Chapter 285 – Even Momoshiki Took Action!
"Isshiki and Kaguya… came to this planet?"
Gen's words made both Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki and Kinshiki freeze midair.
That… was an ancient topic — far too ancient.
If their records were accurate, that had been more than a thousand years ago.
"What are you talking about?" Momoshiki demanded, his voice calm but suspicious. "What exactly are you planning to do?"
Inside Gen's body, Kaguya's expression turned pale.
Facing two fellow Ōtsutsuki directly filled her with dread.
She suppressed her chakra as much as she could, terrified that they might sense her presence.
"This fool… what is he doing?!" she thought frantically.
Her original plan had been for Gen to strike only when opportunity allowed — a precise, ambush-style attack, the same way she had betrayed Isshiki long ago.
But instead, he was standing right in front of them, smiling.
Brazen. Unflinching. Reckless.
"He's insane! And… why does he carry the energy of the God Tree? That clone—its very structure is divine! Impossible…"
For the first time, Kaguya realized she might not understand this man at all.
---
"Yes," Gen said softly, ignoring Kaguya's panic. "Everything traces back to them."
He smiled faintly at Momoshiki and Kinshiki.
"Ever since they came to this world, everything changed. Haven't you noticed it? This planet… doesn't behave like others."
"This planet?"
Kinshiki's eyes narrowed. Despite his simplicity, even he had sensed something amiss.
"Its energy… is distorted," he muttered. "Hollow in some places, but gradually recovering."
"You mean Isshiki and Kaguya already planted the Tree?" Momoshiki asked, frowning. "And this planet was… resilient enough to survive? Or perhaps there's another cause?"
Gen nodded.
"You're close. The planet is special — but that's not what caused their chakra to vanish."
Kaguya's heart nearly stopped.
What are you trying to do, Gen?!
But no matter how she tried to interject, Gen ignored her completely.
"The truth," he said, his tone calm but heavy, "is that Isshiki did something dangerous… something that made Kaguya disappear."
"Disappear?"
Both Momoshiki and Kinshiki's eyes narrowed.
Kaguya froze.
"What nonsense is this?!" she thought. "Isshiki didn't make me disappear — I tore him apart!"
"Yes," Gen continued, "Isshiki performed a forbidden act. One that nearly cost him his existence. But it also taught me something… something I confirmed later — through Urashiki."
"Urashiki?" Kinshiki murmured, growing more confused.
Even Kaguya couldn't follow anymore. This didn't match any version of history she remembered.
"And what exactly did Isshiki do?" Momoshiki asked, his tone sharp, eyes gleaming with quiet suspicion.
"You were there, weren't you?" Gen said lightly. "You must've felt their chakra flare before they vanished."
Momoshiki tilted his head, his lips curling into a slow smile.
"You're sharp for a lower being," he said mockingly. "So tell me — what were you doing then?"
"You're as perceptive as ever, 'senpai,'" Gen replied with a faint smirk.
"It was because of Isshiki that I learned something fundamental. Something about the very nature of your kind — and mine."
Momoshiki's grin faded.
"And what might that be?"
For a brief moment, the air went still.
Then —
Gen's smile vanished. His hand lifted, and a Truth-Seeking Orb materialized out of thin air, glowing with golden light.
Before either could react, his body blurred.
In an instant, he was behind Kinshiki, the orb reshaping into a radiant blade.
"The secret," he whispered, "is simple."
He swung.
---
Meanwhile — Outside the Tower
Naruto faced Kakuzu and Hidan head-on.
He didn't hesitate. His hands formed seals in a blur.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Multiple Narutos flashed into existence, surrounding the two Akatsuki members from every angle.
"I'll kill you, brat!" Hidan roared, spinning his massive scythe.
But the clones moved faster — golden streaks of chakra flickering like lightning.
Each held a swirling Rasengan, pressing inward.
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!" Kakuzu countered.
"Oi! I just asked a question, damn it!" Hidan shouted.
Their attacks blasted apart several clones in bursts of smoke.
But Naruto didn't flinch.
He was already moving.
"Rasengan!"
He appeared before Hidan like a flash of gold, slamming the sphere into his gut.
At the same time, another clone struck Kakuzu from behind.
"What—?!"
The two were sent flying, crashing into the ground hard.
Even their immortal and reanimated bodies couldn't reform fast enough.
Before they could recover, more Narutos appeared above them.
"What the hell is happening?!" Hidan groaned, clutching his stomach.
"That brat marked us with a seal… when?!" Kakuzu thought grimly. He recognized the pattern immediately — a Flying Raijin mark.
"Impossible… did he use the clones to set them?"
But by then, it was too late.
"Rasengan Barrage!"
The attacks rained down like meteors.
Even Kakuzu's elemental masks shattered under the assault, forcing him to combine his hearts.
"Combined Technique: Flame-Wind Chaos Wave!"
Flames exploded like a tsunami, forcing Naruto to leap back.
"Tch… damn, that hurts!" Hidan growled, reforming his broken bones.
"You bastard! I just asked who the weakest in your team was!"
"SHUT UP!" Naruto roared, chakra flaring wildly.
