Somewhere in the Land of Fire...
Kakashi was leading Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura on a mission. Their current assignment was to investigate a string of nighttime thefts in the capital. Many noble households had been targeted, and not a single trace had been left behind, it was clearly the work of a shinobi.
"No activity on my end. Unit 1, what's your status?"
Kakashi, wearing an earpiece, crouched on a rooftop. Below him, through the window, came the unmistakable sounds of an intimate scene. He gave a brief glance downward, then looked away, expression unchanged.
Elsewhere, perched on a tree branch, Sasuke responded in a low voice:
"No signs of anything."
"Nothing here either," Sakura added, moving silently across the rooftops of the capital.
Kakashi tilted his head. "Unit 3, report."
Honestly, with his current level of power, this kind of mission could be solved in minutes. A single glance with his Rinnegan could scan the entire city, instantly revealing every chakra signature. But this mission was meant for training purposes. He was here to supervise, letting Naruto and the others take points.
"Think I saw something… Oh. Just a cat," Naruto's voice crackled through the earpiece.
Kakashi sighed and lay back on the tiled roof, staring up at the sky.
It was then that he noticed something odd about the moon.
It looked larger than usual… and red. Deep crimson. A sinister glow. Then, concentric ripples began to form across its surface, patterns like the Rinnegan, with nine tomoe emerging.
"…What the, "
Kakashi froze. His expression instantly darkened.
That image, that light… it reminded him of something Kaede had once warned him about, Infinite Tsukuyomi!
Hum!!
Without hesitation, Kakashi's black eye transformed into a Sharingan, then twisted into the Mangekyo, and finally into the Rinnegan. A surge of chakra erupted from within him.
Blue chakra burst skyward and rapidly condensed into a colossal avatar, a fully formed Complete Body Susanoo, wings unfurling as it took flight above the city.
"Naruto! Sasuke! Sakura!!" Kakashi shouted, his voice echoing from within the giant chakra being.
The sheer presence of the Susanoo immediately caught the others' attention. It was their first time seeing Kakashi's full power in action, and all three were visibly shaken.
"Kakashi-sensei?!"
Whoosh!
With one powerful flap of the Susanoo's wings, Kakashi soared across the city, sweeping up Sakura first and placing her safely inside the avatar's head. Then he scooped up Naruto and Sasuke.
And just as all three were secured inside,
Blinding white light burst from the moon, transforming it into a second sun. That dazzling brilliance spread across the entire shinobi world in an instant.
Inside the capital, countless civilians and shinobi had been roused by the noise. Many pushed open windows to look out,
But before they could even speak, their bodies froze.
Their pupils began to ripple with the unmistakable rings of the Rinnegan.
"What's happening?!"
Inside the Susanoo, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were protected from the light. But they stared down at the scene below, the capital swallowed in light, the night sky turned to day, and couldn't hide their shock.
Kakashi's expression was grim as he gazed at the heavens.
"This is it, Infinite Tsukuyomi. A genjutsu cast using the moon as a projector... affecting the entire shinobi world."
"The entire world?!" Sakura gasped, disbelief etched across her face.
Sasuke stared skyward, stunned. "A jutsu like this… is that even something a human can do?"
Kakashi's Rinnegan gave him a perspective far beyond what the others could see. With it, he saw an immense and otherworldly silhouette stretching across the sky.
The moon, marked by nine tomoe and Rinnegan ripples, was the third eye in the forehead of that being.
He hadn't seen her personally, but he'd heard the stories from Kaede.
The Progenitor of Chakra,
Otsutsuki Kaguya.
"No, not a human," Kakashi murmured. "But that's the point, she's not human."
He took a deep breath. There was no doubt about it now, Kaguya had returned. And she had succeeded in activating Infinite Tsukuyomi.
"Not human…" Naruto echoed, the weight of Kakashi's words sinking in.
And then,
The ground began to tremble violently.
From beneath the earth, massive trees erupted skyward, thick enough to block out the sky. Their roots and trunks twisted through the city, engulfing buildings.
Shhhrrrip!
Kakashi's eyes flashed. With one powerful swing, the Susanoo's sword cleaved through a tree the size of a village, slicing it cleanly in half.
But more trees continued to rise, endless and overwhelming, forcing Kakashi to maneuver higher into the sky for a better vantage point.
Looking down,
The sprawling trees began extending long, wooden tendrils, like bandages, reaching into buildings and wrapping around people, pulling them out one by one.
"…What is that now?!" Sasuke asked, rattled again by the eerie sight.
Kakashi stared below, voice low and heavy.
"Kaede told me about this… It's a Wood Release technique enhanced by Six Paths power"
"God: Nativity of a World of Trees."
He looked back to the sky once more.
Kaguya has released both Infinite Tsukuyomi and God: Nativity of a World of Trees. The only ones capable of resisting them now were Kaede… and himself.
"Looks like this time, we finally get to fight side by side, Brother…"
Kakashi whispered the words as he gazed upward.
With the Six Paths power flowing through him, he could now withstand Kaguya's ultimate techniques. That meant he'd finally reached that level, no longer standing in Kaede's shadow, but beside him.
From the very beginning, Kakashi had always chased after Kaede's back.
But the gap had only widened over the years.
Now, at last, he was ready to fight with him.
After all these years, it was finally time,
The brothers would fight together again.
Not even the Progenitor of Chakra would be allowed to destroy this world.
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria