Coral instantly spread across Kinshiki's chest, even causing the energy within his body to become unstable.
Yagura followed up with a brutal kick that blasted Kinshiki several meters away before landing beside Ay and the others with the recoil.
"Raikage, this isn't the time for pride!"
"We have to work together and finish this quickly!"
Yagura barked in a low voice.
"I know!"
Lightning exploded around Ay's body as he transformed into a streak of thunder and charged straight toward Kinshiki.
The Raikage descended with overwhelming force, his fist tearing through the air itself!
Kinshiki crossed both arms in defense—
but Ay's punch crashed down like heavenly thunder.
CRACK!
Kinshiki's arms shattered instantly.
Blood sprayed from his mouth as his body flew backward like a broken kite, smashing deep into the ruins.
Mei immediately formed hand seals and flashed behind him.
"Water Release: Water Prison Jutsu!"
The Water Prison formed instantly, trapping Kinshiki within.
At the same time, Ōnoki rapidly formed seals.
"Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"
The instant Kinshiki was trapped—
the white light of Dust Release had already arrived.
The silent beam swept past.
Both the Water Prison and Kinshiki vanished into nothingness.
Even the edge of the surrounding ruins had been cleanly erased, the ground stripped smooth like polished glass.
Not a blade of grass remained.
Meanwhile, Wen Lan and Momoshiki still stood in the air facing each other.
The instant Momoshiki saw Kinshiki reduced to ashes, his pupils contracted violently and his fingers trembled faintly.
"Damn it!"
"I'm no longer interested in playing games with you insects!"
Momoshiki roared in fury.
He didn't care about Kinshiki's life itself—
but Kinshiki's true purpose had always been to become a chakra pill for him to consume.
By devouring Kinshiki, Momoshiki would gain both tremendous power and Kinshiki's abilities.
But now—
everything was gone.
A gigantic firebird formed from blazing Fire Release chakra erupted into existence.
Flames swept across the sky, transforming into a storm capable of incinerating all things as it charged directly toward Wen Lan.
Pheasant Hunt!
Wen Lan's expression remained cold.
His eyes instantly shifted into the Rinnegan as he raised one hand.
A tremendous suction force erupted—
swallowing the flaming bird directly into his palm.
Rinnegan — Preta Path!
The firebird vanished completely as all chakra was devoured.
Wen Lan remained motionless, his gaze sharp as a blade fixed upon Momoshiki.
"Good… very good!"
"So you possess the Rinnegan too?!"
Momoshiki's chakra suddenly exploded upward.
Black markings rapidly spread across his body.
The curved horns atop his head straightened and lengthened.
Then—
a golden Rinnegan split open across his forehead.
His eyes turned gold, while the red palms on his hands transformed into golden Rinnegan as well.
"Inukai Takerunomikoto!"
The earth below exploded apart.
Countless dragon-headed, serpent-bodied beasts surged upward from the soil and lunged toward Wen Lan.
Wen Lan merely sneered and gripped the hilt of the Kusanagi Sword.
"Thunder Breathing…"
"First Form — Thunderclap and Flash!"
In the next instant—
his body transformed into golden lightning.
He passed directly through the incomplete encirclement of the summoned beasts at such terrifying speed that Momoshiki failed to react at all.
Click.
The sound of blade and sheath colliding echoed softly.
Wen Lan had already appeared behind Momoshiki.
Momoshiki's pupils shrank violently.
"How… is that possible…"
He tried to turn his head—
but a thin line of blood slowly appeared across his neck.
His head tilted sideways.
Blood erupted skyward.
The golden light in his eyes rapidly faded as the Rinnegan on his forehead shattered apart.
Wen Lan grabbed Momoshiki's severed head with one hand and immediately used the Human Path to search his soul.
Soon, a trace of surprise appeared on his face.
"Urashiki came too…"
"And Isshiki… actually survived."
Through the soul search, Wen Lan learned that Urashiki had mentioned "Isshiki."
Clearly, Isshiki was still hiding somewhere.
[Could this be Boruto-era canon?]
Wen Lan frowned slightly.
Isshiki had apparently joined forces with Ōtsutsuki Urashiki, intending to use the Divine Tree to destroy the ninja world.
That was absolutely unacceptable to Wen Lan.
Everything he had done until now was for the peace of the ninja world.
They had to stop Isshiki and Urashiki as quickly as possible.
At that moment, a spatial vortex appeared behind Wen Lan.
Two figures stepped out from within—
Uchiha Obito and Black Zetsu.
Obito was startled by the battlefield scene before quickly asking:
"You said the Ōtsutsuki Clan arrived?"
Black Zetsu, meanwhile, stared at the severed head in Wen Lan's hand with shock.
Though he could not identify the individual specifically—
the pale skin and horns were unmistakable signs of the Ōtsutsuki Clan.
Wen Lan tossed the head toward Black Zetsu.
"Can members of the Ōtsutsuki Clan track one another?"
Black Zetsu caught the head, fingers trembling slightly.
He looked up at Wen Lan.
"How much do you actually know?"
After a brief hesitation, he nodded.
"Yes."
"Higher-ranking members and their guardians can track each other."
"It's a safeguard to ensure guardians can rescue their superiors during danger."
"But for unrelated Ōtsutsuki members…"
"…tracking is impossible."
"That's enough."
Wen Lan spoke calmly.
"Your mother's superior…"
"…is still alive."
"!!!"
Black Zetsu was stunned.
"That's impossible! Mother personally—"
His words abruptly stopped.
Because within the inherited memories of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, he suddenly remembered—
Kaguya had indeed attacked Isshiki back then.
But afterward, Isshiki's corpse had mysteriously vanished.
Kaguya had simply assumed he was dead.
"Where is your mother sealed?"
Wen Lan asked.
"In… in the Divine Tree."
Wen Lan's eyes narrowed sharply.
As expected.
The Divine Tree was the key.
Wen Lan descended from the sky as the Five Kage and Yagura quickly gathered around him.
Minato immediately asked:
"Wen Lan, what do we do now?"
Wen Lan shook his head.
"The situation just became much more troublesome…"
He then explained who Isshiki was, how he had survived, and the matter concerning Urashiki.
The Five Kage were all visibly shaken.
"If the Divine Tree falls under their control…"
"The entire ninja world will become nourishment to be devoured."
Mei said anxiously.
Wen Lan nodded.
"But right now, we're exposed while the enemy remains hidden."
"That's extremely dangerous."
"So…"
"I've decided to resurrect Ōtsutsuki Kaguya."
"We'll use the connection between superior and guardian to locate Isshiki and Urashiki…"
"…and kill them."
The moment those words fell—
everyone was stunned.
Revive Kaguya?
That was the progenitor of chakra.
The source of catastrophe itself.
But if they didn't revive her—
the entire world might be consumed instead.
"I'll go with you."
Minato spoke softly.
"Hmph."
"I'm part of this world too."
Ay crossed his arms with a cold snort.
"I have no intention of letting the ninja world be destroyed either."
Ōnoki nodded.
"I have no objections."
Rasa agreed calmly.
Mei took a deep breath.
"In that case, I'll come as well."
Everyone's eyes were filled with determination.
Wen Lan swept his gaze across the group before nodding slightly.
"First, we need to gather all the jinchūriki together."
"They'll remain hidden inside Obito's Kamui dimension."
"Obito?!"
Minato froze before suddenly turning toward the masked man.
Obito gave a bitter smile and slowly removed his mask, revealing his scarred face.
"Long time no see, Sensei."
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