Kaguya, who had just been forcibly shown a public display of affection, stood off to the side. She simply felt that Carl and Lily looked strangely harmonious together.
Carl held Lily in his arms, lifted his eyes toward Kaguya, and asked,
"What are you planning next? Recover the fragments of the Ten Tails' chakra scattered across the ninja world?"
Kaguya froze.
"How do you know that?"
Lily also looked up at Carl, puzzled.
"How do you know so much about Kaguya?"
Carl only smiled faintly. He raised one hand, and a layer of writhing red chakra slowly surfaced in his palm.
It was Nine Tails chakra. Lily didn't recognize it, but Kaguya did—her eyes widened, filled with shock and desire.
Carl behaved like some shady uncle teasing a little girl with candy—he flashed it once, then hid it away. The Nine Tails chakra dimmed and faded until it vanished completely.
Direct and straightforward by nature, Kaguya panicked the moment the chakra disappeared. Her waterfall-like white hair whipped violently behind her.
Carl saw her anxious reaction and smirked slightly.
"You want it?"
Kaguya nodded hard. Lily shot Carl a beautiful eye-roll and muttered under her breath, "Creepy."
Carl ignored her and glanced at the Gedo Statue standing motionless nearby.
"To fully revive that thing, one portion of Nine Tails chakra isn't enough, right? Can you handle Ōtsutsuki Isshiki in your current state?"
The moment Isshiki's name was spoken, Kaguya trembled from head to toe. She stared at Carl in shock.
"You even know Ōtsutsuki Isshiki? Your eyes… don't tell me—!"
She abruptly leapt back, widening the distance between them, posture taut like she was facing a mortal enemy.
She glared at Carl, and two gray-white bones slowly extended from her palms beneath her sleeves.
Carl instantly recognized them—Ash-Killing Bones, one of Kaguya's ultimate techniques. Even Obito with the lingering power of the Sage of Six Paths couldn't endure them.
Kaguya was clearly triggered. Ever since she ambushed Isshiki and stole the Chakra Fruit, she had always been terrified that the Ōtsutsuki from the depths of space would pursue her.
When she had first been unsealed, Carl's eyes had already felt strangely familiar—similar to Hamura's, yet not the same.
During their time in the sealed space, she learned from Lily that Lily didn't even know about chakra or ninjas. But Carl now spoke many details about her. That much she could accept—after all, he had clearly come from the ninja world, and reading some records about her was possible.
But Isshiki was absolutely impossible to be recorded anywhere. The only ones who knew of him besides herself were other Ōtsutsuki.
So the moment Carl said the name "Isshiki," his identity became almost obvious in her eyes.
The Ash-Killing Bone in her palm trembled—she looked like she was about to attack, but in truth she was calculating how to escape.
In her mind, anyone the Ōtsutsuki sent to recover the Chakra Fruit would never be weak—possibly stronger than Isshiki. And if she hadn't succeeded by ambush back then, she could never have beaten him in a direct fight. Even after eating the Chakra Fruit, she wasn't certain she could defeat him… let alone now, with her power incomplete.
Most importantly, due to the loss of the Ten Tails' chakra, she couldn't use the Rinne Sharingan in her forehead.
Lily also sensed Kaguya's sudden hostility. She slid out of Carl's arms and frowned at Kaguya. From her perspective, Kaguya looked like a cat whose fur had exploded in alarm.
But Lily was ultimately a woman who had ruled the pirate world for more than 800 years. Seeing that Kaguya seemed ready to act, six massive black wings burst open behind her—like a demon king descending.
A white and black silhouette faced off across the empty space. No one could imagine that the two had been holding hands like sisters just a moment earlier.
Just as a war between women was about to erupt, Carl coughed lightly and wrapped an arm around Lily's slender waist.
Lily's mouth twitched. Still keeping her eyes fixed on Kaguya, she whispered,
"What are you doing? Kaguya isn't weak. Be serious. Take her down first… then you can do whatever later…"
Carl blinked. Unexpected bonus?
"Um… aren't you going to ask why she suddenly wants to attack me?"
"We can ask later. All I know is that she's already taken us as enemies."
"This is a misunderstanding!"
"Huh?"
Carl gently pulled the confused Lily back behind him, then spoke to Kaguya:
"No need to be so tense. I'm not an Ōtsutsuki… well, maybe there is some connection. Whatever. What matters is: I'm not with Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, and I'm not here to capture you."
Kaguya didn't believe a word of it. She even retreated farther, as if a few extra meters could keep her safe.
Carl sighed.
"I told you I'm not your enemy. Fine—let me tell you something. Ōtsutsuki Isshiki is still alive. He implanted a Kāma into someone named Jigen, and he still has a nearly completed Ten Tails."
"...Nani?"
Kaguya's pupils shrank. The Ash-Killing Bone nearly slipped from her grip. In the instant she froze, Carl teleported directly before her.
Her instinct was to stab him, but Carl struck her arm, knocking the bone aside.
He grabbed her wrist. His grip was so strong that even someone with the Ōtsutsuki physique like Kaguya couldn't break free immediately.
From afar, Lily saw this and only rolled her eyes. Her wings folded away as she crossed her arms, lifting the impressive weight on her chest as she settled in to watch.
Realizing Carl wasn't attacking, Kaguya forced herself to calm down.
She took a deep breath.
"What is it you want?"
Carl smiled.
"Nothing much. I'm just very interested in the Chakra Fruit that the Ten Tails produces. How about we go find Isshiki together?"