"Where is the pen?"
As the question was asked, Ame-no-Tajikara, floating in his palm, began to bleed again. As the blood flowed, fine cracks appeared across it.
This question was simply too important, too heavy. So heavy that even Ame-no-Tajikara had to undergo an extremely high-load deduction process to arrive at an answer.
Ryosuke didn't just stand there waiting. He charged straight at Kaguya.
He couldn't let this woman go on a killing spree.
The sudden appearance of the space portal left everyone in Shikkotsu Forest utterly shocked, unable to understand what was happening.
"Everyone, don't be afraid!"
The Slug Sage spoke as she breathed out a faint, fragrant mist toward the portal.
Instantly, countless small slugs rushed forward.
They began to plug up the space portal bit by bit.
Kaguya gritted her teeth and opened another space portal. Beyond it was the Land of Fire, Konoha Village.
With Ryosuke, Isshiki, and Momoshiki all present, Kaguya didn't dare continue Infinite Tsukuyomi and was forced to stop it.
But if she wanted to escape this planet and wander the universe, she had to absorb more chakra.
Which meant killing more people.
Thinking this, Kaguya glanced back at Ryosuke, who was chasing after her.
"A human… heh."
Kaguya had lived in the ninja world for many years and had even given birth to two sons, so she wouldn't use words like "lower life-form." Still, the contempt in her tone was impossible to hide.
If it were Isshiki or Momoshiki chasing her, she might actually feel threatened.
But a human?
Kaguya raised her hand toward Ryosuke.
"Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack!"
Countless fist shadows suddenly formed in midair and smashed toward Ryosuke.
After throwing that punch, she didn't even spare Ryosuke another glance. She resumed controlling the Divine Tree, urging it to transform and retreat faster.
Suddenly, Kaguya heard a strange sound.
"Ora ora ora ora!"
She turned around.
She saw Star Platinum swinging its iron fists, forcibly pushing through the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack and arriving right in front of her, "Ora!!!"
Kaguya was sent flying by a single punch.
However, in her Ten-Tails form, Kaguya's durability far surpassed that of Isshiki and Momoshiki.
Even after taking Star Platinum's punch head-on, she had no intention of fighting. She tore open another space portal, once again aiming for Konoha Village, the place with the most ninja and the most chakra.
———
Elsewhere, seeing Kaguya dead set on going to Konoha to slaughter people, Uchiha Madara's expression turned cold.
With the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan shattered, whether he and Ryosuke would fight or cooperate was something that still needed consideration.
But Madara would never allow some inexplicable woman to massacre Konoha.
Just as Uchiha Madara took a step forward, Isshiki shouted, "Madara, forget Kaguya! Let's seize the Divine Tree!"
"Ryosuke will go save people. If Momoshiki gets the Divine Tree, his power will increase even further. In the end, even if we defeat Ryosuke, we won't be able to stop Momoshiki. We'll be refined into pills by him."
Isshiki spoke earnestly. "Madara, you have to consider the bigger picture. Our agreement still stands. Even if Infinite Tsukuyomi is useless now, you still have me!"
The reason Isshiki said so much was mainly because, with this body, he and Madara each held partial control. In such a critical battle, if the two of them weren't united, there was no way they could defeat Ryosuke and Momoshiki.
He waited a few seconds.
Then he suddenly heard Uchiha Madara laughing.
"Get lost."
"What?"
"I said, take your so-called big picture and get the hell out."
Uchiha Madara raised his head, staring at Kaguya's back as she fled into the portal. "I left Konoha precisely because I don't like considering the bigger picture. And you… who the hell do you think you are?"
With that, he charged at Kaguya once more.
"So that's how it is…"
Isshiki let out a light sigh. "Then forgive me."
Buzz!
Madara froze in place.
He couldn't move. Not even a single finger.
It was the White Snake Sage.
The finely balanced adjustments instantly tipped entirely toward Isshiki. Isshiki gained full control of the body.
Isshiki immediately rushed toward the Divine Tree.
Because Obito's physical body wasn't a perfect match, the body Kaguya revived into couldn't fully contain the Ten-Tails' power.
That was why a Divine Tree had been left behind.
Both were manifestations of the Ten-Tails, Kaguya was the main body, and the Divine Tree was a clone.
With Isshiki and Momoshiki's methods, there were plenty of ways to bypass Kaguya and absorb the energy inside the Divine Tree to replenish themselves.
Isshiki was faster. A smile curled onto his lips.
At that moment... He froze.
A massive Susanoo appeared once more. This time, it was Isshiki who lost control of the body.
"What's going on?!"
"White Snake Sage, what are you doing?! Don't you want to kill Ryosuke anymore?!"
———
There was a long, narrow wound on the White Snake Sage's face, blood continuously flowing down. It wiped the blood away with its tail and looked toward No. 18 a few steps away.
"How did you..."
No. 18 hooked a kunai with her tail, slowly spinning it.