He remembered Gen's "home visit" to Uzumaki Kushina — and her brutal lecture about his "poor grades."
Now this idiot had struck a nerve he didn't even know existed.
"I'll kill you myself!"
Sage Mode activated.
Nature energy surged.
"Sage Art — Nine-Tails Rasenshuriken!"
The golden shuriken of chakra spun in his hands, the power of Kurama roaring through it.
"I'm not the dead last, you bastard!"
He hurled it straight at them—
BOOM!
The explosion tore through the air, shaking the heavens with golden light.
---
Elsewhere — Sasuke vs. Itachi and Sasori
Sasuke's Susanoo towered above the battlefield like a mountain of violet flame.
Below him, the ground was scorched and littered with shattered puppets.
Itachi and Sasori's reanimated bodies were barely holding together.
"Damn this Flying Raijin!" Sasori spat. His poisons were useless — Sasuke burned them away with lightning or fire before they even spread.
Itachi, meanwhile, watched quietly, the corners of his eyes twitching from strain.
"You've grown this strong already…" he murmured, a mix of pride and sorrow in his voice.
Sasuke's gaze, however, was cold.
Detached.
Unrecognizing.
That hurt more than hatred ever could.
"Fighting you two is meaningless," Sasuke said flatly, chakra boiling around him. "Let's end this."
His eyes glowed crimson.
Pain seared through his skull — but he didn't care.
"Susanoo — Full Manifestation."
The colossal warrior expanded, armored and radiant, standing a hundred meters tall.
Even the reanimated Akatsuki were left speechless.
"Incredible power…" Itachi whispered.
Sasuke looked down at them, expressionless.
"Let's see how far I can go."
The giant drew its blade and struck—
BOOM!
The shockwave split the earth, and at that very moment,
a golden light erupted high above the clouds.
---
Back Inside the Meeting Tower
The building was collapsing.
Bone spikes jutted from every direction — Kimimaro's work — while Nagato's Rinnegan flared with desperation.
"Shinra Tensei!"
The repulsive force blasted outward, but Gen didn't even flinch.
He stepped through it like walking through mist and drove his fist into Nagato's abdomen.
THUD!
Kimimaro reacted instantly, his bones lancing forward —
but Gen vanished, reappearing behind him.
A streak of purple light pierced through Kimimaro's bone armor, shattering it cleanly.
"It seems you haven't improved much," Gen said coldly — and kicked him through the wall.
The entire tower shook as both men hit the walls like meteors.
Glass shattered across the district.
"Damn it…" Nagato grunted, staggering to his feet. His Rinnegan glowed brighter.
Kimimaro rose too, the Kāma seal spreading further across his body.
"Oh?" Gen raised an eyebrow. "Accelerating the mark already?"
His gaze shifted toward Obito, who still stood motionless, trembling.
And then toward Rin, who watched in silent confusion beside Kakashi.
"Interesting…" Gen murmured. "Rin doesn't seem to remember what Obito's done."
He chuckled.
"So it's true… the balance between souls differs from case to case."
But his amusement faded quickly.
"You two," he said, glancing at Nagato and Kimimaro. "If this is all you've got, don't waste my time."
His chakra flared violently — divine, boundless.
Nagato and Kimimaro roared and charged again.
The air cracked as their powers collided.
---
At the Same Time — Beyond the Clouds
Momoshiki and Kinshiki reeled from the first exchange.
They hadn't expected Genshiki to attack first — let alone hit that hard.
"You fool!" Momoshiki bellowed. "Do you want to die, Genshiki?!"
Kinshiki's severed arm was already regenerating. He snarled, drawing his massive red axe.
Gen didn't stop.
"Didn't I say?" he said, golden light flaring around him. "I learned a secret from Isshiki and Urashiki — the secret of your fruit."
He dashed forward, faster than light.
"The fruit isn't energy. It's a vessel of transmission. To evolve… an Ōtsutsuki must sacrifice another Ōtsutsuki."
The air screamed as their chakra clashed again, a cataclysmic explosion blotting out the sky.
Forests below were flattened.
Mountains disintegrated like sand.
The storm of power painted the heavens black.
"What power…" whispered a Konoha shinobi far below. "Are they… gods?"
Gen parried both opponents at once, his golden sword locking against Kinshiki's axe and Momoshiki's palm blast.
"Isshiki broke the law of the clan," Gen continued, his tone rising with intensity. "And that gave me an idea — one that involves you both."
He pushed back with sudden, overwhelming force.
Kinshiki was hurled away like a ragdoll.
Momoshiki barely managed to block a fist — before it smashed into his chest like a cannon.
He crashed into a distant mountain, the impact vaporizing the peak.
"Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"
Gen raised his sword high. The blade expanded into a blinding arc of divine light—
SLASH!
The golden edge tore through Kinshiki's axe like paper.
"Impossible—!" Kinshiki gasped.
The blade didn't stop. It carved through his massive frame in one brutal stroke.
"GAAAAH!"
Blood and chakra scattered like molten gold.
Kinshiki's body split in two, crashing into the earth below.
Momoshiki's eyes went wide in shock and fury.
"You… you dare?!"
