Kenshin finally reacted, letting out a shrill roar, but it was already too late to save the situation. His decaying body finally gave out, collapsing with a crash and eventually turning into a pile of black ash, dissipating completely.
Even more fatal, the backlash of the Karma Shinjutsu took effect once again.
The attacks launched by Mugen and Tamashi, following the binding relationship of the Karma threads, reflected the damage back onto themselves.
Black curse energy erupted within Mugen, his body instantly corroded by the curse. Pale purple soul energy exploded in Tamashi's inner world, his soul shattering into nothingness.
The two didn't even have time to let out a final scream before becoming funerary objects for Kenshin.
Shun reached into the unknown void, three pairs of Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan floating in his palm: a pair of blue eyes, a pair of black eyes, and a pair of pale purple eyes. These were spoils of war secretly intercepted from the past timeline.
He raised his hand to store the three pairs of Rinnegan into his storage space and looked at Kaguya beside him.
"Everything went smoothly. You see, we've already dealt with four."
A subtle flash of amazement flickered in Kaguya's silver-gray eyes.
She knew the strength of the Otsutsuki Upper Echelon well. Shun being able to so easily deal with three at once was far beyond her expectations.
But this amazement was fleeting, quickly replaced by a cold determination.
She stepped forward quickly, placing her hand on the runic array inside the palace gates, her power spreading along the lines of the runes.
The half-open palace gates slowly closed. After a soft "creak," the runic array was fully activated. Pale gold light patterns moved and intertwined quickly on the door, forming a dense web of light that temporarily sealed off the fluctuations inside the hall.
Kaguya's gaze swept warily across the palace gates, her silver-gray eyes full of gravity. "First we took down Tokiyomi, and now three more high-level members have fallen. The remaining core members can't possibly fail to notice. We must prepare for a response as quickly as possible."
Not long after, the sound of footsteps as dense as thunder came from outside the hall.
Thump... Thump... Thump...
Countless feet stepped on the ground, merging into a deafening sound, as if thousands of troops were approaching.
Immediately after, a piercing alarm sound penetrated through layers of palaces, echoing wildly throughout the entire palace. That alarm was as sharp as a death-summoning horn, making one's eardrums ache, and the shifting light and shadows added to the tension.
Shun's expression remained unchanged. He had already foreseen everything happening now through Ten Directions.
The Rinnegan in his eyes spun at full speed, and the pale gold aura suddenly surged. The shifting light and shadows in his eyes instantly penetrated the runic light web of the palace gates, clearly reflecting the scene outside.
Outside the Karma Shrine, the mist of Karma that originally shrouded it had long been dispersed by the backlash energy. Densely packed Otsutsuki swarmed in like a tide, blocking the gates so tightly that no end could be seen.
The weapons in these clan members' hands glinted with a cold light.
Some held long blades crackling with lightning, their blades flowing with violent lightning-attribute Chakra.
Some held short blades engraved with eerie runes, which flickered with a chilling killing intent.
Many Otsutsuki also controlled Chakra heavy cannons pointed at the gates, the energy condensing at the muzzles flashing constantly, ready to attack at any moment.
Every weapon exuded a fatal killing intent, and in every pair of eyes, besides anger toward the intruders, there was more of an undisguisable fear.
The news of the successive deaths of four core high-level members had already spread throughout the palace via the Otsutsuki network. The once-arrogant Otsutsuki, who viewed other races as ants, felt the threat of death for the first time.
Buzz... Buzz... Buzz...
Suddenly, waves of terrifying pressure surged from all directions.
The air inside the hall instantly became viscous, making even breathing difficult.
The Otsutsuki outside retreated to both sides like a tide, bowing their noble heads one after another.
Six towering figures stepped slowly from the crowd, they were the remaining six members of the Otsutsuki Upper Echelon.
The Chakra around them surged, colors like red, blue, green, and gold intertwining to form a suffocating energy canopy in mid-air, blotting out the sky.
"Kaguya, you traitor!"
Leading them, Seirin stepped forward, his voice exploding like thunder, making the surrounding air tremble violently.
Densely packed golden runes appeared around him, moving quickly over his body as if they were alive, then converging in front of him to form a massive golden array several meters in diameter. As the array rotated, it emitted a terrifying power that suppressed all things, slowly descending toward the palace gates.
Seirin's gaze was bone-chillingly cold, like ice that would never melt, filled with disdain and anger.
In his view, Kaguya, as an Otsutsuki, had conspired with an outsider to slaughter her own kin and murder core high-level members. This was a supreme humiliation to the entire Otsutsuki race, more unforgivable than a mortal enemy.
