The abnormality of the moon could not be hidden at all. Almost every living being in the entire ninja world could sense it, let alone Obito Uchiha and the others, and Toneri Ōtsutsuki, who was already connected to the giant Tenseigan on the moon.
The moment the moon began to collapse, Obito and his two companions all turned their eyes skyward, shock written across their faces.
In their line of sight, countless energy beams rained down like a meteor shower, striking the surface of the moon again and again. Under such bombardment, the massive moon began to fracture piece by piece, until even its core split apart.
And then—it shattered.
"This kind of thing…" Obito's eyes narrowed in disbelief. Even now, with the full might of the Sage of Six Paths at his disposal, he had never imagined he would one day witness the moon itself breaking apart.
Madara's brows furrowed deeply. The situation was spiraling into something even more extreme. If his senses weren't mistaken, that meteor-like bombardment was composed of spiritual power.
Which meant the ones responsible for this world-shaking destruction were—Kirigakure.
And their target was obvious…
Madara and Obito's gazes both fell upon the stunned figure beside them—Ōtsutsuki Toneri.
As their long-time collaborator, they understood well why Toneri's power was so great. The key was the giant Tenseigan he controlled.
But now that the moon was breaking apart, everything upon it would soon be lost—including that giant Tenseigan.
"No… it can't be."
Toneri's figure vanished from where he stood. Using his connection with the Tenseigan, he instantly entered Tenseigan Chakra Mode and shot toward the moon at full speed.
As long as he could reach it before the collapse was complete, he could preserve its power.
But if he allowed the moon to crumble further… then without his protection, the giant Tenseigan, relying only on the meager energy of the Moon Palace Barrier, would not survive such catastrophic destruction.
Not to mention the ever-watchful eyes of Kirigakure!
Panic surging within him, Toneri became a streak of emerald light, racing into space toward the moon.
But just as he left the shinobi world's atmosphere, a vast surge of spiritual power erupted before him. In an instant, the space around Toneri was completely sealed.
"Apologies—but this path is closed!"
The very one who had unleashed Hadō #91 and shattered the moon now appeared before Ōtsutsuki Toneri. With the support of Uchiha Hikari's Eight Thousand Spears dojutsu, her spiritual power had already returned to its peak.
"Get out of my way!" Toneri roared, a golden sword flashing into his hand. Its radiance blazed like the sun itself, a dazzling brilliance that split through the void in a single instant.
But Minato Namikaze's figure flickered aside, slipping past in the blink of an eye.
Within his Flying Thunder God barrier, he was invincible!
"Until the moon completely collapses, you're not going anywhere!"
"Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"
With fury fueling him, Toneri unleashed repulsive force without restraint. Bolstered by the chakra of the giant Tenseigan, this outpouring of power was no weaker than the cataclysmic Shinra Tensei that Obito had once used to level Kirigakure.
Minato's expression twisted in alarm. This massive, area-wide attack was a complete counter to his Flying Thunder God barrier!
Repulsive force sealed all escape, pressing in without blind spots.
A golden arc of light flashed. The devastating Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion sliced clean through Minato's right arm—the one holding his marked kunai.
"So fast!"
Minato Namikaze's heart jolted in shock as his right arm was severed—at last, he truly felt the terror of Ōtsutsuki Toneri.
This level of power was completely above Uchiha Obito. No wonder the upper echelons of Kirigakure were determined to destroy the moon if it meant eliminating this threat. If they had to face such an opponent head-on, their chances of victory would be slim at best.
And if Obito joined him on the battlefield, unless Yuki Yoru personally intervened, Kirigakure's defeat would be certain.
"No matter what, I have to hold you here!"
"Kurama!"
Minato ignored his severed arm. With a low shout, golden light erupted around him—Kurama Mode had been unleashed.
Not only that—at the corners of his eyes, faint yellow markings appeared.
This was—
The Eight-Thousand Spears Spirit Boost: Sage Art · Kurama Mode!
This time, Minato held nothing back. Entering Kurama Mode, he directly released the full might of the Nine-Tails within him.
