'Ōtsutsuki Shibai's bodily energy really is something that neither Momoshiki, Urashiki, nor even Isshiki can compare to!'
Kitagawa Gen had no idea that Kaguya was once again trembling in fear; at this moment, he was thinking about the feasibility of this matter.
Kaguya had said before that planting the God Tree was, in fact, also a form of energy conversion—and his God Tree was now so massive.
'The amount of energy required will only be greater, so I really do need more and even more powerful energy sources.'
He had no intention of taking the God Tree outside to plant it; planetary energy was tied to the survival or decline of a life-bearing world.
This planet was his, so naturally, he could not possibly do such a thing.
Thus, he could only consider other methods, and no matter how he looked at it, Ōtsutsuki Shibai's body seemed extremely suitable.
'Even after death, his cells can still be extracted to allow certain experimental subjects to obtain 'Shinjutsu.' If I use that thing for tree-planting, the effect will definitely be even better.'
Kitagawa Gen's eyes lit up; no matter what, he absolutely could not allow something like that to go to waste.
'But that is all for later. I can more or less pinpoint Isshiki's space, but breaking it open still poses some difficulty.'
Kitagawa Gen forcibly suppressed the excitement in his heart; he knew very well that finding that corpse right now would not be so simple.
Moreover, he had already collected the corpses of Momoshiki and Urashiki—he could not waste them either.
'After all, my development is still not complete. Once this matter ends, I'll go find Ōtsutsuki Shibai's remains, and then…'
Perhaps he could obtain an even stronger fruit; perhaps he could achieve one hundred percent completion of his own development.
When that time came, he might truly become, just like Ōtsutsuki Shibai, an existence that transcended dimensions and surpassed even the concept of life and death!
'And I also remember that Ōtsutsuki Hamura's bones are on the moon…'
Suddenly, Kitagawa Gen once again thought of Ōtsutsuki Hamura.
However, considering that he still carried Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's chakra within him, and that he himself would never do such a thing—
In the end, he shifted his gaze back to the "pill" in his hand and then spoke.
"In a bit I want to try using Momoshiki and Urashiki's bodies as sacrifices; I need you to help me properly."
"Oh."
At this moment, Kaguya came back to her senses, and Kitagawa Gen's chakra had already begun to stir.
In an instant, Momoshiki's "pill" was already being continuously absorbed by him; at that moment, an unbelievable aura surged over his entire body.
All the energy within him seemed to be stimulated at once, and his chakra in particular was interweaving wildly.
"This is…"
Kaguya suddenly widened her eyes. As she felt the surging aura around Kitagawa Gen, her face was filled with disbelief.
"He actually managed to reach this step?"
...
With Akatsuki's formal declaration of war, the entire ninja world had already begun to move.
Whether it was Konohagakure, Kirigakure, or Iwagakure, there were shinobi going in and out almost every moment.
A tense atmosphere continuously spread through each great hidden village; after all, this time the situation really was more serious than ever before!
Although their exact military strength was still unclear, no one would underestimate Akatsuki's power; after all, they were capable of Impure World Reincarnation.
All the great hidden villages had to be wary of them summoning a whole host of undying enemies—especially since these "enemies" might be former comrades or even predecessors!
However, under the immense threat posed by Akatsuki and the Ten Tails, the three great hidden villages had instead displayed a very different stance.
They had all but completely set aside all past grudges and were united as never before.
Of course, some also speculated that it was because their Kage had very good relations with one another.
As these three great hidden villages began to exert their strength and continued inviting the small-country hidden villages to join them, the entire ninja world began to boil.
Even though things were still only at the mobilization stage, almost the entire ninja world was already faintly shrouded in the shadow of war.
"Hmph, are these guys planning to drag the entire ninja world down with them?"
Inside Akatsuki's base, Obito could not help but let out a cold snort when he heard this news.
"But this is fine too. The more people they gather, the better it is for us!"
"We still need to keep one thing in mind: our true enemy is Ōtsutsuki Genshiki."
Nagato spoke with a frown from the side, his pair of Rinnegan sweeping over Obito.
"And I also have my doubts about whether we still have enough forces besides Impure World Reincarnation."
"Don't worry, I've long since made my preparations."
Obito let out a light snort and spoke calmly.
"I've prepared a force of one hundred thousand White Zetsu. Even if their combat strength isn't high, together with Impure World Reincarnation, they're already more than enough for us to use."