Gen stood amidst the storm, his golden aura burning brighter than ever.
"I told you," he said coldly. "The key to our evolution… is sacrifice."
Momoshiki's eyes widened in disbelief.
He could hardly comprehend what he had just witnessed—
Kinshiki, a warrior revered across the clan for his brute power, had been cut down without resistance.
Even Kaguya, watching from within Gen's body, was stunned speechless.
"An Ōtsutsuki… defeated just like that?"
No matter how monstrous this man was, an Ōtsutsuki was still an Ōtsutsuki—
a being born from the divine lineage of the cosmos.
And yet, Gen had ended Kinshiki as if swatting aside an insect.
"Then… he truly could have killed Isshiki and Urashiki too?"
The realization left Kaguya's thoughts in disarray.
Every word Gen had spoken earlier now echoed inside her like thunder.
And now, this—this terrifying scene—only deepened her fear.
"This is bad… Momoshiki's next!"
---
Down below, within the consciousness space shared by Isshiki and Urashiki, both of them watched grimly.
Their expressions darkened.
They had expected Gen to be strong—but this was far beyond what even they had imagined.
"So, you see it now, don't you… 'Lord' Momoshiki?"
Gen stood calmly in the air above, his golden blade humming with divine resonance.
He didn't press the attack. Instead, he smiled faintly, almost pleasantly.
"This—this is the path Isshiki showed me… a brand-new path."
"What are you talking about?" Momoshiki hissed, his tone carefully restrained.
His chakra surged violently around him, ready to explode at any second.
Gen's eyes softened with something like reverence.
"I've already said it. Isshiki killed Kaguya—he shattered his own limits, broke the rules of the clan, and in doing so… freed me."
He looked upward, his voice quiet, almost nostalgic.
"He taught me that to reach the pinnacle, one must abandon the very laws that bind us.
The fruit, the sacrifice, the ritual—if divinity requires a vessel of blood…"
He paused, smiling now—coldly.
"…then why not skip that step altogether?"
---
Skip that step?
Momoshiki froze.
Even Kaguya's mind went blank for a moment—
until the meaning hit her like a thunderbolt.
"No…" she whispered. "He can't mean—"
But he did.
And Momoshiki, for once, fell silent. His expression smoothed into a disturbing calm.
"You're saying…" Momoshiki asked softly, "that you would devour your own kin to ascend?"
"Exactly."
Gen's grin widened. The Truth-Seeking Orbs behind him gleamed, merging into the shape of a radiant golden sword.
"Evolution requires defiance. To transcend, one must deny one's own limits—and even one's own race.
You cling to the safety of your rules because you lack the courage to break them."
His voice deepened, brimming with conviction.
"I revere Isshiki—he broke those chains and revealed to me the path to godhood.
And I owe Urashiki as well—for it was through him that I truly set foot on that stairway to divinity."
He lifted his sword high, its golden light spilling like dawn across the battlefield.
"I will carry their will and walk that path myself.
Tell me, Momoshiki… will you join us on the Path to Godhood?"
---
Kaguya went silent.
Isshiki trembled with fury.
Urashiki felt his mind on the verge of collapse.
"This bastard… he's not just abandoning his humanity," Urashiki muttered. "He's not anything anymore!"
"Come on, Momoshiki," Urashiki thought desperately. "Do something—kill him before it's too late!"
Even Isshiki, scowling in the void, clenched his teeth hard enough to draw blood.
---
"Marvelous," Momoshiki said suddenly, breaking the silence.
He raised his hand, and the crimson Rinnegan in his palm flared open, glowing like a scarlet sun.
His gaze shifted downward—toward Kinshiki's bisected corpse.
"Truly marvelous," he continued, his lips curling into a smile. "You've confirmed a theory I've long contemplated.
This 'Path' you speak of… you may be right."
Kaguya's eyes widened in horror.
"No… he wouldn't…"
Urashiki and Isshiki gasped at the same time.
"He's going to—!"
---
The crimson eye on Momoshiki's palm pulsed violently.
A column of red light enveloped Kinshiki's body, and in an instant, the remains began to warp and compress.
Before anyone could react, the massive corpse twisted into a blood-red fruit, pulsing with raw power.
Momoshiki caught it in his hand, smirking.
"You did what I hesitated to do, Genshiki.
So now… allow me to do it better."
He raised the fruit to his mouth—
—and bit down.
The air itself screamed.
Waves of chakra tore through the atmosphere as Momoshiki devoured the divine fruit, consuming his comrade without hesitation.
When he finished, his body shone with blinding radiance.
His aura expanded, overflowing with monstrous energy.
He looked down at Gen, his once-calm features twisting into something transcendent—and terrifying.
"You're right," he said softly. "This is the Path to Godhood."
He spread his arms, chakra surging like a tidal wave.
"Now, Genshiki—become part of it!"
His body began to mutate, his chakra spiraling to a divine crescendo.
Wings of pure energy burst from his back, and his skin glowed with crimson sigils.
Isshiki and Urashiki stared in disbelief.
"It worked," Isshiki muttered.
"The Path… it actually works."
Urashiki's voice shook with dread.
"It's over… Momoshiki did it too!"
---