"Don't look so surprised. Bloodline resonance, you know how that works too. You were just too focused. You didn't even notice me coming up behind you."
No. What the White Snake Sage was shocked by wasn't No. 18 getting close.
What it couldn't understand was, where was Uchiha Itachi, who had sworn to protect it?
The White Snake Sage knew this wasn't the time for questions, but it still couldn't suppress its anger and blurted it out, "Where's Itachi?"
Jiraiya walked over, clearly already in Sage Mode. "No idea. When we arrived, there was no one there."
The White Snake Sage understood.
After learning that Infinite Tsukuyomi was a lie, Itachi had simply given up, flipped the table, and walked away.
Leaving in disappointment, fine.
The key problem was...
"Then at least give a damn warning beforehand!"
If he'd warned it, the White Snake Sage would have been on guard and wouldn't have been caught off guard like this.
"I knew it! I knew it! You can't trust Itachi!"
The White Snake Sage's teeth ground loudly as it was forced to withdraw part of its power from the Madara & Isshiki body to deal with the two enemies in front of it.
At the same time, it shouted in its heart, "Yakushi Kabuto! Obito! Help!"
No response from Obito.
Kabuto's signal was intermittent, faintly carrying his voice, "I… am… saving…"
———
Susanoo drew its twin swords and slashed in a crossing arc.
The sword light flashed. With a thunderous boom, the Divine Tree was severed from its roots in a single strike.
Madara's thinking was clear.
Momoshiki and Isshiki wanted the Divine Tree's energy.
Kaguya wanted to reclaim the Divine Tree and kill people.
Then as long as the Divine Tree was cut down first, the tempo could be slowed, and there would be a chance to go deal with Kaguya first.
With that thought, he raised his sword again.
The next second, control of the body switched.
Isshiki logged back in.
He rushed toward the root-severed Divine Tree.
But the struggle between Isshiki and Madara over control had cost time, and Momoshiki charged in even faster.
Momoshiki swept his gaze over the scene and bared his teeth in a grin.
Isshiki was still fighting Madara for control of the body.
Kaguya, seeing the Divine Tree cut down, was flying back, with Ryosuke chasing closely behind her.
"Fight all you want. In the end, the winner… will still be me."
Momoshiki had come this time intending to reap the benefits and eat the Divine Tree's fruit. Eating the Divine Tree directly now at least let him break even and make up for Kinshiki's death.
"Sacred Technique..."
Halfway through the technique, a gust of wind roared in.
Momoshiki turned his head and saw a sky battleship tear through the clouds and charge at him, firing streaks of crimson beams straight toward him.
He snorted, about to use his ability to absorb the energy contained in the beams.
Bang!
Momoshiki's body jerked sideways.
He looked down to see chunks of flesh embedded in his body, mixed with strands of hair and teeth.
Those crimson beams weren't energy attacks at all, they were flesh fired at high speed, partially vaporized in the process.
Only then did Momoshiki see clearly. What came crashing toward him wasn't a sky battleship at all, but a massive monster made of flesh and steel fused together.
It was Yakushi Kabuto and Hidan.
No. 18 and Jiraiya had gone to find the White Snake Sage.
Kabuto, meanwhile, had gone to find Hidan and Orochimaru's disc.
Since the battleship's outer armor was entirely made of Hidan's flesh, and to prevent Hidan's main body from chanting Jashinist scriptures and affecting the battleship, Hidan's body had been specially isolated.
When the White Snake Sage contacted Kabuto, he was in the isolation zone, which was why the signal was intermittent.
Kabuto and Hidan had no idea what was happening outside.
Kabuto's intel was still stuck at the version where Madara and Isshiki were cooperating to push Infinite Tsukuyomi forward.
Seeing Momoshiki trying to seize Isshiki's Divine Tree, they naturally attacked immediately.
In Sage Snake Mode, Kabuto used Inorganic Reincarnation, activating the battleship's life force. The activated Hidan flesh on the outer hull connected with Hidan's main body inside.
At that moment, Kabuto and Hidan, the two brothers, shouted, "For Infinite Tsukuyomi!"
They piloted the battleship and slammed straight into Momoshiki.
Isshiki seized the opportunity and rushed to the severed Divine Tree. With its roots cut off, the Divine Tree no longer showed signs of life, after all, the true Ten-Tails was Kaguya.
He activated his ability. The Divine Tree instantly shrank, fitting into his palm like a ginseng root.
"The Divine Tree is mine!"
Isshiki was about to swallow it in one bite.
"Star Platinum: The World!"
Time stopped.
Ryosuke walked over step by step and took the shrunken Divine Tree from Isshiki's hand.
Straight and even, hard to the touch yet still flexible, it felt just like… A good pen.
"The pen is in your hand."
Ryosuke received Ame-no-Tajikara's answer.
At the same time, the system notification sounded in his ears, [Detected 'pen'. Do you want to use Destiny Ink?]
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