In an instant, a massive golden fox appeared in the heavens.
Its body shone with dazzling gold, but its aura was strange. Beyond the overwhelming chakra, it also contained a dense blend of natural energy and spiritual power.
Minato was throwing everything into stopping Ōtsutsuki Toneri!
Toneri, however, had no interest in wasting words. Eager only to reach the moon, he had no patience for being entangled with Minato.
As the golden Nine-Tails lunged, Toneri simply flickered forward, bringing his golden sword down in a gleaming arc.
Yet the slash did not cut the beast in half as expected. Instead, two massive golden hands reached out and caught the blade directly—bare-handed. The Nine-Tails gripped the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion with all its might.
"What?!"
Toneri was stunned. In that instant, he sensed Minato's energy surging skyward—its strength rivaling even his own Tenseigan Chakra Mode.
Impossible! Even with the Nine-Tails' power and his Bankai unleashed, Minato shouldn't have been capable of this level of force.
"Such… abundant energy…"
Even Minato himself was surprised, staring at the sword he had expected to slice through him. Yet he had stopped it.
He looked down at his palm. The mark of the Eight-Thousand Spears blazed with a brilliant crimson light, telling him why this was possible.
"Thanks, Hikari."
An endless stream of spiritual power flowed into him through the Eight-Thousand Spears, giving him the power to stand against Toneri.
But blocking a single strike wasn't nearly enough.
Having his attack stalled only stoked Toneri's fury. His figure flickered, golden blade arcing at sharper angles than ever before.
Boom!!
The massive golden Nine-Tails' chest erupted into countless shards of energy, its body blasted backward by the strike.
Yet in the very next instant, its shattered form blazed with even greater chakra, surging forth once more in defiance.
Annoying fly!
Toneri's irritation boiled over. Under normal circumstances, he might have indulged himself in crushing these insects, curious to see the limits of their resistance.
But now—with the moon on the brink of collapse—who could say how long the Moon Palace Barrier would last?
If the shattering lunar body destroyed the barrier, the giant Tenseigan would inevitably be damaged.
That was something he could never allow.
"Die!"
The thought of the Tenseigan in jeopardy drove Toneri into a frenzy. Chakra erupted from him like a flood, the boundless power of the Tenseigan pouring forth. Waves of repulsive force spread outward in all directions—normally invisible, but now tangible, surging like a tidal wave, indiscriminately crushing everything in their path!
Rumble…
The sky trembled, space itself wailed.
A golden blade split the heavens, tornadoes surged forth!
...
"Not planning to act, Obito?"
In the Konoha Village, Uchiha Madara stood with his arms crossed, gazing at the quaking firmament. His voice was calm, almost indifferent:
"If this drags on too long and the moon completely collapses, Ōtsutsuki Toneri will be finished, won't he?"
Toneri was indeed a formidable combatant. In the struggle against Kirigakure, without him, Obito never would have made it this far.
But now that the Ten Tails had already fallen into Obito's hands, Toneri's usefulness had greatly diminished.
In fact, compared to Toneri himself, what truly piqued Obito's interest was the giant Tenseigan on the moon.
During his earlier cooperation with Toneri, Obito had already made some discoveries—this Tenseigan's power was in no way inferior to the Rinnegan. The only difference was foundation: the Rinnegan's roots lay in the Sharingan, while the Tenseigan's lay in the Byakugan.
Different paths, but ultimately the same origin.
Even if Obito could not wield the Tenseigan directly, he could still devour its energy, using it to compensate for the missing Nine-Tails within the Ten Tails he controlled.
"You stabilize the situation," Obito suddenly ordered. "I'm going to the moon."
Without waiting for a response, his figure vanished on the spot, speeding toward the collapsing moon.
Uchiha Madara gave a cold snort. Of course, he had seen through Obito's real intentions. But now was not the time.
His Eternal Mangekyō spun, and with a sweep, his Complete Susanoo unfurled its wings, tearing through the sky as he soared into the heavens.
...
On the battlefield.
Violent energy waves burst forth again and again. One-armed Minato Namikaze gasped heavily, his eyes locked on the emerald-green figure before him.
