Chapter 286 – Urashiki: "Without the Path to Godhood, Can I Even Survive?"
The moment Momoshiki transformed, everything changed.
The power he had absorbed from Kinshiki surged violently within him—
his hair lengthened and gleamed with golden light,
black markings crawled across his face and torso,
and the horns atop his head straightened into sharp vertical spires.
His Byakugan twisted into molten gold,
and his forehead slowly split open—
revealing a single, radiant golden Rinnegan.
In that instant, his aura became suffocating.
Godlike.
Terrifying.
"The Path to Godhood…"
From within Kitagawa Gen's body, Kaguya could barely form words.
The madness of it all left her trembling.
When she had attacked Isshiki all those centuries ago,
she had lived in constant fear,
afraid to even reveal her existence.
And now—
Ōtsutsuki were devouring one another openly,
in front of mortals.
"Has the world gone mad…?"
---
"Momoshiki's done it," Isshiki murmured, his voice low and cold within the mental void.
"And it worked."
His eyes flickered with a strange light.
"Gen's path… truly exists? A real Divine Stairway?"
He turned to the side.
Urashiki was standing motionless, staring upward, pale and shaken.
He looked as if the very foundations of his belief had collapsed.
"This world," he whispered. "Has everyone gone insane?"
For the first time, he realized—
Momoshiki's transformation didn't make him safer.
It made everything more dangerous.
---
High above, Momoshiki laughed as his power continued to rise.
"So this is it," he said, voice trembling with ecstasy.
"This is the Path to Godhood!"
His golden Rinnegan burned,
his chakra erupting in crimson waves that tore the air apart.
"Now then… Kitagawa Gen," he sneered.
"You'll be my next step toward godhood!"
With a roar, he charged.
His speed now transcended sound itself—
his crimson staff forming from compressed chakra,
a perfect recreation of Kinshiki's weapon.
---
Gen blinked.
"Hey… that was my line."
He sighed lightly, as though genuinely disappointed.
But in the next heartbeat, his golden sword flared—
a beam of radiant divinity slicing through the heavens.
BOOM!
The two collided,
and the sky itself trembled.
The clouds twisted into a spiral,
space warping violently from the impact.
The storm expanded outward, leveling everything below.
---
Down on the ground, the shockwaves hit like a natural disaster.
Buildings crumbled.
Mountains cracked.
And the ninja below screamed against the pressure.
"Damn it! This is just the aftershock?!"
"I can't even open my eyes!"
"These monsters… they're gods!"
Yet none of them retreated.
Their Kage were still there—
so they refused to run.
---
Even Naruto, though struggling to breathe under the crushing pressure, looked up in awe.
"So that's… the Ōtsutsuki clan?"
He'd heard of them, fought their remnants,
but seeing this scale of battle firsthand was something else entirely.
"Tch. So that's the kind of freak Gen fought back in the Land of Earth…"
He clenched his fists, his aura flaring faintly.
Kurama growled uneasily inside him—
and Naruto froze.
"You… you're scared?"
"This isn't fear," Kurama rumbled. "It's instinct. Those things aren't meant to exist."
Naruto smirked weakly.
"Heh. Guess I'll just have to hit harder, then."
He turned back to Hidan and Kakuzu,
who were still barely standing.
"Sorry, you two. I'll finish this quick."
He leapt forward, dozens of clones flashing into existence—each holding a blazing Rasengan.
"I'm not the dead last!"
The sky exploded in gold.
---
Elsewhere, Sasuke raised his gaze toward the sky.
The energy from above made his Susanoo tremble.
"Ōtsutsuki…" he muttered. "That's the level I still can't reach."
He could admit it now.
Even after all these years, he wasn't ready.
Not yet.
"One step at a time," he reminded himself, feeling the burning pain behind his eyes.
"But I'll never stop climbing."
He drew in a breath, his Susanoo swelling to two hundred meters tall.
"Until I stand at the summit too."
---
Meanwhile, inside the shattered tower,
Kitagawa Gen's God Tree clone faced Nagato and Kimimaro.
Obito was still locked in paralysis—
his body present, but his spirit distant.
"This pressure from above… isn't helping," Nagato growled.
He pushed his limits,
his Rinnegan whirling faster and faster.
"Universal Pull!"
The ground buckled, debris flying toward him as gravitational force surged.
Kimimaro took the cue, launching his Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Iron Thorn,
his spine extending into a whip of sharpened bone wreathed in chakra.
Gen's clone smiled.
"Nice teamwork," he said calmly.
"But still lacking."
With a twist, he sidestepped the bone whip,
his hand glowing black and white.
Yin–Yang Release gathered at his fingertips, condensing into a short obsidian blade.