One hundred thousand White Zetsu could be considered Obito's trump card.
Just as he said, White Zetsu's combat strength really wasn't much, but when it came to raids, sabotage, and disgusting the enemy, they were extremely good at it.
If used properly, and combined with his own great army of Impure World Reincarnation, he believed there would absolutely be no problem!
'However, if we really want to deal with Ōtsutsuki Genshiki, the key still lies with the 'Evolvers'.'
In truth, Obito himself did not even know what exactly these so-called "Evolvers" were, but he felt that he definitely had to be one of them!
Not just him—he felt that both Kimimaro and this Nagato were also "Evolvers."
'I often feel that my chakra links with theirs; that alone is enough to explain a lot.'
Only people of the same kind could have chakra that mutually pulled on one another.
Obito felt that he was an "Evolver," so these two were probably the same.
Although he also found it strange why these two would be like this, no matter how he thought about it, this was not a bad thing.
Especially after learning about the "Divine Ascension Stairway," he had truly begun to wonder whether that thing could be applied to the "Evolvers."
'If it really works, why shouldn't I become the only Evolver?'
The thought of becoming the sole "Evolver" had already begun to slowly take shape in Obito's mind.
After all, when he had worked with Uchiha Madara before, once he understood the truth of the matter, he chose to shake off Uchiha Madara and become the Ten Tails' jinchūriki himself in order to advance the Infinite Tsukuyomi!
Now, this was just the same thing happening again.
In his eyes, Nagato was nothing more than a chess piece, and Kimimaro was just a mindless plaything completely controlled by Orochimaru.
He did not feel that those two had any right to stand on equal footing with him!
He had already come this far, and he was now certain that he had been moving forward all this way "under Rin's encouragement," so he was determined to walk this path to the very end.
'Looks like I'll have to have a talk with Uchiha Madara. I can't let this Nagato guy make it to the end.'
So thought Obito in his heart, though outwardly he remained calm as he continued discussing the next steps with Nagato.
And while Nagato appeared to be listening very seriously on the surface, deep down he faintly felt a trace of unease.
'This guy is a bit off; I'm afraid his intentions aren't nearly as simple as they seem.'
Nagato was no fool. If Obito could sense his chakra, then naturally he could also sense Obito's chakra.
That feeling of being mutually linked together was very strange, but he was also very clear on one thing.
'This time, after being gravely injured, I've become different.'
His injuries this time were by no means light, but the strange thing was that he recovered very quickly.
This rate of recovery was far faster than before—so much faster he could not even tell by how much.
Moreover, he also felt that there was an indescribable power within his body pushing him to grow stronger without stop!
'It's truly unbelievable. And besides me and Obito, there should be one more—Kimimaro.'
Although Nagato did not really understand what was going on, this experience had given him an insight.
Those "Gods" could devour one another and make themselves stronger.
Then weren't people like them, who had undergone abnormal changes and whose chakra mutually attracted one another, also somewhat special?
For example—
'Our own 'Divine Ascension Stairway'?'
Nagato secretly furrowed his brows. If things really were like that, then the situation would be somewhat bad.
'Hmph, it's only Uchiha Obito. I'd actually like to see what he can do…'
Although he felt a sense of crisis in his heart, Nagato still had his own confidence.
After all, he had always believed that he was someone who could walk the Six Paths anew!
Moreover, he now had another conjecture.
'Perhaps Kitagawa Gen had long since set foot on this path. No wonder he's that strong…'
On the surface, Nagato and Obito were "brothers," but within their shared consciousness space, the three Ōtsutsuki were taking it even more seriously.
'Oh? He actually worked that out on his own?'
Isshiki was somewhat surprised. Although he had been guiding Obito all along, this time he really had not done much.
He had never expected that Obito would, just from Ōtsutsuki Genshiki's series of battles, comprehend this on his own.
'Although there are some issues, the conclusion is correct!'
Isshiki secretly nodded. Obito might be somewhat stupid, but this time he was unexpectedly capable!
'Yo, I didn't expect my vessel to be quite this smart.'
While Isshiki was surprised, Momoshiki was also somewhat taken aback; even he had not expected Nagato to react so quickly.
However, what annoyed him was that his own vessel did not seem to have any "I want to do this too" kind of thought.
'But it doesn't matter. This body is very 'high-level,' and Isshiki and Urashiki have also helped me, so…'
A smile appeared on Momoshiki's face. That meant he could make some moves in secret, and he believed he would definitely win!