Even with the endless spiritual power streaming into him through the Eight-Thousand Spears, he was still no match for Ōtsutsuki Toneri—for Toneri himself was being endlessly supplied with chakra from the giant Tenseigan.
Uchiha Hikari could draw on the spiritual power of everyone in Kirigakure who bore the Eight-Thousand Spears mark. But no matter how vast that power was, it could not compare to the colossal energy of the moon's Tenseigan.
Now, with the moon on the verge of collapse, every one of Toneri's strikes was full-force. If not for Minato's extraordinary mobility, he would have already lost!
Suspended in the air, Toneri held the intensely condensed Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion in hand. At last, he realized: unless he eliminated this man first, he would never be able to return to guard the Tenseigan.
In that case…
He must die.
Expressionless, Toneri brought the golden blade down in an instant. At the same time, his left hand conjured a Truth-Seeking Orb.
Fueled by the near-infinite chakra of the giant Tenseigan, the orb spun violently. Emerald energy wrapped its surface, then a silver halo formed around it. From within that halo, gales howled, their cutting winds fierce and merciless, roaring straight at Minato.
"Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"
"Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"
Minato's pupils shrank to pinpoints. Instinctively, he tried to dodge—
But the storming winds of the Silver Wheel had locked the entire area in place.
And beyond those raging gales, he suddenly noticed spheres of strange chakra scattered everywhere, quietly enclosing him.
With a single misstep, Minato Namikaze's body brushed against one of the chakra spheres—
and the golden flash of his figure came to an abrupt halt.
A spirit orb—an attack on the mental plane!
Even the golden flash, gliding like a dragon through space, could not escape judgment from the realm of the spirit.
The very next moment, the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion descended.
The dazzling blade split open the void, and in that instant, it was as if not a sword but a blazing, radiant sun itself had fallen from the heavens!
Bound by the spirit orb's restraint, Minato could not dodge.
The golden blade cleaved him in two, annihilating his body completely.
"Minato!!"
"Mom!!"
Back in Kirigakure, as if her very soul had been struck, Kushina let out a heart-wrenching cry and collapsed unconscious.
Naruto, who had only just reunited with his mother, panicked as he held her limp form.
He couldn't understand why she had suddenly fainted—but at the same time, he too felt unbearable pain,
as if a thousand needles were stabbing straight into his heart.
The golden flash had fallen silent.
Ōtsutsuki Toneri, without so much as glancing back, sped straight toward the moon.
But just then—
a colossal, deep-blue shadow like a demon god barred his path.
"Uchiha Madara…" Toneri growled, eyes flashing. "What are you trying to do?!"
"As you can see, someone doesn't want you to return," Madara replied coolly.
"Besides, he's already gone ahead of you—to the moon."
"Damn it!"
In an instant, Toneri understood the meaning behind Madara's words.
Fury surged through him, and he raised the Golden Wheel high overhead.
"Do you really think you can stop me?!"
"Who knows?" Madara answered, his tone flat.
Toneri's Tenseigan Chakra Mode was undeniably powerful—far beyond the strength Madara once had when fighting Hashirama.
But now, having obtained that man's power, Madara was confident he could stand against Toneri.
And besides…
"Don't you feel it? You've grown weaker."
"What?"
Toneri froze.
Though he still appeared cloaked in Tenseigan Chakra Mode, his aura was nothing like it had been moments ago in his fight against Minato.
In fact—it wasn't even at the Six Paths level anymore!
"Impossible… the Giant Tenseigan wasn't destroyed… Damn it—it's that Uchiha Obito!"
The realization struck him like lightning.
Without hesitation, Toneri gripped the Golden Wheel and hurled himself forward in a streak of cyan-blue light.
Inside his crystalline Complete Susanoo, Madara stood with arms folded.
The Susanoo's sword clashed head-on against Toneri's Golden Wheel.
The Susanoo's blade shattered—
but so too did the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, once strong enough to cleave apart stars.
It fractured and splintered, dissolving into countless beams of golden light that scattered into the void…