He swung once—
and the bone shattered like glass.
In the next instant, he was in front of Nagato.
"The Rinnegan's true power isn't in petty tricks," he said quietly.
"You haven't even touched Yin–Yang Release."
He slashed downward—
and the explosion of light obliterated everything in its path.
The tower collapsed completely.
The shockwaves rippled outward, forcing Kakashi, Deidara, and the others to retreat.
"Tch. This guy's terrifying," Deidara muttered, shielding Kurotsuchi.
"And he's not even serious."
---
Rin clutched her chest, watching from afar.
"Kakashi… are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he said with a weak grin.
He looked toward Obito.
"He's not the boy we once knew. You saw what he's done."
Rin hesitated.
She remembered everything—
the Nine-Tails' attack, the wars, the bodies.
"You're right," she whispered. "He has to take responsibility for what he's done…"
Obito heard her.
Every word.
Something inside him cracked.
"Why…?" he whispered.
"I only wanted peace… to stop this world from repeating the same tragedies.
Why… am I always the villain?"
His chakra flared.
Dark markings crept up his arms.
Voices whispered in his head—distorted, incomprehensible, yet eerily persuasive.
He couldn't hear the words clearly,
but he understood them.
"The world is hell. Only by breaking it can it be reborn."
"The Rin you see isn't real—just a puppet."
"Only the Rin in your heart is free."
"Destroy this world… and save her."
His trembling stopped.
Resolve replaced confusion.
"Rin," he whispered. "It's you again… showing me the way."
His Mangekyō spun violently, his aura shifting.
The air grew heavier.
"Hmph," Isshiki muttered. "That wasn't some mortal girl helping you—it was me."
Still, he smirked faintly.
"At least you're useful now. Hurry up and release me."
But even Isshiki's smugness was shaken by what was happening above.
"Momoshiki's transformation… the real thing," he murmured, glancing at Urashiki beside him.
"He actually did it."
Urashiki swallowed hard.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm not doing it! I—"
Then the sky flashed again.
---
The world erupted in thunder.
Above the clouds, Kitagawa Gen and Momoshiki clashed,
each strike sending tremors through continents.
Gen's black blade sliced through Kimimaro's bones and Nagato's defenses like air.
His clone crushed them both in seconds, then turned his gaze upward.
"Almost over," he murmured.
---
High above, his real body smiled faintly.
"Momoshiki's stronger after absorbing Kinshiki, yes…
but he still fights like a brute."
Gen's golden blade pulsed brighter, powered by his Tenseigan.
"I've seen your tricks before, Momoshiki. Let me show you what mastery really means."
He shot forward, faster than light,
his Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion expanding into a miniature sun.
"The warm-up's over."
Momoshiki blinked in confusion.
"Warm-up?"
Gen appeared in front of him, his sword raised.
"Let's fight properly now."
Before Momoshiki could even respond,
the world was engulfed in light.
BOOM!
The clash shook the heavens.
Space cracked apart.
Momoshiki staggered back, blood dripping down his chest.
"You… hurt me?"
Gen smiled.
"You've stepped onto Path," he said softly.
"But I've been climbing it longer."
Momoshiki's eyes widened.
"You mean…"
"That's right. Urashiki was my foundation."
The red chains Momoshiki flung were sliced apart effortlessly.
He swung his twin chakra weapons in rage—only to find Gen already behind him.
Every strike, every motion he made—
Gen had already read them.
"Why…? Why can't I touch you?!"
"Because you're predictable."
Gen's blade flashed again.
Momoshiki's scream echoed as his arm was severed cleanly.
"You crave evolution, but lack the will to defy your own fear."
Gen raised his sword once more, golden light blazing across the sky.
"Join me, Momoshiki. Don't struggle like Urashiki did—
die with purpose, and become part of the ascent."
The blade descended—
BOOOOM!
Momoshiki crashed into the earth, carving a crater hundreds of meters deep.
The shockwave split mountains and shattered valleys.
He coughed blood, trembling.
"Death…?" he whispered. "Is this… death?"
For the first time in his life, the proud Ōtsutsuki truly felt it.
Suddenly, Momoshiki froze—then threw his head back and roared at the heavens, his voice trembling with fury and disbelief.
"You're lying! There's no way you only absorbed Urashiki! You— you absorbed Isshiki too, didn't you?!"
High above the chaos, Kitagawa Gen's voice drifted through the dissipating smoke like divine judgment.
"Lord Isshiki was indeed the first to break free from the shackles of the old rules," he said softly, his tone calm but absolute.
"And I truly admire him for that."
As the dust cleared, Gen floated midair, his eyes gleaming with celestial light.