"How dare you collude with outsiders to slaughter your own kin! Today, I will grind your bones to ash, seal your soul, and ensure you never find peace in reincarnation."
"Traitor?"
Kaguya's voice was clear and resolute, without the slightest retreat.
The pale pink Chakra around her suddenly surged, sweeping out like a burning flame, slightly dispersing the surrounding pressure. Her long hair moved without wind under the drive of the Chakra, her white robes rustled, and as her hem fluttered, the aura around her was as piercing as ice.
"I have never identified with your actions of plundering the Universe and disregarding life. How can you speak of betrayal?"
Her voice rose, carrying the grief and hatred suppressed for many years, her gaze fixed firmly on a familiar yet loathed figure in the crowd outside.
"Back then, you joined forces to frame my parents. They were the core of the peace-loving faction in the clan, believing in peaceful development and resolutely opposing the expansion of the clan by planting God Trees and devouring planetary energy. But you lunatics, obsessed with ultimate evolution, were the first to purge them during the internal clan conflict."
At this point, her voice was trembling, and bloodshot veins surged in her silver-gray eyes. "Especially you, Kugen. You were once my teacher, yet you personally turned your blade against my parents. Today, I will surely repay this blood debt a hundredfold."
She stood beside Shun, her silver-gray eyes locked onto the six high-level members outside, her muscles tense, ready for battle at any moment.
"If you want to touch her, you have to get through me first." Shun took a step forward, slightly shielding Kaguya.
The golden Chakra around him erupted, more violent than before, like a dazzling golden sun, instantly illuminating the entire Karma Shrine and even penetrating the runic light web of the gates, casting a huge golden shadow on the ground outside.
The Rinnegan in his eyes blazed with light, the golden pupils and surrounding tomoe bursting with a world-dominating aura, the glow flowing in his eyes as if it could pierce through all falsehoods in the world.
The attack trajectories of the six high-level members, the weaknesses around them, and even their subsequent attack moves appeared clearly in his eyes, precisely predicted.
"Arrogant!"
Kugen's face darkened, and a flash of complex emotion appeared in his eyes, quickly replaced by intense ruthlessness.
He had once been Kaguya's first teacher, watching her grow from an innocent child into an outstanding clan member. But in the face of the clan's ideological struggle, he had unhesitatingly stood with the ambitious faction and personally participated in the purge of Kaguya's parents.
Now, having his past exposed by Kaguya in public, he felt humiliated.
"Haaa!!!"
Kugen roared, being the first to lose patience.
The ruthlessness in his eyes erupted as he fiercely launched an attack. He raised his hand and waved it, the space around him suddenly distorting. Countless pitch-black space fragments surged from the warped space like sharp blades, making a piercing "zzzzz" sound as they shot toward the gates in a dense swarm.
This attack was even more violent than before, clearly driven by the sting of Kaguya's words.
These space fragments contained the terrifying power to tear space apart. Even an Otsutsuki's body, once hit, would be instantly shredded, leaving even the soul unable to survive.
Following closely behind was Migaki. He was clad in a thick golden shield, with a pale gold aura flowing over it like solid armor.
He kicked off the ground fiercely.
Boom!
A deep pit was stomped into the ground, and his figure shot toward the gates like a cannonball.
The other four high-level members no longer hesitated, each activating their own Shinjutsu, blasting toward the gates with the power to destroy everything.
Various energy attacks intertwined, forming a dense death web that enveloped the entire Karma Shrine, leaving no room for escape.
"Child's play." Shun snorted coldly, his tone full of disdain.
He raised his hand and waved it lightly. The violent golden Chakra around him instantly converged in front of the entrance, condensing into a massive semi-circular Space-Time Barrier.
Pale gold light flowed over the surface of the barrier, its patterns clear, as if woven from countless golden runes, emitting an indestructible aura.
Boom... Boom... Boom...
Earth-shaking explosions suddenly erupted at the gates. Space fragments, golden fists, poison mist, ice spikes, flames, and lightning storms all slammed into the golden Space-Time Barrier at once.
Dazzling light instantly swallowed the scene inside and outside the gates, even masking the sunlight.
A terrifying shockwave spread wildly in all directions, knocking back the Otsutsuki who were already kneeling on the ground. Many were even sent flying, crashing heavily to the ground, spitting blood and making chaotic noises.
However, the golden Space-Time Barrier remained unmoved. The glow flowing on its surface didn't even show a ripple, as if the combined attack of the six Otsutsuki high-level members it had just endured was nothing more than a passing breeze.
***
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