be truly difficult to tell it apart from a normal person.
The boy sitting at the desk, listening to the lesson, had a pale complexion and long, light-blue hair. His eyebrows were as thin and long as willow leaves, and he wore white clothes with a unique pattern around his neck. Unfortunately, his eyes were empty sockets, containing nothing at all.
The two old men were the last elders of the Otsutsuki clan, and the boy was a descendant of Hamura Otsutsuki's branch family, in whom they placed all their hopes.
"Toneri is the successor with the purest bloodline. His talent is immense, and he will surely be able to realize our ancestors' vision in the future," said the great elder. His head was full of white hair, his entire being exuding old age.
Beside him was the second elder, who was somewhat younger by comparison. Although he had lost all the hair on his head, he had a rather thick beard on his chin.
Only the three of them were left on the entire moon.
The second elder sighed and said, "It's a pity Toneri was born without eyes. Otherwise, he would certainly be able to activate that Rinnegan."
The great elder remained silent. Ever since the main family line was destroyed, the number of descendants in the branch family had also dwindled. To maintain the purity of their bloodline, they had only permitted marriage within the clan for many years. However, many of the children born from these unions carried diseases or even had congenital disabilities.
Someone had once pointed out that this was precisely the problem caused by inbreeding. As a result, a faction of young people refused to continue the tradition of marrying women from within the clan and considered finding partners from Earth who were not of their kin.
The great elder was furious when he learned of this. It was utter heresy! If they were to marry women from outside the clan, how could they maintain the purity of their bloodline? The world created by the Sage of Six Paths had long ago been declared a failure. The Earth was now filled with nothing but inferior beings. He would absolutely not allow Hamura's bloodline to be tainted in any way.
Thus, on the great elder's orders, the eyes of the one who had raised the objection were gouged out, and he was burned alive before the altar. After that, all the young people were forced to continue following the ancestral rules. But the result was often the birth of more disabled descendants. Most of these children did not live long.
For the young people forced into such marriages, it was undoubtedly a huge blow, and they began to question the great elder. This continued until one day an internal conflict erupted. All those who participated in the rebellion perished; not a single one survived.
But from among them, a child of outstanding talent was born, though still lacking eyes—that was the Toneri of today.
Given the circumstances, the great elder had already decided that Toneri would bear the great responsibility of fulfilling their ancestors' mission: "Destroy the world created by the Sage of Six Paths."
All these years, the two elders had devoted all their efforts to teaching and raising Toneri. Their goal was for him to successfully achieve this objective once he reached adulthood.
The great elder came back to his senses at this thought. He felt his physical strength declining day by day, and he often found himself in a daze, unable to maintain his usual vigorous spirit.
He had just spaced out again.