The chakra of the Tenseigan flowed around him like living starlight, every movement imbued with sacred majesty.
Below him, Momoshiki stood bloodied and breathless—reduced to something almost mortal beneath that gaze.
"But…" Gen continued, his expression turning faintly regretful,
"He lacked dignity in the end. He ran from his fate. Just like Urashiki.
Only you, Lord Momoshiki… understood me."
His voice softened, filled with eerie warmth.
"Only you didn't question me when you heard my words.
Only you immediately understood the meaning of the Path to Godhood Stairway.
And only you—acted on it."
He smiled with what could almost be mistaken for reverence.
"I told you before—we are alike.
For the sake of our dreams, we can fight, even devour one another.
But the one who fails must naturally become part of the other."
His eyes glowed, golden and infinite.
"Lord Momoshiki… together, our wills will unite.
Together, we'll cross this Path.
Together… we'll pierce the very heavens."
---
Momoshiki stared at him, speechless.
He had thought himself mad—
but now he understood.
This man was worse.
So much worse.
"Pierce the heavens, huh…"
Down below, Isshiki watched silently from afar.
His mind trembled.
His fists clenched.
For all his calm, his heart quaked with something like awe.
"So this… is the meaning of the Path to Godhood."
Somewhere inside him, a seed was taking root—
a seed of ambition.
---
"We're doomed. He's going to get even stronger…"
Urashiki, watching from the edge of the mental plane, was pale as ash.
He no longer cared about Momoshiki's fate—
he actually wanted him to die quickly, just to get it over with.
But the thought of Momoshiki dying in Kitagawa Gen's hands made his gut twist with dread.
He'd already been killed by this man once.
If Gen grew even stronger now…
then what would happen if Urashiki ever revived?
He'd just be next on the menu.
"Isshiki's losing it too… They're all insane…"
For the first time, Urashiki began to think maybe—
just maybe—
those "lowly creatures" on the smaller worlds were more trustworthy than his own kin.
---
"You think you've already won?!"
Momoshiki's roar split the air.
His face twisted in rage.
He could devour others—
but being devoured?
Unthinkable.
"I found this Path first! I won't be your fruit!"
The golden Rinnegan on his forehead flared violently, its light twisting and darkening.
The earth began to quake.
Then, with a deafening roar, the ground split apart.
From the depths rose a monstrous creature—
its body a writhing fusion of serpentine limbs and canine heads,
each maw screaming in chaotic unison.
Its presence alone sent shockwaves across the battlefield.
Even miles away, ninja collapsed to their knees under its killing intent.
"Inukaitakerunomikoto…?"
Gen sighed, his gaze soft but heavy with disappointment.
"Lord Momoshiki," he said quietly, "why won't you give yourself a dignified end?"
"Dignity?!"
Momoshiki snarled, his chakra flaring like a sun gone mad.
"The one who will ascend isn't you—it's me!
You really think you've already devoured me?!"
Gen chuckled softly, almost pitying.
"So much confidence," he murmured.
Then his expression turned distant, as if speaking not to Momoshiki, but to fate itself.
"You still don't see it, do you, Lord Momoshiki?"
He raised his hand, golden light pooling in his palm.
"When was it, exactly… that you mistook yourself for someone who still had a chance?"
"What—?"
Momoshiki's eyes widened—
but before he could react, he felt it:
A vast, irresistible force pressing in from all directions.
No matter how he moved—
he couldn't escape it.
It wasn't an attack.
It was inevitability.
---
A sound like the ringing of divine bells filled the sky.
HUMMMMMM—
Golden light erupted—
piercing space and time itself.
It enveloped Momoshiki and the monstrous Inugami completely.
Then came the roar.
A detonation so powerful the entire continent seemed to shudder.
The earth heaved, the skies split, and a tidal wave of dust and chakra consumed everything.
When it cleared, there was nothing left but chaos—
the world itself trembling beneath the weight of divine wrath.
---
"Piercing the heavens…"
From afar, Isshiki watched, eyes gleaming with mad excitement.
"So this… this is the power of the Path to Godhood…"
Meanwhile, Urashiki—now far, far away—
watched the golden cataclysm from a distance,
his entire body trembling.
"It's over…" he whispered. "Momoshiki's finished… and that monster just got stronger again…"
But even as fear twisted his gut,
a darker thought crept into his mind.
"If I don't step onto the Path to Godhood… can I even survive in this world anymore?"
His gaze flicked sideways—
to Isshiki, who was still lost in rapture, whispering about the "new dawn."
Urashiki's throat tightened.
He didn't trust Isshiki.
He didn't trust anyone.
And yet…
He couldn't stop thinking about those words:
"Without the Path to Godhood… I won't survive."