As he pondered, the corner of his eye couldn't help drifting toward Isshiki—and, coincidentally, Isshiki also looked over. The two of them were stunned on the spot.
In the next second, they tacitly turned their heads to look at Urashiki, who seemed lost in thought, but just as their gazes fell on him, Urashiki snapped back to his senses.
"What are you looking at?"
Urashiki spoke warily. Right now, all of his clansmen were jackals, and he had to be extremely cautious!
"It's nothing. Don't be so sensitive."
Isshiki reined in his gaze a little, shook his head, and spoke, and Momoshiki also started laughing.
"We're allies, after all. Don't overthink it; I was just thinking about some of the clan's rules."
"You mean—"
Urashiki asked cautiously, while Momoshiki turned his head to look at Isshiki.
"How did you even come up with breaking the rules, Isshiki?"
"…"
Isshiki took a deep breath; he couldn't be bothered to answer that question, but he couldn't help starting to think about another.
"What do you think the meaning of that rule really is? Why did such a rule end up existing in the first place?"
"Who knows."
Momoshiki rubbed his chin, then suddenly broke into a wicked grin.
"Maybe back in ancient times, we went through some kind of civil war or something like that."
"And the cause of that civil war was precisely this."
Isshiki frowned. This explanation seemed somewhat plausible, and Urashiki also understood what Momoshiki meant.
"And because the fighting was too brutal, in the end not many survived, so they set down such clan rules?"
When the three of them thought of this, they all couldn't help falling silent.
Even they themselves felt that what they had just said was far-fetched, but who could say what the future would really be like?
If their guess was true, then every one of those higher, superior beings had come from such a blood-soaked, barbaric era.
They had done it back then too!
It was only because too many had died that they had been forced to make a choice and let the Ōtsutsuki clan change to another method of advancement.
'When the time is about right, who can guarantee they won't do it again?'
At that thought, a subtle change came over the gazes of all three of them.
After all, once the seed of doubt had been planted, they were already standing in a dark forest!
'Since they all did it, then they can't blame me.'
The three of them murmured softly, then couldn't help but exchange another glance.
In the next moment, they all laughed, and their smiles were particularly "brilliant."
While things outside were a complete mess—
Within Ame-no-Minaka, Kitagawa Gen's aura was steadily rising.
That vast power was continuously battering everything around, and even that enormous "Source of the God Tree" seemed on the verge of collapsing at this moment.
Most crucially, this towering great tree had actually become rather "skinny and emaciated" at this point.
Those thick branches had all become "slender," and the leaves that had originally shone with luster were especially withered.
In this state, it was as if a massive amount of energy had been drawn out of it!
"How is this possible?"
At this moment, Kaguya's face was full of disbelief. Whether it was the "God Tree" before her or Kitagawa Gen, both seemed to have completely shattered her understanding!
This really was her first time seeing Kitagawa Gen, and the God Tree, in such a state.
"What on earth is with this guy? How did he manage to reach this step?"
Kaguya murmured softly, and after a moment, her face was filled with a bitter smile.
"You really are a madman. It seems you've once again proven that your 'Divine Ascension Stairway' truly works…"
As she was lost in thought, Kitagawa Gen's aura suddenly began to draw back, and his power started condensing without cease at that moment.
[Thump—]
[Thump—]
A sound like a heartbeat quietly rang out, as though new life were constantly being brewed.
In the next instant, Kitagawa Gen suddenly opened his eyes.
His pair of eyes, as dazzling as the stars, illuminated the entire "Ame-no-Minaka" in that moment!
As his eyes opened, a surging power instantly filled the entire space, as if it were going to completely twist this domain out of shape.
At the same time, an unbelievable glow of rosy light appeared in the sky.
This glow completely shrouded Kitagawa Gen, as though a blazing divine might were constantly manifesting upon him!
And at that very moment, his status panel quietly opened, and a series of entries appeared before his eyes.
[Name: Kitagawa Gen]
[Bloodline: Ōtsutsuki Clan (Development: 86 percent)]
[Dōjutsu: Tenseigan (Full Moon Eye)]
[Shinjutsu: Yomitsu, Kamiten]
[Special Ability: Source of the God Tree (Ninth Stage)]
[Special Bloodline Limit: Kekkei Mōra (Initial)]
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